Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
I just created a Goblin Bard and thus began wondering at what role a bard would have in goblin society. From this developed the 'Snitch' - part spy, part scholar, part 'pointman'.
Anyway it got me wondering about how people go about changing classes to fulfil different traditions and roles in different societies and across races. What have you done to make your Northman Scout Ranger different to your Coastal Fisherman Ranger and distinct from your Desert Raider Ranger
Anyway back to my Goblin Bard
Bards have
1. General Knowledge
2. Good Charisma and reasonable Stealth
3. Ability to enhance others
4. A few utility spells
Enter the Snitch (Alertness is a favoured Feat, listen, gather information, spot,sense motive, Perform (Mummery) are key skills)
Snitch is a Bardic Tradition from Goblin Society, Snitches are collectors of interesting information, which they are usually willing to share with others – usually at a price.
General Knowledge
The Snitch will often listen to rumours and gossip (listen/gather information), they watch the actions of others (spot/sense motive) and then compare these with certain archetypes and from this draw conclusions and make predictions.
Now ‘Snitch’ is a well respected profession in traditional goblin society, they took news from one place to another and a clever and enterprising Snitch could earn much status by becoming advisors and informants to powerful Warlords and by acting as ‘spies’. Snitches do not rely on gossip alone however for their curious minds also take an interest in the obsucre references and histories hidden in the words of goblin chants, bawdy songs and camp fire tales. You might even find a Snitch sneaking through a library or listening to the lectures and debates of grant minds in the Academies of many cities - they stay informed.
Enhancing Others
Now Goblins are not big on history - afterall a dead goblin isn't a hero they're just dead. However goblins do have 'Archetypes', culture heroes to which all noteworthy deeds are ascribed.
So for instance if the recently deceased chief Gobok once used a clever ruse to trap and kill three trolls, the story told after his death would be that "Kazza the Cunning Warrior once defeated 3 trolls, this is how it happened".
These Archetypes have an interesting effect on Goblin psychology and that of the Snitch in particular. The Snitch will compare all new information gleaned to these archetypes and from these they are able to make predictions - afterall people don't change all that much from one generation to the next. Snitches then use these Predictions to advise others on optimal strategies and tactics. So for instance a Snitch watching a battle will take in the current information, make predictions and then communicate these to those engage in combat. They communicate this either through their mummery (goblin mummery is a perform skill based on creating low tones which carry over long distances), through whistles and drums or through magic whispers
(NB if you remember the Dark Angel episode featuring Brainiac - whose function was that of a surveilance and tactical feild computer - he took in information, ran it through certain analogues and made predictions- the Snitch works in a similar manner)
Anyway it got me wondering about how people go about changing classes to fulfil different traditions and roles in different societies and across races. What have you done to make your Northman Scout Ranger different to your Coastal Fisherman Ranger and distinct from your Desert Raider Ranger
Anyway back to my Goblin Bard
Bards have
1. General Knowledge
2. Good Charisma and reasonable Stealth
3. Ability to enhance others
4. A few utility spells
Enter the Snitch (Alertness is a favoured Feat, listen, gather information, spot,sense motive, Perform (Mummery) are key skills)
Snitch is a Bardic Tradition from Goblin Society, Snitches are collectors of interesting information, which they are usually willing to share with others – usually at a price.
General Knowledge
The Snitch will often listen to rumours and gossip (listen/gather information), they watch the actions of others (spot/sense motive) and then compare these with certain archetypes and from this draw conclusions and make predictions.
Now ‘Snitch’ is a well respected profession in traditional goblin society, they took news from one place to another and a clever and enterprising Snitch could earn much status by becoming advisors and informants to powerful Warlords and by acting as ‘spies’. Snitches do not rely on gossip alone however for their curious minds also take an interest in the obsucre references and histories hidden in the words of goblin chants, bawdy songs and camp fire tales. You might even find a Snitch sneaking through a library or listening to the lectures and debates of grant minds in the Academies of many cities - they stay informed.
Enhancing Others
Now Goblins are not big on history - afterall a dead goblin isn't a hero they're just dead. However goblins do have 'Archetypes', culture heroes to which all noteworthy deeds are ascribed.
So for instance if the recently deceased chief Gobok once used a clever ruse to trap and kill three trolls, the story told after his death would be that "Kazza the Cunning Warrior once defeated 3 trolls, this is how it happened".
These Archetypes have an interesting effect on Goblin psychology and that of the Snitch in particular. The Snitch will compare all new information gleaned to these archetypes and from these they are able to make predictions - afterall people don't change all that much from one generation to the next. Snitches then use these Predictions to advise others on optimal strategies and tactics. So for instance a Snitch watching a battle will take in the current information, make predictions and then communicate these to those engage in combat. They communicate this either through their mummery (goblin mummery is a perform skill based on creating low tones which carry over long distances), through whistles and drums or through magic whispers
(NB if you remember the Dark Angel episode featuring Brainiac - whose function was that of a surveilance and tactical feild computer - he took in information, ran it through certain analogues and made predictions- the Snitch works in a similar manner)
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