Gulo, a hob of few words but many shouts

I chatted with Amanda about my next character, we came up with this and she wanted your opinion on it. feel free to post any comments or questions. Raised in a hobgoblin warband Sargent Gulo had no greater expectation then to raise up in the ranks of the army, as he got older a thought occurred to him, he supposed that cruelty was bad for moral, it promoted distrust and resentment among soldiers and was very inefficient tool of submission when it came to slaves. He presented this idea to his general, and after a heated debate Gulo left, expectinga flogging for his trouble. What he hadn't expected was his General ordering HIS unit to kill him on their next scouting mission further into Belkzen. Gulo was no pup however and killed men and women he had worked with since childhood swiftly, thou not without sustaining heavy injuries. So it came as a surprise to him that the Lastwall scouting party chose not to kill him but simply capture him alive to bring to their CO, a mountain of a dwarf named Signus. Signus was equally confused as to why a savage hobgoblin was being brought to him, his men explained the fight they witnessed between Gulo and his unit, to them it seemed a waste to kill such a capable warrior. Signus thought long about to do with the firey eyed hob and after his wounds had healed he went to Gulo with an offer, become a member of his unit for 3 years of service and if he survived he would be free to go. With few options that did not include his execution he begrudgingly agreed. But as the years went on and 3 years turned into a voluntary 5 years Gulo found a respect for his fellow soldiers and a comradely he had never known before. Gulo (now given the title of Fusilier) had no greater expectation then to live out his days in the company of his unit. Life had other plans however Finnian, the unit battlemage, asked from Gulo a favor. His son was to take leave in Magnimar on the 1rst of Neth, Finnian feared for his son and asked Gulo to join with to keep the boy out of trouble. He agreed and promised Finnian that he would protect his son with his life, this turned out to be rather easy as save for the occasional mugging and bar fight brought on by young tongues and eager hands Gulo found himself dreadfully bored. Over the course of a few weeks Gulo kept hearing rumors at the various bars and tavern Finnian's boy found so charming, speaking of a small coastal town named Sandpoint, the rumors ranged from "Goblins are living in the town as a new designer slave." to "Goblin are using mind control to rule the town!" While initially writing them off as drunken ramblings he considered that he had the rumor so many times at so many different bars that the rumor had to have some merit in reality. So at the end of the Finnian boy's leave he told him to let his unit know he would be investigating this town of "Sandpoint" and did not know if or when he would be back. The boy nodded, getting on the ship back to Lastwall as Gulo made the march to Sandpoint. Lastwall UnitFinnian: Human Battlemage (Wizard 6) Sven: Human heavy infantry (Fighter 6) Sadie: Halfling War-Priest (Warpriest of Gorum 6) Thomson: Halfing Healer (Cleric of Iomade 6) Signus: Dwarf Commander (Paladin of Iomade 10)

Interesting, though I'm noting some inconsistencies and plot holes... he supposed that cruelty was bad for moral(e): How would a hobgoblin think this was bad for morale? He might have personal moral issues regarding it, but hobgoblin society is cruel by nature, so acts of cruelty would in fact increase morale.  very inefficient tool of submission when it came to slaves: Throughout history it's been proven time and again that cruelty is a valid method for forcing slaves to submit... What he hadn't expected was his General ordering HIS unit to kill him on their next scouting mission further into Belkzen: So a soldier commits treason and deserts. How could this have been a surprise? (regarding the patrol sparing him and presenting him to their commander): Typically soldiers don't present PoW's to the chain of command. Regardless of skill, either the victim would be killed on the spot, or imprisoned and lucky if they interact with someone above a petty officer rank. (regarding being offered a rank after a period of internment): [Australian sigh] So many flags here, where do I begin? Gulo found himself dreadfully bored: With the picture you painted earlier that encompasses such great camaraderie, why wouldn't he go back and rejoin the company? oh, wait He agreed and promised Finnian that he would protect his son with his life...  (later) ...So at the end of the Finnian boy's leave he told him to let his unit know he would be investigating this town of "Sandpoint" and did not know if or when he would be back. The boy nodded, getting on the ship back to Lastwall: The character still needs to see the boy back safely. He vowed to protect him while on leave, right? So he'd need to see the boy back, and would he then worry about some weird place in a far off land that hardly anyone's heard of? Or would he break a vow he's made to a valued companion simply for the sake of rumours? ... Not bad, needs a little work, though in my opinion, it all seems somewhat contrived. Roleplay out your back stories to your head, at each crossroad look at every angle from each different character in the scene, and work from there. Ask why the character is doing that thing, and does that thing make sense? If I were to make some suggestions... Instead of bringing up his concerns regarding his morality with the hobgoblin chief, more than likely Gulo would know that his shit ain't gonna fly, so have him desert. It cuts out contradictory actions and opens him up for questions of morality. The way he joins the company is highly dubious, so instead maybe he fights alongside the patrol against the same hobgoblin band that was hunting him. Having Gulo and the company fighting on the same side from the outset would give cause to open up a dialogue between the two, and give a reason why the leader could take him in under a probationary period. And you're going to need a better way for him to leave the company and come to Sandpoint aside from "he got bored". Having a character who has boredom as a motivator for an event leads towards a character who gets bored. And a bored character is a boring character...

Let me start by.... HARSH????? While I agree there are some holes in the story I don't think its a bad start.  For one I know you enjoy outside of the box style oddballs.  So don't be afraid to be one in your background.  With Hobs being such a militaristic lifestyle AND you seek bring another monsterious character into the game.  BE the oddball of your race.  Maybe not the picked on Bobole set up because you ahve done that already but more the you just don't fit in moteif.  As such your prowess in battle is the only thing that kept you from being killed as a pup.  But now that you have grown up some your annoyance isn't tolerated anylonger.  Maybe you showed compassion when you encountered your old group and it was taken the wrong way.  Either way you ran afowl of your tribe/army/empire/  well whatever you want it to be.  As such the old company took you in for your compassion on the field.  This lead you to run with a race you were not used to and see there is more to life then domination.  Finally you hear rumors of a town that accepts any one no matter race, creed, or background and you seek to check it out after helping your friends son with his travels.  All of this is fairly loose stuff but Ideas you can use to maybe break up some of the more counter intuitive portions of your back story.  Thas my suggestion anyways.  Also why did we include the levels and stuff of your old party?  Also what class r u running like short term and long term.  I've noticed that sometimes you move around classes for a concept that doesn't want to gel in the end so I just wanna make sure you have a good foundation for your actual paper style statistics you intend to play.

I chatted with Amanda about my next character, we came up with this and she wanted your opinion on it. feel free to post any comments or questions. Raised in a hobgoblin warband Sargent Gulo had no greater expectation then to raise up in the ranks of the army, as he got older he found his taste for cruelty wain, he tried his best to hide his weakness but he knew it was only a matter of time before others began to notice, so it came as little surprise when his unit attempted a coup. Gulo was no pup however and killed men and women he had worked with since childhood swiftly, thou not without sustaining heavy injuries. He had expected to bleed out on the dry earth, the victor in his last battle, not the gleam of armor against the sun as he passed out. These armored figures turned out to be a military unit from Lastwall doing patrols in Belkzen. They went to their CO, a mountain of dwarf named Signus, his men explained the fight they witnessed between Gulo and his unit, to them it seemed a waste to let such a capable warrior die and brought him back to camp to treat his wounds. Signus thought long about to do with the firey eyed hob and after his wounds had healed he went to Gulo with an offer to join his unit as a rifleman, Lastwall needed all the hands it could get. Gulo thought long about it, if he returned to the General it wouldn't be long another hob tried to kill him, if he wasn't executed on the spot for desertion, with few options he begrudgingly agreed to a single tour of duty. But as the years went on 1 turned to 2 and then to 3 and 4 Gulo found a respect for his fellow soldiers that grew into a comradely he had never known before. As the years wore on Gulo was aware of another key fact however, his own body, at 26 he had already passed his prime and knew full well that it would begin to fail him. He informed his unit he would not be signing up for another tour, he would rather them remember him as he was now, not the dottering fool he would quickly become. While initially shocked they soon understood and wished him the best. Before the fond farewells Finnian, the group mage, asked a favor from his friend, his son was going to spend a few weeks out in Magnimar on the 1st of Neth and he worried for the boy, he had never stepped foot out of Lastwall and the thought of him being alone in a foreign city terrified him. Gulo agreed, promising to keep the boy safe during his visit. As it turned out Finnian's fears we're very overblown as his boy was rather pedestrian in his dangers, a bar fight here, an angry fiance there, nothing a few choice words and a glare couldn't fix. Over the course of a few weeks Gulo kept hearing rumors at the various bars and tavern Finnian's boy found so charming, speaking of a small coastal town named Sandpoint, the rumors ranged from "Goblins are living in the town as a new designer slave." to "Goblin are using mind control to rule the town!" While initially writing them off as drunken ramblings he considered that he had the rumor so many times at so many different bars that the rumor had to have some merit in reality. The thought of this goblinoid town intrigued him, thou a large part of him doubt it's exsistance, so at the end of the boy's trip Gulo saw him off to the military ship back to Lastwall then began the march to the "goblin town of Sandpoint." Lastwall Unit Finnian: Human Battlemage Sven: Human heavy infantry Sadie: Halfling War-Priest Thomlon: Halfing Healer Signus: Dwarf Commander