AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

I am working on an idea..... it may be ridiculous, but is it conceivable that the Church of Salandra would take in a kobold who shows promise in the healing arts and train him to become a priest? Specialist Healer to be exact.

Just an idea.....

I also considered Tamara, but read in lore that Tamara does not exist on Amia.

I am looking for good and healing domains and as I understand it, domains MUST match the deity. Salandra is all about good and healing, so it seems a fit, so long as its a possibility a kobold would be "taken under the wing" of the Church.

Thanks!

In War Knights we have Warmage kobold of Tempus.

Just go for it. :mrgreen:

The gods themselves generally seem rather accepting of followers despite their race, because more people equals more power. However, the church might have concerns.

I would say it's unlikely but not impossible. It is probably not an adviseable character concept, because I don't see what kind of a theme and contribution you can make with a kobold Salandran that you couldn't pull off with a less disruptive, more believable concept. At the very least, it's something that I would try to earn in game by sucking up and proving my worth to the local clergy, rather than assume acceptance at character creation.

Ask yourself the question: what kind of stories will you be able to tell and what kind of things to role-play with this character that justify its existance? Would it work as something more believable? If the answer is yes, as it often is, then you might have second thoughts.

It boils down to how high standards you want to hold yourself to, though. There's nothing in the rules or mechanics that prohibit it, though you can't expect NPC or PC clergy (or other people) to treat you as an equal, of course.

I would say it is possible, though the biggest thing is:

* How did your character become a dedicant of Salandra, rather than another deity more compatible to the Kobold race.

Ok, all good input and I thank you. The story I was thinking was this (rough so far):

The character showed promise of healing ability at a young age, and became known in his clan for it. So much so that the All-Watcher took notice. The All-Watcher also had a child with some talent for healing and became jealous of my pc. One day, my pc was chosen to go on a raiding party after the goblins nearby. This would prove to be a set-up to abandon him out in the frontier. Injured, and alone, he was finally found by, you guessed it, a Preist(ess) of Salandra. They of course healed him, as is their duty. They then listened to his story, and offered him refuge. He then assisted in the Temple, cleaning, doing menial tasks, and listening. He decides this is the life he wishes to lead. That of a Great Healer of Salandra.

I tried to read all I could about the dogma of Salandra, and to me at least, I didn't break any rules to get this story going. If I did, please, please let me know! I want a kobold character because of the rich rp I feel that can come from it. I also want him to be kind, understanding, helpful and an impressive healer. Thus, Salandra is my best choice I think.

So, yes, it could be done easily with nearly any other race, but I want an engaging pc from an rp perspective and something a bit out of the ordinary. I've seen a few kobolds do well here with "unusual" stories, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on any toes.

I dunno about what would say Salandra of a kobold healer. The issue is that most of the patients would have concern with a kobold healer, as kobolds are generally considered as a hostile race, despite that Amia mostly have good kobold PCs.
If the patients have concerns with you then there will be issues when your character is trying to create the mutual trust between the doctor and the patient which would make the Salandran leadership to pass the mentioned patient to another healer. (NB: Same thing would apply in RL in case if you are a doctor and the patient has issues with your person for some reason.)

Thus the clergy may be accepting but it is possible that you would rather end up as a gardener because 90% of the patients would not accept a kobold healer and with that your character may not be able to practice his healing skills which may reduce the chance that he would actually become one of the most skilled physicians on Amia.

However, I agree with IronAngel. Go IG and try to earn the trust of the clergy and the patients...perhaps it will work.

A little bug inside my head is chirping for me to protest the kobold idea.

Mainly because I abhor the idea of kobolds past level 4 or 5. I imagine it's like having steroid-charged mice; something well beyond its capability.
I'm not trying to sound cynical or derail your plans, I want to understand why. Why a kobold?
What's our obsession with making more characters like this?

I'm sorry, I cannot support this idea solely on the basis that Amia has far too many good or neutral-aligned members of so-called 'inherently evil' races (Drows and kobolds, mainly.) Make a raging kobold barbarian of Kurtumlak who wields a bastard sword!

However, more on-topic: almost everything seems to be possible on Amia. I've seen a few aasimar blackguards, evil-aligned durparis, plenty of good and neutral tieflings... I say go for it, if you absolutely feel like going for a... Kobold healer of Salandra.

Well.... I like the idea of a kobold, they are a playable race, and..... its different. That's reasons "why". Simply because you may feel they can't expand past level 5 is not a reason for them to "not" do it. I don't mean to be offensive, but that really wasn't helpful. Kobolds are actually pretty interesting creatures, and they don't have any detriment to intelligence, or charisma, or wisdom, just strength. Yep, they are physically weaker, but they have "dragon blood". It's what drives them, keeps them happy, makes them continue on. They have a more complex society than most give credit for, and -that- makes them interesting to rp. Their contact with others is always interesting, sometimes would be amusing, and sometimes would end in my pc's frustration. Its all part of the fun, and challenge, for me at least.

Lutra, you've convinced me it might not work. Acceptance by patients is right up there in importance for a healer. Without that, yep, dead in the water. Thank you.

Time to rethink......

Maybe my perception of kobolds is totally off then. I'm stereotyping.
I always assumed kobolds were just sort of lame, gangly vermin-like things who shy away from contact. I imagine them as scavengers, monsters.
It weirds me to think of them and goblins as a social norm, even for fantasy standards.
But I wasn't trying to criticize you, if that is what you thought.

See Hikriss Wyrmfang, a previously played kobold cleric of Salandra. While it's entirely feasible as everyone has said and this confirms:

TormakSaber wrote:

It's ot like the Salandrans would turn him away.

Unfortunately many players will hold a bias against such a character, simply due to how far it is from what the creature race is.

Well if their characters don't like kobolds preaching about some god that's perfectly IC and frankly this is what monster races are supposed to face.

bidocks wrote:

Ok, all good input and I thank you. The story I was thinking was this (rough so far):

The character showed promise of healing ability at a young age, and became known in his clan for it. So much so that the All-Watcher took notice. The All-Watcher also had a child with some talent for healing and became jealous of my pc. One day, my pc was chosen to go on a raiding party after the goblins nearby. This would prove to be a set-up to abandon him out in the frontier. Injured, and alone, he was finally found by, you guessed it, a Preist(ess) of Salandra.

You could start your story there. Just end up at the temple injured, and see where PC interaction takes you from there. Of course, it has some consequences for your build, as you couldn't start cleric and wouldn't know for sure if you're ever accepted into the clergy. Also finding dedicated Salandrans to role-play with during your online hours could be troublesome. But I imagine it would be way more rewarding to let the story unfold on its own. You could end up serving some other god too, who knows. Maybe an active Ilmatari PC picks you up instead. Nothing would please and excite many cleric players more than the chance to actually convert and educate another PC in your faith, someone who wasn't already predetermined to become a Salandran or an Ilmatari or a Banite. Give the priests of Amia a genuine chance to impress, or shun.

If you just want to be a little different and capture the attention of people, kobold probably isn't the way to go. There are plenty of them already, as well as other "different" races. I've tried to play my Air Genasi as an outsider and aggressively defensive about her difference, but it's a little awkward and difficult when nobody bats an eyelid, everybody calls her a genasi on sight (something she previously barely even recognized), and she's already met like five other Air Genasi, one Earth and two Fire.

So if you want to make a memorable character, you could go for plain human and play something imaginative. Not some caring young woman or bold young man. Maybe a clumsy hunchback whose parents abandoned him and who was taken in by the Salandrans to tend to the cellars or something, and whose greatest dream is to become a healer. Just an example; there are plenty of similar anti-hero, rags-to-riches concepts out there. Trust me, ugly and clumsy works every time. You'll be everyone's favorite character and people admire you for being "different." :lol:

Whatever you start out with, I'm pretty sure it'll be more fun to start playing early in the PC's history. Not when she's already a respected priest and has nothing mundane to aspire to.

bidocks wrote:

Kobolds are actually pretty interesting creatures, and they don't have any detriment to intelligence, or charisma, or wisdom, just strength. Yep, they are physically weaker, but they have "dragon blood". It's what drives them, keeps them happy, makes them continue on. They have a more complex society than most give credit for, and -that- makes them interesting to rp.

I love you.

Maias227 wrote:

Well if their characters don't like kobolds preaching about some god that's perfectly IC and frankly this is what monster races are supposed to face.

I would like to stress that I mean players. Any IC bias is fine and good fun, personally, I love xenophobia and would like to see more. However, kobold clerics of Salandra are treated with the same disdain by some players as Dragon Disciple Palemasters and other cheese builds.

Salandra is a god who judges people and things for few reasons. She's concerned with the health and suffering of people. Specifically that people are healthy and not suffering, of course. She would deny few people who came in to her faith wanting to heal and prevent the suffering of others and Kobold certainly aren't one of those she would deny just because they're Kobolds. The one creature type you can be sure she would deny outright is undead.

Salandra accepting a Kobold is less interesting to me than the story behind the Kobold getting there to begin with. A Kobold is evil by nature, like Drow, Orcs, Goblins, etc. Making a character of these races who is actually good is very cliche, imo. If you go down that route, you want to do it in a way that's interesting and believable. You don't want to be just another good Kobold. That's boring. How did the Kobold become good? How did the Kobold find Salandra? How did the Kobold find the calling of healing? Learn about the Kobold and make a fun and interesting character. You'll like the character so much more because of it if you do.

And I agree that Kobolds get looked at as much less than they are. Kobolds are actually pretty interesting little dudes. You just have to give them a chance and learn about them. Stereotypes are boring.

Does Salandra Private Health Insurance have an option for Non-Koblod/Evil race healer? :lol:

Not sure any sane character want's to wake up to a Koblod "Yip Yiper" kneeling over them with scalpel in hand.
That's called a nightmare.
(Imagine if it was Meepo.)

Gunz wrote:

Making a character of these races who is actually good is very cliche, imo.

IMO2

Quote:

Lutra, you've convinced me it might not work. Acceptance by patients is right up there in importance for a healer. Without that, yep, dead in the water. Thank you.

Time to rethink......

I will not be making this character, thanks for the input from everyone.

bidocks wrote:

I will not be making this character, thanks for the input from everyone.

I hope you think this, I know this is an older topic and sorry for thread necromancy but when I saw the header I felt I had to have my say.

I have an CG ogrillion fighter/barb who is a steadfast follower of Salandra due entirely to his back story, a back story I created for him long before I even logged into the server to build him.

Seems to me that the peoples of Amia (the population at large not the player heroes) are generally exposed to lots of things that more conservative (by lore) people on the main land (I.E. other D&D settings) and are very cosmopolitan for their time.

Whilst it might be a stretch to have a kobold cleric of saladra to some folks I don't see why given her doctrine, anyone in pain and suffering regardless of who or what they has a legitimate right to petition Saladra and her clergy for help. Why then should the instruments of that help be restricted to human/celestial races or whatever?

My ogrillion is actually RP'd as more Ogre than orc due to his lineage and his back story is imo completely in line with Saladra doctrines ( will post the back story in due time)

I don't believe you should have to work your RP around someone elses RP in order to sanction it, of course its nice if it develops organically and a character goes down unexpected paths from in game actions thats awesome and as it should be, but please feel free to start where ever you wish.

That said the further you depart from what many lore police would think of as acceptable keep in mind some people have a very open mind as to what they can do but a very narrow mind about what other players can do.

By building up a solid plauseable back story for why your character starts its chronicle in Amia in the way that you wish then that is a very good platform to build on in defence of your RP position when you come up against the lore police who ICly doesn't get it and OOCLy doesn't want to.

Hope to see you in game.

Natalia

Why on earth would a kobold follow a HUMAN deity of healing? Makes no sense....

Very_Svensk wrote:

Why on earth would a kobold follow a HUMAN deity of healing? Makes no sense....

Why would a lot of things on Amia happen?

jimbono1 wrote:

Very_Svensk wrote:

Why on earth would a kobold follow a HUMAN deity of healing? Makes no sense....

Why would a lot of things on Amia happen?

close family "relations" explains alot of the things that happens on amia 8P

As a very long time player of a Salandran Cleric, as a former Temple Father of Salandra, part of me wants to say "Get out of town, that would never happen", part of me also says "That'd be a nice and unusual idea, I like it".

The moral of the story is, if you want to, give it a go, it wouldn't hurt to try, as long as you have a good back story as to why a Kobold would follow Salandra and not a Kobold specific deity. Have fun!

Very_Svensk wrote:

Why on earth would a kobold follow a HUMAN deity of healing? Makes no sense....

A lot of the races have adopted human deities for their own.
Halflings often worship Tymora, (half-)elves often worship Mielikki as a member of the Seldarine, and so on.
A kobold healer likely isn't going to care much for the auspices of Kurtulmak. The nonhuman deities tend not to be worshipped by outsiders (though it does happen, rarely), but the human deities seem to get all kinds.
The Salandrans seem to be rather accepting people, willing to take anyone in for healing. Why shouldn't they take in anyone as a healer?

Zedrik wrote:

Very_Svensk wrote:

Why on earth would a kobold follow a HUMAN deity of healing? Makes no sense....

A lot of the races have adopted human deities for their own.
Halflings often worship Tymora, (half-)elves often worship Mielikki as a member of the Seldarine, and so on.
A kobold healer likely isn't going to care much for the auspices of Kurtulmak. The nonhuman deities tend not to be worshipped by outsiders (though it does happen, rarely), but the human deities seem to get all kinds.
The Salandrans seem to be rather accepting people, willing to take anyone in for healing. Why shouldn't they take in anyone as a healer?

correction, elves often worship the elven aspect of mielikki, and both tymorra and mielikki have aspects that greatly appeal to the two races you named.
I dont mind kobold salandrans, but what do kobolds know of divine´healing and is it enough to actually follow a obscure demi god of healing?
And a very good reason as to why no taking kobolds in as healers..because the race is a dangerous one.

Read up on kobolds and their lore (Shout for letumlux) then come back and explain why a kobold would -ever- follow salandaria.

It's like a blackguard of Torm.

Not really sure why we need to debate a character idea that was already shelved by the player. I think the viability was covered extensively enough: it wouldn't be impossible, but unlikely enough to warrant serious consideration whether it's justified, and something that would cause problems with NPCs in any case. Gunz already made it pretty clear that the concept is not forbidden, and that it may have potential if it's thought through. The player decided not to go through with it. Discussion on kobold sociology is worthy of another topic.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Read up on kobolds and their lore (Shout for letumlux) then come back and explain why a kobold would -ever- follow salandaria.

It's like a blackguard of Torm.

The same reason a Gnomish Magician follows Gond, respects Mystra and having had time in Amia has decided to seek a paradigm of magic connecting closely as possible to the Celestial Virtues and Celestials in general?

Unique individuals with unique reasons following unique paths? I understand a need to stick to lore, but if someone has a potentially good enough reason in spite of that...

My preference is to see characters start "typical" for their race/class, and then move away from that based on events RPed out IG. It's a little more believable than an evil assimar/good tiefling/fluffy kobold coming off the boat as a unique snowflake. Just a thought.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Read up on kobolds and their lore (Shout for letumlux)

WHAT. WHAT IS IT?!

Start a kobold discussion thread already, Svensk. There, we can discuss kobolds to our cold little hearts' content.

Kobold healer of Salandra?

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