COVID Character: Varf

Since the start of the pandemic, I have played more role-playing games than I ever have before. I thought I'd use my space to introduce you to my characters, and give you a little background about the system they're in, what they're like, and what they're doing.  

Varf

Aliases: None
Pronouns: He/Him
Character Concept: Goblin jungle scout and guide
Character Stats: 8th Level (I think) Goblin Ranger
Campaign: The Slithering
System: Pathfinder, 2nd Edition
Campaign Status: Complete!

I've been switching back and forth a lot between Pathfinder 1e and Pathfinder 2e, and nothing is more jarring than seeing how differently both games handle the goblins. They go from feral, dog- and horse- spree murdering creatures with no redeeming qualities to...you know...people.

And honestly, I think goblins as people make for more interesting stories than goblins as fodder for low level PCs, so I wholeheartedly welcome the change. 

It gets very weird if you look at it from a story perspective, though. Did they stop being feral murderers? Were humans (et al) so freaking racist against goblins that even the metatext of the setting suffered for it? I don't know, and I'm not going to wade through all the wikia pages to find out, so there!

The Slithering does try to sort of address this issue in universe, which is interesting. Humans (et al) realized that they were all being super racist and apologized. But there's still tensions on Golarion that have yet to be fully addressed. These tensions are exacerbated when a mysterious disease sweeps through the City of Kibwe, transforming humans into hideous blob monsters. 

Varf was part of a party of all demi-humans tasked with learning more about the disease and how to cure it. There were asymmetrical fights every ten feet, but a few really cool set pieces that mostly made up for it. There's also a lot of nice worldbuildy information in the game that helped me (a novice to Golarion) get a better grasp on the world.

Varf mostly shot his crossbow at things, occasionally used his horsechopper (yes, they still call them horse and dog choppers) when things got too close to him, and didn't do much else of note.

Except!

The module features an early encounter with a human supremacist and his small cadre of racist acolytes. We thought he knew something about the disease, and went over to his "school" to ask him about it. He refused to talk to us until we proved that we were people. 

If you are familiar with Pathfinder 2e, this encounter resolves with one of their little minigames. You have to make (in this case) Perform, Diplomacy, or other rolls to convince this racist that you were human adjacent enough for him to help you. If you get enough successes, you win.

Varf was way too angry to play along. He told this guy that he was just as valid as anyone else, human or not, and that it wasn't his job to prove it to anyone. He certainly wasn't going to perform like a fucking trained animal for him and his slackjawed followers. The racist could not, and would not, make Varf dance for his amusement. If that meant that the party would have to learn the information elsewhere, that was just fine by him.

"And then," I said, to the laughter of the group, "I roll Diplomacy."