Hobgoblin Trainer

{{Infobox_Merit
|Source=Rites of Spring
|Pages=p. 93
|Status=Allowed
|Fixed=Yes
|Type=Retainer
|Restriction=Changeling
|Level1=2
}}
The character is capable of training hobgoblins to serve her temporarily.

Training requires an extended, contested roll. As most hobgoblins have intelligence greater than that of an ordinary animal, the changelings must use Persuasion.
However, the often animalistic urges that drive a hobgoblin can be a potential asset to changelings used to dealing with animals.

The changeling’s player rolls her Presence + [[Pool::Persuasion Skill|Persuasion]] or Intimidation. If the changeling has Animal Ken •• or •••, she receives an additional +1 to the roll; if she has Animal Ken ••••+, she receives +2 to the roll.

The hobgoblin must succeed on a Resolve + Composure roll.

Each is competing to secure a number of successes equal to the hobgoblin’s Wits + Intelligence roll. Each roll is equal to an hour of training and interaction between the two. This interaction is not simple and requires different measures for different creatures. For the sake of a good story, we recommend playing out each hour as a kind of give-and-take between beast and changeling — the creature paces, nips at the changeling’s hand, but maybe the changeling discovers that a swift backhand to the nose curtails the creature’s will for a time.
If the hobgoblin gets the success first, the creature’s will cannot be broken. The hobgoblin may attack or skulk off into the Hedge, done with such foolishness. If the changeling wins, she breaks the hobgoblin’s spirit and can give it some limited instruction.

Instruction can never be overtly complex, but it can be more than what a normal animal would understand.
“Guard the Hollow” works, or even “locate a specific token.” Note that it’s no guarantee the creature will be successful in a task, but it will try. Also note that few hobgoblins will totally sacrifice themselves for a given purpose unless that’s in the hobgoblin’s dreamforged demeanor.

Such training holds for only one day per a character’s Wyrd score. The exception to this is if the player spends the changeling’s experience points on the Retainer Merit, with the hobgoblin now representing a changeling’s Retainer. (This Retainer is only in the Hedge, and still necessitates a regular relationship between changeling and creature — she can’t just “program” the beast to do as it’s told forever. It must be rewarded or punished, and dealt with like any animal or slave.)


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