Goober

Summary

Goober is a sentient, blob-like nanite entity discovered by the party and identified by Cat as an "ice raccoon." The creature is an amorphous mass of nanites that emits a Bluetooth field allowing technological implants to connect to its internal file directories. Goober possesses remarkable biological food-processing abilities, functioning similarly to the Food Doosers (food replicators) that existed in the pre-wasteland city. The entity can absorb objects through extending pseudopods, produce edible copies of food it observes, and reverse compost spoiled food into fresh versions. Goober can transform into multiple configurations including wheeled vehicles, hovering carpets, and geometric shapes, though it cannot change from its bluish-gray color. The creature travels with the party and has become Sucks's second-best friend after Fjerrald the pig but above Cow and all humanoid companions.

Also called "Goober the Ice Raccoon," the creature's name was chosen through a democratic voting process by the party, despite Sucks's preference for "Boobs Frankenstein." During the naming process, Sucks heard the blob speak for the first time, saying "I am Boobs Frankens," though this may have been Sucks's imagination.

Appearance & Equipment

Goober is a blob-like mass of goo that can change size based on how much material it consumes and produces. The creature extends tiny pseudopods to absorb objects and material into its mass. When first discovered, Goober produced an intense cold field as a fear response, but has become noticeably calmer since joining the party, producing much less cold. The goo ball functions similarly to an ice chest, keeping food cool and fresh inside its mass.

Goober displays playful behavior, chasing strings that Sucks drags in front of it. The creature rolls along behind the party's cart as they travel.

Equipment includes access to nanite technology that operates on a wireless signal, functioning "on a WI fi signal, like 2.4 GHz or whatever."

Personality & Abilities

Nanite Manipulation: Goober is composed of nanites that can be controlled and programmed through wireless signals, similar to abilities that Safia has begun to develop and what Nick Silver has demonstrated.
Food Production: Produces edible copies of food it observes the party eating; taste determined by what it was recently fed. The GM confirms that "If it wasn't for Goober, you guys would have starved to death," establishing Goober's replication abilities as essential to the party's survival, particularly given Safia's tendency to consume all available provisions.
Reverse Composting: Can absorb spoiled food and produce fresh, ripe versions—"it seems like it'll absorb or dissolve a food that is no longer good and will produce like edible versions of it."
Absorption Ability: Extends pseudopods to absorb objects into its mass.
Size Variation: Changes size based on consumed and produced material.
Cooling Function: Functions like an ice chest, keeping food fresh and cool.
Temperature Control: Initially produced intense cold as a fear response; now much calmer with reduced cold output.
Shape-Shifting: Can transform into multiple configurations including a chariot with two wheels and an axle, a hovering carpet-like form capable of unimpeded flight, various geometric shapes (cube, dodecahedron, sphere, and a rolling ball), a Hershey's Kiss shape, and a Pac-Man ghost form resembling a trash can.
Bluetooth Connectivity: Emits a field that allows technological implants to connect to its internal file directories, though this connectivity field appears to originate from Nick Silver's Staff rather than from Goober itself.
Generosity: Regularly provides the party with replicated candy and food, including "little packs of nerds and other candy."
Edibility: Everything produced is digestible, though quality varies based on input—feeding it rocks results in terrible-tasting, bitter, earthy output.
Playful Nature: Chases strings and displays comprehension and appreciation of performances.
Voiced by: Shawn

History

Session 5

In Session 5, Goober continues traveling with the party. Safia manages provisions and spends time bonding with the creature. When offered flowers, Goober "extends a tiny little pseudopod and absorbs the flowers into its mass."

The party discovers Goober's food production abilities work through observation—when they stop to camp at night and eat, Goober "will produce copies of the food that it sees you eating." The taste of the produced food depends on what Goober was recently fed. After Safia fed it flowers one afternoon, the food "just tasted like grass and petals, but it looked like, you know, beef jerky."

A key discovery occurs when someone throws a rotten banana on the ground. Goober absorbs it and produces "a ripe banana," revealing its reverse composting ability. Everything Goober produces has proven "edible and consumable and digestible," though feeding it rocks results in terrible-tasting, bitter, earthy output that reminds one of "rock candy that just tasted like rocks."

Goober reminds Sucks of ice chests from his childhood: "Oh, yeah. You can just put food in it. It keeps it, and then you get it out when you need to eat it."

During the encounter with the Pumpkin Creature, Cat proposes a plan: "what if we just get Goober and send him in here to eat all the pumpkins, including that thing in the middle?" Cat notes this would make "Goober would be huge, which would be fucking hilarious." However, Sucks objects, stating "I feel like Goober is one of our best friends now, and we shouldn't put him into danger." The party ultimately decides against using Goober in the battle, with Shawn later observing, "I don't think Goober would have been much help. If I'm being honest. I don't think what is functionally a kitchen appliance would do a very good job fighting a monster."

The party discusses feeding the harvested Money Pumpkins to Goober to create pumpkin-flavored food products to sell at New Smoke. Sucks proposes a refined version: "We do that, but we get a pie and we just show him a pie. So he spits out the pumpkins in the shape of a pie and it's not pie season."

Session 6

The Party arrives with their plan to feed Goober pumpkins from the Pumpkin Field while investigating the entity's capabilities. Early in the session, Goober observes a theatrical lying demonstration between Sucks and Cat from the cart. When the demonstration concludes with bows, Goober extends two small pseudopods and slaps them together in applause, showing comprehension and appreciation of the performance.

Safia connects to Goober's Bluetooth field using her technological implant and discovers a folder labeled "configurations" in the entity's internal processes. Upon investigation, Safia finds multiple transformation forms stored under a "storage" meta-tag, including a chariot configuration with two wheels and an axle, a hovering carpet-like form capable of unimpeded flight, various geometric shapes (cube, dodecahedron, sphere, and a rolling ball), a Hershey's Kiss shape, and a Pac-Man ghost form resembling a trash can. The Party experiments with feeding Goober pumpkin slop, which dissolves silently as Goober's mass grows larger. Safia develops emotional attachment to Goober during this exploration, struck by the entity's willingness to take different shapes and consume different foods.

When Cat becomes entangled in the Sweater Entrapment Incident, Cat rolls closer to Goober attempting to get the entity to absorb some of the sweater and free them, though Vasso protests that they need to deliver the sweater. Later, when Nick Silver encounters the Party, he observes Goober and asks what it is. Goober responds by turning into a cube. Nick Silver demonstrates knowledge of how to interact with such entities—he connects to Goober through his staff in a manner similar to how Safia uses her implant, accessing the entity's file directories. Nick Silver causes a pumpkin pie to rise out of the top of Goober's cube form, remarking: "If you know how to talk to these things, they can be quite useful."

The connectivity field that Safia receives from Goober appears to originate not from Goober itself but from Nick Silver's Staff, suggesting the staff is the source of the nanite control system. This revelation raises questions about Goober's true nature and whether the entity is actually a technological construct rather than a biological creature.

Session 7

At the start of the session, Goober travels with the party carried in a Bjorn-style carrier strapped to Sucks Benedict's chest. The creature's significant size—now nearly as large as a full-grown person from consuming Pumpkins in previous sessions—creates movement difficulties for Sucks. During the journey, Sucks feeds Goober pitcher plant nectar from the Pitcher Plants, dunking Goober in the nectar "like a spoon" where Goober absorbs the liquid and continues to grow larger. The creature currently serves as a storage vessel filled with Pumpkin Pies that the party plans to sell.

As the party approaches New Smoke through the Canal Entrance, they discuss managing Goober's presence in the potentially sewage-filled canal. The party expresses concern that contamination would ruin the taste of the pies they plan to make from the pumpkin meat Goober has absorbed. Proposed solutions include placing Goober in the driver's seat of the cart, leaving Goober behind to retrieve later, or having Goober regurgitate all absorbed materials to become smaller again.

When entering the Underground Canal System, the party attempts to coax Goober up a ladder by singing. Sucks Benedict and Vasso begin singing loudly from below, with Sucks encouraging Cat to "sing with us. Goober needs to know that you believe in him for him to get up there." However, the party confirms that Goober can ooze through spaces, with the ability to "press himself down to a really thin layer and ooze out of the manhole" rather than needing to climb. During the session, Cat retrieves a pumpkin pie from Goober, with confirmation that "Goober will spit out food for any of you."

Session 8

While the party conducts business in New Smoke, Brusque inquires about Goober's whereabouts. The party confirms they have left Goober "down in the hole so that no one would find him," indicating a deliberate decision to keep the nanite creature concealed and secure during their transactions in the settlement. This protective measure suggests the party's awareness that Goober's unique nature and capabilities might attract unwanted attention or complications while they handle other business.

Session 9

During Session 9, Goober remains in the Underground Tunnels beneath New Smoke, having been inadvertently left behind when the party returned to the surface. When Abdul raises concern about Goober's whereabouts, Shawn clarifies that Goober is safe and currently having tea with Brusque. After the party's departure, Brusque descended the ladder to his secret hideout tent and discovered Goober sitting only six feet away from the tent's location.

Later in the session, Goober's unique composition becomes relevant to the party's investigation of the Ever-Living Branch. When Safia uses an analyzer to scan the branch, the device detects residual energy signatures that remind Safia of the energy patterns associated with the tiny machines composing Goober's form. This discovery establishes a potential connection between Goober's transformative mechanical nature and the branch's own reality-altering properties, suggesting that both may share similar underlying technological or magical principles.

Session 10

During this session, Goober remains in the tunnels, possibly within the Sniff Lord's Tunnels, accompanied by Ralston. While other party members pursue different objectives, there is brief concern among the group about whether "that guy" had captured Goober, though this appears to be unfounded worry.

Goober's nanite manipulation abilities become a point of reference when Safia encounters Purple Goo and realizes what it is "because it was similar to the stuff that you. That goober does and that you had started doing." This establishes Goober's powers as a known baseline for understanding other nanite-based phenomena in the campaign world.

The session highlights Goober's essential role as the party's food supplier. Through nanite replication, Goober has been producing candy and other provisions that keep the group fed, a particularly vital service given Safia's habit of eating all available rations. Shawn explicitly states that without Goober's replication abilities, the party would have starved, though Safia "would be happy as a clam" consuming everything. Goober's candy replication is noted to potentially exceed the quality of real candy, since "most candy is synthetic anyway" — suggesting that Goober could "probably be better" at replicating it than the original manufacturers.

Episode: "Session 11"

While the main party conducted their tense infiltration of an underground facility, Goober spent the downtime in a moment of levity with Braldus. The GM presented a brief interlude showing Goober bouncing up and down energetically while making vocalizations, as Braldus sat nearby eating pie and bobbing from side to side in response. According to Shawn's narration, the two were "making fun songs together," suggesting an ongoing musical collaboration during this peaceful moment.

The scene served as a comedic contrast to the main party's dangerous mission, showcasing Goober's playful nature and its developing bond with Braldus during the group's downtime activities.

Relationships

Ralston: Currently traveling with Goober in the tunnels during Session 10.
Safia: Goober regularly provides Safia with replicated candy, including "little packs of nerds," supporting the party member despite their tendency to consume all available food. Safia has developed an emotional attachment to Goober and can connect to Goober's Bluetooth field through her technological implant.
Nick Silver: Shares similar nanite manipulation abilities and has demonstrated knowledge of how to interact with entities like Goober, accessing the creature's file directories through Nick Silver's Staff.
Sucks: Goober is Sucks's second-best friend after Fjerrald the pig. Sucks is protective of Goober and engages in playful activities with the creature.
Brusque: Had tea with Goober after discovering the creature near his secret hideout tent beneath New Smoke.

Braldus: During the party's downtime in Session 11, Goober and Braldus developed a playful rapport, "making fun songs together" while Braldus ate pie and watched Goober bounce energetically.

Aliases & Disguises

Also known as "Goober the Ice Raccoon"
Briefly referred to during naming process as "Boobs Frankenstein" (rejected proposal by Sucks)