Goblin

Goblins are a race of small and numerous goblinoids common throughout Elaris, often living in underground caverns near the surface known as lairs. The race is often, though not always, dominated by other goblinoids, most commonly hobgoblins. Goblins may have, in fact, been initially created by this related race to serve as scouts and infiltrators.

Description

Goblins stand on average about 3 and a half feet and weigh about 45 pounds. They have flat faces, sloped back forehead, broad noses, large round ears, and small, sharp fangs. Their eyes vary in color from red to yellow, and their skin color ranges from yellow to shades of orange, red, green, and blue depending on the subrace of goblin. All members of the same tribe normally shared the same skin color.
Goblins typically dress in dark leathers soiled by poor hygiene and colored in a similar range of tones to their skin.

Personality

Like other goblinoids, goblins often have a short templer, and are more easily provoked than individuals of most other races. They often find it difficult to overcome this short fuse, and have a sense of greed that makes it difficult for them to act altruistically. They also generally take sadistic pleasure in exacting revenge once crossed.
Young goblins are taught from an early age to rely on themselves, and that to survive, they need to be aggressive and ruthless. To a goblin, it doesn't seem logical to treat others as well or better than you would treat yourself; rather, they believe in preemptively removing potential rivals before they can become a threat. Expatriated goblins will sometimes try to recreate the circumstances of their culture, preying on the weaknesses of others in non-goblin communities.
Despite their generally poor reputation however, not all goblins are dim-witted or evil. Some goblins have risen to become heroes, gaining enough renown to be accepted into the civilized world of other, more commonly good races. Those goblins seeking this path may find it difficult to overcome their temper and greed, as well as the cultural influence of their brethren, but those who do often find it can be more rewarding, in the long run at least, to serve good rather than to serve evil.

Combat

Being bullied by bigger, stronger creatures has taught goblins to exploit what few advantages they have, namely sheer numbers and malicious ingenuity. They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other edges they can devise, the concept of a fair fight being meaningless in their society.
Goblins are an elusive and nimble race, which enables them to slip away from danger more easily than most. In combat, goblins often use this advantage to sneak up on enemies and deal them a blow from hiding and then slip away before they can be retaliated against.
When they have superior numbers in battle, goblins attempt to flank lone combatants. Retreat or surrender is their general response to being outmatched.

Society

Goblin society is tribal by nature, generally led by the strongest (and sometimes smartest) around, who normally have access to the best weapons. Leaders among the race often come to power through betrayal and aggression rather than by more peaceful means, or as clerics of the goblin gods. Because of the violent nature of goblin culture, it is not uncommon for goblins to come under the domination of individuals from a larger, more physically powerful culture, most typically larger goblinoids such as hobgoblins or bugbears.
Goblins have very little concept of privacy, living and sleeping in large communal areas with only the leaders living separately in their own private chambers. As such, goblin lairs are often stinking or soiled, though easily defended when under assault and layered with simple traps for such purposes. The innermost chambers of goblin laits are usually the most densely-populated and well-defended. Goblin settlements are often filled with young goblin children, partially due to gender roles, though young goblins do not outnumber adults since their lives are often at least as dangerous as their forebears.
Some goblin tribes are not above waylaying travelers on the road or in forests and stripping them of their possessions. Goblins sometimes capture slaves to perform hard labor in the tribe's lair or camp.

Homelands

Goblins often inhabit temperate plains, though many are also known to live i caverns or underground. Different subraces of goblins live in numerous different regions, as the fecundity of the race leads to quick adaptation to new locations.

Religion

Goblins primarily worship members of the Goblinoid Pantheon, such as Gharghulak in particular, who inspires them with his feats of strength and treachery.

Biology

Goblins breed extremely rapidly compared with many other races, accounting for their large population.

Sub-Races

• Boggart: Swamp-dwelling goblins with a brown-green skin tone that helps them blend in.
• Borafi: Hairy goblins with pale blue-white skin and bright blue eyes living far in the snow and cold regions of the world.
• Greenskin: Cave-dwelling goblins with pale to dark green skin and very large eyes, allowing them to see well in the dark.
• Grelk: Desert-dwelling goblins with sandy-yellow skin and fully black eyes.
• Grobskin: Goblins that dwell in ancient jungles, using their fibrous tail to climb and fight.
• Tretch: Goblins with greatly enhanced jaws and much larger teeth than other goblins.
• Voesti: Aquatic goblins with deep blue-green skin and webbed fingers and toes, bearing gill slits on their necks.

Related Creatures

While some creatures look or act similarly to goblins, they are not necessarily related to them.

• Blues: Blues, sometimes called blue goblins due to their similarities, are taller and far more intelligent creatures that appear physically similar to goblins and sneak into goblin tribes to spread their genes amongst them.
• Boggle: Sometimes referred to bogeys, boggles are trickster fey that appear similar to a goblin with a large head and hands comparative to its body mass.
• Tasloi: Jungle-dwelling creatures that appear to be small goblins and are thought to far precede the appearance of goblins.

Notable Tribes

WIP

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

The gender roles of goblin society have the dominant males sustain the community through raiding and stealing, sneaking into lairs, villages, and even towns by night to take what they can (and if supplies run short they are willing to eat sentience, including each other). Goblin females meanwhile are expected to birth as many children as possible to sustain a population constantly driven down by violence. Many goblins who leave for a life among other races are females, driven away by the rigidly structured role they are expected to play.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Goblins speak the goblin language, known as Ghukliak, and some are known to be capable of speaking Orcish or Yipyak.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Goblins are often considered little more than a nuisance. They do not get along with most other races and are particularly suspicious of other goblinoids. Goblins have a somewhat ambivalent relationship with orcs and half-orcs, whom they'd work with on occasion, but the only true allies of the goblin race are worgs, who often act as mounts and fighting companions for goblins.
Goblins have particularly adverse relations with dwarves and gnomes.
Some are known to domesticate huge wolves.

This is a rare option

This option requires special permission to take. In the case of spells, psionic powers, and similar options, this option must be found in the world and cannot be taken upon level-up.

This is a stub

This article will be expanded upon in the future

This is a

Good Article

Table of Contents

Game Statistics

Custom System

To Be Made

5th Edition

Ability Score Adjustment. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, but your Intelligence score is reduced by 2.
Size. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base land speed is 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision. You can see in dim light as though it were bright light.
Fury of the Small. When you damage a creature with a weapon attack and the target's size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Nimble Escape. You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Goblin and one language of your choice.

4th Edition

To Be Made

3.5th Edition

To Be Made

2nd Edition

Ability Score Adjustment. The initial ability scores are modified by a -1 penalty to Strength and Charisma.

Ability	Minimum	Maximum
Strength	4	15
Dexterity	4	17
Constitution	5	16
Intelligence	3	18
Wisdom	3	18
Charisma	3	12

Class	Maximum
Fighter	10
‎ ‎ ‎Paladin	—
‎ ‎ ‎Ranger	—
‎ ‎ ‎Barbarian	—
Mage	—
‎ ‎ ‎Specialist	—
‎ ‎ ‎Warlock	6
Cleric	9
‎ ‎ ‎Druid	—
‎ ‎ ‎Monk	—
‎ ‎ ‎Shaman	7
Thief	12
‎ ‎ ‎Assassin	12
‎ ‎ ‎Bard	—
Psionicist	—

Special Advantages. Goblins have infravision to 60 feet.
Goblins can detect new or unusual construction in an underground area 25% of the time (1 or 2 on 1d8).
Goblin shamans gain access to the spheres of healing (reversed) and sun (reversed) as major spheres.
Special Disadvantages. Bright light hurts goblin eyes, giving them a -1 penalty to their attack rolls when in bright sunshine.
Role-Playing Suggestions. Like most evil creatures, few goblins ever become adventurers. Those that do are unusually rare, for the individualistic life of an adventurer is completely foreign to goblin society. Those few members of the race who display such tendencies are often killed by their brethren, for they are believed to be insane.
If they can survive the prejudices and fears of their own people, goblin PCs generally reject their own societies. They leave their lairs and strike out to find fame (of a sort) and fortune (whatever they can get their hands on). They often fight against such goblin practices as slave keeping and marauding, working to make up for the atrocities of their people.
Still, you can't take all of the monster out of goblin PCs. They do their best to control their fear and overcome their natural cowardice, but few goblin PCs will earn awards for bravery. Even the cleanest goblin adenturers have trouble eliminating the stench they have grown up with. It hangs about them like a shroud. Because of their communal backgrounds, goblins have no concept of privacy. This can lead to amusing—and not so amusing—situations for goblin PCs and their companions.
Languages. Goblin, kobold, orc, hobgoblin, common.
Monstrous Traits. Appearance, bestial habits.
Superstitions. Eternal hatred and fear of gnomes and dwarves, sensitive to unusual behabior of worgs and wolves, fearful of dreams and visions.
Weapon Proficiencies. Axe, military pick, morning star, sling, shortsword, spear.
Nonweapon Proficiencies. Alertness, animal handling, animal training (worg), begging, chanting, close-quarter fighting, fast-talking, fortune telling, hiding, hunting, inormation gathering, looting, mining, religion, riding (worg), set snares.

Pathfinder 2nd Edition

To Be Made

Genetic Descendants

• Half-Orc
• Imperial Goblin

Lifespan

30-50 years

Average Height

3'4"-3'8"

Average Weight

40-55 lbs.