Goblinkin

The civilized people of the world consider goblins to be nothing more than monsters - and in many ways, they're right. Goblins and their cousins, the hobgoblins and bugbears, were first created by Bane, the Strife Emperor, as foot soldiers for his unholy army. Centuries ago, when the flames of the Great Divide burned across Emaxus, the Fell Gods gathered in the realm that would eventually become Xhorhas. There, they found a people known as the dranassar. An ancestor race to the goblinois, the dranassar were tall and beautiful, strong of body and mind, and fleet of foot. Their hair was thick and black, and their skin gleamed like gold. Most of the dranassar willingly served the divine beings that descended upon their lands, but a few fought back against the Fell Gods' rule.
Bane, a cruel tyrant even among the Fell Gods, smote the rebellious dranassar and twisted them into the goblinkin. When the armies of the Fell Gods wanted for skirmishers, Bane twisted the dranassar into goblins. When he was in need of loyal soldiers, he made them into hobgoblins. And when brute force was required, he sculpted them into bugbears. As the war of gods and mortals raged on, Bane corrupted even those dranassar who remained loyal to him.
The Fell Gods are long since defeated, but the goblinkin survived - leaderless, lost, and fallen into chaos. It is said that the voice of Bane still whispers into the minds of the goblinkin, goading them to commit senseless acts of cruelty against all they see.
Few goblins can steel their will against Bane's foul whispers, but those who do live peaceful lives free of the god's influence. Likewise, people who are transfigured into goblins or reborn as goblins do not hear the voice of Bane, and are free from his curse of strife.

Goblinkin and the Curse of Strife

The term "goblinkin" refers to three types of related peoples: goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. All three are affected by Bane's curse of strife, allowing his foul voice to prey upon their minds from beyond the Divine Gate. Goblinkin who manage to overcome Bane's curse are freed from the compulsion that leads them to evil. Unless the goblinkin was freed near birth, however, they have likely internalized their bias toward law, chaos, or neutrality, and might retan that aspect of their alignment even after the curse is broken.
It is nearly impossible for a goblinkin to break Bane's curse on their own. Only those who undergo particularly traumatic events or are shown exceptional compassion typically find the inner strength to do so. Whenever a goblinkin returns to consciousness after being reduced to 0 hit points, they can't make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw, with advantage if they were brought back to life. On a success, the goblinkin breaks free from the curse of strife. A goblinkin targeted by remove curse can also make this saving throw, with advantage on the save if the caster is a trusted companion.
Many bugbears are cleansed of the curse from birth by a druidic order of bugbears who managed to break free of Bane's influence decades ago. These bugbears never develop a chaotic, isolationist nature, and readily band together with druids and other defenders of the wilderness.
Goblins who suffer from the curse of strife are typically neutral evil, goaded by Bane to commit acts of wanton destruction and malice among the folk of the mortal races who opposed him in the Great Divide. Hobgoblins affected by the curse of strife are almost exclusively lawful evil, and are urged towards acts of conquest. Their societies are regimented like military dictatorships, and hobgoblin despots are the scourges of whole nations. Bugbears who suffer under Bane's influence are typically chaotic evil, and are commanded to isolate themselves from all bonds and ties of camaraderie so as to maximize the suffering of those they brutalize.

Customizing Your Origin

At 1st level, you choose various aspects of your character, including ability scores, race, class, and background. Together these elements help paint a picture of your character's origin and give you the ability to create many different types of characters. Despite that versatility, a typical character race in D&D includes little or no choice - a lack that can make it difficult to realize certain character concepts. The following subsections address that lack by adding choice to your character's race, allowing you to customize your ability scores, languages, and certain proficiencies to fit the origin you have in mind for your character. Character race in the game represents your character's fantasy species, combined with certain cultural assumptions. The following options step outside those assumptions to pave the way for truly unique characters.

ABILITY SCORE INCREASES

Whatever D&D race you choose for your character, you get a trait called Ability Score Increase. This increase reflects an archetypal bit of excellence in the adventurers of this kind in D&D's past. For example, if you're a dwarf, your Constitution increases by 2, because dwarf heroes in D&D are often exceptionally tough. This increase doesn't apply to every dwarf, just to dwarf adventurers, and it exists to reinforce an archetype. That reinforcement is appropriate if you want to lean into the archetype, but it's unhelpful if your character doesn't conform to the archetype.
If you'd like your character to follow their own path, you may ignore your Ability Score Increase trait and assign ability score increases tailored to your character. Here's how to do it: take any ability score increase you gain in your race or subrace and apply it to an ability score of your choice. If you gain more than one increase, you can't apply those increases to the same ability score, and you can't increase a score above 20.
For example, if the Ability Score Increase trait of your race or subrace increases your Constitution by 2 and your Wisdom by 1, you could instead increase your Intelligence by 2 and your Charisma by 1.

LANGUAGES

Your character's race includes language that your character is assumed to know, usually Common and the language of your ancestors. For example, a halfling adventurer is assumed to know Common and Halfling. Here's the thing: D&D adventurers are extraordinary, and your character might have grown up speaking languages different from the ones in your Languages trait.
To customize the languages you know, you may replace each language in your Languages trait with a language from the following list: Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Deep Speech, Draconic, Dwarvish, Elvish, Giant, Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, Infernal, Orc, Primordial, Sylvan, or Undercommon.
Your DM may add or remove languages from that list, depending on what languages are appropriate for your campaign.

PROFICIENCIES

Some races and subraces grant proficiencies. These proficiencies are usually cultural, and your character might not have any connection with the culture in question or might have pursued different training. You can replace each of those proficiencies with a different one of your choice, following the restrictions on the Proficiency Swaps table.

PROFICIENCY SWAPS

Proficiency	Replacement Proficiency
Skill	Skill
Armor	Simple/martial weapon or tool
Simple weapon	Simple weapon or tool
Martial weapon	Simple/martial weapon or tool
Tool	Tool or simple weapon

For example, high elf adventurers have proficiency with longswords, which are martial weapons. Consulting the Proficiency Swaps table, we see that your high elf can swap that with another weapon or a tool. Your elf might be a musician, who chooses proficiency with a musical instrument - a type of tool - instead of with longswords. Similarly, elves start with proficiency in the Perception skill. Your elf might not have the keen senses associated with your kin and could take proficiency in a different skill, such as Performance.
The "Equipment" chapter of the Player's Handbook includes weapons and tools suitable for these swaps, and your DM might allow additional options.

PERSONALITY

The description of a race might suggest various things about the behavior and personality of that people's archetypal adventurers. You may ignore those suggestions, whether they're about alignment, moods, interests, or any other personality trait. Your character's personality and behavior are entirely yours to determine.

Bugbears

Bugbears are the largest of the three types of goblinkin. They are regarded as brutish, their tall, powerful builds emphasizing this stereotype. Bugbears who have broken free of the curse of strife are kind, compassionate souls who would often lay down their lives for those they care about and seek to defend, a sharp contrast to those still under Bane's thrall, who are often violent isolationists.

Bugbear Racial Traits

A bugbear character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Bugbears reach adulthood at age 16 and live up to 80 years.

Alignment

Bugbears value self-sufficiency and violence. They are generally chaotic, organizing in loose tribes under charismatic and powerful leaders.

Size

Bugbears are between 6 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 250 and 350 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Long-Limbed

When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Sneaky

You are proficient in the Stealth skill.

Surprise Attack

If you surprise a creature and hit it with an attack on your first turn in combat, the attack deals an extra 2d6 damage to it. You can use this trait only once per combat.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Goblin.

Goblins

Goblins are the smallest of the three types of goblinkin. They are commonly derided as thieves and child-killers, a title that many of the members of their race have legitimately earned. Nevertheless, those who have broken free of the curse of strife, or work to undermine Bane's influence over them, are often just as trustworthy (if not more so) than other people, and would do anything to help their friends.

Goblin Racial Traits

A goblin character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Goblins reach adulthood at age 8 and live up to 60 years.

Alignment

Goblins tend to look out for themselves, preferably without drawing unwanted attention from any larger and more powerful people.

Size

Goblins are between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh between 40 and 80 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Fury of the Small

When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell and the creature's size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack or spell to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals our 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 Common and Goblin.

Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins are the closest to humanoid of the goblinkin. They are often seen as cruel conquerors, infamous for their brutal, expansionist militaries and slaving operations to build their dark citadels. Those who have broken free of the curse of strife maintain the militaristic loyalty of their cursed kin, but have more capacity for empathy and often place that loyalty in those they care about or in a cause they believe in.

Hobgoblin Racial Traits

A hobgoblin character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Hobgoblins mature at the same rate as humans and have lifespans similar in length to theirs.

Alignment

Hobgoblins adhere to a strict code of honor and a rigid idea of martial discipline. Most are lawful, tending toward harsh enforcement of their laws.

Size

Hobgoblins are between 5 and 6 feet tall and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Martial Training

You are proficient with two martial weapons of your choice and with light armor.

Saving Face

Hobgoblins are careful not to show weakness in front of their allies, for fear of losing status. If you miss with an attack roll or fail an ability check or a saving throw, you can gain a bonus to the roll equal to the number of allies you can see within 30 feet of you (maximum bonus of +5). Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Goblin.