Goblin
Goblins occupy an uneasy place in a dangerous world, and they react by lashing out at any creatures they believe they can bully. Cunning in battle and cruel in victory, goblins are fawning and servile in defeat. The reason for this behaviour is straightforward, because all Goblins have one instinct that takes precedence above all others, self-preservation. This endless pursuit of guaranteeing one's own life above all else has resulted in an image of goblins as backstabbing, thieving, lying wretches, because these methods are an efficient means to ensure one's own survival.
Goblin Biology
- ( 1) Dexterous. +1 to your Dexterity score.
- (-1) Fragile. -1 to your Constitution score.
- Size. Small.
- Speed. 25 feet.
- (-1) Short Step. -5 to your Speed.
- Life Span. Goblins reach adulthood at age 8 and live up to 60 years.
- ( 1) ✦ 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 gray.
- ( 2) Toxic Fortitude. You have Poison Resistance and Advantage on Saves against being Poisoned.
Goblin Ethnology
- (-1) Foolish. -1 to your Wisdom score.
- (-1) Week. -1 to your Strength score.
- ( 2) ✦ Nimble Escape. You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
- ( 2) Grovel, Cower, and Beg. As an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you.
- Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
- ( 1) ✦ Fury of the Small. Requirement: Size category of small or Tiny. 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 your proficiency bonus.
- Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest.
- ( 1) Beast Tamer. You have Proficiency in the Animal Handling Skill.
- ( 1) Monster handler. Goblins do not distinguish between beasts or monsters. Any of your features or spells that specifically affect creatures of the Beast type also affect creatures with the monstrosity type.
- (-1) Craven: You have Disadvantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Frightened Condition on yourself.
- (-2) Coldhearted. Whenever you make a skill check related to understanding emotional nuance, empathize with another, or appeal to other creatures' emotions. You roll the skill check with disadvantage.
Goblin Lineages
At the behest of their eternal empress, the grand alchemists of the Hobgoblin Empire were able to create a slave cast with an ingrained sense of servitude. These creatures were primarily made up of criminals and undesirables who would be put to better use by their superiors. These were the goblins, cheap, expendable, and easily corralled with a whip. Through this, they managed to create different breeds that suited various tasks.Fodder
- ( 1) Stout. +1 to your Constitution Score.
- ( 2) Mental Fortitude. You have Psionic Resistance and Advantage on Saves against being Charmed.
- ( 1) ✦ Gallows humor. Once after a creature reaches 0 hp, you can expend and roll a hit die and gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the result.
- ( 2) Grit. You can use this trait to roll a Constitution saving throw in place of a different ability saving throw.
- Once you use this trait, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.
Pet
- ( 1) Charming. +1 to your Charisma Score.
- ( 1) Culinary Knowledge. You gain Tool Proficiency in Cook's Utensils.
- ( 1) Patch Worker. You gain Proficiency with Weaver’s Tools.
- ( 1) ✦ Socially astute. Whenever you make a skill check related to polite conversing, understanding a creature's motives, manoeuvring high society, or any other skill checks related to social engagement, you add your proficiency bonus to the roll. The bonus stacks with any already existing bonuses.
- ( 1) Applied Aid. You can use this trait to take the Help action as a bonus action.
- You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
- If you are level 8 or higher, you can use your next ability score improvement to spend 2 points to pick this feature again. Doing so allows you to take the Help action as a bonus action without limit.
Nosey
- ( 1) Smart. +1 to your Intelligence score.
- ( 2) Clever. You gain Expertise in one of the following skills: Investigation, Insight, History, Survival, or Deception. You have to be proficient in the skill to begin with.
- ( 1) ✦ Con-artist. Whenever you make a skill check related to planning out an operation, setting up a conspiracy, haggling prices, or any other skill checks related to deceiving someone in a simple or complex manner, you add your proficiency bonus to the roll. The bonus stacks with any already existing bonuses.
- ( 1) Lock Picker. You gain Proficiency with Thieves’ Tools.
- ( 1) Extra language. You know one additional non-extraplanar language of your choice.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Short, flat-faced, sloped back foreheads, prominent pointy ears, sharp teeth, eyes varied in color from red to yellow, and with skin color ranging from yellow through any shade of orange to a deep green. There are a few who wouldn't be able to recognize a goblin on sight, given how infamous goblins are worldwide.
Combat Fodder
To achieve their grand dream of conquering the world, the Hobgoblin Empire needed a vast army to match the magnitude of their ambitions. This made Goblins the ideal soldiers for ensuring victory not just in the short term, but in the long term as well. But it wasn't for their strength, discipline, or skill that made them ideal for the war effort. Goblins were ideal because they were made to perform the most grueling tasks off the battlefield, and then to be used as fodder on the battlefield to improve the survivability of the real soldiers, the ones with good gear and actual training.
Fodder Goblins are lankier and paler, as if they have been perpetually malnourished. With bags under their eyes, numerous warts, and wrinkles a plenty, they are a sore sight to look at. As such, most Hobgoblin armies would eventually include headwear for their fodder, not for protection, but so that they don't have to look at their ugly mugs.
Cute pet
With the introduction of the new Goblin slaves for the Hobgoblin empire, some Hobgoblin nobles wished to acquire their own personal Goblin servants. The lacemist guild wasn't lacking in slaves to sell, so they earned a fortune supplying the Hobgoblin household with able-bodied workers. But, a problem quickly arose when many of the buyers found their Goblin servants to be too ugly. Resorting to either throwing them out or, more simply, to killing them when they became too bothersome to keep. To solve this, the alchemical guilds went to work creating goblins that were somewhat more pleasant to look at. And with trial and error, they managed to produce a strain that the Hobgoblin nobility could stomach to look at.
They were made to look fair, as much as their kind could be. With button-like noses, rounded cheeks, and more rounded facial features. Though they would still carry some of their kin's unsavoury features, they were very much adopted per their namesake.
Large Nose
Hobgoblins who lived in discarded items are sentenced to punishment by goblinification, the greatest and most humiliating of insults. Intended very much to be so by the Eternal Empress, something to be mocked and scoffed at by all, with only death being their release. As per their namesake, they have noticeably large noses, often accompanied by a green skin tone. Green was, after all, the Empress's most hated color.
However, be it an unforeseen effect of the alchemical formula or the gods playing a joke on the alchemists, this goblin gained a higher level of cognition. These goblins were but in minor administrative roles with the intention to help manage the Goblin salves, only to result in an empire-wide rebellion led by the main large noses.
