Goblins

"We've scouted the area, and, well..."
"It's goblins again, isn't it?"
"... Yeah, it's goblins."

Human soldier reporting to his commanding officer

Calling Goblins 'tiny avatars of destruction' sounds comical, and in many ways it is, but it is not wholly inaccurate. Lovers of fire and ruin, goblins are anathema to the civilizations that other sentient races try to build, lacking the patience to settle or build as long as they can take from others. In this way, they don't live entirely unlike rats do, multiplying from the refuse of settlements or in caves.
A distinctly tribal race, goblins are most closely related to Orcs, with whom they share distinct leathery skin and the skin tones that come with it, but they do not share their cousins' sheer strength. What they do have, however, is an energy and tenacity that only their connection to The Source of Chaos could fully justify.
Typically thought of as the stupid pests that their description implies, goblins have little in the way of attention span or maturity, but they are not unintelligent. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that they are uninterested in becoming disciplined, showing a sort of primal joy for life, even when it is as fleeting as the flames they admire.

Racial Modifiers

• Characteristics: Goblins gain a +2 bonus to DEX, but suffer a -1 to WP and STR.
• Size: Goblins subtract 5 from their Size characteristic, and may not choose to increase it using the Uncommon Size Advantage. If this would bring them below Small size, the remainder does not apply. Goblins of Small size gain all the bonuses this implies to stealth, attack penalties on others, increased Base Initiative, and so on. Some stronger, larger outliers do exist, however, and these are treated as any other Medium creature.
• Voracious: Capable of eating almost anything remotely organic, Goblins gain a +20 bonus to any Resistance check to avoid being poisoned or contracting food-borne illness.
• Flexible: Due to their flexible bodies, small size, and willingness to pack themselves into tight spaces, Goblins suffer half the penalties to Attack and Defense inside such spaces. If they take the Movement in Confined Spaces Style Module, these penalties are completely removed. They also gain +20 to Acrobatics checks made to maneuver through narrow spaces.
• Easygoing: Goblins live with less worry than most, and gain a +20 to Composure against negative emotions such as fear or anger, but also experience a -10 to their Resistance checks against any supernatural mental effect that is not directly related to these emotions.
• Night Vision: Goblins ignore any penalties caused by natural darkness, and reduce penalties from magically induced or absolute darkness by half.
• Energetic: Goblins gain 1 additional point of Fatigue, and gain a +40 to any Athleticism checks made to determine how long they can move at full speed. They also gain a +2 to movement value (cancelling the penalty from size if present).
• Reckless Impatience: A combination of lack of both concern for life and patience, fleeting interests, and perhaps the chaotic touch of the divine all lend themselves to the Goblins' penchant for disaster. When performing any Dexterity-Based secondary check that requires more than a single round, they increase their fumble range by 2 points. However, they may also halve the time they spend on any Creative skill used to craft an item (magical or otherwise) or on Trap Lore used to make traps.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Goblins are small (roughly half the size of your typical human) and have skin that is somewhere between rubbery and leathery, giving them remarkable flexibility compared to their strong-boned, muscular cousins. Their ears are large and often pointed, and their skin has a similar range of green to brown.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Goblins are predominantly carnivorous, and do not shy away from the cooked meat of other sentient races they have raided, finding little reason to let it go to waste. Those that prey off civilizations in a more subtle manner also have a distinct affinity for cheese.
Perhaps due to generations of having no patience for true cooking, many goblins are fully capable of eating completely burnt meat with no ill effects, and even intentionally use this as an impromptu preservation method.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Despite their relationship with civilization, goblins are not lacking in their own culture. Their culture is primarily an oral one, with stories told around bonfires lasting for generations and forming tribal identities. Their connection to The Source grants some of them abilities as oracles, able to foresee events of import, and these goblins who see the future in the flames are highly respected.
Apart from these oracles, there is little in the way of leadership in goblin tribes, and their long-term planning skills leave much to be desired. However, their gifts guide them whether they realize it or not, giving goblins a certain degree of uncanny luck and a tendency to be present where great upheavals will occur. This, as a result, has a tendency to mean that they make an already bad situation irreparably worse.
As such, what could be called goblin 'society' is a frantic - some might even say beautiful - chaos. Goblins live hour to hour, minute to minute, dancing around their fires, sharing stories, and eating ravenously, and by many accounts they love almost every moment of it. If there is anything that could be called a coherent philosophy among goblinkind, it is this: to love life and not take it for granted, to live in the moment, for in the next you might be snuffed out by the wind and rain.
At the same time, goblins sometimes direct themselves towards the few pursuits that manage to hold their attention and come up with inventions and ideas that could put even humans to shame. Their wandering minds and deft hands, coupled with their lack of fear of death and love of fire, may have birthed such creations as alchemist's fire and even firearms, fireworks, and cannons. Of course, other races rarely credit them for these feats.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Humans

Humans are a favorite of the goblins, with their delicious livestock and plethora of cheeses. Their rapid expansion also makes their abandoned buildings a common choice for goblin dwellings, which some tribes have even learned to crudely emulate. On top of this, humans are some of the few to seem to understand what goblins want.
Humans sometimes offer food and advice to goblins in exchange for unusual tasks. However, humans know how to use fire to great effect as well, and this command of its secrets inspires awe in many goblins, leading them to give more advanced settlements a wide berth.

Dwarves

Dwarves are incapable of joy. As a result of this fact, they should be killed on sight if possible. Thankfully for goblins, encountering dwarves is relatively rare outside of the mountains. This stance remains largely unchallenged, as the orc that both consorts with goblins and gets along with dwarves is a rare one. In terms of taste, the only thing keeping dwarves from being the least appetizing is that orcs are uniquely unsettling to eat.

Elves

Elves have some of the best stories, and getting the opportunity to share tales with them is a rare treat that many goblins jump at without hesitation. Their magic is said to open minds and show goblins possibilities they could scarcely imagine. Similarly, elves show a rare joy around goblins that they do not see from most other races, a mutual enthusiasm that makes them wonderful, if brief, companions.
As such, some tribes have agreements to never harm a travelling elf, lest they ruin these opportunities. In the same vein, they even show something resembling manners, as the distaste shown by elves towards their uncouth behaviors is obvious even to the least observant goblin.

Orcs

Orcs understand goblins better than any other race. They understand the struggle for food, the importance of the tribe, the joys of wandering. Orcs are like an older brother to goblins, who protect them, give them direction, and share food with them. At the same time, they treat their oracles with respect and expect little from goblins except for them to keep doing as they always have, things that goblins appreciate greatly.
While already lacking a fear of death, having orcs on their side makes goblins feel practically invincible, their fervor for battle proving almost infectious. Nothing can inspire a goblin tribe to take up weapons and torches faster than seeing their neighboring orcs prepare for battle.

Lifespan

30-40 years