Goblin
The children of the witch-kings, blasphemers against the Old Gods
Base Racial Traits
Ability Scores: (+4 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma) Goblins are fast, but weak and unpleasant to be around. Type: Goblins are humanoids with the goblinoid subtype. Size: Goblins are small size creatures and gain all the bonuses and penalties because of it. Speed: Goblins are fast for their size, and have a base speed of 30ft. Senses: Goblins can see perfectly in the dark up to 60ft. Languages: Goblins begin play speaking The Regional Language(See Languages of Zheng-Kitar) that reflects their origins, and Goblin. Goblins with high intelligence may choose from the following languages:(Draconic, Necril, Aquan, Gnome, Halfing, Abyssal, Celestial, and Orc) Splintered Soul: Tormented, malformed creatures born with only fragments of souls, Goblins have less innate Atlen in their bodies than other creatures - they gain Channel Resist 5 and and gain a racial +4 on all saves made versus death effects and effects that would trap their souls. Hiders and Riders: The only two talents goblins are proud of, Goblins gain a +4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth Checks, and treat one as a class skill(Player Choice). Scrapshaman: Nearly neurotic in their obsession with tinkering, Goblins have the uncanny knack for repurposing metal to suit their needs - they gain a Craft Skill as a craft skill, gain a +2 on all craft checks, and make any metallic item in half the time. Once a day, by spending one minute in contact with raw metallic material, they can bolt and slap and slam it together into a masterworked weapon or armor of equal or lesser weight. This allows them to work with any metallic special material, but only if they do not recognize it as a special material - if they do, they must abide by its typical crafting requirements. Spiritual Imbalance: Unlike all other creatures, goblin bodies are not in elemental harmony - their Air element overpowers and stifles all other spiritual elements within them; This imbalance leads to obsession for that which they lack, granting them Fire Resistance 5 and allowing them to add +1 to the DC of any spell or effect with the Fire Descriptor. If a spell or effect has no saving throw, they instead add bonus damage to the spell or effect equal to 1/2 their current HD. Cursed Blood: Born with the power to wield their own corrupted blood, Goblins can, as a standard action, draw upon their own vitality to shape their life essence into blood spears to make a ranged touch attack with a 20ft range increment that deals 2d4 P/B/S damage(x2 Crit, 20 Crit Range). This attack does half damage when at full health, and does 50% more damage when below half health. Additionally, Goblin sorcerers with the Elemental or Oni bloodlines(Or Bloodragers with the Aberrant or Black-Blood Bloodlines) treat their Charisma score as 2 points higher for all spells and class abilities. The Drowning Tide: When a Goblin dies, the hideous corruption of the Witch-Kings reaches its zenith within their bodies and uses their dying screams and agony to give birth to more of their wretched kind; upon a Goblin's death, their bodies begin to churn and undergo a most terrible transformation - 24 hours after their death, 1d4+1 Goblins burst forth from their ruptured sinews and are created from their corpse, destroying the corpse in the process. These goblins are almost always 1HD base goblin statblocks with no allegiences or loyalties beyond attacking whatever is in their surroundings, and possess 1HP and do not have this racial trait until one week has passed from their creation(After which they can grow and function as fully sentient beings). This spawning is nullified if a goblin is slain by a silver weapon, halved if they are slain in direct sunlight(Min 1), and does not trigger if the goblin is slain by other servants of the Witch Kings. Dousing a goblin corpse with holy water during the 24 hour period after its death halves the number of created goblins, as does destroying the corpse in any way that does not atomize it. Doing both prevents any spawning from occuring. These created goblins are born with some of the memories of the goblin which they spawned from, and contain shards of their soul - once a goblin's corpse has been destroyed this way, only a true resurrection can restore them to life.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Goblin bodies are often short but powerful, with two short legs and arms attached to a central torso with a head located atop the torso. Their bodies are short but often muscular and scarred due to their often thankless and dangerous upbringing where few of them survive, though Goblins born into more civilized lives and areas can grow up lacking much of the muscle mass their more savage fellows possess.
Their anatomy is mostly normal for humanoid creatures; their organs are all consistent with human norms, though they simply function at a much quicker rate than others. Their biological functions, organs, metabolism, and everything else function at nearly twice the rate of humans and other longer lived humanoids...and it is this hyper-fast biology that leads to their short lives as their bodies degrade at a much quicker rate than others.
As beings born from the experiments of the ancient and twisted Witch-Kings, goblins on Zheng-Kitar are twisted, malformed things born with evil bones and malformed bodies born from the twisted vats of the Witch-Kings laboratories in ages past - and while many have spread across the land and other still strive to break the control the witch kings have on their lives, the marks of their creation endure.
Genetics and Reproduction
Goblin reproduce through sexual reproduction, and more than anything else, it is a thing they do often and incredibly well. Goblins are almost always fertile even far into their venerable years - and their reproductive systems are almost the first part of their bodies that fully develops as newborns into adults...and much like humans, Goblins are capable of mating with and reproducing with almost any other race with even a remotely similar biology.
As creatures that live and die quickly, goblins can have children with almost any race - though the more drastic the difference between goblin and a mate, the more painful and agonizing the process becomes for both, and the more likely that mutations or stillbirths occur in the child. However, the sheer amount of children capable of being produced by them often far outpaces the failure rate of these pregnancies...meaning that in a civilized area, Goblins can very VERY quickly overpopulate unless they take care to manage their libidos to adjust for the much lower mortality rates of their children in those civilized areas.
Females often give birth to multiple children at a time, who are often kept in cages or other storage areas in more barbaric tribes to reduce the burden on goblin parents...and in such areas, it is incredibly common for goblin children to murder and cannibalize each other to survive, ensuring only the stronger survive their short but brutal childhoods into adulthood. In more civilized areas this can differ in terms of how the children are treated, but the amount produced does not.
Growth Rate & Stages
Quicker than almost any other race on Zheng-Kitar, Goblins grow to adulthood in two scant months at a frighteningly quick pace that sees them become fully grown adults before most other newborns of other races can barely walk. They grow alarming quick and learn even quicker, though their brutal and barbaric societies often hold them back from civilization.
Once a goblin reaches adulthood around 2 to 3 months old, they become middle aged around age 20, old around age 30, and become venerable around age 40 and die shortly thereafter...and while the eldest goblins can reach 50 and even 60 years old, they almost all invariably die long before they reach even middle age.
Ecology and Habitats
Most goblins, whether directly settling in an area on orders from their Witch-King masters or living in an area as descendants of such goblins in ages past, 'traditional' Goblins prefer to dwell in caves, amid large and dense thickets of thistles and brambles, or in structures built and then abandoned by others. Very few goblins have the drive to build structures of their own. Coastlines are favored, as goblins are quite fond of sifting through junk and flotsam in an unending quest to find treasures among the refuse of more civilized races.
These goblins often raid and invade the surrounding area out of neccesity to aquire resources to keep themselves fed and supplied, and attack and kill others both to capture more attractive members of other races to produce more children with as well as for simple reasons such as food, entertainment, and more.
More civilized Goblins tend to show up in any area near cities and towns - generally ones on the fringe of civilization to lessen their chances of being killed on sight.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Goblins are voracious and can eat their body weight in food daily without growing fat, and often keep massive larders or storehouses in their lairs or dwellings to accomodate these massive appetites, while the less civilized goblins might keep a stock of live animals or prey nearby to satiate this immense hunger at a moment's notice. They will quite literally eat anything, and for good reasons are squads of hungry goblins compared to termites, with teeth sharp enough they can eat an entire wooden dwelling down to bare ground in barely a day.
Biological Cycle
As they age, goblins grow old and wither both mentally and physically, their strength leaving them on all fronts as what little hair they often have turns grey and white, their fangs dull, and their skin wrinkles. However, they rarely to become old in barbaric goblin societies and are often eaten or kill by their cohorts for resources.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Goblins have a hard time growing hair on their heads, so they rarely have facial hair or long head hair, but their faces are generally green and brutish, with sharp fangs and brutal eyes.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Though their inception at the hands of the Witch-Kings happened Eons ago, their legacy as footsoldiers and blasphemous warriors to fight against the Old Gods and Spirit Kings lives on - their long war ages ago carried them to each and every corner of Zheng-Kitar, and beyond. And while not every goblin may actively serve the Witch-Kings(Though all still tell tales of them, some believed they have passed into myth and legend), all exist as relics of their most terrible existence...and the rare few civilized goblins can be found anywhere their more common barbaric kin can be found - though generally they approach civilization on the borders, in the hopes that prejudice on the border towns and cities is less enough that they might not be killed on sight.
Average Intelligence
While they have a stigma associated with them as dumb brutish animals, goblins can in fact become just as smart as other races, though they often simply lack the desire or drive to do such things as "read books" or "study".
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Favoring caves and underground homes, Goblin eyes are incredibly well-adapted to the dark and allow them to see normally in darkness out to sixty feet.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Goblin names reflect the chaotic, unpredictable natures of the goblins themselves, and are often unified only by their shortness, and frequent use of sharp sounds and syllables.
Male Names: Boorgub, Chuffy, Churkus, Drubbus, Gawg, Ghorg, Gogmurch, Irnk, Kavak, Lunthus, Mogmurch, Mogawg, Murch, Nurpus, Pogus, Poog, Ronk, Rotfoot, Unk, Vogun, Zobmaggle, Zord
Female Names: Aka, Chee, Fevva, Geedra, Goomluga, Gretcha, Hoglob, Janka, Klongy, Luckums, Lupi, Medge, Namby, Olba, Rempy, Reta, Ruxi, Vruta, Yalla, Ziku
Genetic Descendants
Lifespan
40 Years
Conservation Status
Goblins are an extremely plentiful species which needs no conservation or protection, to such a degree that many joke about the incredible speed with which goblins reproduce and grow to adulthood. Many often say such things as "There's too many of them!".
Average Height
1.96ft - 3.3ft (0.6 - 1.0 Meters)
Average Weight
22.04lbs - 33.06lbs (10kg - 15kg)
Average Physique
Goblins are generally short and lanky, but can become bulky and muscular with muscular and active lifestyles.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Goblins’ skin tone varies based on the surrounding environment; common skin tones include green, gray, and blue, though black and even pale white goblins have been sighted.
The Witch-Kings' Creations
Of all the legends and myths in Zheng-Kitaran history, few are as well-known nor as terrifying as the infamous "Witch-Kings" of Bhorsis-Razghûl - the legendary group of which they were, are, and always shall be six and six alone - six beings of indescribable malice and hatred that rose from the annals of namelessness to become some of the most feared beings in the world. Their origin is unclear, as is their ultimate fate and race - it is unknown whether they were proto-goblins, hobgoblins, or something else entirely - but what is known is that these legendary masters of profane magics burned with rage - a rage as pure and potent as sunshine, both at the Old Gods and the Spirit Kings both. And with their mastery of vile magics not seen nor used in the milennia since their ultimate disappearance did they wrought creations most vile - chiefmost of which were the goblins. Beings of malformed hatred and burning wrath that were designed to consume and destroy all they set their eyes upon - a race of fodder designed to serve as eternal support in the Witch-Kings' war against their eternal foes. Forged with burning evil curses and filled with boiling blood that simmers then and still with a veritable plethora of sources most villanous and vile, goblins were forged and spread throughout the continent as a race designed to consume and destroy all in their path - a race of worthless peons designed to win their battles through numbers rather than power. Now, though the Witch-Kings long since vanished in the hours leading up to and after the climactic final confrontation that saw them 'slain' atop their vile black-iron citadels, their influence yet burns in goblin culture. Many goblin tribes yet claim to serve the will of their creators, and as a race have mostly turned their backs on the Spirit Kings and Old Gods - refusing their worship in favor of the Witch-Kings, and rarely some other more tribal idols. And though many have since freed themselves from the Witch-Kings direct control, they are yet descended from them - and serve as a race that carries on their creator's intentions as they blaspheme and rage against the Old Gods and Spirit Kings, still seeking to tear down their churches wherever they can be found...and only a few goblins grow smart and independent enough to wish to break this control, to varying degrees of success - though none can deny the process has been picking up in recent years, as more and more goblins seek to break the shackles of the Witch-Kings and find a place in the civilized world...though the stigma imposed upon them by their racial legacy and their more barbaric ancestors ensures they are met with no small degree of hostility and suspicion.
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