Goblins

Goblins are small creatures that many consider little more than a nuisance. Breeding rapidly in dirty, cramped warrens, goblin populations are kept in check only through their constant internal bickering and their slaughter at the hands of nearly every other underdark and surface race. The concept of a fair fight is meaningless in goblin society, with ambushes, overwhelming odds, and dirty tricks being the norm. Goblins tend to favor assassination and downright murder to anything resembling combat, and their skill at such tactics is impressive.

Goblins tend to be tribal, with the biggest, strongest, or smartest goblins leading the rest of the tribe. However, leadership of goblin tribes tends to be in constant flux, with the assassins of former leaders often taking their place. Occasionally, larger creatures such as hobgoblins or minotaurs assume control of a goblin tribe, forging it into an impressive, if unorganized, army.

Individually, goblins tend to have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, often fleeing the moment a battle begins to turn against them. With proper supervision, however, goblins have proved to be incredibly clever, implementing exceedingly complex plans and battle maneuvers. Goblins have no sense of privacy or hygiene, and are often both smelly and filthy.

Incredibly, goblins seem to possess an innate knack for tinkering. Though most goblins to not take this inborn talent much further than breaking things in creative ways, a few goblins have managed to become artificers on par with gnomes. The differences between gnomish and goblin engineering is obvious, however; a goblin’s creations will typically be rusted and pitted, and outfitted with as many spikes and cutting edges as the device is capable of possessing. Unlike gnomes, goblins seem to be able to find clever and insidious uses for the simplest of devices, and rarely let any little bit of salvage go to waste.

Personality: Most goblins are greedy, selfish, compulsive liars. Possessed with a self-satisfying attitude, many goblins are skilled thieves and assassins, often disdaining direct confrontation. Many goblins believe in terrorizing their victims, making elaborate shows of torturing helpless foes or in eating their victims within plain sight of their allies. Although these acts often bring the goblin pleasure, they are just as often merely means to intimidate an enemy, and thus increase the odds of the battle in the goblin’s favor. Goblins detest fair fights.

Goblins also tend to exhibit a need to belong to something greater than themselves, even if it is merely to prove to the world that they are not the weakest, slowest, or least intelligent creatures in existence. Goblins tend to bully those they deem weaker than themselves, though this rarely leads to anything more than simple harassment. Goblins tend to either flee or ally with foes who prove to be more powerful than themselves.

Physical Description: An average goblin stands between 3 and 3 ½ feet tall, and weighs between 40 and 45 pounds. They stand with a crouched, cautious posture, and seem overly paranoid to observers. Their eyes are often deep-set into their feral skulls, varying in color between crimson and a dull yellow. A goblin’s skin color is usually a deep shade of green, with a texture much like rubber, though goblins with deep red or brown pigmentation are not unheard of.

Goblins have a fearsome appearance, with a harsh, protruding nose and wicked, oversized mouths filled with jutting canines and a slender tongue nearly a foot in length. Filthy claws on their hands and feet further add to the goblins’ sinister appearance, as do their wide, pointed ears, which often flair out prominently from their squat heads.

Goblins typically wear discarded or stolen clothing which has been torn to accommodate their smaller frames, favoring dark leathers above all else. In an effort to stand out from their numerous siblings, goblins often pierce their large ears with numerous rings made of precious metals and gems. Tattooing and body scarring are also common among goblin tribes, and many drow have taken to branding their goblinoid slaves as an easy way to keep track of them.

Relations: Goblins have a horrible reputation among other races. Often seen as murderous vermin who would kill for a few coppers, very few races have good relations with goblins. The drow tend to capture goblins for use as slaves, and more than one noble house fields the creatures as disposable fodder in their armies. Duergar, however, share the common dwarven prejudice against goblinoids, and a lone goblin in Duergar territory had best be very careful. Goblins, on the other hand, seem willing to work with nearly any race, so long as the goblin in question profits by the association.

Alignment: The majority of goblins care little for anyone besides themselves, and seem to have few morals to restrain their behavior. This being said, goblins are quite capable of working in a group with others, so long as they’re rewarded in the end. Thus, most goblins are neutral evil, though variations are not uncommon. While few goblins ever turn to the side of good, those who strike out on their own occasionally temper their outlook on life, becoming neutral.

Religion: Nearly all goblins pay homage to their creator, Kalosh. Should a powerful cleric of another god assume control of their tribe, however, most goblins are just as willing to conform to the new religion, provided it still allows them to lie, cheat, steal, and murder. Those few goblins who do become clerics tend to favor spells that weaken or confuse their enemies.

Language: Goblins speak their own language, a bastardized form of Gnomish. Goblins close to the surface often learn human tongues as well.

Names: Goblin names are usually short and harsh. Surnames are typically descriptive words or phrases used to remember its favorite kill. Goblin surnames denote their 'pack,' which is similar to a family. Packs are only loosely based upon heredity, and a goblin who joins another pack will typically adopt the surname of that pack.

Male names: Drak, Jog, Mokk, Nibs, Gar, Vak, Zeb

Female Names: Dru, Blaw, Dura, Fiy, Sley, Zut, Han

Surnames: Fleshdrinker, Bonechewer, Tonguepuller, Legripper, Toothgrinder, Eyegouger

Adventures: Goblins often turn to adventure as a way to gain wealth and magical items that they would otherwise never find in the warrens. Some are escaped drow slaves, fleeing from a capriciously cruel master who may appear at any time. Others are the sole survivors of raids upon their homes, spared from death by either fate or cowardice. Whatever the reason, goblins soon learn that they fair very poorly by themselves, and quickly seek to join mixed-race adventuring groups among those who might overlook their race’s reputation.

Gnome(Migdalia) Racial Traits

* -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma. Goblins are quick and agile, but cowardly and physically weak.

* Small size. A goblin has a +1 size bonus to its Armor Class, a +1 size bonus to its attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on its Hide checks, but its lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters those of a Medium character.

* A goblin’s base land speed is 30 feet. Goblins are adept at scampering out of harm’s way.

* Darkvision: Goblins can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and goblins can function just fine with no light at all.

* +4 racial bonus to Move Silently checks. Goblins are naturally sneaky.

* +2 racial bonus to Disable Device checks. Goblins possess an uncanny knack for taking objects apart (or at least breaking things in creative ways).

* Automatic Languages: Goblin.

* Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnomish, Orc.

* Favored Class: Rogue.

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