Riadus

A long, long time ago, goblins were a mystical, powerful and prolific race of fey creatures. That was a long, long time ago. Whatever the goblins did to anger to the gods enough to rob them not only of their immortality, but all of their magic and beauty as well, has been lost to the ages. Today the goblin race is a simple, though still prolific, folk who have integrated themselves into the societies of other races. They are most common in human lands where they are tolerated due to their occasional usefulness and general belief that it would be impossible to be rid of them.

Personality: Goblins are quite superstitious, and treat magic with a fawning mixture of awe and fear. They have the habit of ascribing magic to the mundane as well, with fire and writing both taking on mystical power in goblin society. Fire is much loved by goblins for its capacity to wreak great destruction and because it doesn’t require size or strength to wield. The written word, however, is often viewed with suspicion at best at fear and hatred at worst. Goblins believe that writing steals words out of your head, and as a result of this belief, goblins are almost universally illiterate.

Physical Description: This creature stands barely three feet tall, its scrawny, humanoid body dwarfed by its wide, ungainly head. Their complexions range from deep blue to golden yellow, and they may be light- or dark-skinned, though most tend toward a common greenish cast. Their hair and eyes, by contrast, are almost always a plain charcoal color, ranging from gray to black. Their dark hair, slight build and green skin make hiding in woodland areas uncannily easy. Goblins are voracious and can eat their body weight in food daily without growing fat. Goblin lairs always have numerous storerooms and larders. A goblin won’t turn down any food—except, perhaps, raw vegetables.

Society: Goblins claim no cultural homeland and control no settlements larger than rural assemblies of free towns. Far more often, they dwell at the knees of humans in human cities, eking out whatever meager livings they can from the scraps of larger societies. Many goblins lead perfectly fulfilling lives in the shadow of their larger neighbors, while some prefer more nomadic lives on the road, traveling the world and experiencing all it has to offer.

Goblins who live outside the society of the larger races tend to be wild, ruthless and evil.

Relations: Goblin hatred runs deep, and few things inspire their wrath more than dwarves (who have long fought against goblins), horses (who frighten goblins tremendously), and regular dogs (whom goblins regard as pale imitations of goblin dogs).

Goblin Lands: 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.

Alignment & Religion: Goblins by nature are a selfish and cowardly lot, but are not necessarily cruel or greedy, and tend toward neutrality. Goblins rarely worship any deity other than Nual. Wild goblins form cults within their camps which center activities around her worship. For a goblin to worship any other deity, that deity would have to help the goblin personally in some way for it to even be a consideration.

Language: Goblins have their own distinctive language which is shared among the larger goblinoids. Goblin has no alphabet of its own and many goblins have adopted either the dwarven runes or any of the human alphabets when some demented goblin feels a need to write something down. Most goblins consider writing a form of magic, and many fear it for superstitious reasons and never become literate. (Player character goblins are always literate.)

Names: Goblins are given a name either by their parents or their cultural leader or chief. Goblins do not usually have family names, but some families within larger cities, particularly those within human and gnome lands, adopt a family name. Goblin naming conventions vary from family to family and place to place. Many are named a variation of the name of an ancestor or a person or place the goblin’s parents greatly respect. Female goblin names usually start with vowel sound and end in a ‘th’. Male names can be anything.

Male Names: Gyts, Mosor, Nilt, Rayoet, Slem.
Female Names: Adestuth, Anelth, Elalth, Osyth, Unilth, Ustorth.

Adventurers: A goblin adventurer is a rare sight. Those who become adventurers do so out of a need to prove themselves to the larger folk of the land, or perhaps simply to prove a goblin can be more than just a goblin. Regardless of what role they play within a group of other adventurers, goblins are often overly enthusiastic about fulfilling their role’s responsibilities.

Goblin Racial Traits

• –2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, –2 Charisma: Goblins are fast, but weak and unpleasant to be around.
• Small: Goblins are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
• Fast: Goblins are fast for their size, and have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Darkvision: Goblins can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Skilled: +4 racial bonus on Ride and Stealth checks.
• Weapon Proficiency: Goblins are proficient with short swords treat any weapon with the word “goblin” in its name as a martial weapon.
• Languages: Goblins begin play speaking Common and a Regional Language (usually Goblin). Goblins with high Intelligence scores can choose bonus languages from the following: Draconic, Orc, Sylvan, Undercommon and all Regional Languages.