Written by: Kevin RohanEdited by: Grant LachnerCover Art: Elizabeth Wyand

SGG 8002, All rights reserved, Copyright 2015

GoblinsSam

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My first mistake was to underestimate these dark, gibbering creatures. I underestimated their intelligence, their devotion, their singular drive toward a tribal goal that supersedes the needs, or lives, of indi-viduals. My second mistake was pride in thinking I could recover from the first mistake without a lasting reminder.

- Renwalt the Nine-Fingered

Goblins are a short race of typically malicious humanoids. They generally take great glee in victory, but such victories are few and far between as they are a cowardly lot when circumstances do not favor their larger numbers. Individual Goblins do not go out of their way to provoke enemies; preferring larger num-bers and overwhelming odds to overrun their opponents.

Goblins do not have craftsmen of their own. They take over the ruins and buildings of others; prefer-ring to take residence underground in abandoned mines and the homes of other humanoids. They are not above taking them by force, nor are they above enslaving others to do their work to dig new areas for them. Whatever their living conditions, they prefer them underground, with multiple access points, and they adapt them to have multiple rooms to confuse any interlopers.

Short Lives, Nasty MindsGoblin minds quickly fall to malice and revenge when they are slighted. They live short lives and when a Goblin does live to see old age, they are lucky to see 50, with the oldest goblins hitting about 55 years old. They are typically considered adults at the age of 12. Of course, with their singular drive toward tribal survival, it is rare for a Goblin to see that age. Those that do are very cunning, very cowardly, or very tough.

Goblins focus on their Clan. Family is very important to them and the preservation of their clans is one of the few things that will drive a Goblin to fight to the death. Tribes of goblins are constructed of multiple clans, sometimes as many as eight clans per tribe. Goblins place little worth on the deeds of their ancestors, but they are proud of the name they bear.

Goblins away from their clan are quiet, conniving, and are constantly on the lookout for threats and for an escape route. Nearly all speak Common though many times they pretend that they do not. Goblins are always looking to get the upper hand on any enemies, real or imagined.

Goblins have three separate sub-races that they fall into. The largest sub-race is the Tribal Goblin. The second largest is the Civilized Goblin, an insulting name given to them by other humanoids. The third group is the Deep Goblin, a race of Goblins found only in the deepest locations in the Underdark.

Goblin NamesRoll on Table 1 and then on Table 2. The resulting name is the name of a goblin. Af-ter that, determine the clan and then band of the Goblin (or Goblins) in question.

Table 1: 1. Brindle2. Knuckle3. Dagger4. Bone5. Tooth6. Fang7. Claw8. Marrow9. Blade10. Bolt11. Buckle12. Sword13. Fist14. Hammer15. Clan16. Mine17. Rock18. Skull19. Shield20. Grist

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Clan NameEach Band is made up of 1d6 + 2 Clans. Clans are the group that a Goblin will be most loyal to; they are the family units that the goblins are born into. Roll a D20 for on tables three and four to find the Goblin’s Clan Name.

Tribe NameTribe Names are generally reflective of where the Goblins are located. These names are rarely used by anyone outside the tribe; it’s not that they aren’t known, it’s that the tribe names are not used and the more familiar clan names are used. The goblins take it as a grave insult to use Clan names in place of Tribe names except in cases where they are familiar with out-siders. Clan names are two rolls

like the other rolls.

The First roll is part of the Goblin’s home-territory geography. Each Tribe calls their homeland some-thing different and it is passed down from group to group as they colonize and spread. The new colony is named for the location that the old colony founded. If they are around civilized people, the Tribe name will sometimes borrow the geography of those that they are near. The second portion of the Tribe name is the major geographical feature of the area the Goblins hail from.

So with a few simple rolls, a goblin name clan name, and tribe name are generated quickly. For example, if we roll 5, 9, 12, 2, 2, and 1, we generate: Toothbender Slickskin of Tribe Bloodfen. If you determine that Toothbender has kin that are to be generated, you only need to roll for the first name again. Maybe Toothbender has a brother named Hammershanker and another brother named Blad-edrinker.

Goblin TraitsEach Goblin has the following traits and characteristics regard-less of their sub-type.

Ability ScoresEach Goblin receives a -1 to Strength, a +2 to Dexterity, a -1 to Wisdom, and a -1 to Cha-risma.

AgeGoblins live only to be about 50 years of age. Many start raiding, defending the clan, or adventur-ing at around the age of 12.

AlignmentIt is very difficult for Goblins to escape their natural tendencies toward the Neutral Evil ways of their kin. They tend to be neutral in regard to the law, with many leaning toward True Neutral or even Neutral Good if they are attempting to integrate into society.

SizeA Goblin is small, rarely seeing 5 feet in height. To roll randomly for height, roll 4d6 for inches and add that to a base of 36 inches. Goblins weigh between 40 and 80 pounds. All Goblins are small creatures.

SpeedGoblins have a base speed of 30. They are unhin-dered by rough terrain.

DarkvisionGoblins have Darkvision of 60 feet.

Rat Keepers and Wolf RidersWhen working with rats and wolves, Goblins have

Table 2: 1. Breaker2. Shanker3. Smasher4. Taker5. Bringer6. Cracker7. Eater8. Carver9. Bender10. Tender11. Hunter12. Render13. Drinker14. Shooter15. Thrower16. Digger17. Biter18. Speaker19. Killer20. Splitter

Table 3: 1. Red2. Black3. Yellow4. Blue5. Green6. White7. Brown8. Leather9. Dark10. Light11. Oil12. Slick13. Poison14. Dank15. Vicious16. Skulking17. Swift18. Quick19. Cunning20. Pale

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an innate empathy with the creatures. They have Advantage when using Animal Handling with these creatures.

ScavengingGoblins do not craft quality items on their own. They are expert scavengers and they can repair items to what is normally far past their useful life. Metal blades are supplanted with bone and stone when they break, fas-teners are replaced with lengths of leather or even string woven from hair. Where other races see only garbage, Goblins see tools, armor, and ammunition.

Trap CunningGoblins are natural trapsmiths. They use them to deter maraud-ers as well as trap animals for

mounts and food. All Goblins have Advantage on checks to locate, disarm, or place traps of any kind.

LanguagesGoblins speak, read, and write Common as well as Goblin. Goblinspeak is a high pitched language made of harsh syllables.

Habitual Pack RatGoblins pick things up that interest them; usually things that are shiny or just catch their eye. They hoard gold and precious items more than just ran-dom garbage but Goblins, even Civilized Goblins, have a tendency to collect random things that just grab their attention. Goblins begin play with three trinkets, not just one.

Easily DistractedGoblins are not known for their ability to keep focus. They get bored easy, they are distracted by shiny things, and they have been known to wander

away from areas they are sup-posed to be guarding. Any check that requires the Goblin to be paying attention for, she is at a Disadvantage. This includes checks for Concentration for spell casting and Perception checks if they are waiting in the same location for more than a number of rounds equal to the character’s Wisdom bonus.

Sub-RaceThere are three types of Gob-lins. Tribal Goblins are those that are commonly thought of when it comes to Goblinoids. Civilized Goblins are those that have broken away from their tribe, or that are part of a lost tribe and they attempt to make a living away from Goblin kind. The third type of Goblin is the Deep Goblin, a race of mysterious Goblins that are of dark skin, white eyes, and of intentions that are as black as a night in the Underdark.

You must choose a sub-race when you create your Goblin.

Tribal GoblinTribal Goblins are the Goblins most commonly encountered. They are dirty, nasty, and mean.

Poison CunningA Tribal Goblin receives a +1 bonus to all skill checks involving poison craft or poison identifica-tion. They also receive a +1 bonus to all poison saves.

HuntedMost societies do not let Goblins in civilized areas. Tribal Goblins are actively hunted in many of them.

Table 4:1. Armor2. Skin3. Nail4. Skull5. Oak6. Dagger7. Scorpion8. Sprint9. Tooth10. Fang11. Blade12. Gore13. Strike14. Hide15. Banner16. Fist17. Dog18. Worg19. Barrel20. Torch

Table 5:1. Shadow2. Blood3. Deep4. Dark5. Light6. Moon7. Sun8. Bone9. Marrow10. Fallow11. Gold12. Silver13. Copper14. Steel15. Iron16. Bile17. Raw18. Vile19. Snow20. Blade

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Civilized GoblinCivilized Goblins have adapted many of the customs and so-cial laws of the nearest group of humanoids. While they are not hunted down in their city, they definitely face heavy prejudice.

VersatileCivilized Goblins may take a feat of their choice from Chap-ter 6 of the Player’s Handbook. They must meet all of the pre-requisites of the feat they wish to choose. If Feats are not being used, the player may then increase two attributes by a point each or they may increase a single attribute by 2 points.

Deep GoblinDeep Goblins live far away from the surface; most never see the surface in their lifetimes. They have adapted to life without the sun.

Iron StomachDeep Goblins are used to finding “food” when and where they can. It has evolved beyond simple survival and has turned into a way of life. Deep Goblins can eat any form of animal without having to worry about any form of poison from doing so. Deep Goblins have Advantage on all saving throws against Poisons.

Enhanced DarkvisionThe Infravision of Deep Goblins has extended to 120 feet. However, they do not function well in bright light and have Disadvantage on all checks involving sight when in any light level brighter than a dimly lit room.

Sample GoblinRaquel is playing in a new game and rolling up a new character. She decides she wants to play a Goblin, but doesn’t know what class just yet. She rolls her ability scores and gets the following scores: 16, 15, 17, 14, 12, and 12. Raquel decides she’ll make a Civilized Goblin Fighter. She doesn’t want to choose a name, so she rolls randomly on the table and the result is Gristshanker Swiftskin of Tribe Dark Brook. Gristshanker took two attribute bonuses rather than the feat.

Raquel decides to have her character be a duelist and thinks that Gristshanker will probably follow the Champion path at 3rd level, but won’t know until she sees how the campaign develops. For now, Gristshanker Swiftskin has 15 Strength, 20 Dex-terity, 16 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, 11 Wis-dom, and 11 Charisma. She was a soldier, but the military unit she was positioned with as a scout into Goblin territory was utterly crushed by Rekellian soldiers from the Eastern Empire. Gristshanker was spared because she had lost focus on her task and had taken after chasing a rabbit; she was the only member to survive the crushing defeat, but it was also her job to warn her unit of approach-ing military. She completely blames herself for the defeat and she refuses to let that mistake happen again.

Equipment is sorted out; skills are selected for Animal Handling, Perception, Athletics, and Intimi-dation. Gristshanker has a no-holds barred attitude and she and her trusty rapier take problems head-on when fighting is the only option.

Table 6: 1. Fen2. Dale3. Hill4. Peak5. Crater6. Cave7. Plain8. Keep9. Mere10. Mire11. Weir12. River13. Creek14. Sea15. Lake16. Brook17. Mountain18. Wash19. Desert20. Steppes

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