Goblin
Goblin
Goblins are a short, scrappy, energetic people who have spent millennia maligned and feared.
The convoluted histories other people cling to don’t interest goblins. These small folk live in the moment, and they prefer tall tales over factual records. Goblin virtues are about being present, creative, and honest. They strive to lead fulfilled lives, rather than worrying about how their journeys will end. To tell stories, not nitpick the facts. To be small, but dream big. Many goblins enjoy simpler delights like songs, fire, and eating, and hate reading, dogs, and horses. Other goblins might have more complex pursuits, though, such as tinkering with scraps or concocting snacks and explosives from most anything.
If you want a character who is eccentric, enthusiastic, and fun-loving, you should play a goblin.
- Strive to prove that you have a place among other civilized peoples, perhaps even to yourself.
- Lighten the heavy emotional burdens others carry (and amuse yourself) with antics and pranks.
- Work to ensure you don’t accidentally (or intentionally) set too many things on fire.
- Wonder how you survive given your ancestry’s typical gastronomic choices, reckless behavior, and love of fire.
Goblins reach adolescence by the age of 3 and adulthood 4 or 5 years later. Goblins can live 50 years or more, but without anyone to protect them from each other or themselves, few live past 20 years of age.
Goblins bond closely with their allies, fiercely protecting those companions who have protected them or offered a sympathetic ear. Goblins tend to assume for their own protection that members of taller ancestries, which goblins often refer to colloquially as “longshanks,” won’t treat them kindly. Learning to trust longshanks is difficult for a goblin, and it’s been only in recent years that such a partnership has even been an option. Goblins keep their names simple. A good name should be easy to pronounce, short enough to shout without getting winded, and taste good to say. The namer often picks a word that rhymes with something they like so that writing songs is easier.
Popular Edicts invent songs for every occasion, turn trash into your treasures, solve problems with fire
Popular Anathema trust a dog or horse, learn to read
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Draconic, Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling, Kholo, Orcish, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).