Goblin

Type

Humanoid

Base HD

1

Terror

-2

Height (cm)

85

Goblins are small creatures the size and rough shape of a Mannish three year old, but with withered grey-green skin and a wiry frame instead of being adorably pudgy. Although they are not as feeble as their size suggests nor truly animalistic in intellect, neither their strength nor their wit is particularly great. Despite their overall pathetic nature, when armed they still present some threat, especially in numbers or in tandem with the hobgoblins and ogres commonly found alongside them.

Goblins are common in wastes, badlands, dense forests, and other land that is unsuitable for dense population by Men and other races. They seemingly survive near entirely by raiding other races (at enormous cost) for food, material, and slaves; this is even though goblins can survive on almost no food at all. Goblins reproduce and mature rather quickly and losses can be replenished within a few years so they represent a sort of recurrent pest that is nearly impossible to dislodge for good.

In addition, when a goblin tribe is severely threatened by starvation or depopulation, it produces a large number of hobgoblins and ogres over the following years, seemingly as a direct result of their distress and hunger. Hobgoblins have the strength of Men and wit superior to them, while ogres are massive beyond belief and have the strength of a bear. Thus whenever it seems the goblin problem will be solved for good, there is suddenly a huge invasion of hobgoblins and ogres whose children degenerate to normal goblins once well fed and the cycle repeats.

A few lands have tried to integrate goblins as citizens but goblins are feeble, ugly, and slow of mind, with no particular advantage over any other race, and they are usually pushed back into being marginal populations over time. While goblin tribes and warrens seemingly have their own culture and community, few pay much attention to them, especially because their cultures are usually obvious degraded forms of nearby cultures from greater races.

Few are truly terrified of goblins even though they can cause serious damage, because most goblins that most Men encounter are opportunistic thieves of eggs or pulses, operating alone or in small groups. Lone goblins are easily killed or maimed by a watchhound or even an adult Man or Woman giving them a solid kick. Most of the time for most villages and towns a goblin is no more than a pest, like a dire rat that can speak and also which kidnaps people when they can get away with it. However it is also received wisdom that if you take the fight to the goblins that you must either leave them a way out, or else exterminate them entirely.