Basic description
Goblins are small feisty creatures that are bold in groups and cowardly in small numbers. They are between 100cm-150cm tall with a squat build. They have leathery skin that comes in varying shades of green. They live an average of 10 years and reproduce extremely quickly. Infants fully mature in 6 months to a year.
Danger rating
Dangerous in large numbers or in dark caves because of their dark sight. Capable of fashioning weapons and using low tiered magic makes goblins fearsome foes in sufficient numbers.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Fire is a good counter to goblins. They live in dark caves and generally fear fire, but driven by hunger or fear, they can disregard their fear of fire in times of need. They rarely have any magical affinities, but occasionally you can find a goblin with earth magic affinity. They have racial classes: Goblin Swordsman, Goblin Archer, Goblin General, Goblin Shaman, Goblin King.
Likes and Dislikes
Goblins love brawl, engage in sex for pleasure and dominance, and to eat. They have no foods that they do not like – anything that is edible, they will consume.
Reproductive abilities
Goblins have a strong drive to reproduce and have amazing reproductive abilities. A single male-female pair can raise over 50 goblin adults in a single year. This virality leads mankind to view goblins as a pest-like creature. The adventurers guild always has goblin subjugation requests available given the constant need to cull growing goblin populations.
Language
Goblins do speak a language amongst themselves. There is even a written representation of their language, but the general lack of intelligence and societal development among goblin populations means it is not in wide use and only aged remnants can be found in caves throughout the land.
Culture
Goblins have a very violent society where a tribe is led by the strongest male. If the tribe is particularly well off, there is also an adjunct shaman who, though old age and knowledge of the arcane, advises the head male. Female goblins can be born but make up a very small proportion of goblin births. The constant need to reproduce and the general low levels of females amongst the population leads goblin tribes to raid human settlements and other monster groups to steal females. It is a scientific oddity that despite mating with non-goblin females, the pregnancy always results in a goblin birth. Very few characteristics of the mother are retained in the child.
Goblins make sparing use of clothing. Loin cloths made from the skins and furs of their prey are commonplace. They are biologically omnivores but carnivores by nature. They can roast the meat of their prey or eat it raw. They prey on humans, other monsters, and even fellow goblins. There is little in the way of morals in goblin communities, but they are very social, always preferring to live in groups as opposed to living alone.
Creation myth
Goblins are often referred to under the umbrella term of ‘demi-humans’. It is believed that eons ago after a great many wars ravaged the land, corpses littered the land piled high into mountains. The world was suffused with the souls of the fallen. Through divine intervention, a world changing curse, or some yet unknown mechanism, the countless souls were forced into hastily made vessels. Though the exact process is unknown, the result was the creation of various monster species like goblins. The mixing of souls and the forced possession of unsuitable bodies left those creatures with shattered personalities and a lack of rationality. Despite that, goblins were able to create a vast empire in the time right after their creation. That led to the development of the goblin language and vestiges of their great cities that exist today only as a shadow of their former splendor.
