Goblin

Society

Violent but fecund, goblins exist in primitive tribal structures with constant shifts in power. Rarely able to sustain their own needs through farming or hunting and gathering, goblin tribes live where food is abundant or near places that they can steal it from. Since they are incapable of building significant fortifications and have been driven out of most easily accessible locations, goblins tend to live in unpleasant and remote locations, and their poor building and planning skills ensure that they dwell primarily in crude caves, ramshackle villages, and abandoned structures. Few goblins are good with tools or skilled at farming, and the rare items of any value that they possess are usually cast-off implements from humans or other civilized cultures. Goblins’ appetites and poor planning lead to small tribes dominated by the strongest warriors. Even the hardiest goblin leaders quickly find out that their survival depends on conducting frequent raids to secure sources of food and kill off the more aggressive youth of the tribe. Both goblin men and women are ugly and vicious, and both sexes are just as likely to rise to positions of power in a tribe. goblin babies are almost completely self-sufficient not long after birth, and such infants are treated almost like pets. Many tribes raise their children communally in cages or pens where adults can largely ignore them. Mortality is high among young goblins, and when the adults fail to feed them or food runs low, youths learn at an early age that cannibalism is sometimes the best means of survival in a goblin tribe.

Adventurers

Goblin adventurers are usually curious and inclined to explore the world, though they are often killed off by their own foolish misdeeds or hunted down for their random acts of destruction. Their pernicious nature makes interacting with civilized races almost impossible, so goblins tend to adventure on the fringes of civilization or in the wilds. Adventurous individuals who survive long enough often ride goblin dogs or other exotic mounts, and focus on archery to avoid close confrontation with larger enemies. goblin spellcasters prefer fire magic and bombs over almost all other methods of spreading mayhem.

Names

Chieftain Names: Dogchewer, Firesinger, Gutwad, Hogparts, Horsebiter, Mancooker, Moonslaver, Pokestick, Ripnugget, Stabsnacker, Stumpbumper, Swampstomper, Toechopper

Male Names: Boorgub, Chuffy, Churkus, Drubbus, Gawg, Ghorg, Gogmurch, Irnk, Kavak, Lunthus, Mogmurch, Mogawg, Murch, Nurpus, Pogus, Poog, Ronk, Rotfoot, Unk, Vogun, Zobmaggle, Zord.

Female Names: Aka, Chee, Fevva, Geedra, Goomluga, Gretcha, Hoglob, Janka, Klongy, Luckums, Lupi, Medge, Namby, Olba, Rempy, Reta, Ruxi, Vruta, Yalla, Ziku.

On Golarion

Though most tribes congregate near water, goblins can survive nearly anywhere, from the frozen tundra of the Crown of the World to the magic-warped desert of the Mana Wastes. Wherever a pair of goblins wanders together, a full population can spring up in just a few decades, allowing goblins to appear in the most unlikely places. Goblin tribes thrive all along the western coasts of Avistan and Garund, but are especially thick in the coastal regions and waterways of Varisia and on tropical islands such as Mediogalti and the rain-soaked archipelagoes of the Shackles. Dozens of distinct tribes call both regions home.

Isger remains the most famous goblin stronghold. The end of the Goblinblood Wars decimated the population there, but thousands of living goblins fled underground to the caverns crisscrossing the mountainous nation. Those few surface tribes that survived have since evolved into more bloodthirsty brutes than common goblins, developing new traditions of scarification, extreme piercing, and flagellation spawned from the abuses of their hobgoblin masters. More terrifying still, those tribes pushed back into the Darklands remain strong and are quickly breeding a new generation of soldiers. Within a decade, goblin war songs may once again echo across central Avistan.