Goblins
Goblins are perhaps the most maligned, misunderstood, and tragic of all humanoid races. Like beastfolk and gnomes, goblins are descended from fey. Some scholars speculate that the ancestors of goblins are gremlins, due to all goblins speaking some mutually intelligible dialect of Aklo, and a strange curse of entropy that goblins are born with. Goblins in large numbers skew the laws of probability, such that things that could go wrong, always will go wrong. Accidents happen far more frequently, and complex tasks and systems, such as arcane rituals or industrial machinery, almost always fail at crucial moments. Fey, natural creatures, and goblins themselves are immune to the curse, although structures built by goblins can still suffer accident if unattended. As a result, goblin cultures in Amalthea are generally primitive and nomadic, and goblins survive by hunting, gathering, and scavenging.
When other races encounter goblins, they inevitably suffer from the goblin's curse. As a result, goblins have been deemed vermin unfit even for slavery, and were targets of violence for millennia. In return, goblin cultures have developed a strong antipathy, or at best apathy, for civilized humanoids. Goblins believe they owe nothing to anyone else, and either avoid or raid the settlements of other races, depending on the temperament of the tribe. In places where the persecution of goblins is extreme, such as in Velthiria, Talandra, and most cities of Valdoro, goblins have gone as far as to turn to the worship of Maathag, the Flames of Madness. Maathag is the Great Old One of eldritch wildfire and pyromania, said to desire nothing more than to engulf the entire world in a searing, maddening conflagration for all eternity. While a horrific being to most people, goblins tired of severe mistreatment find it perfectly reasonable to worship Maathag. After all, why not burn down a world that's been nothing but horrible to them? Not all goblins are cultists of Maathag; many worship more benign deities, such as Archfey, or malevolent but less destructive entities, such as various little-known ascendant fiends. However. the unprovoked arson performed by the cult of Maathag, even in places that are relatively tolerant of goblins, such as the city of Tisoria, have only worsened the relations between goblins and other races.
Goblin society, when isolated from other humanoid races, is actually quite peaceful, although it is strange if not unpleasant for anyone that is not a goblin. Goblins have powerful immune systems and strong stomachs, allowing them to eat a large range of foods others would find disgusting. Their abhorrence of waste means that goblins are often willing to eat food that's gone bad, and suffer no ill effects from it. In places where goblins are tolerated, they can frequently be found scavenging for junk left behind by other races, which they use to craft scrappy yet ingenious tools and even weapons.
Like some other races of fey, goblins are born sexless, and males only become distinguishable from females at puberty. Adult goblins remain quite androgynous; goblin men don't grow facial hair, and goblin women are fairly flat-chested. As a result, goblins don't have much of a concept of gender, and their society has no gender roles. All healthy, able-bodied adults hunt and scavenge, while camp chores are relegated to older children, the elderly, and the pregnant. Goblins also don't practice marriage, and raise their children communally. Goblins refer to all children raised alongside them as siblings, which leads to a common misconception that goblins are prolific breeders. In reality, goblin women don't bear more children than human women throughout their life.
Goblin House Rules
- Goblins have the following racial ability score modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom.
