Goblins (Good Aligned)

Former Enemies

Considered nothing more than murderous pests by some, goblins dwell on the fringes of other societies, scavenging amongst their waste and building their society in squalor. While years ago they were enemies to much of Golarion, in recent decades they have seemingly abandoned their evil ways.

Appearance

A goblin is a short, emaciated-seeming goblinoid, about the size of a halfling. They tend to be around three feet tall with large, flat heads and long ears. Their skin tends to be leathery and grey, often wrinkled and covered in tiny scars, warts, and scabs. Goblins grow little, if any, hair, relying on their thick skin and huddling together in groups to keep warm. They have small, beady red eyes set close together over a little pug nose, above a hideously wide mouth lined with sharp little teeth. Goblins often dress in rags and scraps cast off by other humanoids and bear coarsely cobbled-together equipment.

Many humans and similar races find it hard to distinguish goblin genders, though they do possess reproductive organs.

Ecology

Goblins mature rapidly, reaching adulthood in five years and living up to fifty (though most evil-aligned goblins are violently killed before the age of 20). Goblins' extremely high level of energy comes from both their accelerated metabolism and dangerous lifestyles. Their fast metabolisms make goblins eating machines stricken with almost constant hunger; fortunately, goblins can subsist on almost anything organic. They love salty foods, especially pickled food of all types.

Habitat and society

Goblins rarely build their own structures; they prefer to use terrain and natural defenses to their advantage, often settling in areas of heavy undergrowth, easily defensible caves, and ruins. They rely on scavenging for most of their sustenance and are gifted at surviving in even the most hostile climes. Goblins gather in tribes of up to a few dozen, led by a chieftain and sub-chiefs who are simply the toughest individuals in the group. They keep numerous mounts in their settlements, typically wolves, worgs, and goblin dogs, but never ponies, horses, or dogs, as they have an intense fear and hatred of these animals. In recent years, Goblins have been seen to be going through a form of Society overhaul, with centuries of Goblin tradition seemingly changing overnight.

No one is quite sure why the race has begun changing so much, but most seem to believe that about 20 years ago, Lamashtu lost her grip on various goblin tribes, ending their blood lust. Why this has happened, no one is sure.
~Mordron

Mating and Marriage habits


When a goblin proposes marriage to a fellow goblinoid, they must challenge a parent or sibling of the goblin to combat to win the right to marry the goblin in question. If the suitor is defeated, they will have their wounds tended to, and then will be shunned by the tribe for one moon cycle. The tribe will still provide lodging and food, but this time is mainly spent for the goblin to regain his honor by spending his time training with blade or magic, whichever he is better with. If there is no one for the suitor to challenge, a friend or village elder may step in and accept his challenge. If no one steps forward, the one being proposed to is unable to be married.

Achievements


Goblins celebrate their accomplishments via the jewelry in their ears. A goblin that is newly leaving their home village may only have a single thin piercing, while a village elder may have dozens ranging from the thinness of a needle, to as thick around as a gold piece. The thicker the band, the more impressive the accomplishment, while the more bands a goblin possesses, the more accomplished they have become.


Strange hatreds


Goblins have an near-pathological fear and hatred of horses and dogs, most likely due to the mutual hatred displayed by these animals. Goblins are, in many ways, defined by their fears—not just of dogs and horses but also of humans, and even their religion is based on fear of their gods. Religion holds an important place in most tribes, with complex (and, to outside ears, ridiculous) myths and legends, often fixating on odd-shaped natural features.


Goblin games


When not at war, evil-aligned goblins amuse themselves with sadistic games, inane but catchy songs, and arson. Goblins have an irrational fear of writing, however, believed by some to stem from the contracts used by Asmodeus to bind their barghest forebears in the mists of time. They believe that the mere act of writing words steals them from one's head.

Good-aligned goblins have changed many of their behaviors, enjoying much friendlier bonfires, rather then arson.


Holidays


Chain breaking day is a holiday celebrated only by the recently good-aligned goblins. On Arodus, 12th day of the month, the Goblins return to their home village and begin a celebration of feasting, drinking and general levity. The night ends with the tribe burning a wicker statue of the dark goddess Lamashtu.


Love of treasure


Goblins love to collect treasure, but value appearance over utility. Thus, a shiny but worthless trinket is valued over a powerful but ugly magic item. The exception is goblin chieftains, who often possess the wits to make use of such items—if they can remember where they've been stashed. Their love of shiny treasure means that goblins are also a common sight in the refuse pits and junkyards of non-goblin settlements throughout the Inner Sea region, where they scavenge for items they can craft into weapons and other interesting tools, a task they are unusually proficient in.


Religion


In recent years, the Goblins as a whole have turned away from the worship of Lamashtu, instead favoring Abadar, the god of Wealth, Cities, and Law or Gozreh, the god of Iron weapons.

On Golarion

There are numerous pockets of concentrated goblin populations throughout the Inner Sea region, as seen on the map at right. This list is by no means complete, but provides some insight into these creatures and how they live amongst the rest of Golarion's inhabitants.

Isger

Goblins in Isger live in the Caverns of Chitterwood beneath the Chitterwood forest. During the Goblinblood Wars, a massive horde of goblins organised and led by hobgoblins poured out of the forest and overwhelmed Isger's army. They were eventually defeated by an unlikely alliance of Chelish Hellknights, Andoren Eagle Knights and the Druman Mercenary League. All sides were devastated, but the goblinoids were defeated; most of the survivors fled back to the caverns from whence they came. Numerous crafty and well-organized goblin tribes, most still led by hobgoblins, plot revenge from their caves, including the True Hoard, Spine Threshers, and People of the Stirge.
In addition to the Chitterwood caverns, some Isgeri goblin tribes also inhabit the mine tunnels beneath the town of Dustpawn.
Mediogalti Island


The native so-called monkey goblins of the Garundi archipelago known as Mediogalti Island, are fierce arboreal warriors who defend their settlement of Ganda-Uj against incursions by the native lizardfolk, kobolds, and humans from the nearby city of Ilizmagorti. The savage monkey goblins have a reputation for kidnapping trespassers to eat or sacrifice to their demon gods. They are divided into numerous smaller tribes organized not around kinship, but separated by their individual goals and methods. They include the territorial Egg Sucker tribe, net-hunting Knotsnarl tribe, flotsam-gathering Longlung tribe, berserker Pulpdrool tribe, and dinosaur-riding Spikespur tribe.

The Shackles


The Shackles, with its culture of piracy and anarchy, is a perfect environment for goblins. They avoid the larger islands where pirates hold sway, preferring more isolated locales, usually with a single tribe per island. Goblin tribes in the Shackles have a strong relationship with the sea; they scavenge from flotsam and shipwrecks, and a few tribes even build rafts, canoes, or crude ships of their own. They include the Bigbarb, Dark Hook, Reefrunner, and Squidwhistler tribes.


Varisia


Goblins have a strong presence in the wild land of Varisia, and a number of tribes call its western regions home, especially the Lost Coast. Recent expansion of human settlements have forced the native goblin tribes into fierce conflict with the newcomers, particularly around the town of Sandpoint.[16] Of the five local tribes, the strongest are the Thistletop goblins, who take their name from their off-shore base of operations in the ruins of Thistletop. Other major tribes in the area include the Birdcrunchers, Licktoads, Mosswoods, and the Seven Tooth tribe; dozens of minor tribes inhabit the area as well.

Other lands


In addition to the four goblin homelands noted above, minor goblin tribes are spread across the Inner Sea region. These include the snow-loving Frostfur tribe of Irrisen, the painted Ghostmask tribe of Nidal, the human-led Jurdan's Volunteers from Cheliax, the shrieking Screamwing tribe of the Mwangi Expanse, and the mutated Spelleater tribe of the Mana Wastes.The barghest-ruled Kingdom of Zog in the River Kingdoms was one of the few stable goblin nations, but it fell to Yellowtongue Sickness and attack in 4217 AR.