Goblin

The excitable, often misfortunate creatures who found a new home beneath the warm light of The Iron Empire

Base Racial Traits

Ability Scores: (+4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma) Goblins are fast and smart, but weak and unpleasant to be around.
Type: Goblins are humanoids with the goblinoid subtype.
Size: Goblins are small size creatures and gain all the bonuses and penalties because of it.
Speed: Goblins are fast for their size, and have a base speed of 30ft.
Senses: Goblins can see perfectly in the dark up to 60ft.
Languages: Goblins begin play speaking The Regional Language(See Languages of Numiastra) that reflects their origins, and Goblin. Goblins with high intelligence may choose from the following languages: (High Ironite, Low Ironite, Hobgoblin, Aklo, Sylvan, and Draconic).
Splintered Soul: Tormented, malformed creatures born with only fragments of souls, Goblins have less innate Atlen in their bodies than other creatures - they gain +1 to resist all spells and spell-like abilities and and gain a racial +4 on all saves made versus death effects and effects that would trap their souls.
Heretic Hunters: One of the only races to be accepted into the Iron Empire with nearly as much respect as humans themselves, Goblins serve almost exclusively within the ranks of the Inquisitorius - and have as a result grown incredibly adept at reading body language and lying to others. Goblins gain a +4 racial bonus to Sense Motive Checks, a +2 racial bonus to Bluff Checks, and may use Intelligence as the corresponding ability score for the purpose of both skills if doing so would be beneficial to them.
Scrapshaman: Nearly neurotic in their obsession with tinkering, Goblins have the uncanny knack for repurposing metal to suit their needs - they gain a Craft Skill as a craft skill, gain a +2 on all craft checks, and make any metallic item in half the time. Once a day, by spending one minute in contact with raw metallic material, they can bolt and slap and slam it together into a masterworked weapon or armor of equal or lesser weight. This allows them to work with any metallic special material, but only if they do not recognize it as a special material - if they do, they must abide by its typical crafting requirements.
Spiritual Imbalance: Unlike all other creatures, Goblin minds and bodies are not in harmony; This spiritual imbalance leads to obsession for the energy, focus, and drive which they lack, granting them Fire Resistance 5 and allowing them to add +1 to the DC of any spell or effect with the Fire Descriptor. If a spell or effect has no saving throw, they instead add bonus damage to the spell or effect equal to 1/2 their current HD.
If it exists we can shoot it: Words fail to express just how hard goblins in the Iron Empire have trained in order to prove themselves useful - however, one can scarcely argue with the results. Goblins can wield firearms one size larger than themselves with no penalty as if they were that size. Goblins can wield firearms bigger than this with no issue as if they were those sizes(and can lift them to fire regardless of weight, but cannot move while holding it if they would exceed their maximum load), but when firing any firearm beyond the size they can wield without penalty they instantly drop the gun they are holding and are launched a distance backwards equal to 5ft squared a number of times equal to the number of sizes the gun is larger than the size they can wield without penalty.
Powderblood: Due to an ancient and amusing misunderstanding of the first Goblins to serve the Inquisitorius relating to the proper handling and disposal methods of Blackpowder, the Goblins who serve the Iron Empire smothered the corruption inherent to their bodies with raw, 100% pure Numiastran Blackpowder by eating it wholesale(A practice that has endured into the modern day despite the best efforts of Ironite Inquisitors) - allowing them to, as a standard action, detonate themselves(Without dying themselves) and explode in a 10ft radius, dealing 1d10 damage for every 2HD they possess to all creatures within this radius. Creatures caught within this radius must succeed on a Reflex Save(DC based off DEX) to take half damage, taking none on a success. Any goblins with this trait caught within the radius of another goblin's Powderblood trait also trigger their own Powderblood abilities automatically. Repeated use of this ability, at GM discretion, may fatigue or exhaust the goblin in question. This trait also allows goblins who ingest the ingredients for Gunpowder to process it within themselves into true Blackpowder, which can be harvested from within their bodies.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Goblin bodies are often short but powerful, with two short legs and arms attached to a central torso with a head located atop the torso. Their bodies are short but often muscular and scarred due to their often thankless and dangerous upbringing where few of them survive, though Goblins born into more civilized lives and areas can grow up lacking much of the muscle mass their more savage fellows possess. Their anatomy is mostly normal for humanoid creatures; their organs are all consistent with human norms, though they simply function at a much quicker rate than others. Their biological functions, organs, metabolism, and everything else function at nearly twice the rate of humans and other longer lived humanoids...and it is this hyper-fast biology that leads to their short lives as their bodies degrade at a much quicker rate than others.
As a side effect of their ritualistic, rampant consumption of high-grade blackpowder during their initiation rites into the Inquisitorius of Tavross, The Iron Emperor, Goblin biology is a volatile thing that is unexpectedly explosive - though even the best minds of The Iron Empire aren't entirely sure how the Goblins have retained the explosive properties of the blackpowder they have consumed. Regardless, this unique facet of their biology amps up their already excitable tendencies and makes them even more jittery than normal.

Genetics and Reproduction

Goblin reproduce through sexual reproduction, and more than anything else, it is a thing they do often and incredibly well. Goblins are almost always fertile even far into their venerable years - and their reproductive systems are almost the first part of their bodies that fully develops as newborns into adults...and much like humans, Goblins are capable of mating with and reproducing with almost any other race with even a remotely similar biology. As creatures that live and die quickly, goblins can have children with almost any race - though the more drastic the difference between goblin and a mate, the more painful and agonizing the process becomes for both, and the more likely that mutations or stillbirths occur in the child. However, the sheer amount of children capable of being produced by them often far outpaces the failure rate of these pregnancies...meaning that in a civilized area, Goblins can very VERY quickly overpopulate unless they take care to manage their libidos to adjust for the much lower mortality rates of their children in those civilized areas. Females often give birth to multiple children at a time, who are often kept in cages or other storage areas in more barbaric tribes to reduce the burden on goblin parents...and in such areas, it is incredibly common for goblin children to murder and cannibalize each other to survive, ensuring only the stronger survive their short but brutal childhoods into adulthood. In more civilized areas this can differ in terms of how the children are treated, but the amount produced does not.

Growth Rate & Stages

Quicker than almost any other race on Zheng-Kitar, Goblins grow to adulthood in two scant months at a frighteningly quick pace that sees them become fully grown adults before most other newborns of other races can barely walk. They grow alarming quick and learn even quicker, though their brutal and barbaric societies often hold them back from civilization. Once a goblin reaches adulthood around 2 to 3 months old, they become middle aged around age 20, old around age 30, and become venerable around age 40 and die shortly thereafter...and while the eldest goblins can reach 50 and even 60 years old, they almost all invariably die long before they reach even middle age.

Ecology and Habitats

Most goblins, whether directly settling in an area on orders from their masters or living in an area as descendants of such goblins in ages past, 'traditional' Goblins prefer to dwell in caves, amid large and dense thickets of thistles and brambles, or in structures built and then abandoned by others. Very few goblins have the drive to build structures of their own. Coastlines are favored, as goblins are quite fond of sifting through junk and flotsam in an unending quest to find treasures among the refuse of more civilized races. These goblins often raid and invade the surrounding area out of neccesity to aquire resources to keep themselves fed and supplied, and attack and kill others both to capture more attractive members of other races to produce more children with as well as for simple reasons such as food, entertainment, and more. More civilized Goblins tend to show up in any area near cities and towns - more specifically, those of The Iron Empire, the only nation to accept them as a species.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Goblins are voracious and can eat their body weight in food daily without growing fat, and often keep massive larders or storehouses in their lairs or dwellings to accomodate these massive appetites, while the less civilized goblins might keep a stock of live animals or prey nearby to satiate this immense hunger at a moment's notice. They will quite literally eat anything, and for good reasons are squads of hungry goblins compared to termites, with teeth sharp enough they can eat an entire wooden dwelling down to bare ground in barely a day.

Biological Cycle

As they age, goblins grow old and wither both mentally and physically, their strength leaving them on all fronts as what little hair they often have turns grey and white, their fangs dull, and their skin wrinkles. However, they rarely to become old in barbaric goblin societies and are often eaten or kill by their cohorts for resources - though this has changed as a vast majority of the goblins on Numiastra have taken up root in The Iron Empire, slowly civilizing after finding a place to call their own for the first time in their history such that now, "Wild" goblins are the rarity.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Goblins have a hard time growing hair on their heads, so they rarely have facial hair or long head hair, but their faces are generally green and brutish, with sharp fangs and brutal eyes.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Goblins are found almost exclusively within the bounds of The Iron Empire - having landed on the land's northern shores shortly after The Skyfall Calamity, Goblins were eventually accepted into The Iron Empire and given a place to belong in service to Tavross, The Iron Emperor - a home which they have come to cherish so deeply they would give anything to preserve it. As such, they are found almost exclusively within its borders and are considered almost an Icon of Ironite imperialism and adaptability - though a handful of "Wild" goblin tribes exist, they are extremely few and far between as fewer and fewer goblins can justify such a wild and rabid lifestyle when, from their perspective, The Iron Empire is so willing to feed them, water them, give them shelter, and even give them land and employment in exchange for simple hard work.

Average Intelligence

Thanks to the strangely supportive relationship most 'civilized' goblins have with their new homeland in The Iron Empire, they have actually grown quite intelligent - eager and utterly driven to prove themselves in this new land where, much to their surprise, one's hard work can truly earn them a place in society, they have taken to studying and training almost constantly; the least of the benefits of this is obviously a HUGE increase to their natural intelligence, making them naturally quite well studied and intelligent thanks to their ability to draw upon not only the vast knowledge available to the public citizens of The Iron Empire but to agents of the Inquisitorius in service of Tavross, The Iron Emperor.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Originally created to dwell within caves, underground homes, and under the night sky, Goblin eyes are incredibly well-adapted to the dark and allow them to see normally in darkness out to sixty feet.

Alternate Racial Trait List:
NOT YET BUILT.

Racial Feat List:
NOT YET BUILT.

Lifespan

40 Years

Conservation Status

Goblins are one of the most plentiful species on Numiastra, and are in no need of conservation.

Average Height

1.96ft - 3.3ft (0.6 - 1.0 Meters)

Average Weight

22.04lbs - 33.06lbs (10kg - 15kg)

Average Physique

Goblins are generally short and lanky, but can become bulky and muscular with muscular and active lifestyles.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Goblins’ skin tone varies based on the surrounding environment; common skin tones include green, gray, and blue, though black and even pale white goblins have been sighted.