Goblin

Born Merchants

Various parts of the goblins described here are (c) Wizards of the Coast and/or Activision Blizzard.

Goblins occupy an uneasy place in a dangerous world, and they react by lashing out at any creatures they believe they can bully. Cunning in battle and cruel in victory, goblins are fawning and servile in defeat, just as in their own society lower castes must scrape before those of greater status and as goblin tribes bow before other goblinoids.

Basic Information

Anatomy

They have sharp teeth and small, pointed nails on their hands and feet. Goblin hands tend to be proportionally larger for their stature than other species' hands are.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

They have long, sharp noses, chins and ears, and green skin. Their arms are long and slender and their four fingers are deft.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Every goblin has a given name and a family name. The family names portray some ancestor’s achievement, though a goblin may take a new family name if he feels he has made an accomplishment that outstrips that of his forebear.
Male Names: Nees, Ford, Joxdeld, Zatval, Fivinkle, Bova, Geevegbix, Rolaz, Ixa, Saz, Menzen, Gilmaxle
Female Names: Trutte, Meez, Kleqe, Suva, Tweedo, Cynmee, Twinkle, Klasi, Teexma, Ninzi
Family Names: Brokenblast, Shifttale, Saltsnipe, Deadknob, Nifttweak, Cogbeast, Slyfire, Manbelt

Beauty Ideals

Goblins have for a long time been integrated into the society of more powerful species, and have picked up some of their habits and ideals in a twisted way. Goblins have ideals that are similar to human ideals of beauty, but exaggerated beyond what would be considered good taste in human society. Many goblin women wear thick, colorful makeup, and goblin men style outlandish designs into their facial hair (which consists exclusively of eyebrows and mutton chops, goblins can't grow facial hair on their jaws or lips or chin). Both sexes look for displays of wealth and status in addition to physical beauty when selecting a potential partner.

Gender Ideals

While by and large goblins are egalitarian, goblins who are physically taller than others enjoy an elevated social status as well, no matter the gender of the individual. "The Tallest" is a common goblin title for leaders of groups, organizations, and so forth.

Courtship Ideals

Courtship among goblins can be an elaborate affair of one-upsmanship, each individual trying to outdo the other in extravagant dates and gifts. "Money can't by love, but it can buy a big honkin' diamond, and girls love diamonds" is a goblin saying.

Relationship Ideals

Relationships between goblins functions almost more like a business merger, with contracts being drawn up and haggling over anything from chore distribution to relative visits taking hours or days.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Shrewd, greedy, and ruthless, goblins have a long-standing reputation for being neutral toward the rest of the world. Heroes of goblin society are not bastions of honor or integrity. Instead, goblins tend to admire the ruthless acquisition of profit, by any means necessary.

History

Goblins are not a natural offshoot of the orc species. The goblin subspecies began when a coalition of orc tribes made a deal with agents of Zariel, an archduchess of Hell. The orcs had been in conflict with giants for territory, and were badly losing. In exchange for the power to defeat their foes, they agreed to serve Zariel. The deal was struck and the orcs were infused with Zariel's hellish power. They overwhelmed the giants easily. But instead of keeping their end of the bargain, the orcs turned their backs on the deal. Zariel cursed them then, so that their stature and bravery would match their honor. The orcs were twisted, shrunken shadows of their former selves. They had become goblins.
Now they are barely recognizable as having once belonged to the proud orc species. After their fighting power had been ripped from them, eventually the goblins found a new niche to fill in the world: they became merchants. Goblins have taken to the role of merchants, and it's hard to travel for more than a week or two without stumbling across a goblin shop of some size. Goblin shops can be found nearly anywhere on Torar, seemingly regardless of whether or not there are towns nearby and heedless of dangers. The goblins will sell anything to anyone, at only slightly inflated prices. The goblins are also legendary for the sheer variety of trade in which they are willing to indulge and for their tenacity in bargaining.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Orc

Scientific Name

Homo simplex astutia

Lifespan

Goblins mature around the same time as orcs and live for about as long.

Average Height

Goblins average 4 feet in heights, with females being slightly taller than males.

Average Weight

30 to 50 lbs.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Goblins generally have green skin ranging from olive to forest green. As a goblin tans they tend to take on a yellowish-green tint.

Goblin Traits

Ability Score Increase Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Size Small

Speed Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

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Your goblin character has the following racial traits in addition to your orc traits.
Best Deals Anywhere. You are proficient in the Deception and Sleight of Hand skills. You have advantage on any ability check made to appraise the price of an item. This replaces the Powerful Build feature of the orc species.
Supply and Demand. As an action you can produce one piece of adventuring gear from the table in the Player's Handbook on page 150 with a price of 1 gp or less from the various bits and baubles you have. You cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest. You can only have one piece of gear summoned in this way at a time. Producing a piece of gear causes all existing gear produced by this effect to be rendered immediately unusable and worthless. This replaces the Menacing feature of the orc species.
Nimble Escape. You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.
Time is Money. As a bonus action you can shout at an ally, which must be able to hear you and with which you share a language, and command them to move. That creature can use it's reaction to move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.