Goblin

 

Physiology

Goblins are small, but tough for their size, standing 90 cm tall and weighing 15 kg on average. Their skin tones are earthy and dull greys, greens and browns. They have pointed ears, beady eyes, sharp teeth, and jagged, claw-like fingernails. Their hair is thin, wirey and usually black. Males are females are hard to distinguish from one another, and as females seem not to surse their young, their mammary glands seem to be vistigial or non-existant.

Life Cycle

Goblin females have a short pregnancy of only about 120 days, and only give birth to one child at a time. Goblin mothers do not nurse, and goblin children are typically abandonded at birth and left to fend for themselves. Goblin children are remarkably adaptable, and fully capable of hunting, killing, scavenging or stealing the food they need to grow and thrive. While infant mortality is high, even goblins that reach adulthood only enjoy a short life, with a life cycle of only 2 years.

Culture

While goblins are fierce, independent, treacherous, untrustworthy and cruel, they are still social creatures, and will organize and cooperate with other goblins, or with other species if it is in their interest to do so.

From a young age, goblins will tend to form themselves into gangs in order to increase their chances of survival. These gangs constantly squabble and fight over resources, reforming, expanding, or merging as needed. Over time, more powerful gangs tend to usurp control of entire goblin tribes. Goblin tribes can be highly variant in size and structure, from small nomadic bands of only a few, to huge organized, hierarchical groups of hundreds or even thousands.

Because goblins typically do not know who their parents are, they only have first names - and often these are nicknames given them by other goblins that define some trait or quality. If a goblin tribe becomes particularly powerful or successful due to the leadership of a significant warchief or warlord, goblins will sometimes append the name of that leader to their own name as a sign of membership, pride or fealty. Goblin tribes sometimes end up in conflict with orc and tucker tribes who inhabit similar niches, and in some cases, entire tribes can be subjugated under a single dominant tribe, creating a mixed society. Unlike orcs, goblins typically do not take prisoners, either for ransom or to subjugate them into slavery.

For goblins, tribal and interpersonal bonds are stronger than familial ones. A goblin is as likely to have a strong interpersonal relationship with a raiding partner as they are to have a reproductive partnership, and same-gender partnerships are as common as mixed gender ones.

While it is rare for goblins to integrate into other humanoid societies, it is not unheard of. They are hard-working and tenacious, and they are well adapted to tight, confined, dark and/or dangerous places. They often find work in mines or on ships, and in cities they frequently work among the lower classes as rat-catchers or cleaning latrines or sewers. When registering a legal name in civilized society goblins usualy either just use their first name twice, or use their first name and a trade name. A rarity among rarities is for intergated goblins to adopt social and familial behaviours that mimic those of other humanoid species, such as forming family units or rising up the ranks of an organization. When this happens, it is usually the female who leads the family unit, with the male in the role of disciplinarian, keeping the violent and dangerous children in line until they are mature enough to refraining from murdering (or eating) their non-goblin peers.

Adjustments

Goblins are treacherous and tenacious and have increased Cunning and Alertness. They gain a bonus to their Stamina Derivative, through their general problems with attachment mean they suffer from reduced Conviction. They start with Apprentice level of mastery and a free initial roll in the Combat - Ambush skill field. Due to their small size, they have decreased Move, but a bonus to their Dodge. Goblins are exceptionally well adatped to life underground, and have the Night Vision and Mental Mapping perks.