Goblins

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Male Names: Boorgub, Gogmurch, Rotfoot, Zobmaggle.

Female Names: Geedra, Goomluga, Hoglob, Luckums.

Goblins are a race of childlike creatures with a destructive and voracious nature that makes them almost universally despised. Weak and cowardly, goblins are frequently manipulated or enslaved by stronger creatures that need destructive, disposable foot soldiers. Those goblins that rely on their own wits to survive live on the fringes of society and feed on refuse and the weaker members of more civilized races. Most other races view them as virulent parasites that have proved impossible to exterminate.

Goblins can eat nearly anything, but prefer a diet of meat and consider the flesh of humans and gnomes a rare and difficult-to-obtain delicacy. While they fear the bigger races, goblins' short memories and bottomless appetites mean they frequently go to war or execute raids against other races to sate their pernicious urges and fill their vast larders.

A typical goblin is a short goblinoid standing about three feet tall with large, flat, bald heads, scrawny limbs, and wide ears.4 Their skin tends to be leathery, in hues of green, grey, or blue,3 and 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 teeth3 that they constantly grow and shed.3 Goblins often dress in rags and scraps cast off by other humanoids and bear coarsely cobbled-together equipment.5citation needed

Many humans and similar races find it hard to distinguish goblin genders, though they do possess reproductive organs. Excessive weight is considered a sign of beauty among female goblins, with the ideal of goblin sexuality being an obese female barghest.

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.7

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, wargs, and large rodents known as goblin dogs,7 but never ponies, horses, or dogs, as they have an intense fear and hatred of these animals.8 Goblin camps tend to be raucous places of song and laughter as their inhabitants prefer play over work.3

Religion Religion holds an important place in most tribes, with complex (and, to outside ears, ridiculous) myths and legends, often fixating on oddly shaped natural features.7 However, rigidly organized religion is less common among goblins than other peoples due to their notoriously rule-averse nature.3

Goblins conduct their worship in simple, bloody rituals filled with howls, animal sacrifice, and ecstatic dancing. They craft fetishes from the bones of their enemies, particularly dogs and humanoids.17 The four goblin creator-gods (Hadregash, Venkelvore, Zarongel, and Zogmugot) are common objects of worship among goblins. Goblin tribes that worship one creator-god to the exclusion of others are considered heretics.18

Goblins have a reputation outside of their societies for revering Lamashtu above all else, because she freed the creator-gods from Asmodeus.18 However, these stereotypes have broken down as goblins have increasingly integrated into other societies.15

Goblin adventurers also often flock to Cayden Cailean.19 Some tribes, such as the Crookedtoes, have pursued their pyromania into the worship of Sarenrae.20

Goblin games When not at war, 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.

Goblins tend to view other beings as sources of food, which makes for poor relations with most civilized races. Goblins often survive on the fringes of human civilization, preying on weak or lost travelers and occasionally raiding small settlements to fuel their voracious appetites. They have a special animosity toward gnomes, and celebrate the capturing or killing of such victims with a feast. Of the most common races, half-orcs are the most tolerant of goblins, sharing a similar ancestry and experiencing the same hatred within many societies. Goblins are mostly unaware of half-orcs' sympathy, however, and avoid them because they are larger, meaner, and less flavorful than other humanoids.

Goblins are greedy, capricious, and destructive by nature, and thus most are neutral or chaotic evil.

Goblin adventurers are usually curious and inclined to explore the world, though they are often killed off by their own foolish misdeeds or hunted down for their random acts of destruction. Their pernicious nature makes interacting with civilized races almost impossible, so goblins tend to adventure on the fringes of civilization or in the wilds. Adventurous individuals who survive long enough often ride goblin dogs or other exotic mounts, and focus on archery to avoid close confrontation with larger enemies. Goblin spellcasters prefer fire magic and bombs over almost all other methods of spreading mayhem.

Sources: Inner Sea Races pg. 244, Advanced Race Guide pg. 144, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 156

Many thanks to the many contributors of the Archives of Nethys for rendering this material readily accessible.