Roles in the goblin world

BASIC GOBLIN ROLES (D8)

    These don't need a reason. they can be anywhere, anytime, and still be doing their job. Use these on

random encounter tables, in filler rooms, or as just about anything that needs generic baddies.

1. Chest-stabber: Front line gobbos with spears or swords. Do not like it when they spy other people with

lungs intact.

2. Face-shooter: Goblin archers, and likely the most common kind of goblin. Like to shoot arrows

with bad stuff on the end, like fire, rats, or glue.

3. Ratter: Colloquial term for a professional narc, literal term for the poor sap who feeds and trains

the giant feral rats. Make sure this one has a rat on a spear, rats on arrows, or is just throwing rats.

Rats are the greatest weapon. Mightier than the sword.

4. Shammi: The one with the big wooden stick who heals badly hurt goblins. Says they can talk

to great goblin god, but clearly just knows rudimentary medicine.

5. Bomber: Goblin with a gunpowder barrel and a torch, generally very, very high. Douse the torch for

massive disappointment.

6. Da boss: the biggest goblin in the immediate area, closest thing to a superior officer. "Da boss" will

change several times in any given meeting with goblins, even if the players aren't killing any.

7. Scout: Small, wily little goblins, can be found scavenging, searching, or hunting in any place that has

any form of usable matter or energy. If you think "cliché goblin" an image of one of these appears in your head.

I change my mind, this is probably the most common kind of goblin.

8. Trapper: Makes death traps/regular traps. All of them involve at least two of the words: rats,

spikes, feces, hole, and goblins.

SPECIFIC GOBLIN ROLES (D6)

    These goblins will only be doing jobs in specific areas, or for specific reasons. Use these for NPCs,

quest hooks, or other things that require actual elaborate thought. 

1. Jellier: Makes jellies and drugs out of rare materials. can be found when fruit or mushroom harvesting

is a lucrative. has 1d3 jars of talakeshi jelly (makes you win initiative automatically for 1d3 rounds per

dose).

2. Apraisist: Knows how to really look at things. If scouts are the fish of surveying, these are the sharks.

Able to figure out the value, abilities, and source of most common things (including people).

3. Foodie: Makes sure all the goblins are fed and equipped. would be a bursar or quartermaster if they

didn't have so many syllables. always has something to eat, and is always finding more.

4. Woodie: similar to foodie, in that he would be a carpenter if it weren't for the syllables. actually makes

all the howdahs and camps and tree-houses the goblins live in.

5. "Human": goblin who happens to be tall and able to do a convincingly deep voice. good for infiltrating

humans. it's very fun to show a shopkeeper has been one all along, but it only works once.

6. Priest: sometimes, drugs are not enough, and goblins need to be stirred into power with the promise of

heaven and god. usually holding a completely non-religious book, like a cookbook or a dermatology

textbook.

SPECIFIC GOBLINS (D4)

    there is one of these, and one only.

1. The juggernaut: i lied, there's more than one, but not really. this is anywhere from 4 to 15 goblins

in a big suit of armor. finds humans and does general crushing. old goblins are constantly dying and new

ones are joining, so there's probably been 2 or 3 complete turnovers since the suit was constructed.

2. Wise King Dneude: rumored to have survived to be 11 years old (most goblins live for about 4 years).

one day just rode off into the sunset on a pack of wild rats. might be alive, probably not, but a great

legend or god for a bunch of religious goblins.

3. Gobi-tron 2000: a steam-powered, mechanical goblin. due to strong metal and good polish will likely

outlive its creators. made to protect goblins in their time of need, but several objects caught in its gears

make it more of a regular goblin. 

4. The wandering gob: the smartest humanoid in the world, but 3 feet tall and unable to be taken

seriously. Wanders the road, giving advice to those who stop to listen, and taking lethal preparation

against those who would attack them. 

 RULES FOR RUNNING GOBLINS

    I never liked the "lets kill all the inferior races" game-play. make sure not to make goblins inherently

monstrous, and try to confirm, especially with humanoids, that this is done for a reason. even

"we want to steal your pickled slugs" is a valid reason for a goblin to shoot someone in the neck.

     And this isn't to say you can't even really have evil races. Orcs are an "evil race" in a campaign i ran,

but it wasn't because they were orcs, it was just over a blood feud. All orcs kinda hated all humans, all

humans kinda hated all orcs. Equal opportunity awfulness.

    And speaking of awfulness, try to make sure that goblins never get too goofy. Goblins ARE goofy,

almost inherently, but it sucks to have the live rat attached to the arrow in your eye start biting off your

other eye. If you want evil goblins, at least do it right.

     In many ways, goblins are like players, too. They set traps, come in packs, use stealth and

underhanded tactics, they're absolutely insufferable. All that stuff. a group of goblins is a test of wits,

not a test of violence or vaguely defined green jokes.