Goblins have come up in a couple of YouTube videos lately. Arlentric has a fun video here about the diverse lore, use of, and types of goblins. And The Guild Masters Guides has the awesomely-named “Kill Your Party With Goblins” video right here.
This got me going. I couldn’t NOT write about goblins. I LOVE goblins!
Goblins are one of the reasons I love low-level play. They’re a traditional fantasy creature from folklore which I absolutely love. Granted, they’re not particularly into direct combat in folklore, but they’re still cool. Also, while playing D&D in the 80s, my view on goblins was extremely influenced by Blix from the movie Legend. Although, in later years, most of my goblins became more tribal and without as much armor, Blix was the first goblin in the media to really, REALLY embody what I thought Dungeons & Dragons goblins were like. He’s just SO goblin-y! Take a look:
Or here:
Anyway, Blix is awesome. Much better as a scary goblin than the ridiculous (but still very entertaining) goblins from Labyrinth.
Before I go on, if you’re interested in a take on goblinoids in Dungeons and Dragons that takes into account their fey background, take a look at this: Goblins, Hobgoblins & Bugbears are FEY on DM’s Guild.
I’ve based entire campaigns around goblins. Granted, I’ve capped those campaigns around level 7 for the PCs, but they were still epic campaigns with world-ending threats. In another game, I’ve still got goblinoids involved with level 9 characters, although, aside from a few notable NPCs, that’s starting to stretch credulity. Just like with humanoids, you can only buff rank-and-file goblinoids so much without having to make them super-heroic or super-villainous in their own right.
(Why are elves and dwarves and halflings considered “humanoids” when creatures like orcs and “goblinoids” aren’t? For that matter, why aren’t humans call “elvenoids” or “dwarvoids” or…”goblinoids”? In fact, regarding elves, elves are also fey, like goblins, so why are they “humanoid”? Racist, I tell you! (Don’t worry. I’m not gonna’ actually be an activist to make this change or something.))
Goblins–and “goblinoids” as a whole–can be so much more to a campaign. Arlentric makes a really great point in his video that goblins are usually the first thing 1st-level characters encounter and then they’re never seen again in whatever campaign. That’s not good. If that’s the case, why bother putting them into a campaign at all? Only because they’re a fantasy/folkloric creature, like faeries, griffons, and unicorns?
No. Not all the goblins have to be bad. Those who are are probably being bad for a reason that they think is beneficial to their tribe or kind. Do they think they’re evil? Not necessarily–although their bosses probably are. Is every goblin tribe run by a bugbear because they are stronger and tougher than goblins and hobgoblins? No. There are some mighty goblin heroes that, unfortunately, have designs against this or that kingdom once they’ve consolidated all the tribes of an area. Maybe they’ve built castles that are well trapped. Probably underground. There’s a reason that goblins in fantasy RPGs are often depicted as artificers and alchemists. And don’t forget master miners that rival–and are often in conflict with–dwarves. These are clever, intelligent beings.
In the DnD multiverse, the high god of the goblinoids is Maglubiyet. Although he looks like a giant goblin, he’s very martial and wants to take over the world by force. To do this, he’s been trying to assemble “The Great Horde.” You can have Maglubiyet as your ultimate Big Bad! Go suck it, Tiamat!
Fold in the goblins’ more martial brothers, the hobgoblins, as special units and the biggest traditional goblinoids, bugbears, as shock troops, along with goblin champions with a CR of 13, 14, or even higher, and you can have a long campaign’s-worth of conflict with a foe worthy of respect.
And goblins deserve respect.