Goblin

Goblins have flat faces with wide noses, pointy ears, broad mouths full of small sharp fangs, and foreheads that slant sharply back above dull, glassy eyes. Although they always walk upright, their arms dangle nearly to the knee. Skin runs from yellow through every shade of orange to deep red, and members of one tribe tend to share a single hue. Eye color goes from vivid red to a shining lemon yellow. They dress in dark leather in drab, grubby-looking tones.

Their voices are harsh and higher than a human's. Some also speak hobgoblin, orc or kobold alongside their own tongue.

Bright sunlight pains them, imposing -1 on attack rolls, but the same sensitivity grants 60-foot infravision underground. Goblins can use any weapon but lean toward simple ones like maces and spears, and often keep a short sword as a backup. Most wear leather, though a leader might own chain or plate.

Their tactics are as crude as they are. Goblins are cowards who dodge a fair fight whenever they can and much prefer to lure enemies into an ambush.

They dwell in damp, gloomy caves and tunnels; the few surface tribes occupy ruins and come out only at night or on dark, heavily overcast days. Goblins have no notion of sanitation, so their lairs reek, though they seem partly resistant to the diseases such squalor breeds. Life is communal, with shared halls for eating and sleeping and private quarters only for leaders. Goblins carry everything they own, and tribal property stays in the keeping of the chief and his sub-chiefs. Most goods are stolen, though they make their own clothing and leatherwork. Privacy means little to them.

A tribe numbers 40-400 adult male warriors. Each 40 have a leader and 4 assistants, each with 7 hit points (1 Hit Die). Each 200 add a sub-chief and 2d4 bodyguards having 8 hit points apiece (1+1 Hit Dice), AC 5, wielding battle axes. Over the whole tribe stands one chief with 2d4 bodyguards of 2 Hit Dice, AC 4, each fighting with two weapons. Females number 60% of the males and children equal all the adults combined; neither joins battle.

In 25% of tribes, a tenth of the warriors ride huge worgs, accompanied by another 10-40 riderless worgs. Lairs have a 60% chance of 5d6 of these wolves on guard with 2d6 bugbears present one time in five (20%). Shamans are uncommon but can reach 7th level, drawing on the Divination, Protection, reversed Healing and reversed Sun spheres.

Every goblin knows exactly where it ranks, and the tribe brawls without end as members claw their way upward. They keep slaves of several races for labor and for food, equal to 10-40% of the tribe's size, always shackled and chained together at night. Most other humanoids are hated, dwarves and gnomes worst of all, and goblins try to wipe them out at every opportunity.

A goblin lives about 50 years. They need little food but kill for fun, eating anything from snakes and rats to humans, and carrion when times are lean. A tribe ruins its surroundings, chasing off game and stripping every resource. They are capable miners who notice new or unusual underground construction with 25% reliability, and any lair soon sprouts a tangled maze of fresh tunnels.