Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Electricbee 05-08-07, 07:45 PM	This race is another from the Heritors campaign i'm working on on the campaign workshop forum. Goblyns Goblyns are sophisticated city dwelling merchants, traders and artisans. They are known for their complicated internal politics, it has been said that if you make one goblyn your friend, you make 3 your enemy. They favor finery in all aspects of living, preferring garments, equipment and even architecture that emphasizes beauty and ornamentation to at least the degree it is functional. Goblyns are well connected master politicians and historically are able to play one foe against another and avoid major conflicts with the other races. Personality: Goblyns are masters of manipulation and subtlety. Legend has it that a goblyn never lies, and most goblyns find it far easier and more productive to tell misleading truths than resort to lying. Goblyn society is built on a strongly ingrained system of obligation and favor. Goblyns track and trade social debt the way a banker counts coin. With other races, goblyns are less apt to track actual balances, but they still maintain a strong sense of who owes whom. Physical Description: Goblyns stand 5’ to 6’ tall and are of slender build, weighing from 110 to 160 pounds. Males and females are of similar height and build with delicate limbs and narrow faces accentuated with sharp features. Goblyns are incredibly graceful, elegant and charming. Their skin ranges in hues from deep forest green to pale sea foam, with a minority exhibiting golden skin tones instead. Their glittering eyes are most often violet, sapphire blue or emerald green, but all jewel tones are represented. Goblyn hair is worn in elaborate braided and sculpted fashions and is generally red, brown or gold in color. Goblyn ears and teeth are pointed, and the saw tooth smile of a goblyn is at once alluring and alarming. Their clothes are embroidered and embellished, and the degree of finery gives an indication of a goblyns social status. Goblyns are considered adults at age 30, and can live to be 200 years old. Relations: Goblyns fair well with other races, serving as middle men, merchants and traders for other races. They act as brokers for minotaurs, kobolds, and darklings, moving goods between them and to the more populous orcs in exchange for a healthy profit. They are careful in their dealings to remain neutral and not get involved in the conflicts of other races, even as they profit from the need for supplies the conflicts engender. Alignment: Goblyns are strongly lawful. Their society is built on a complicated set of rules and traditions. A goblyn who strays from these social norms is viewed as deviant and ostracized from goblyn lands and dealings. While goblyns are bound by strict societal rules, they also use those rules to their advantage, never forgetting a favor owed to them. Goblyn Lands: Goblyns do not hold major tracts of land, but maintain a network of well defended cities and roads along trade routes. They also maintain enclaves in the cities of their trading partners, from which they buy and sell goods. Goblyns maintain a powerful navy, both merchant ships and ships of the line to protect them. Religion: Goblyns tend to pay lip service to whatever religion is most popular in their region but are known for their disdain for those who focus overly on spirituality. Practical and political matters consume most of the goblyns’ attention, leaving little time to ponder philosophical matters. Language: Goblyns speak goblin and common. Goblyn literature is intricate, involved, and inaccessible to most members of other races. The goblin language has a staccato sing song quality when spoken. Names: Goblin names are multisylabic and follow a pattern of staccato syllables. Males and females use the same names, and a personal name is followed by an honorific that indicates which clan, house or guild an individual goblyn is affiliated with. First Names: Ardromanu, Denengu, Himolasi, Kistorialu, Olamalenga, Umbele. Last Names: Barashanga, Caranakwa, Guluzepti, Menatatra, Nanawaka, Sarotepti. Adventures: Goblyns adventure for a variety of reasons: One might undertake a great quest to pay of a great debt or to earn the favor of someone more powerful. More dedicated adventures chafe at the rules of goblyn society and exist outside the intrigues as adventurers. Finally, many goblyns adventure simply for profit and personal gain. It must be noted that even the most altruistic goblyn will cloak his good deeds under the appearance of a desire for profit or status. GOBLYN RACIAL TRAITS - -2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Wis, and +2 Cha Goblyns are graceful and charming, but slight of build and given to impulsiveness and excess. - Goblyns are humanoids of the goblinoid subtype. - Medium sized: goblyns are all medium sized and have no special penalties for their size. - Goblyn base land speed is 30 feet. - Goblyns have low light vision. - Goblyn education emphasizes martial skills as well as learning. All goblyns are proficient in light, heavy and hand crossbows and the rapier. - Goblins get +4 to bluff checks if what they are saying is literally true but misleading. They have a -4 penalty to bluff checks where they outright lie. - Goblyns get a +2 bonus on appraise and sense motive checks. - Goblins keen ears give them a +2 bonus on listen checks.
fiendish_platypus 05-08-07, 07:48 PM	...considering goblyns are from the ravenloft campaign setting and are nothing like that... crazy beasts that were once humanoids that contract a curse and have to serve their master for eternity... or sumthin' like that...
Electricbee 05-08-07, 08:00 PM	well, these obviously aren't the goblyns from the ravenloft setting, their something scratchbuilt for a new campaign. I just changed the spelling to differentiate them from the MM baddies.
fiendish_platypus 05-08-07, 08:05 PM	well, these obviously aren't the goblyns from the ravenloft setting, their something scratchbuilt for a new campaign. I just changed the spelling to differentiate them from the MM baddies. Yah, I know, I was being sarcastic. Anyway, it looked balanced enough, to me anyways, but I didn't read the fluff.
AMGriffin 05-08-07, 08:22 PM	They seem fairly well balanced (they could use maybe something little) and like a good addition to the goblinoid family.
Electricbee 05-29-07, 03:01 PM	Would it be out of line to give Goblyns weapon finesse as a bonus feat? I'm thinking it makes sense, comments, and possibliites for abuse are welcome.
AMGriffin 05-29-07, 04:50 PM	Yeah, I think that might be a little much, otherwise you're basically throwing dirt in the halfling and elf's face. You could always work it into racial substitution or paragon levels of course.
Electricbee 05-29-07, 09:57 PM	i'm not worried too much about halflings and elves, they are both extinct in the campaign where these will be used. Regardless, perhaps a lesser weapon finesse, they may use a dex bonus to ofset a str penalty with any finessible weapon on a pt for pt basis? Str 6 Dex 12 = only -1 to hit with finessable weapons, Str 6 Dex 14+ = no penalty to hit with finessable weapons?