Kobolds and goblins are squishy little monsters suitable for leveling up a party on the first adventure. Amazingly, some players actually want to roleplay kobold or goblin characters due to a growing popularity with these funny little races. While this is fine with me, I can’t help but wonder about how such a character would fit into a campaign world. How does such a character join the party without being attacked? Even if they are accepted into an adventuring party, the local NPCs probably won’t share the same viewpoint.
This issue was brought up in a game once, and after a bit of brainstorming I realized something interesting:
In both kobold and goblin communities, the leader is always the strongest of the group. The mantle of “the strongest” could easily be taken by a bigger creature (typically a dragon for kobolds and orcs for goblins). Since this “follow the strongest” concept has been around for a long time, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched to consider a kobold or goblin community bestowing the title of “the strongest” to a local human settlement.
It makes a lot of sense for kobold and goblin communities that are closer to human civilizations than those who live far into the wilds where the orcs are clearly dominate. I think years of adventurers clearing out kobold and goblin settlements is more than enough evidence to show who is the dominate force in the area.
Since we clearly answered why kobolds and goblins would want to be allied with humans (or other playable humanoid races), the only question remaining is how such alliances could be forged. For this, we must look at both races individually, since their philosophies are entirely different.
Goblins: Goblins are very used to the idea of “do what the big one says or you get hurt.” Goblins would probably use the outside-in approach: begin with helping the farmers outside of a town or city, proving your usefulness, and slowly working your way into the city itself. Goblins can achieve this because they are the cheapest manual labor force you can find that don’t care how dirty the work is, and you can hire them in bulk. Sure they tend to mess up frequently, but goblins learn by experience – the mistake one goblin makes is remembered by his fellow goblins, and the same mistake is hardly made twice. While you won’t get fine craftsmanship from goblins, you can get the job done quicker and cheaper.
Goblins don’t mind working for cheap, since goblins are incredibly resourceful with what they have to work with. Any tool they need can be made out of junk, and being small means they don’t eat as much food as humans do. When you combine this with the fact that ten goblins can share an apartment built for four humans, you can begin to see just how goblins can live comfortably for very little pay.
The only downside to goblins living in a city is the risk of goblins turning to a life of crime. Fortunately, a good law enforcement can prevent this from happening. As long as a goblin thinks he can get away with something, he will go for it. But if he knows that a big mean watchmen is going to be after him, he won’t risk breaking the law.
Kobolds: Kobolds are a very proud race, and they think of themselves as dragons. They see alliances with powerful creatures as a partnership – by paying tribute to the dragon, the dragon will lend its power to aid the kobolds. To a kobold, a human city is very much like a dragon. The mayor (or king) is the dragon’s mind, while the city guard / watchmen are the dragon’s claws (with the palace guard as the fangs). If the kobolds pay tribute to the city (in the form of taxes), the city will protect the kobolds as citizens.
Kobolds who dare to confront a city and “negotiate” an alliance do so carefully. Because these negotiations are quite delicate, city kobolds become very lawful citizens. They always pay their taxes, and purchase old buildings to live in. Kobolds believe as long as everything has been equally traded (bought instead of stolen), then the law enforcement has no reason to bother them. In other words, as long as they act as the ideal citizen, the dragon has no reason to attack them. Kobold communities within a city always strive to maintain a good relationship with the city. For example, a kobold community who discovers that one of their own kobolds broke the law will willingly turn in the lawbreaker to the local authorities.
Kobolds have always been fine trapsmiths, and such skills are also handy in the city. Not only do kobold-owned buildings have the best security systems, but kobold trapmakers often become apprentice clockmakers or engineers. Kobolds also have a knack for finding new uses for junk: a clock made by a kobold won’t look pretty, but it will run smoothly and efficiently. When kobolds team up with dwarves or gnomes, you are bound to get some technological breakthroughs.
I don’t expect every city in the world to accept kobolds and goblins, but rather only a handful of cities view kobolds and goblins as citizens. Cities most likely to accept them are trade cities, or cities that have many different races living within it’s walls. The more multicultural a city is, the more likely they will accept a new race into the mix.
This isn’t to say that all kobolds and goblins live in cities. In rural areas or wild lands, kobolds and goblins live the way they always do (on their own or with a more powerful creature), attacking travelers and the like. This way, they still act as monsters in the wild, but those that have adapted to live in the city are much different. For one thing, the spark of heroism might awaken in a city kobold which leads him to joining a group of adventurers…
…or even better, an adventure hook could be a city kobold NPC hiring an adventuring party for help. Imagine the look on the player’s faces!
So what do you think? Does this sound plausible, or will in never work? Should anything be added or expanded upon? Do you have alternate ideas for how kobolds and goblins can work together with the playable races? (if so, I would love to hear them)
I don’t expect every city in the world to accept kobolds and goblins, but rather only a handful of cities view kobolds and goblins as citizens. Cities most likely to accept them are trade cities, or cities that have many different races living within it’s walls. The more multicultural a city is, the more likely they will accept a new race into the mix.So what do you think? Does this sound plausible, or will in never work? Should anything be added or expanded upon? Do you have alternate ideas for how kobolds and goblins can work together with the playable races? (if so, I would love to hear them)
If the GM and Players want urban areas that are more like Mos Islely Spaceport then Rivendell it makes sense. If Minotaurs, Dragonborn, and Genasi are just other races then they will have their gettoes as well. If the world has 11 or more cohabitating races it will be more important to make a list of EVIL races, then to worry about explaining ho is allowed in the city gates and way. UNLESS... it is a plot point in the campaign.
Goblins usually get the short end of the stick in goblinoid society. Hobgoblins enslave them, bugbears bully them, and they are hated by other races.
One tribe though is different. An adventuring party cleared out a hobgoblin warcamp, and the goblins within surrendered. The adventurers were unsure what to do, until the cleric of Erathis had an idea - teach the goblins. And so he did. 15 years later the Goblin tribe had a productive farming community and was an accepted trade partner of a (relatively) nearbye township. It was not to last, Hobgoblins returned and after a long (and harder than the hobgoblins would have thought) battle, the goblins were forced to flee. The survivors have just reached the township, and their leader (a cleric of Erathis) seeks a group of adventureres to help her save her village and free her people.