[Flavah Menu] Goblins

Sticking to the goblin theme, here's a flavor menu for goblins in your campaign. One or more of these items might be true for your campaign, while others might simply be rumors.

• Goblins can't abide rhymes -- hearing verse drives them mad.
• Goblins drink a liqueur made from the rotting innards of large spiders. The spiders are captured in nets, force-fed a mixture of disgusting ingredients, and then hung up to ferment. The goblins then drink directly from the bloated abdomens of the dead spiders.
• Goblins have a nose for iron -- not only can they sniff out the presence of iron ore, but they can track adventurers by the smell of their iron or steel weapons and armor. 
• Goblin young are so ill-tempered that they are raised in iron birdcages that dangle from the roof of the goblin's lair, and will attack anything on sight until tamed by their parents with extremely harsh discipline.
• Goblins raise many specialized breeds of giant rat to serve as sentinels, trackers, food animals, and pets. Popular breeds include the brindled dungheap, the midnight sneak, the hairless roaster, and the evergnawing digmaster. Proud owners like to stage fights between their rats and those of other goblins, akin to cock-fights.
• Goblins are skilled fire-starters, and are said to carry live coals in tiny braziers with them to kindle fires at need in place of flint and steel. 
• Goblins can cough out a cloud of coal dust that can screen their hasty retreat, much as a squid produces a cloud of ink.
• All goblin musical instruments do double-duty as weapons or armor. They include the gong-shield, the musical saw-sword, the mace-maraca, and the helmet drum.

[My Take On...] Goblins

What do you like to see in the text description for a monster? 

I think the 1e MM had it just about right. You get a summary of the monster's appearance, organization, habitat, weaponry, and modus operandi, and not much more. When I write descriptive text for a monster, I try not to write more than a GM could read in 60 seconds. 

Here's my entry for "Goblin" in the DungeonTeller RPG:

Goblins are malicious, unruly, underground folk. They live in bands of 20 to 200 individuals, occupying a central, well-hidden cave and any number of surrounding mining tunnels. For every 10 goblins, one will be a “boss” who acts as an overseer. The bosses, in turn, report to the band’s king or queen. Occasionally a successful king or queen will rule over several bands. Each band also has its own hobgoblin wizard – it’s a rare goblin who can cast magic spells! (Hobgoblins receive their own entry in this book). Goblins mine metal ores as well as the coal they need to smelt the ores. They also raid dwarf mines for cartloads of ore and for prisoners they can use as slaves. When the ore in one area is exhausted, after a period of years or decades, the goblin band will move on to new grounds, leaving their cave and tunnels behind, often to become occupied by other underground monsters. Much of the underworld was carved out in this manner, making goblins an important part of the deep ecosystem and economy.

Goblins typically carry hammers and picks scaled to their size, and a bag of stones for shooting at enemies with a slingshot. They love cacophonous music, and sometimes throw wild revels accompanied by banging drums, rattles, and horns. These revels can be heard for miles underground and are sometimes the first sign that a goblin band is near. On the prowl, however, goblins are extremely stealthy and like to surprise their enemies with overwhelming force in terrain that favors their position.

In the 2e Monstrous Manual and certainly by the 3e MM, the descriptions became longer and more technical, two qualities that I find toxic to my sense of wonder. As one of my professors often said, "Evoke, don't describe." I like to leave enough unsaid so that I'm not imposing my goblins on your game. I think this principle may also illuminate why David Sutherland was perhaps the ideal illustrator for D&D. When I see a Sutherland illustration, especially, I feel I'm looking at an adventurer's impression of a monster, rather than a literal depiction of it, like something a PC might sketch out on a napkin in the tavern after returning from the dungeon.

[Illustration] Warrior with Kite-shaped Shield.

Here's a sketch of a warrior from a few years back.

Character Sheets

Here are PDFs of the six basic DungeonTeller roles:
Dwarf

Elf

Paladin

Rogue

Warrior

Wizard


Feel free to print them out to speed up your setup time.

Free PDF of DungeonTeller Monsters

As a companion to the ruleset, here's a monster manual of sorts, with dozens of creatures in it. Enjoy responsibly!

DungeonTellerMonstersV1

Free PDF of BlueBoxer DungeonTeller Ruleset

Here for your enjoyment is a PDF of the ruleset I've been using. It has streamlined play with an old-school feel. Hope you like it!
DungeonTeller V1

[Sketch] Towering City

Sometimes I survive long meetings by bringing a clipboard with some drawing paper and an HB pencil, and letting loose. I'd love to know where this city is. I was thinking about Kafka's castle and about Gormenghast when I was developing this. I think there's a mastermind or demigod up at the top, and people ascend the city to seek his favor. There's also a great Neil Gaiman story in Miracleman: Book Four about some mortals climbing MM's pyramid to ask him for help with various crises in their lives.