Goblin Tribes
Goblins are a pretty iconic fantasy race, and they are particularly iconic in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as Paizo has a very particular take on goblins, who serve as a sort of beloved mascot, as well as a common low-level enemy. We love these adorable killing machines as much as anyone else, and so today’s Top Ten features ten unusual goblin tribes.
1. Bonehunter tribe. Goblins in this tribe collect bones from their victims, which they then lovingly carve and polish before adding to elaborate bone sculptures, which they keep in their homes. The best bones are collected by the clan chief to be added to the massive bone sculpture that is located in the center of the tribe. The Bonehunters believe that these sculptures have magic powers, and can ward off enemies of the clan.
2. Droolghost tribe. This clan of goblins was once ruled over by the ghost of one of their slain goblin chieftains, a powerful shaman named Mzanet. As a ghost, Mzanet had a unique ability to coat living creatures in ectoplasm to allow them to briefly become incorporeal, and with this ability the goblins of the Droolghost tribe quickly became the dominant tribe in the region, sneaking into human settlements to steal their best treasures while remaining untouchable. Mzanet was later destroyed by a group of adventurers, but the goblins continue to coat themselves in snot, pond-scum, and other transparent slime, in an attempt to recapture their glory days.
3. Screamfury tribe. While many goblins are known for the chilling songs they sing about murder and mayhem, members of the Screamfury tribe simply don’t have the patience for that sort of thing, and prefer to just scream at the top of their lungs in wordless hatred, instead. They practice these screams around their campfires, and have trained themselves to be able to scream both incredibly loud and for incredibly long periods of time without having to draw breath. They believe their screams give them extra strength in battle, and while many members of the tribe do seem to be able to enter barbarian-like rages, it is uncommon for a raid by Screamfury goblins not to end with at least one goblin passing out from lack of oxygen as she tries to hold her scream too long.
4. Bigtongue tribe. The goblins in this tribe are known for their freakishly long tongues. The goblins deliberately elongate their tongues through a variety of methods, the most common of which is to tie rocks to the end of their tongues starting at very young ages. The goblins believe that the larger their tongues are, the faster they will be able to eat, and tribal legends tell of certain goblin heroes whose tongues got so long and so strong that they could use them like a frog’s tongue to grab food and pull it closer.
5. Manyeyes tribe. These goblins collect the eyes of the creatures that they slay, and string them together into grisly crowns, with eyes facing in every direction. They believe that doing so gives them a mystical sixth sense for danger from unexpected directions, and some even claim to actually be able to see directly out of these eyes. Members of nearby tribes do brisk business trading unusual eyes to the Manyeyes tribe, as these are believed to possess extra magical power.
6. Pitshade tribe. Located in the middle of a harsh desert, the Pitshade tribe jealously guards their home, which has been dug into the base and walls of a massive pit, roughly 120 feet in diameter, over 200 feet deep, and almost perfectly circular in shape. The exact origins of the strange pit are unknown, but the goblins claim that it was created by a giant goblin who ate his way through the sand and rock to the pit’s bottom, then buried himself and, tired from all that he ate, took a nap. They believe he will one day rise up from the bottom of the pit and lead them on a glorious conquest of the desert.
7. Tombburner tribe. This tribe of goblins, located in a particularly dark and gloomy region prone to hauntings, long lived in fear of the various ghosts and ghouls that stalked the night, until they eventually realized that while the undead were too powerful for them to fight directly at night, burning their bodies during the day was even easier than fighting their usual enemies. The Tombburners took it among themselves to dig up and destroy every buried corpse in the region, and have been collecting tribute from other goblin tribes in the area (and a few non-goblin races, as well) for their services for some time now, claiming responsibility for the recent decrease in undead activity.
8. Bloodbath tribe. Goblins in this tribe believe that bathing in blood allows them to absorb the strength and warrior spirit of the creature whose blood they soak in, and so these goblins take every opportunity they can to immerse themselves in the stuff. For some time, this made them a very fierce and warlike tribe, even among goblins, but then one goblin had the bright idea of using chicken blood instead, reasoning that even if chickens only have a very little amount of warrior spirit, they could easily bathe in the blood of dozens or hundreds of chickens, and far more safely. The craze caught on, and now the Bloodbath tribe spends most of their time securing their disgusting “bathwater” and luxurious and exotic tubs to bathe in, and largely leave other communities alone.
9. Yellowrot tribe. This unfortunate tribe of goblins live in a warren that suffered from a violent outburst of yellow mold, which nearly wiped the tribe out. Those that survived developed an immunity to the mold, but were horribly scarred and deformed by the experience, as were their descendants. Now, the Yellowrot tribe cultivates great amounts of yellow mold, which they use as devastating weapons in their raids on other tribes and human settlements.
10. Footstalker tribe. Obsessed with obtaining the power of the “long-legged” humans, this tribe was set on its current dark path generations ago by Chief Tnor Runtstomper. Tnor was convinced that in order to overcome the larger humanoid races, the goblins would need to become taller. After several failed experiments, Tnor eventually devised a plan to remove the legs of their human victims and then fashion them into macabre stilts. To this day, members of the tribe still attempt to use this method to create disguises and infiltrate humanoid societies, though these plans rarely have much hope of success.