Goblins of the Inner Sea

Goblins legends claim that the first goblins on Golarion were born from the human blood spilled by the barghests Hadregash, Venkelvore, Zarongel, and Zogmugot. Each of these barghests gave the goblins a gift to help them prosper. From Hadregash came the gift of tribe, making goblins stronger in numbers. Venkelvore gave goblins a bottomless hunger that drove them to spread out across the world. Zarongel, the most bestial of the barghests, granted an affinity to the predators who shared the goblins’ inclinations, such as goblin dogs and wolves, so that goblins excelled at riding these creatures and could fight and travel more quickly. Finally, Zogmugot taught the goblins the secrets of the shores, how to scrounge, fish, and seek, so they could scavenge and survive no matter where they found themselves.

Over time, goblins spread across Golarion, and today they can be found across the Inner Sea region, from the sweltering jungles of Mediogalti Island to the frozen and blighted forests of Iobaria. Goblins have even found homes on the distant continents of Arcadia and Tian Xia, their clever instinct for survival allowing them to thrive even in the most hostile of environments. In fact, goblins are no strangers to hostility; whether bullied by and recruited as disposable shock troops for their larger hobgoblin and bugbear kin or mercilessly wiped out by adventurers who see them as little more than pests to be exterminated, goblin lives are, more often than not, short and full of hardship.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative perception most other peoples have of goblins, the small people have begun to find places among other societies, primarily in human cities and towns. While cities like Magnimar have long tolerated the goblin tribes that occupy their sewers, viewing them as a convenient cleaning service preventing disease-bearing rats or dangerous otyughs from proliferating, there are more and more areas where goblins can walk openly on the streets without fear of being skewered by guards or frightened farmers. On the sun-scorched streets of Katapesh, a tribe of Rasp goblins maintain a thriving mercantile enterprise under the leadership of an elderly goblin known by the name Yigrig Moneymaker. Operating in the northern lands of Irrisen, the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and even the southern edge of the Crown of the World, a band of frost goblins recruited by the Pathfinder Society acts as a team of scouts and guides for the Society’s members and allies. In the land of Sarkoris, a cunning tribe of forest goblins fights alongside a tribe of Sarkorian refugees looking to reclaim their homeland from the demons and monsters that infest it. Goblin arsonists are proclaimed heroes and allies by human generals as goblin-brewed alchemical fires sear the undead forces crawling forth from the Eye of Dread.

Even goblin cutpurses scrounging their living in alleys find themselves recruited by enterprising adventurers who recognize the value of an alliance with a clever sneak whose survival instincts have been honed by untold generations of hardship and persecution. Their means and circumstances vary greatly, but goblins across Golarion have begun to carve a niche for themselves where they can be accepted.

To outsiders, it might seem like goblins are all part of a single, monolithic people, but like any other ancestry, goblins have a variety of ethnicities and cultures nearly as diverse as the territories they occupy. Certain aspects of goblin culture, such as a penchant for song, an overzealous appreciation of fire, fear of dogs and horses, and an instinctive distrust of literacy and the written word, are common across all goblin cultures, but these represent only the most superficial elements of goblin life.

Forest Goblins

Hailing from coniferous woodlands, forest goblins tend to be shorter and slimmer than their kin, not quite reaching 3 feet in height and rarely weighing more than 35 pounds. Forest goblins typically have skin ranging in hue from dark green to a sickly green-tinged brown reminiscent of a spoiled avocado. While all goblins have a natural tendency toward pyromania, forest goblins are often far more knowledgeable on the subject than almost any other species. Since forest goblins traditionally produce far fewer primal or divine spellcasters than other goblin ethnicities, they have developed a deep tradition of fire-management practices, taught through song and practical application. There is even evidence to suggest that woodlands inhabited by forest goblins are less prone to disastrous wildfires thanks to the goblins regularly burning away dead wood and dry brush that might otherwise act as fuel for hungry flames.

Forest goblins are often reclusive and avoid contact with members of other ancestries except when pilfering or scavenging from camps and caravans that pass near their territory, but some exceptions do exist. In 4697 ar, the forest goblins who inhabited Isger’s Chitterwood were recruited into a series of brutal conflicts now known as the Goblinblood Wars, resulting in one of the bloodiest conflicts in Isger’s troubled history. Of more auspicious note, the Crookedtoes and Dragondweller tribes have both recently provided critical assistance to human nations, earning them the patronage and protection of powerful allies.

Most forest goblins have the treedweller goblin heritage (page 37), though their frequent exposure to flame means some forest goblins favor the charhide goblin heritage. Due to their extensive practice of teaching songs, forest goblins also frequently take the Goblin Song ancestry feat.

Frost Goblins

Born in Irrisen’s eternal winter, frost goblins are well adapted to surviving in frigid environments. Frost goblins’ skin is adapted to help them blend in and survive in arctic environments, ranging in color from a light ice-blue to the dark blue-gray of stormy northern oceans. While most goblins are almost universally hairless, frost goblins occasionally sport blue fur similar in texture and density to that of their bugbear cousins.

The Frostfur tribe of goblins, originally hailing from Irrisen, are among the most notable tribes of frost goblins due to their association with the Pathfinder Society. Originally recruited as pawns by rebel factions within the Society, the Frostfur have since served as scouts and guides for several Pathfinder expeditions. While few of the Frostfur goblins have chosen to become full members of the Pathfinder Society due to their rambunctious nature and distrust of literacy, they remain steadfast allies and word of their loyalty is spreading. This burgeoning reputation means that frost goblins are, if not precisely well liked or welcomed, at least able to travel, buy goods, and secure lodging in most areas with a Pathfinder presence free of harassment. In the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, Venture-Captain Bjersig Torrsen keeps the few frost goblins who have made their homes at his lodge in Iceferry busy carrying messages, guiding archaeological expeditions into the frozen wastes, and performing any other task he can find to keep the energetic beings gainfully occupied and safely away from his dog, a powerful husky named Mahki, whose relationship with the Frostfurs is adversarial at best.

Frost goblins almost always have the snow goblin heritage, and they frequently take the Goblin Scuttle ancestry feat due to their frenzied energy and surprisingly coordinated teamwork.

Monkey Goblins

Monkey goblins originated on Mediogalti Island, where their distinctive tails give them a significant advantage in the dense jungles. These goblins are taller and heavier than other goblins, standing a bit over 3-1/2 feet tall and weighing between 50 and 60 pounds. Their skin spans the range from tawny bronze to dark blue, and gold eyes are more common than the red eyes of their kin.

While monkey goblins have some of the most obvious physical differences compared to their tailless cousins, their love of fire is just as strong and just as likely to end in conflagration or disaster. As monkey goblins have historically made their dwellings in treetop abodes, ferocious canopy fires and high mortality rates have kept the curious and capable beings from spreading into the wider world in any significant numbers. Despite the challenges monkey goblins face in just surviving their own antics, there are some monkey goblins who pursue lives of adventure, whether as valued members of a ship’s crew (some of whom actively seek out monkey goblins to crew the rigging and crow’s nest on their ship, so long as they can keep the goblins from accidentally setting the sails on fire) or as members of small teams of adventurers or treasure-seekers.

Monkey goblins almost always have the tailed goblin heritage (page 37).

Monkey goblins who travel on pirate or merchant ships often take the Goblin Scuttle ancestry feat, since they’re accustomed to the frantic scrambling of shipboard combat.

Rasp Goblins

Rasp goblins, or simply “Rasps,” named after the section of Varisia’s Lost Coast where they tend to live, are some of the most commonly encountered goblins in the Inner Sea region, particularly in Varisia and the neighboring nations. Unlike frost goblins and monkey goblins, who are limited to smaller geographic areas, and forest goblins, who suffered terrible population losses during the Goblinblood Wars, Rasp goblins remain exceptionally populous and can quickly spread to any area that is vaguely capable of sustaining life. Rasp goblins stand just over 3 feet tall and weigh roughly 35 pounds. While many Rasp goblins are some shade of green (typically lighter and sicklier shades than their forest goblin cousins), some Rasp goblins have rarer skin colors, such as gray or purple.

Rasp goblins have inhabited the southern and western reaches of Varisia for longer than any of the country’s human inhabitants, resulting in frequent conflict as humans push deeper and deeper into the goblins’ ancestral territory. Encounters with particularly aggressive and malevolent goblin communities mean that pioneer towns like Sandpoint often view goblins as little more than dangerous pests, and hire guards and adventurers to drive off any nearby goblins out of a sense of public safety. As a result, though their population numbers remain somewhat stable, Rasp goblins rarely have anything resembling clan elders or even anyone in their communities with more than a few years of knowledge or experience. This in turn means that the teaching songs goblins traditionally use to pass on their lore and skills are largely lost to the Rasp goblin tribes, who retain little more than war songs and death chants. Their aversion to literacy and lack of elders has lead to many Rasp goblins living and dying in a state of perpetual childhood, which— perhaps due to the frequent conflicts between Rasp goblin tribes and other peoples—has led to the spread of a number of unfortunate stereotypes not only about Rasp goblins, but about all goblins, such as the assertion that all goblins are bloodthirsty raiders, murderers, and Lamashtu worshippers. By contrast, however, those Rasp goblins who’ve had the opportunity to integrate with other cultures have begun to paint a very different and improved picture of their people.

Rasp goblins can have almost any heritage, though they tend to most commonly exhibit the charhide goblin and razortooth goblin heritages.