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I guess it depends on what reasoning you employ to explain loss of druidic powers.

Scenario 1: Druids are restricted by the rules of the order; breaking their vows makes them "fall from grace" with powers that be. In that case, being forced to wear gauntlets would not cause loss of powers, in my book.

Scenario 2: Worked metal, especially worn close to skin in quantities - i.e. armor or gauntlets - interferes with druid's ability to tap into natural forces that grant him the powers he wields. In that case, intent would have nothing to do with it - gauntlets act as a "lightning rod" and powers cease to function.

I personally favor Scenario 2; however, players should be cautioned, as that bat swings both ways (PC druids would be likewise susceptible).

Do keep in mind that "gold piece" in most RPGs, including Pathfinder, is a unit of value, not unit of currency. Since historically precious metal coins derived their value from the value of the metal itself (for most part), debate on the weight of an actual gold coin is moot - Osirian Gold Scarab may be worth 3gp, while Ustalavic Gold Bit may be worth 1/2gp, with former most likely weighing about 6 times more than the latter.

The rule of 50gp/lb is what gives you value of gold - a pound of gold is worth 50gp. That may turn out to be roughly 17 Osirian Scarabs, or 100 Ustalavic Bits, but in the end value originates from the mass of gold, not the imprint or origin of the coin itself. Likewise, in Osirion a merchant may name price for a 30gold dagger as 10 Scarabs, while in Ustalav innkeep will expect one Bit for a 5sp/night room and dinner.

* In real world, various precious metal coins' values were affected by origins as well, mainly due to the fact some states may have been minting less than pure coins; for example Byzantine gold coins, solidi, were valued for being purer in gold than others; in fact, they contributed to the fairly widespread use of term Bezant in medieval Europe for any gold coin, particularly foreign ones. On the other end, german Rheingulden's gold content kept dropping (from original 98% gold to as low as 77%) which no doubt meant that same weight of Rheinguldens was commonly valued lower than Byzantine Solidi.

** Additionally, value of various gold coins was affected by exchange rates - it was common for local merchants and folk in a town or state to accept preferably or exclusively local coinage; a merchant or traveler from afar with foreign currency had to go to a banker to exchange it. At that point, value of his gold became affected by banker's provision rate, as well as relations between the country issuing the coin and locals, etc etc.

Actually, per SRD:

Reach Weapons: A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren't adjacent to him. Most reach weapons double the wielder's natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.

Therefore, a large creature with a reach weapon does not threaten either at 5 ft range ( adjacent square) or at 10 ft ( next square out) but only 15-20 ft out - third and fourth ring of squares.

To return to the original question: both by basic definition of word "lunge" and by RAW (-increase reach-) i think there is no ambiguity or possibility that Lunge is meant to do anything other than add 5 ft to maximum reach of the weapon, rather than cover the blind spot.

if your GM is open to pre-PF 3.5 material, look up the "Short Haft" feat.

Pack tactics.

You don't really have to add the NPC or PC class levels to them (which would, by the way, affect the CR quite significantly, depending on number of "leveled" critters you use). All you have to do is "think like a pack of goblins". Here are several tactics that my goblins commonly use:

Hit and Run: They will show up, let loose a volley of arrows, bolts or whatever other projectiles they have, then run away.

Cannon Fodder: Groups of goblins will charge in, assume either defensive posture or even go full defense and delay / corner PCs while other Goblins pepper them with ranged attacks, reach attacks with polearms, alchemists fires etc.

Surgical Strike: Goblin gangs will team up to swarm what look like most vulnerable (non-armored, lightly armed) party members, jointly tackle, grapple and bring them down, then stick 'em full of daggerholes.

Traps, Traps Everywhere: If goblins are playing on the home field, they're bound to use the home field advantage. From installing every possible type of trap they can think of to using pre-existing terrain features such as dense overgrowth, low ceilings, slippery or difficult terrain etc, if it's an option, they'll use it.

...and then you start combining the above. They will taunt and provoke your party to pursue them - through traps and movement-hindering terrain, all the while hitting the party's flanks with volleys of ranged attacks. Then they'll use the cannon fodder to ensure that PCs stay in one place until an inricate, "takes time to go off" trap such as landslide or a cage of rabid beasts goes off. Then, while your fighters are busy dealing with those rabid wombats, they'll sneak up on the party's back and quickly take down the wizard.

If you want to get worse, go with above and start adding in PC class levels; in combination with above, even a 1st level caster can wreak havoc with a couple of Greases, Obscuring Mists or illusions; an alchemist will make party wish GM was dead and boy, wait 'till you see their faces when they get hit by a couple of raging goblin barbarians.

A well-planned and executed attack by a large group of low-CR intelligent monsters could easily be one of biggest nightmares for any group, regardless of CR. Sure, there'll be no massive blows that leave party's AC 25, 75 HP fighter dead in the dust, but the engagement will whittle away at the party, forcing them to waste spells and other resources, bleeding them dry very gradually.

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You're made of awesome.

I've been idly building some mid-high-level characters, and decided to see what can be done about vulnerability to mental control attacks etc. To my surprise, I couldn't find any magical items providing appropriate type of protection, so I went to try and see how one could be built.

My end conclusion is that Circlet (or whatever else) of continuous Protection From Evil is pro'lly the best way to go about it - but the cost is throwing me off.

Per rules, cost for continuous use magic item is Spell Level x Caster Level x 2000 [x spell duration-variable multiplier]. For Protection From Evil (1st level spell) the cost seems to be a meager 1 (SL) x 1 (CL) x2000 x2 because Protection from Evil is a 1min/level duration spell... so 4,000g gives immunity to mental influences AND +2 Deflection AC bonus and +2 Resistance Save bonus VS evil? That seems awfully cheap to me, and I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong?

Thanks.