If you'd like a great example of goblins in a roleplaying setting with out the evility of the stereotype you should check out Goblins http://www.goblinscomic.com/.
Its a webcomic about a group of goblins fed up with constantly being attacked by level 1 adventurers.
|
But we'd like something different. Just some base ideas about how to make the goblins "Not so evil" in a setting, so they can live in a city without being in a closet (wink) or in an underground.
post all of your ideas please, I'll take what I find interesting!
By the way is there a RPG system running around goblins?
The steampunk/magitech-ish Iron Kingdoms RPG has goblins as a technically proficient people, producing a lot of engineers and such. Their "hat" is more or less being great at salvage and cobbling stuff together.
They work kind of like that in my homebrew, as well as filling part of the role halflings have in Golarion. They're seen as hangers-on to other races' societies by a lot of folks. Other races' trash is their treasure; they are the absolute best in the salvage trade. If you're looking for a rare part or discontinued item, hit the goblin markets.
Their stature and history almost always lands them in the underclass of whatever society they've latched onto, but they just keep on truckin'.
It could be that the dominant culture uses goblins as slaves, mostly for labour and other dirty work. As a result, they may not have enough of their own culture to really be evil in any meaningful way. If all they`ve ever known is hard work and a complete absence of rights, many, if not most may wind up as rather humble beings, resigned to their pittiful lives and fates.
They would also be exposed to a lot more human culture. Not all slave owners would be mean to them - some might even treat them well enough, and that sort of kindness may rub off.
Some goblins may even earn their own freedom in some way or another (by saving someone`s life or paying off a debt - or having it paid off by some benefactor, such as another free goblin). As familiar sights in cities, these liberated goblins may be able to get around and eke out more normal lives among other humanoids.
This can all sort of blend with Mikaze`s suggestion, which I really like.
I think Sandstorm introduced a breed of desert-dwelling goblin that is decidedly not so evil - I can`t remember all the details as I don`t have the book in front of me, but I know that I found them interesting at the time. You could run something similar, imagining a slightly different breed of goblin that simply doesn`t have the same cultural or natural inclination towards cruelty, hatred and selfishness.
|
Pathfinder Goblins seem like logical protagonists for a Kobolds Ate My Baby-style game.
The 'Reverse Dungeon' concept is also a great way to have goblin PCs, fighting off an incursion by a mean adventuring party, come to raid their home and steal their stuff. Each PC could not just run a Goblin PC, but everyone might have a bonus Leadership feat, representing their own little group of followers among the Goblin tribe, that they can manipulate / boss around.