Goblins and.. Pickles..? Lore question, Not sure if this is the right place..

[Merellin]

So, I'v bene playing Pathfinder for a while now with friends online. Love the game, Excited to try second edition! But, I'v noticed with the second edition stuff when ever goblins comes up (Like Fumbus, And when people play goblin characters, Like Qundle) there is a lot of stuff about Pickles being special or important in some kind. Is this new to second edition or is it something I'v managed to compleately miss that was also in first edition? Whats the deal with pickles?

[Gratz]

I think this was already in RotRl, but it's been quite some time since I've played that. I think it was overshadowed by the more destructive tendencies of the Goblins, liking Fire, hating horses, etc.

[Some Kind of Chymist]

Yeah; there has always been pickles there to some extent but my understanding is that more than a few of Paizos creatives gotten inspired by a picture in the new CRB of a goblin with a pickle.

[Captain Morgan]

There's a whole pickle conspiracy nested in Burnt Offerings, but it is easy to miss as a player. It is my favorite touch as a GM though.

[Merellin]

Ah, I never played any of the Adventure Paths, The GM's in my group make their own adventures and worlds. Thanks for letting me know that it's been there a long time! I'v been reading a bit and trying to get into the official lore a bit, It seems realy intresting! =)

[14 sided die]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that in golarion, goblins have a really poor sense of taste, allowing them to survive by eating undesirable stuff. meaning that foods that are extremely sweet, salty, or sour became quick goblin favorites, since they could actually get some real taste. pickles keep, and are relatively easy to make/steal, plus they can drink the brine and enjoy that too

[Shinigami02]

The original We Be Goblins at least mentioned that Goblins can and will pickle anything they can get their hands on.

[Doktor Weasel]

I know that the pregen characters in We Be Goblins had "pickles" which were often nasty things like a gourd full of pickled leeches or a bunch of ogre toes. And Goblins of Golarion mentions the poor sense of taste and the fondness for pickles. These were my first encounters with it. But as mentioned, it is present all the way back to Burnt Offerings, where there was a pickle caper in the goblin hideout (our group is just now running Rise of the Runelords). It does seem that pickles have become more and more prominent over time, especially with the new edition. I suspect part of that is that with the move towards goblins being a core PC ancestry, there is more focus on the fun zany side of them instead of the psycho side of them. So less mentions of baby eating and more pickles. Even the pickles seem to be cucumber based more often now than just whatever they could shove in brine (although to be fair, the Burnt Offerings pickles were cucumbers as well). I kind of prefer the "anything is a pickle if you stick it in brine" approach. It highlights the fact that goblins will eat nasty stuff. Ogre toes? Pickles. Leeches? Pickles. Dead rat, questionably edible mushrooms, bits of tree bark, an old boot? Totally worthy of being made into pickles. The goblin that drowned in the brine while trying to steal pickles from the vat? He's also pickles now.

[Merellin]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm currently playing a Goblin Alchemist in a Pathfinder First Edition Campaign (My favorite character ever) and this "Anything is a pickle" thing seems hilarious and awesome and I'l have to stay using it with him.. xD

[nick1wasd]

"Pickles are magical, if you make jerky, it will last for a while, but it's dry and chewy. PICKLES on the other hand, will keep for as long, AND THEY STAY JUICY! Therefore, pickles are magic" ~Qundle

[Merellin]

nick1wasd wrote:

"Pickles are magical, if you make jerky, it will last for a while, but it's dry and chewy. PICKLES on the other hand, will keep for as long, AND THEY STAY JUICY! Therefore, pickles are magic" ~Qundle

I love it! Goblins have rapidly become my favorite race (Or Ancestry as it is called now) in Pathfinder. =D

[James Jacobs]

Yup; the goblins and pickles thing has been a part of their lore/culture from the start, back in Burnt Offerings. Pickles are SO GOOD.

[Mark Moreland]

Even junk-scavenging goblins understand that if they ear rotten food they get sick, so they've learned to pickle food. And not food. And food that is probably best left unpickled.

[Merellin]

Pathfinder is awesome. By far my favorite RPG, And Pathfinder Goblins are so much fun to play! Thank you for all the information! =D