Fight like a Goblin


Advice


Hey this is an little esoteric but I am playing a Goblin melee fighter and wanted to really lean into it. Any suggestions for best class?

I am currently a Fighter but feels too standard I guess. Fighting with rapier/main gauche.but it doesn't feel like being an little mean dude.

Like I said a little esoteric but I hope that makes some sense.


Champion goblin could be really nice for the wolf companion ( a champion is pratically always bonded with a mount companion, so a Goblin champion could be interesting both for the goblin and the champion combination ).

A paladin, if you like the LG alignment, is wonderful.

It has probably the best reaction in the whole game, and is action efficient because of it.

You could use any weapon, and unlock critical specialization by lvl 3 instead of lvl 5. Also you will benefit from a free rune.

Imagine the critical specialization effect and the chance to morph your 2h depends the stuff you need to do ( maneuvers, damage type, number of targets, etc... ).

Eventually, you could go for fighter dedication to take some peculiar attacks.

Str instead of dex is imo better because of heavy armor, extra damage and maneuvers dc ( which work with athletics/strength ).


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Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

To be honest if I wanted to fight like a goblin I probably wouldn't have gone fighter in the first place. Fighters are all about disciplined technique and precision. Fighting like a goblin, IMO, means being some combination of sneaky, unpredictable, and frenetic. A barbarian would be more reckless. A rogue would be sneakier. A monk could bounce around the battlefield more. A ranger could hit s point between monk and rogue. A champion is better at protecting their friends.

You can also lean on the ancestry feats for ideas, especially in the Lost Omens Character Guide. Biting people or regularly setting yourself on fire are both pretty gobliny go to moves.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I agree... fighting like a goblin generally involves using every available resource, since they are used to be at the bottom of the totem pole, and if they intend to make it out alive to live another day, they generally need to be crafty, or whimper enough they get left alone.

Granted, it does't mean you can't have a noble goblin warrior who fights fair, but the more iconic concept of a goblin is fighting with scavenged, if not almost broken equipment.

A couple quick easy perspectives. It is easy to imagine a goblin warrior being a rogue, relying on allies to help get flanking for both the AC debuff as well as the sneak attack damage.

Otherwise, a fighter or ranger, potentially leaning towards ranged fighting and stealth would be another option.

Barbarian as mentioned would be a decent option for a more melee goblin fighter. In the playtest, my son played a goblin, I believe he carried a whip in one of his hands to have access to reach attacks. A goblin wanting to have a reach weapon could make sense for a melee goblin.

If you can, for flavor pick up the dogslicer and horsechopper for ancestral flavor. When I have played goblins, I've tried to highlight their dislike of domesticated dogs and horses. It is wonderful talking about how badly her friend's horse stinks. And its wonderful describing her sharing her meal with her wolf companion. [they of course take turns tearing off bites of meat off the bone]

Another thing to potentially consider might be looking at the swashbuckler if you want to do something a little different from a rogue/ranger/fighter/barbarian to give yourself a different vibe. Do a playtest Swashbuckler and provide them some feedback on a the playtest goblin swashbuckler, and how you think it plays out. I can easily imagine a goblin being wild and crazy and being oddly effective, almost as if lucky in their combat, as it sort of seems the swashbuckler is supposed to represent.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Ooooh, yeah, goblin swashbuckler sounds fun, especially if they try and lean into the Errol Flynn thing with limited success.


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Goblin fighter doesn't have to mean noble or disciplined, you can be a reckless fighter too (look at the picture of the iconic fighter punching a guy with a beer in his other hand). It can go a number of ways depending on what aspect of being goblin you want to build toward.

The most obvious thing for a fighter to be more gobliny is to use a goblin weapon. Whether using a dogslicer and shield, two dogslicers with two weapon fighting feats, a horsechopper at reach, or using a biting build maybe with the grappling feats, there are a number of goblin fighter options. You can try to scare enemies with Intimidate, showing of your more savage qualities. You can get acrobatics and stealth to emphasize being small and nimble, or athletics to emphasize your tiny fury.

The feat Goblin Scuttle is pretty cool, but unfortunately not very good on fighter, who would rather use the reaction for Attack of Opportunity or Shield Block. But good to consider on a rogue or ranger who doesn't have good reactions at low levels as a means of repositioning into flanks on your ally's turn.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

An unbreakable goblin barbarian with Adopted Ancestry (Dwarf), Mountain's Stoutness, Toughness, and Unbreakable-er Goblin can have quite a few hp. Along with the Bouncy Goblin, Quick Jump, Powerful Leap, Wall Jump, and Cloud Jump feats, you can (literally) bounce all over the place (Daffy Duck impressions optional). And hit very hard once you get there.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I made a trio of goblin brothers who all have distinctive takes on gobliny fighting...


Should have specified but yeah I am ok with swapping from Fighter if need be...


One of my favourite ancestry/class combinations is goblin barbarian, with a focus on biting (based on the feral gnasher barbarian archetype for goblins from the pf1 arg) the concept is pretty well supported by the goblin ancestry feats.

The other option might be ranger, for a more martially inclined but still sneaky version of the rogue.

If you aren't playing a barbarian, the most goblin thing to do is to focus on sneaky hit and run tactics, which the ranger and rogue are the best options for (and they avoid wearing heavy armour, which just seems weird for a goblin to wear).


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Mightydaveman wrote:
Should have specified but yeah I am ok with swapping from Fighter if need be...

I think razortooth goblin is a must

then druid for magic fangs (it can be on self now). Wild claws is more flavor to add on top of your teeth.

Or a biting monk/barb


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

So I will paste an exert from the combat tactics for the goblins in the beginning of rise of the runelords.

Goblin!:
During Combat You should take care to present these goblins’
tactics in battle as scatterbrained at best. One goblin might
try to clamber up onto a nearby table of food (Climb DC 5) so
he can gain a +1 bonus on attacks for higher ground against
a PC. Another might get distracted by a plate of salmon and
waste his action stuffing his pockets with food for later. A
third could grab up a big carving knife if his dogslicer breaks.
Each time a goblin takes an action, he should interact in some way with the environment, even if doing so wastes an
opportunity to hurt a PC. The point of this battle isn’t to test
PC resources but to set the scene and flavor for the insanity
that is the goblin.
Morale These goblins are convinced that the plan to raid
Sandpoint can’t fail and are far too excited to consider the
possibility of losing the battle. As such, they fight to the
death—but more by accident than out of any real sense
of bravery.

Also looking at both RotR and the 2E bestiary the iconic goblins are still Pyros(usea torch to set unattended objects on fire) and Wrachanter(a bard singing goblin songs to distract, inspire and a whip to trip)


Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

first, you should be using a dogslicer or horsechopper, and then just stab everyone and everything in the ankles, unless it is a dog, in which case run. also possibly look into just carrying around some bombs to start fires and cause general mayhem.

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