Monday, May 22, 2017

Monster Monday: Goblins

So last week, I talked about description again. This was my scenario:

The Setting:
Low level characters have been hired by the burgomaster of Stonemire to find out who stole the fireworks for the upcoming celebration. Witnesses report that short cloaked people were seen near the warehouse last night. One witness swears he saw a long hooked nose, and green skin. Another said there were about 10 of them, well organized and being led by a taller fellow.
The group knows there are the following nearby: a goblin village, a kobold cavern, an orcish tribe, a halfling burrow, and a lizard-man encampment.

Where do they head first?

On one of the Facebook posts, someone brought up that AD&D goblins were red. Honestly I never knew that. I think that green goblins started with Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in my mind and have been cemented ever since.
Looking through my collection, the first reference to green goblins I found was in Castles & Crusades, copyright 2005. I know that I've seen goblins as green a lot longer than that.

Even in Mord Mar, I have different types of goblins that look different:

Dreg: An underground goblin. Usually a brown-gray mottled color. Skegs and Dregs constantly interbreed.
Skeg: A swamp goblin. Usually a green-gray mottled color. Skegs and Dregs constantly interbreed.
Ferg: A forest or jungle goblin. They are rarely seen near Mord Mar, but are stronger than their local counterparts. Their skin is usually a forest or kelly green.

But, this brings us to a different question. Should goblins be uniform throughout most (or all) D&D games? Sure, if they are uniform, it is easier to identify when goblins are the foe. But is that a good thing? Should goblins look similar everywhere and still have different cultures?

Feel free to comment!

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