1) Have 'em buried in the ground and camorflaged. When the PCs wander past, have their screaming horns sound and they then leap from the ground.
2) They are painted to accentuate their skeletons. White paint outlines all of their bones. Their skulls are pure white. Their mounts are decked in funeral bells, which toll dolerously when they charge.
3) Goblin shamans twirl globes of burning herbs above their heads. These fumes are hallucigenic and they throw them into the PCs ranks. Fort save vs DC 16 or suffer violent hallucinations. These are so vivid that they mimic the spell Phantasmal Killer as the victims fears become manifest. The Goblins have a tolerance to the fumes.
4) The Goblins mounts have been starved before the hunt. They have the power attack feat and can use frenzy for the subsequent combat.
5) The Goblins have been infected with Mummy Rot and attack with razor sharp claws. PCs hit must save vs Mummy Rot as thought they had been assaulted by a mummy.
........
attack in hordes: like a plague of rats, they swarm over opponents, biting, clawing, and chopping. they also carry their own disease, goblin-madness. causes those infected to lose touch with reality, usually in a violent manner.
Perhaps goblins could be like reavers? Half-whispered barroom tales of cities that have disappeared overnight, packs of savage things cutting their faces while they chew through your throat, and occasionally (only occasionally) someone claims they used to be men.
edit: zombies? Did I really put that? I blame being in two threads at the same time.
Quote from: One Horse Town2) They are painted to accentuate their skeletons. White paint outlines all of their bones. Their skulls are pure white. Their mounts are decked in funeral bells, which toll dolerously when they charge.
I really like this one. It's so melodramatic that it totally works. :D
voodoun zombie goblin hordes! with bells!
6) Goblin flaggelants charge the PCs, strips of their own flesh torn from their bodies as they come. They refuse to lie down and die until they reach -10 hit points and act normally until they do.
7) Giant bats are trained as mounts by the Goblins and they swoop down on the unsuspecting party on silent wings before dissapearing into the night. Only to attack again and again. Victims are borne aloft and their torn remains showered on their fellows below.
8) Fanatics that are so high on drugs that they feel no pain, set themselves alight and grapple party members, passing on the pain.
9) Goblin archers fire arrows with lines attached, preferably at one target. The lines are hauled in, dragging the screaming victim with it. Best used when the Goblins occupy higher ground.
10) A Goblin Adept is draped in poisonous snakes which attack anyone in hand to hand with him. The victim is subject to 1d6 snake bite attacks each round as well as the Adepts spell or weapon attack.
don't warhammer goblins (night goblins?) have that drug-induced madness thing? squigs and hallucinogenic fungus, all that fun? always thought that was a nice touch. much scarier than the vanilla d&d version (which we seem to be fixing nicely. . . .)
Quote from: beeberdon't warhammer goblins (night goblins?) have that drug-induced madness thing? squigs and hallucinogenic fungus, all that fun? always thought that was a nice touch. much scarier than the vanilla d&d version (which we seem to be fixing nicely. . . .)
Yeah, you caught me. :D
it's a good one! i've been meaning to use it myself!
Well is it known among the sons of men that the elves do dwell in a half realm between dream and waking, a place of eternal autumn twilight where faerie lights flicker in peaceful glades by laughing streams. So to, though it be less often told, do the goblins dwell beyond the borders of the waking world. There is a place of bitter spring dawning, a realm of mud and groaning ice, hardy weeds and barren trees. And in that place there stands a city, market of the goblin kings, tall and lean as a winter famine, they wait in great halls of stone still chill with the breath of winter. And just as the lost and innocent find their way to hope and safety in the warm autumn realms of the elves, so too do the truant and the selfish find their way to the markets of the goblin city, where meat is scarce and hunger universal.
It is said that mad cap city is known as Caith Despire. Though what is a name to the end of all hope?
They can pass through the shadows to that place, the skulking little fiends with their sickly, pallid flesh. Their cat like eyes see into the other realms, even the realm of death. Their teeth like needles tear at flesh and carry disease and even poison. So do not laugh at them as they gather in their caves and burrows. Nor disdain them as their merchant wagons slowly groan their way down the road. For you too may one day have children. And if you have wronged them you may be certain that the goblins have not forgotten it.
A few goblins knocking one of the characters down, and attempting to pull them to a private snacking location.
Quote from: ReimdallA few goblins knocking one of the characters down, and attempting to pull them to a private snacking location.
Hee. I was just about to post...
11) Goblins who have had their gloves coated in a strong adhesive attack the PCs. Once hit, the PCs cannot dislodge them and are eventually dragged down by the weight to suffer an ignoble end.
Make them tough, rabid in their behaviour--frothing and foaming and snapping at all things that get in their way as prey. (men or beasts..). Chop off a limb and they keep coming, chop off two, and they drag themselves along still.
That's Myrk from my FRPG--the closest we get to goblins, tar skinned creatures with red glowing eyes that bark and growl, and talk in guttural forsaken tongues.
Quote from: One Horse TownHee. I was just about to post...
11) Goblins who have had their gloves coated in a strong adhesive attack the PCs. Once hit, the PCs cannot dislodge them and are eventually dragged down by the weight to suffer an ignoble end.
I've done this with meathooks and barbed wire instead. That did a pretty good job of freaking the players out.
Or the way that herds of antelope get past lions (and I don't even watch nature documentaries ... who has time?) ... they just flat out charge, with the expectation that the lion can only get so many of them.
Just flat out charge, with no intent beyond piling up grasping, clinging fodder around the legs (and then the waist, and then the chest ...) of attacking fighters.
Makes ya really wish you bought some nifty Cleave feats for wiping out mass quantities. And if you did, makes you really glad that you did.
Have them really enjoy the taste of humanoid flesh. While the victim is still alive.
Goblin process servers in thrall to a liche litigator delivering C&D papers on behalf of that necromancer sueing you for harrassment.
Quote from: Zachary The FirstHave them really enjoy the taste of humanoid flesh. While the victim is still alive.
ohhhhhhh, yeah.
I did that once - they tore open one of the characters and started eating her before she was dead, and they just ignored the other characters beating on them.
People were jumpin up and down. :D
Quote from: Reimdallohhhhhhh, yeah.
I did that once - they tore open one of the characters and started eating her before she was dead, and they just ignored the other characters beating on them.
People were jumpin up and down. :D
Excellent example. :evillaugh:
(BTW, Kent, not to derail, but guess what long-awaited review will be up this weekend (or more likely) next week?)
"Goblins" are a myth of sorts. They do not and can not reproduce normally. Goblin ranks are maintained and bolstered by kidnapping small children and inducting them into their ranks, rearing them to be just like the established tribe. "Goblins" are nasty, vicious, feral little children, and they always have been.
!i!
Quote from: Zachary The First(BTW, Kent, not to derail, but guess what long-awaited review will be up this weekend (or more likely) next week?)
Excellent! Looking forward to reading it, Z.
Mechanically, give them class levels.
Tactically, use tactics that put the goblins in a position of strength, either by reinforcing their advantages or diminishing the importance of their disadvantages. Take advantage of goblins' superior numbers, small size, darkvision and OK dexterity. Flank, have multiple goblins pile into grapples, and have the rear ranks use reach weapons. Have them attack at night, or in completely dark areas where the PCs can't see, and have them use confined areas or natural terrain features that PCs can't pass through easily to prevent the PCs from closing with them easily. Use ranged weapons.
Story-wise, dehumanise them and emphasise the alien qualities of goblin existence. Don't make them short, ugly gnomes or tribalistic small orcs. Have them be incomprehensible and inscrutable. Deny the PCs easy chances to communicate with them or to assess the threat they pose.
Goblin barbarians. Been done in Dungeon a few years back to good effect. Give them all max HP for 1st level like a PC and they'll be plenty scary.
Slightly off topic, but this appears to be a good place to repost my chart of freakish goblin activity.
What are the goblins up to?
1) Making rope out of human hair. A coil 1-100' long is already complete.
2) Boiling up a pot of mud and gravel stew.
3) Singing songs about hidden treasure.
4) Playing poker with blank cards. The printing on both sides is visible only to creatures with infravision
5) Dancing. At least one goblin will be playing an instrument, probably a fiddle or a concertina.
6) Playing tenpins with a skull and some legbones.
7) Interrogating a rat tied to a tiny chair. "I'm gonna ask you one last time: Where is the cheese?"
8) Building a house of cards with the deck from item 4.
9) Discussing the pros and cons of sexual congress with a wide variety of other monsters and races.
10) Eating meat pie. The pie might be stirge or it might be pixie. The goblins can't remember what they put in it.
11) Debating the crisis of succession that would arise from the untimely demise of the current goblin king.
12) Shining shoes of various sizes (kobold to ogre). They all radiate faintly under detect magic but have no known powers.
13) Three words: bunny eating contest.
14) Reading aloud someone else's love letters, preferably detailed notes to or from one of the PCs.
15) Sewing filthy rags into patchwork tunics. If a completed tunic is worn it protects as platemail+1. If the garment is cleaned the magic fades. 1-3 tunics have been completed.
16) Drawing obscene grafitti on the dungeon walls. Each goblin has d4 pieces of chalk in various colors.
17) Arguing vehemently over the proposition that cannibalism should be kept strictly in the family.
18) Strip chess tournament. There's a 1 in 6 chance at least some of the goblins are already in the all-together. Not a sight for the faint of heart.
19) Pickling sliced shrieker. 1-20 jars are done.
20) Trying on pretty pink dresses.
Quote from: jrientsSlightly off topic, but this appears to be a good place to repost my chart of freakish goblin activity.
What are the goblins up to?
20) Trying on pretty pink dresses.
... and carrying little dolls.
Quote from: Zachary The FirstHave them really enjoy the taste of humanoid flesh. While the victim is still alive.
Quote from: Reimdallohhhhhhh, yeah.
I did that once - they tore open one of the characters and started eating her before she was dead, and they just ignored the other characters beating on them.
People were jumpin up and down. :D
That is fucking awesome!
Thats the key right their. To just make them unbelievably savage and ruthless.
An idea I had was have them encounter goblins, that have been mutated by magic or whatever. It would be better if the characters couldnt tell at first. Or have to get up close. They could have 3 inch long talons, and go into a frenzy on mass on the characters. Or spit acid that disolves armor. Or they could be poisonous like a poison arrow frog. Just by touching there skin.
you bastards...no I can't decide if I like Bill's alt-history threads or this one better.
Thanks!
Take a big humanoid monster like a hill giant or ogre or something. Then strap 6-10 (depending on the size of the creature) large buckets that goblins ride in and shoot crossbows from.
Also - just make them smart.
- If they have one meal, they pull it away and make a tactical retreat.
- Have a few run away from the party and lead them into Devious and Simple Traps, followed by the main body of the force coming through the ceiling vents.
- Little tiny tunnels all over the place that they can fit into and the party can't.
- Attacking sentries at night and then retreating when the party mobilizes.
Quote from: Reimdall- Attacking sentries at night and then retreating when the party mobilizes.
I like this. Have the goblins do this over and over. Leaving then characters weak from lack of sleep. (From doing this one night, or better yet over the course of several nights) Then attack in mass when the characters are weak from sleep depravation (sp?).
Quote from: RoninTake a big humanoid monster like a hill giant or ogre or something. Then strap 6-10 (depending on the size of the creature) large buckets that goblins ride in and shoot crossbows from.
This is great fun if it comes in worse and worse incarnations: at first, it's crossbows and an ogre; later, it's small ballista on a stone giant, and things get really hairy when they have a small army on a garugantua.
Ooooh ... on the whole "attack at night, and the adventurers won't have any sleep" ... I thought "Oh right ... like squirrels!"
But what if they were really like that? Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.
It's not that the goblin did try to kill him. But it could have.
To me, at least, that's somehow a little scarier. The notion that a (potentially) dangerous creature just moseys on through, clips from of your iron rations, mosey's on out.
It's like a guy told me, one of his friends pilots the planes that carry advertising messages over miami beaches. Guy says that from the air you can see that there are sharks of one kind and another ... well ... all over the place. They're part of the local eco-sphere. People just don't notice.
Dunno if that's actually true, but the idea of it was damn creepy.
Quote from: TonyLBBut what if they were really like that? Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.
It's not that the goblin did try to kill him. But it could have.
Excellent!
Or if the goblin wants your blanket? Or snuggles up next to you? Or a pack of 60 nasties just want a drink of water at the river, and could care less that they're ambling through your camp? Mmm.
okay, with the ideas posted on this page, i now have to take notes on all the cool shit i want goblins to be in my games! so much goodness!
(hannibal)
i love it when the board comes together!
(/hannibal)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/93/Ateam.jpg/250px-Ateam.jpg)
Well, since it's d20 you could give them lightsabers and have them talk like Yoda. :D
Y'know really, he does look a lot like a goblin...
Quote from: TonyLBOoooh ... on the whole "attack at night, and the adventurers won't have any sleep" ... I thought "Oh right ... like squirrels!"
But what if they were really like that? Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.
It's not that the goblin did try to kill him. But it could have.
To me, at least, that's somehow a little scarier. The notion that a (potentially) dangerous creature just moseys on through, clips from of your iron rations, mosey's on out.
It's like a guy told me, one of his friends pilots the planes that carry advertising messages over miami beaches. Guy says that from the air you can see that there are sharks of one kind and another ... well ... all over the place. They're part of the local eco-sphere. People just don't notice.
Dunno if that's actually true, but the idea of it was damn creepy.
I totally agree. Scary to me is a matter of creating a feeling of suspence. Military superiority is not as scarey as something unknown or unfathomable (alien). When you can't predict it, that's scarey.
I imagine the scene where the Character wakes up...
"Thorgar wakes up in the middle of the night. There's a fog around him. He thinks he heard something but he feels like going back to sleep. He notices as he's dozing that a shadow is moving nearby, rocking back and forth which he didn't see before."
"I look at it and try to see what it is."
"It's a dark shape. Wait... you see the gleam of two green eyes ... they are staring at you."
To me that's a scarey situation. The unknown.
I agree the unknown is scary. Thats why I like when something is more than it appears. Not unlike some of the other things I have posted in this thread.
Give them character levels.
What?
Serious, goblins are already scary. You just need to do them right. And there's been some great suggestions on this thread
Hide them in the shadows with a held action (run away when shot at). But when the PCs get into trouble, THAT's when the 2d4 goblins show up. They loot the corpses, slay the wounded and pick-pocket whilst the fight is in progress.
Outside the dungeon, they can act as raiders so long as you give them an impregnable fortress.