“D&D: 3E” manages to besmirch, belittle, and degrade this fine race so obsessively one would think goblins had killed the lead designer’s dog, stolen his car, and run off with his wife.  

As far as this supposed fondness for torture is concerned, we see no reason to dignify this ridiculous, unsupported claim with a response – except to say that if a marauding group of adventurers invaded a goblins’ home, and strolled from room to room killing women and children, taking their 2d6 copper pieces, they deserve whatever punishment that happens to get meted out.

Perhaps the less that is said about the alignment switch from ‘lawful evil’ to ‘chaotic’, the better. Clearly, if these quick-and-easy alignment labels had any meaning at all, Goblinkind would not be ‘lawful’ in 1978 and ‘chaotic’ a mere five years later. One’s worldviews simply do not change that rapidly, or are we to assume that all of Goblinkind attended college in a foreign country in the intervening years?

Let us begin by acknowledging one huge improvement over prior entries. Finally, the authors deign to give the standard (non-warrior) goblin “Average” Intelligence and Wisdom. Admittedly, this comes at the cost of a below-average Charisma score. This is no surprise – after all, Charisma is one of those traits that are in the eye of the beholder, and the sad fact is that most readers of the Monster Manual are daisy-munching elf-lovers with man-crushes on Orlando Bloom, quite incapable of appreciating the quiet dignity of goblins’ “drab, soiled-looking colors.” Still, if this was the sum total of the racism against the fine goblin race, we could all applaud heartily – goblins are finally recognized as being as intelligent and wise as any other race.