Goblyn, Lesser
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate / Terrain | Any |
| Frequency | Common |
| Organisation | Tribal |
| Activity Cycle | Night |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Intelligence | Low (5-7) |
| Treasure | J |
| Alignment | Neutral Evil |
| No. Appearing | 3-30 (3d10) |
| Armour Class | 4 |
| Movement | 12, br 6 |
| Hit Dice | 3+3 |
| THAC0 | 14 |
| No. Of Attacks | 3 or 2 |
| Damage / Attack | 1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6 or by weapon+2 / 1d4 + poison |
| Special Attacks | Battle Rage |
| Special Defences | Nil |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | M (4’-6’) |
| Morale | Elite (13-14) |
| XP Value | 575 |
Description
Goblyns are distantly related to Goblins. They look similar to thier cousins, but much more hidious. They are larger, with long muscly arms which end with jagged, yellow nails. Thier heads are bald, and they have large mouths full of needle-like teeth. Thier red eyes are large and unblinking, and thier ears occasionally twitch when they are frustrated.
(The term Lesser Goblyn is used only to differentiate the prime-material version with the Ravenloft version. The Ravenloft version is much more powerful)
Combat
Goblyns are quick and fast. Thiere agility entitles them to a -2 penalty to their opponent’s surprise rolls.
Goblyn tend to attack with cruel, painful weapons like hammers, axes, scourges and whips. Because of the Goblyn’s skill at arms, this is always done at a +2 to damage. In addition, they usually attack a second time with a poisoned dagger in thier left hand. Those hit must save vs poison or be paralysed for 2-16 (2d8) rounds. The Goblyn will usually finish off a paralysed opponent before moving onto the next.
Battle Rage: A Goblyn often initiates a Battle Rage when numbers are low. When in a battle rage, a Goblyn throws down it’s weapons and attacks with claws and bite with a +5 to hit (lowering thac0 to 9!). The battlerage will last until the Goblyn is down to half of the hp it had when entering the rage. Goblyn always do this if they see a dwarf, elf or gnome- three races they despise.
Habitat/Society
In the early days of the war between Madras and Katahkis, Katahkan saw the need for mass troops. They looked to goblins, often disdained because of thier small, cowerdly natures, and worked upon them with twisted magics. The test goblins grew to large size and when they were finished, the mages were particularly pleased with thier result: The Goblyn. More Goblyn were bred and then released into areas to fend for themselves. Goblyn soon flourished and drove out the other races of orcs, goblins and gnolls. Eventually, they exceeded the total population of orcs, and almost that of goblins. Goblyn are the preferred unit for a pleminary attack by the Raveir. They send thousands of Goblyn warriors in to set fire to crops and cause havoc, then the Raveiran armies come in with thier ordered precision to wipe out the rest of the rabble. Goblyn in the wild tend to group together and form small tribes, led by the strongest warrior of the group. The small races of goblins and are openly hostile to orcs and bugbears.
They dispise dwarves and gnomes, because these races think of the goblyn in the same way they do the goblins. The reason for elves is because they find elf meat deliscious.
Ecology
Goblyn will only eat plants in the most desperate situations. They prefer to eat meat and especially savour elf meat. Thier favourite subraces of elves are the Drow and the Ice Elf. Two races they claim have the sweetest, most succulent flesh of all the races.