Goblins

''Currently, races are not yet implemented in game. What you see below is a representation of our future intentions, and is aspirational''

Goblins are one of the races in SotE.

Poem From the Eons



Find me a valley, find me a glen,

Find me a forest, find me a fen,

Where Goblins Haven’t Settled

Description Goblins are a highly r-Selected race which is disposed slightly to generalism and are comfortable in both feral and civilized settings. It can be argued that Goblins are as intelligent as humans, but their weak bodies and short life span often means they have difficulty in producing scholars and thinkers of great depth (which takes many years of study in excess of a goblin’s lifespan). However, goblins can sustain incredibly high population densities, and their intelligence combined with their disposability means that they not only have many minds attempting to tackle problems, but their life history encourages them to experiment and take great risks, both physically as well as philosophically. This allows goblin societies to adapt to new challenges and environments very quickly, but also makes for extremely volatile politics and power structures.

Goblins are unique as a heavily r-selected race in that they can--- and are in fact disposed to--- independently developing settled, simplistic civilized societies quickly and easily. Their small stature means they are mediocre big game hunters but are well disposed to eek out a living with agriculture on very marginal and undesirable lands. Goblins are known to live with large, social, lynx sized cats who feed on the various pests that attempt to eat Goblin agriculture, commonly rabbits (which Goblins are capable of hunting as well, and which goes a lot further in feeding a 22 kilo Goblin than a 68 kilo human).

The average Goblin settlements is barely over subsistence, meaning that there is little social stratification. This also means though that Goblins are more likely to develop egalitarian societies, both in peer to peer relations as well as gender equality. When numerous Goblin settlements arise in a region, its common for an ambitious leader to extort tribute from the surrounding settlements, forming hegemony that enriches the leading settlement of the hegemony. Few surpluses from such tributaries means that such polities tend to be highly decentralized, and often fall apart as soon as the charismatic leader dies.

Tragically, Goblins tend to be uncompetitive in the face of K-selected races, therefore settled Goblin societies rarely have staying power. If they settle on desirable, fertile lands they are often easily displaced by other, more K-selected races like humans. To their credit however, they can easily move and adapt to new lands as their very low resource requirements means they have the ability to find new lands not otherwise suited to other races.

As a result of their ease in settling new lands but poor ability to hold them for long, Goblins are very often stuck in a back and forth of early civilizational development, cycling between quasi-feral and quasi-civilized. Other, more competitive races have also developed prejudices toward Goblins as “thieves” and “nuisances” due to the frequency they are forced off their lands, meaning that most races will encounter Goblins when they are desperate refugees. Many Goblins forced off their land are often forced to resort to banditry and raiding, as well, which doesn’t help their reputation. Goblins also develop a reputation for being poor stewards of the land, as few will live long enough to individually witness the long term effects of land degradation.

It is by no means impossible for Goblins to form advanced, settled civilizations though. In such civilizations, Goblins can be spectacular innovators with their many minds and their willingness to take risks. For these kinds of Goblin civilizations to come about, they not only must persevere against outsiders, but must resist cataclysmic bouts of infighting and political turmoil. A Goblin that only has a few years to make his or her mark on the world will be impatient to do so. Court intrigue and rebellions are frequent, lightning fast, and incomprehensibly garbled in the eyes of other Civilized races. Goblin diplomacy is equally perceived as erratic and unreliable, as longer lived races will rarely be doing business with the same leader from one decade to the next.

In warfare, goblins are frequently known to be undisciplined and poorly trained, as their short lives make it difficult to build experience, institutional knowledge, and a military tradition. They also tend to be fearful and cowardly in warfare because a 1 on 1 encounter with most other intelligent races statistically is likely to result in death. As a result, goblin “soldiers” frequently require motivation--- in the form of threats of pain and death by their leaders--- to “encourage” them to fight. Goblins are rarely known to win battles, but because they can replenish their ranks so quickly, they can wear down enemies in the long term through raids and guerrilla warfare. Advanced Goblin societies will rely on slingers and clever inventions like portable catapults and fortifications to mitigate their physical frailties. Statistics

Primary statistics Note that Humans are a baseline of 100 on most statistics

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