Hill Goblins

 This thuggish humanoid has dusky yellow-green skin, large wedge shaped ears, dull yellow eyes, and short tusks that protrude from its lower jaw. Its powerfully muscled body is crisscrossed with the scars of a harsh and brutal life.

Hill goblins (sometimes called bugbears) are a race of brutish wilderness dwelling goblinkin that make up the bulk of the goblin armies and brute labor force. They are simple folk with little use for cerebral pursuits and most of them never even bother to learn to write their own names. Hill goblins have a rather direct approach to life that states that if a problem can’t be solved with violence than it generally can’t be solved, and they can be very inventive when it comes to violence. They are consummate albeit direct warriors, proudly wearing battle scars from numerous military and personal altercations like badges of honor.

Personality: Like most people of limited intellect, hill goblins have an irrational sense of racial pride not just for themselves but for all of goblinkind. They want little out of life save that they remain fed, protect the honor of their culture and clans, and get to rough it up from time to time. They are normally quiet around strangers (though many speculate that this is because they can’t think of anything to say) but are overbearingly loud and raucous when with their own kind or those they think of as comrades. Hill goblins love a good fight and on occasion will go to great lengths to start one or at least sit cheering from the sidelines for whatever side they fancy when they see one going on. They are somewhat weak-willed when it comes to causes and tend to fall in with any clever orator that comes along, born follower despite their chaotic tendencies, especially if you can convince them they thought of it.

Physical Description: The shortest hill goblins are rarely below six feet tall, most being between six and a half to seven feet. Their bodies are powerfully built with thick arms, legs, and chests with a tendency to get paunchy around the middle after adolescence. They have dusky yellow to yellow-green skin, dull yellow eyes, and wide pointed ears that that stick out, many times at different angles. The hair of hill goblins is wiry and thick and comes in any shade of dark brown, dark-red, and dirty blonde. They wear simple homespun clothes and hides and are known to go long periods without bathing unless working for an employer who insists on it.

Relations: Hill goblins relate to others and one another in the most direct way possible. If they see something they don’t like, they don’t hesitate to let anyone know. If they are exposed to something agreeable they are quick to proclaim their happiness. You always know where you stand with hill goblins and if you do something they don’t like or are an elf, you probably standing on the edge of a beating. Most other goblins find then easy to manipulate and hill goblins are often pawns in other goblins schemes.

Alignment: Where as most goblins tend to be lawful, the hill goblins go against the grain and do what they like when they like. This chaotic streak works to the advantage of other goblins rather than being destructive because hill goblins are easily swayed to their way of thinking.

Hill Goblin Lands: Hill goblins live in rugged hilly territories just as their name implies but they rarely spend their whole lives there. Often they can be found serving in goblin military units, working as cheap brute labor, or doing general thuggery duties in criminal gangs. Their homes are generally in small rural villages where such activities as potato or pig farming, and drunken brawling are the main activities of interest.

Religion: Hill goblins are devoted to their chosen gods and are not afraid to show it. Most worship whatever gods they were raised to venerate with never a thought of converting or even acknowledging that there are other gods.

Language: Hill goblins speak goblin and common if they bother to learn it.

Names: Hill goblin names are short and guttural with little discernable difference between males and females. Clan names are descriptive of something or someone of note in the clan’s history.

Hill Goblin Racial Traits

+4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Hill goblins are strong and hardy but are slow in both reflexes and mental faculties.

Medium: As medium creatures, hill goblins have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Speed: A hill goblin’s base land speed is 30 feet.

Goblin Subtype:  Darkvision 60 feet, +2 racial bonus on all Hide and Move Silently checks, +1 racial bonus on all saves verses disease and poison.

Illiteracy: Hill goblins do not automatically know how to read and write regardless of his character class. A hill goblin may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages he is able to speak. A hill goblin cannot gain wizard levels unless he purchases his literacy.

Skills: Hill goblins receive a +2 racial bonus on all Survival checks. Hill goblins are adept at living off the land in lean times and tracking down game.

Automatic Languages: Goblin. Bonus languages: Any Regional, Common, Giant, Draconic, Sylvan

Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass hill goblin’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty (see the XP for Multiclass Characters section on page 60 of the Player's Handbook). Hill goblins are wild by nature and the skills and abilities of the barbarian class mesh well with their rough lifestyles.

Level Adjustment: +0.