When designing the gods of the goblins, we took into account all the literature involving goblins. It is expected that the religious structure of a race that generally believes in nonsensical things worships evil gods and other entities, and obeys almost anything more powerful than itself for protection, should be very flexible.
We also thought that the chaotic lifestyle of goblins should be reflected in their religion. Religion could be one of the powers applied during the determination of the pecking order among goblins, and in this distorted order, the one who is powerful or can deceive the best could hold power.
At the same time, we mentioned in the related section that Superstitious Magic originated from goblins. This belief system also had to be suitable for the Goblin religion.
In the end, a structure resembling general concepts more than gods emerged. We created a very flexible and modular religious system where the same entity could be given different names in different tribes, and the same name could correspond to different gods in different geographies, with new ones being added or removed.
To make things more interesting, we envisioned that the same gods could have different aspects, and these aspects could be in different forms. For example, the aspect of the goddess of secrecy named The Great Mother includes concepts such as motherhood and family, and protecting the non-combatants of goblin tribes, while warriors worshiping the same goddess pray for their ambushes to be blessed and to gain an advantage over their enemies. A thief might pray for good loot.
Another divine being, the Craftmaster King, is worshiped by builders as a construction god, by assassins as a poison god, and by alchemists as an alchemy god. The beauty of it is that the goblin culture is loose enough not to consider worshipping the same god in different ways as heresy.
NOTE FROM THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Ibrahim M. Celik
My main goal in designing the goblin gods this way was inspired by a story I read in a forum thread many years ago. The same story also provided nice inspiration for Superstitious Magic.
In the story I read, adventurers went to a ruined castle and secretly killed the chief. When they picked up the chief’s “magical/sacred staff,” a +1 mace, and the other goblins stopped fighting and declared them the chief, they realized they were involved in a religious matter, used this to their advantage, and started ruling the goblins.
I thought one of the most fun ways to integrate goblins into the game was for the religious situation needed at the moment to happen by chance. Fighting goblins could be worshipping the warring faces of their gods, while peaceful goblins worship their calmer aspects. The culture of a chaotic race naturally considers and not ostracizing these practices seems to me as a natural consequence.
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- THE BECOMING: PLAYING AS MONARCH MINOTAURS
- Didn’t Make The Cut: CHURGRUN
- UNUSUAL PARTNERSHIPS AMONG BRUTAL RACES
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