Creation Ok, so you decide you want to make a goblin or a kobold! Yay! but the problem is, you think "I don't want to go through the damn application process, just to be killed off so quickly!" Well, good news. You do not need a application to make a goblin or kobold that are a evil alignment. (Your rp could change their alignment over time, or you could apply to make your gob or kob start out say, CG or LG.)

And for classes. If you are a goblin or a kobold, the racial perfered class is rogue. This actually works well for them, since they are both good at hiding and such, and they usually have the guile and cunning the class entails. But deversity is a good idea, since Goblins and kobalds, under no circumstances, should travel alone. They cannot really trust other races to fill in the class gaps for them, so they must do so themselves. I am not sure about Kobolds as of yet, but here is some good Non rogue builds which work well for them.

The Goblin patron deity is a diety of trickery and evil, so that means that a shaman could be a very capable fighter and good at the art of stealth. Of course, they have to be manic with their religon (which is to be expected) but they should usually be welcomed into a group of goblins going out into the dangerous sewers.

Though both Goblins and Kobolds tend to be small, some of them grow to be way larger, muscle and mass wise, then their racial norms. They are usually considered the soilders, troopers and protecters of their tribe. This would mean that they would probably be a fighter class. Only circumstance of which a goblin or kobald is a barbarians is if they are loners, since the races as a whole tend to live in tribes or clans.

Though arcane classes are very unusual, they are not impossible occurances. In their soceity, a arcanist who is skilled enough (Wizards for goblins and Sorcerers for Koblds is the norm.) Usually dominate in their soceities, unless there is a really big-assed goblin or kobald that can take on their spells and manage to kill them.

Survival

Never travel alone first rule for being a goblin or kobolds, never travel alone. If you travel alone, a players charater will just random kill you with no rp just for being a goblin or kobold (Since from what I have heard, this is allowed -_-). If you can outnumber the people three to one, they will not mess with you. So it is probably a good idea to get a freind or two to play with you.

Avoid partying with non monster races I swear, they will just try to use you, then kill you off. Even if this is not true, you should assume it rp wise. So it is best to not to mess with them. But because of this, you must rely on the races limited skills outside of guile and cunning to tackle tasks and quests.

Know your lands better then outsiders do The numourus dwarves, elves, humans have pushed you down into the many sewers and tunnels under lower. Then the next thing you know, they are coming into your domain, trying act like they are going to rule you. You have to know the sewers and tunnels better. Where the traps are, where the dangerous creatures lurk and where to go if you need to hide. Once you know how to do these things, it will be much easier to escape pursueing PCs or better yet, lure them into their doom at the hands of a bigger predator who could easily finish them. (Such as Chosen or the many Animatrons.)

Taking the fight to the kind who slays yours. It is true, most people who make goblins or kobolds do get slain very quickly after being made. But the fact many people forget is that they are more then capable of doing the same. Point I am getting to is that once you are strong enough, you should not be focused on solely surviving. You should get with your kin and start to kill them if they go into the sewers alone. Try setting up random traps in the sewers for them to trip over and die (Since they are of course, tresspassing in your lands.)

But importantly to go with this, is that if the person you are going to kill wants to rp with them, you should very much oblige them to it.

More to come.

Added two more entrees into the guide. More to come.

GOBLINS! I love 'em. The guide has some pretty good points in it, but there are some inconsitancies I should point out.

First- kobolds can be damned near any class and aren't restricted to rogues by any stretch! They can't or should not be paladins, monks, or wizards for reasons which I'll address in a moment, but aside from that everything else is certainly a reasonable choice.

Paladins- LG does not match up with kobolds. Theoretically POSSIBLE, but there are more likely to be two dual-scimitar wielding NG drow in the world than a kobold paladin. Which, by the way, there's only one such drow and he's a pretty damned big stretch anyways. So yea, paladins.

Monks- Of the three mentioned, this is the most reasonably possible. I only put monks up here because A) they're arguably out-of-place ANYWAYS, B) they require a lot of training, time, and learning to just become a monk, which kobolds and goblins generally do not have. They're too busy trying to survive.

Wizards- There may be extreme exceptions, and I've actually encouraged a goblin player to be a wizard, but if this were to be done it would be BEST done as an IG goal because your standard kobold and goblin does not have access to the libraries, tomes, learning, etc. that are required to become a wizard. If a PC goblin wanted to pursue wizardry as an IG goal, stealing books, etc. then by all means I think it would be a great concept if you never casted anything but cantrips until you could learn the real deal from another PC wizard!

Maglubiyet domains are pwn, I concur.

Goblin and kobold barbarians make perfect sense. Barbarians are not necessarily loners, and in fact, being tribal makes one more likely to be a "barbarian" than a fighter-- look at the Cave Worms, for instance.

Knowing the sewers- preach it. The sewers/tunnels/"monster areas" are very well developed and in EfU history have had some serious impact on the server. In fact, in early EfU, the sewers were almost a hangout spot at one point as everyone went about hunting rats for phat lewt and xp. It may sound lame and boring, but I assure you that it was fun and a source of many an interesting hunting competitions and random PC-PC encounters (mostly non-PvP too!).

While it's definately true that it is extremely dangerous to travel with non-monster races, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it! If you're playing a goblin or kobold and trying to avoid all danger, my recommendation is to scratch the idea and roll up an elf. You should WANT to RP and interact with other players because you are a monster and it's an interesting interaction, not avoid them for the same reason!

You should get with your kin and start to kill them if they go into the sewers alone.

Personally, I really disike this mentality about it. "Get big and fight back". There are a lot of opportunities to have a really neat monster character that people ignore and pass up just so they can be little PvP machines, which then turns against players who would want to make real and impactful monster PCs but are FD'd just like their tyrannous companions. I'm not saying that being open to PvP is bad, but please please PLEASE don't let this be a leading motivation when you roll up your little beastie.

A final note on this-- if Scae the notorious goblin-destroyer rolls up into the sewers hunting for greenskins, by all means, fight back and FDing would be entirely acceptable! But if Joe Schmoe the rat hunter and novice adventurer, aspirant in the Hoaran temple and a small but vocal leader in the Lower crowd comes in to do his hunting and protect himself from the "attacking" monsters, weigh out if killing him is appropriate or inappropriate, or better yet, whether PvP is appropriate or inappropriate!

I am not advocating PVP :) Though you have to remember, there is many IC hatreds of PCs on the ground above them. Most of goblins or Kobolds are going to be pretty mad at the fact that ICly their kind is constantly killed by the big and pale people. I said perfectly that if they want to rp in any manner, oblige them.

As for the traps, they should go ahead and put them there, it being their domain. They probably want to keep the pale and tall folk out because they do the same to them. (Yay for IC mindset.) Also, thanks for mentioning those things. I will add them to the guide. I didn't add them because 1. Only way to tart off good as a gob or kob and be a paladin from level 1 is an application. 2. I already said that a goblin wizard would be very rare, but the ones that come about usually dominate their tribes.

But thanks for the input, I will add it when I get home from school :P

Also a helpful guide for goblins/kobolds. Get friendly with monsters who will help you. Ive played a hobgoblin and many races who are just as hated but are more bigger. Also goblins can really kickass when not alone.

How do you go about actually making a goblin or kobold character? Is there a scripted conversation in the OOC area that makes you into a monster? I don't see the option under race in the normal character creation menu, and this thread got me thinking it might be fun to try a kobold for a while, even if it wouldn't be my main.

Go into character creation mode, just as you would with a new character. When you select a race, choose halfling, then go to subrace which is the button below the common races. In the field which pops up, write Kobold or Goblin for the respective race. Follow through the rest as you would with a regular character. Remember that you require an application for neutral or good aligned kobolds or goblins. Also, it would be good to have a voiceset which fits the character, and a portrait. Check the downloads for overrides to help you with this.

Thanks, that worked. I've got a kobold character but I still need to find some other kobold players who are on at the same times so I can play with them. Dweezle definitely does not trust the citizens of Sanctuary enough to venture into Lower on his own.

I posted my play times in the sticky, if anyone's interested in playing kobold with me, just send me a PM.

Nupkin, famed bard of the ShadowTribe kobolds, makes regular forays into lower, seeking out monster races to "convert" to the Shadowtribe. He is an neatly groomed little kobold, ususaly playing a lute or bangingout his soul rythm's on his bongos..

As an aside, if you want to play a kobold, and not be KOS, try appying for guest status through the Shadow Tribe, or hell, come up with a damn good reason why your gobo would be accepted under guest status..do some research, there used to be a goblin npc right next to the town hall..once upon a time.

Monster NPC's are a load of fun, and do not have to be pvp machines, espeacially if you have taken the time to app for some form of the above...apps don't hurt. At least not right away :twisted:

If you plan on playing a heinous little beastie, then by all means, be prepared to fight, and fight alot. Nature of the beast...the fall of goblin town was due to some fantastic "nasty little green devils* rp and pvp..and all involved had a great time. At least they seemed too..

Well, after some time, I learned that it is not a good idea to rp in upper at all, there are alot of players who are just out to be the moster uber pwnter, and will come up with the most stupidest reason to kill you, just for your gear. Such as said goblin farting, then the elf that is probably level 7-9 yells out "Impudence!" and start to PK it and kill it. Oh yes, and most of the dms will be against you, no matter the defense you come up with.

Essentailly, I am not saying not to rp, its just other players will never give you the chance, because they are out to be uber.

There are characters in lower and upper alike who have roleplay reasons to kill goblins the second they see them no matter the location. You should take into consideration that many ex-slaves find themselves trapped in the underdark thanks at least partially to goblins and thier ilk.

Kill on sight should not be an excuse to not roleplay. Simple as that.

They'll probably say a few words before they unleash the TS + KD from Invis to kill an L2 goblin. It's the stylish way to go.

Killing a goblin for being a goblin is roleplay.

Whether or not your character has the motive is up to you, however.

I didn't know the goblins were "back".

I've trouble to survive or even play one, so if the goblin comunite is up to something please tell us.

Certanly they can't survive alone.

Isn't that the reason we always find them in a city(or use to find), a camp or the fortress??? =)

As a player who was turned on to goblin life after the death of one of my long-time characters (actually, it was Garem who suggested a Gobbo) and someone's who seen their share of gobbo death, here are a couple more things to add to the list. Feel free to expand/dismiss/do what you will with it.

Paranoia is a good thing Here's the truth of the matter: even the most trusted goblin merchant who makes a living selling drinks and advice to every pink-skin who rolls into his bar isn't above being ruthlessly ambushed in a dark alleyway. (Real talk: I seem to remember Dugbone, one of the nicer goblins around, getting into his share of scraps without provocation.) There is at least one person in every three who has never seen you before, and can only take your little green-skin at face value. This is why paranoia is your friend.

Remember this mantra: You are not safe. You will never be safe. You may think you are safe, but it is a lie- they're just on coffee break. If you remain moving at all times, then you can give yourself the illusion of being safe. Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. (Remember, it's tough to have a high spot skill AND be able to fight off what you may detect.)

Imagine someone aiming a sniper rifle at your head from 100 feet away- if you remain in one spot for more than five seconds, bang bang. That's kind of what being a goblin is like. Keeping that in mind, it is a very bad idea to stand around in the Lower circle chatting about munching on rats, or the finer points of gnome stew. Remember that most humanoid PC's have a very good reason to fear you, and after the FOIG events in Lower, most goblins would have a respectable amount of fear for them as well. If a human reacts to your presence with anything other than a possible request for your aid, then it's well within your rights either fight or flee straightaway. Usually, it will keep you alive longer to be wary as hell of anything standing above three feet. Keep IC; you're not a human, and most goblins wouldn't hang around and debate the merits of not killing them.

Now, for the contradiction:

Take risks Kinda relates to what Garem said, relations with non-monster races. Variety is the spice of life, and the truth of the matter is, nobody can really pull themselves up by their own bootstraps without a little help. This actually applies to human and non-human PC's. While pure self-preservation is admirable, don't forget to have fun while doing it! When faced with partying with non-monsters, here are two possible results:

a) Gobbo meets Joe Adventurer and Co., who are on their way to perform a little kobold genocide. Amiably enough, Gobbo decides to join them, not being able to pass up the chance to slit some of the scaly buggers. They make their merry way through Kobold Ave, having a grand old time. When they clear out Kobold Ave entirely, devious Joe Adventurer shows his true colors, giving Gobbo a substantially smaller size of the cut compared to his Co. When Gobbo speaks up about it, Joe Adventurer nods cheerfully to his group of double-axe wielding half-orcs, who scowl and grunt appropriately. Gobbo wisely keeps his mouth shut, and takes his leave.

b) Gobbo meets Joe Adventurer and Co., who are on their way to perform a little kobold genocide. Amiably enough, Gobbo decides to join them, not being able to pass up the chance to slit some of the scaly buggers. They make their merry way through Kobold Ave, having a grand old time. The group splits their m@d lewt and parts ways without a fuss. Two weeks later, Gobbo comes across Joe Adventurer in a deserted alleyway. The two chit-chat easily enough, giving Gobbo's friends enough time to gather together and prepare themselves. Joe Adventurer is mugged and left naked and penniless in the alleyway.

It doesn't matter which of these scenarios you prefer: the point is that either of them wouldn't have occured if both players aren't willing to take that risk. As long as you don't have that "mess with me and I'll kill you DEAD" mentality, the RPing opportunities are just pure gold. Personally, I'd prefer one great rival to the gold on ten PC corpses anyday.