History

The goblins were the first people of Cimmeria. The great Phoenix burned across Cimmeria and out of the ashes came the goblins. They worshipped their creator and the other animal gods for centuries. After the Trojan War the Olympians came to Cimmeria with the races of the Conclave. The Goblin War raged for one hundred years and at the end the goblins had lost. Within Cimmeria the goblins were enslaved. The maintain their old ways as a subculture. A shady remnant of what once was.

Subraces

As the Goblin War against the Olympians turned against them the goblin gods, Lion and Ants, blessed their people. One out of every hundred births was a hobgoblin. One out of every five hundred births was a bugbear. One out of every twenty thousand was a barghest. Various other sub-races came about as well (bakemono, dekanter, tasloi, etc.). Each of these new goblinoids were more powerful than the original goblins and better suited for war agains the Conclave races of the Olympians. The Animal Pantheon had hoped that this infusion of strength would bring their petitioners victory, but it was sadly not enough.

Hobgoblins: Hobgoblins stand between six and seven feet tall with muscular builds. Their skin ranges from yellow to red in color. They have small protruding tusks. Hobgoblins are well known for their militaristic culture established long ago by their great emperor, Kruk-Ma-Kali. This same emperor also instilled in them a cutthroat sense of competition. The easiest way for a hobgoblin to gain a promotion is for his superior to die, something that they often arrange themselves.

Bugbears: Bugbears are large, furry creatures standing at least seven feet tall. They have tufted ears growing out of the sides of their heads and large eyes giving them an excellent talent for perception. Additionally their fur grows in to match their current environment giving them a natural ability to camouflage. Bugbears delight in ambushing animals as well as humanoids. This allows them to indulge in their favorite pastime, cannibalism. Bugbears love to capture humanoids to cook and eat them. If no other humanoids are available they will turn on their goblinoid brethren. If bugbears are in a goblin community they must be provided with constant humanoid flesh for sustenance, lest they turn on their fellow tribe mates.

Barghests: Barghests are the greatest of goblinoid kind. They are demons in mortal skin with shapeshifting powers. While their natural form is a large wolf-like creature with a goblin face, barghests are able to assume the form of any goblinoid type. The greatest weapon granted by Lion and Ants and also the goblin race’s greatest curse. Barghests grow more powerful by consuming the souls of the recently deceased. They have the potential to rival any champion of the Olympians, but their appetite often leads barghests to consume their fellow goblins. Additionally their shapeshifting power allows barghests to become a wolf in sheep’s clothing amongst goblin society. A barghest born to a goblin mother is often immediately killed and eaten before it has the chance to grow and do the same to its progenitors.

Other Subraces: There are many other lesser known subraces of goblins. Most of them are only slight variations on the standard goblin form and personality. These other subraces provide advantages in specialized situations, but did not develop a unique culture in Cimmeria, unlike the hobgoblin, bugbear, and barghest subraces.

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)