Inspiration

I have split the Art and Inspiration Thread in two - Wightbred - End May 2011

This thread is to drop in art and inspiration for Goblin World.

Some stuff to get us started:

- The Orcs of Thar which I first played years ago got me into playing different races, although each edition of D&D has rolled this out. Trying to make it less silly and use rules to support the flavour in Goblin World. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orcs_of_Thar

- This is a great link about how Goblins are misrepresented in D&D: http://www.goblindefensefund.org/

- Can't link to the image of the Worg on the Wizards sight for some reason, but it says "goblin" to me as well as "wolf" which is what I'm aiming for. Easy to find with a search.

- The Goblins Comic is something people always talk about. Although I like my goblins greener and in darker places that this presents. Link: http://www.goblinscomic.com/

- Don't really follow Pathfinder, but I did a search for "goblin" the other day and found a link some goblin PC products they are putting out later this year that look interesting, if maybe a little cutesy. Link: http://paizo.com/store/games/roleplayingGames/p/pathfinderRPG/paizo/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8ilz

Anything else?

From your descriptions I had kind of assumed that "Goblin Quest" and its sequels by Jim C. Hines were already a big inspiration, but if you're not familiar, they'd fit right in with the view of goblin life I got from your AP.

Thank's for the heads up on these Jeff. Have seen them but thought they had a different focus. Will definitely pick them up now.

Epic has sent me the first of the first of the artwork so I'm going to finish the playtest version today.

Just found this and I've only just started reading it but this is awesome. This book is LotR from Mordor's perspective: The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Eskov. You can get it on free download.
Discussion here:
http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2011/02/15/last_ringbearer
Download here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/a75r7u

It fits the themes I am trying for in Goblin World and reprents a new way to play the Fourth Age.

Ringbearer novel above is an interesting read, more like a modern spy novel set at the start of the next age. I wanted to see more of the Orcs when I read it.

Found a couple of indie games based on goblins (well Orcs anyway):

Orx: http://wildhunt.daegmorgan.net/products/orx/

Great Ork Gods: http://www.greatorkgods.co.uk/

And also this one on giants:

Giants RPG: http://giantsrpg.livejournal.com/

Unfortunately all these are incomplete with no work for a couple of years or out of print. I guess that this happens pretty often with indie games. Not sure I'll borrow any ideas here, but good to have an idea what people were doing.

I'm mulling over what improvements to make to the next version, and also thinking about how/if to publish. We are having a ball with this, but I'm not seeing a wealth of other interest right now. Would be cool to have this in Luxe Eternal, but only if someone else is interested. Otherwise I might just print some books for my players.

So I'm working on a batch of art to populate the playbooks (I did the cover for the current GW rules hacks) and I was writing out a bunch of short descriptors for what a goblin is. 

As my interest doesn't go much beyond the goblin (say to orcs for example) I'd appreciate some help on the other types.

Feel free to add to the goblin list as well, these things help me get the feel right :)

Goblins are:

• Small
• Weak
• Cowards
• Liars
• Sneaky
• Murderous
• Quick
• Cunning, but not smart
• Selfish
• Out for number 1
• Know their place, and it isn't the top
• Big nosed
• Big eared
• Toadies, unless the boss isn't watching
• Dishonest
• Evil?

I put a ? after evil because I honestly don't know if they are.  Sure all the attributes I've got up there now are definitely not ones you'd want to see in someone you're going camping with, but I reckon these things are adaptations that a creature nowhere near the top of their food chain has had to make.

Now Orcs are...

Cool Piazo April fools Goblin's of Purity: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lc2e

"An exciting reworking of the alignment system that allows you to play arsonists and baby-eaters while still being good-aligned"

If a PC can stay good-aligned after slaughtering goblins, why can't a goblin stay good aligned after burning down a human village?

Epic Fail has done up a goblin Shaman and tells me he's working on an Orc Marauder.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9r2UKkXhZtJNzQ5M2ZkY2UtNmEwZC00MDg4LThjZmYtZTdiYTE5M2M2OWQ0&hl=en&authkey=CNKC2K4M

(I can't work out a way to post the image direct, probably because its not supported. Let me know if you know a way to do this, as boring links make our art thread cry.)

I've split art out of this thread and into a thread of it's own.

Aparrently the Pathfinder 'We Are Goblins' I mentioned in the first post will be available on free RPG day (18 June) and available via PDF a couple of days later. Not interested in playing Pathfinder, but keen to see what Piazo can do with goblins.

Ben Lehman is writing a game called High Quality Roleplaying where you play the average people in a fantasy world. Only a few tantalizing glimpses of it online so far, but I'm very keen to see this.

Some links:
http://www.tao-games.com/?p=29
http://story-games.com/forums/comments.php?DiscussionID=14413&page=1#Item_19

I think it will be a very different game, but Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games has a Beta out now where you starting a 0-level: http://www.goodman-games.com/DCCRPGbeta.html

Check out this description of the goblin from the new (and free) Dungeon Crawl Classics Beta. Not sure I'll play this game, but I like their style.

Goblins are small, crooked-faced, bendy-backed, two-legged man-things... They live in caves, under large rocks, and in the ruins of civilised lands, being incapable of architectural accomplishments. They are inveterate cowards and avoid conflicts at all costs, prostrating and genuflecting with slavering, whimpering protestations of innocence.

Ed Heil laid out his inspiration on his site (http://www.edheil.com/illustration/) so I had to have a go:

My work explores the relationship between emerging sexualities and recycling culture.

With influences as diverse as Derrida and John Lennon, new synergies are created from both traditional and modern layers.

Ever since I was a student I have been fascinated by the theoretical limits of the mind. What starts out as hope soon becomes corroded into a cacophony of greed, leaving only a sense of nihilism and the inevitability of a new beginning.

As temporal impressions become transformed through diligent and personal practice, the viewer is left with a glimpse of the possibilities of our condition.

Arty Bollocks Generator: http://10k.aneventapart.com/Uploads/262/#

I like that this has (goblin) sex, recycling (looting), a cacophony of greed, and traditional (AW) and modern layers (a hack). Random stuff is often pretty appropriate.

No wonder we've achieved such an amazing synergy, with two artistic visions going at it like that!

@Ed: Absolutely. I'd say synergy, innovation and other such buzzwords as much as I can...

A few things today...

Free version We Be Goblins is out for Pathfinder: http://paizo.com/store/games/roleplayingGames/p/pathfinderRPG/paizo/pathfinderModules/v5748btpy8j5w. I only checked out the characters, as I think I need to sign up or something to get the actual module which pushed me into the 'meh' zone. The characters are pretty good and the art is not bad if you are looking for some goblin inspiration.

Thinking of putting something like this in the next version:
Options to reduce damage
You can reduce the damage you take by -1 by choosing one of these options:
- They are The Master and you are not
- You lose or break something Big or Valuable
- You move from Far to Close range
- One of your Warband dies
Or reduce damage by -3 by choosing one of these:
- You go unconscious until the MC says
- You permanently reduce a Stat by 1

This is based on some rules I've been working up since a game I wrote called Big Guns Big Fun so really my own inspiration here. But I just saw this cool rule by Trollsmyth that's similar for shields and some mad keen posts underneath: http://trollsmyth.blogspot.com/2008/05/shields-shall-be-splintered.html

I've been playing a bit too much Minecraft, which has probably slowed down the next version a bit. My suggestion: play Survival like a goblin, and only go outside at night. Much more interesting!

After writing so many moves with Master in them, I finally went out and got My Life With Master. Different to what I expected, but definitely a good recipient of the Diana Jones.