How can we make orcs and goblins more monstrous so that they aren't just sneaky guys and buff guys respectively...

How can we make orcs and goblins more monstrous so that they aren't just sneaky guys and buff guys respectively? What traits could be added or capitalized upon?

Goblin's also have the quality of tricksters so having them pull large scale potentially violent pranks is another element of their character to work with.

As for Orcs you can focus on them as a trbialist band of wandering warriors tied by a warchief with a culture of honor and combat leading them. Alternatively they can be interpreted as an organized military culture akin to Sparta.

I don't think there's anything wrong with them currently. Basically all fantasy races are one dimensional.

I think merging goblins with kobolds would be enough. Same with gnomes and dwarves tho desu.

>Make them Warcraft orcs and goblins

to be honest, as much as it's overdone, it still is one of the most iconic and most successful ways to do it

>How can we make orcs and goblins more monstrous
we don't. thats done to death which is why its so rare nowadays. Everyone is tired of mindless evil mooks.

Speak for yourself.

I have Goblin encounters in my campaigns, and pirate encounters as well.

People love that shit, no matter how much it may be done to death in theory everyone loves being a pirate, and killing lots of evil monsters.

I had an idea for Orcs at least being partly pachyderm, the big like face from a shortened trunk, retaining heavy tusks and with a loping almost gorilla like posture, actually herbivores which is why they remained under developed but soon developed warrior elements from being attacked by sapient predator species, not long after they were lashing out at anything that wasn't them

go check these goblins that are basically sentient amphibious swarm feeders.

>Sneaky guy & Buff guy
>This summer on NBC

Take a look at the goblins of Goblin Punch and D&D With Pornstars blogs. They're a grand variety of fucked up and twisted things.

Goblins are like bio-weapons poisoning everything around them.

I really like the Volos Guide to Monsters bit where it talks about goblins getting possessed by spirits of trickery and chaos inherent to all goblinkind if the other goblinoids kick them around too much. I like the idea of goblins being able to go into the equivalent of Dorf Fort strange moods only with more murder and less crafting.

This is how I goblin, bring them back to being supernatural demonic entities rather than cutesy fodder

...

>getting stun locked by spear goblins during that goblin boss battle

Jesus Christ OP why did you use a CC goblin

In my case, I normalized them, built them into more than cannon fodder.

Goblins are the native species of Kysos, one continent in my hombrew. In game terms they sorta fill the role of halflings and tinker gnomes, but less fluffy and jolly. They're not cruel or evil per say, they just live in a very sparse land, and survival is top priority.

Mountain goblins fall more towards the techy, industrialized archetype. They enjoy inventing and figuring out how to make new things. The only things holding them back from a major technological revolution are a lack of resources, their ultimately short lives and attention spans, and their own pragmatism.

The first humans on Kysos interbred with the goblins and became the Orcs. The orcs expanded rapidly, but into a harsh and sparse land. They had to go primitive to survive.

Plains orcs have more of a native American feel. They're nomadic hunter-gatherers and they like it that way. Most conflicts revolve around the "modern" world being forced on them.

Highland orcs have more of a Scots/Irish feel. They're mostly farmers and semi-nomadic shepherds. They're the most civilized of the orcs, freely trading with the humans and goblins to the north. Generally peaceful, they are damn vicious when pushed to a fight, and they don't need as much convincing as a plains orc would.

Lowland or Wild orcs are the most "Orky" of the lot. They were the ones who spread the farthest west, into the Whispervale. More primitive than even the prairie orcs, and much more prone to violence. It should be noted that they aren't exactly cruel or warlike, they just love a good fight. A lowland orc won't consider you a friend until you knock a few of each others teeth out. Their only neighbors are highland orcs, who consider them an entertaining nuisance, and the plains orcs, though contact is infrequent and often somewhat hostile.

slap some swastikas on them

alternatively
Nah, just stick with swastikas

.goblina ===
Goblins should be devious little shits just fucking you about for no good reason
Belligerent
Passive aggressive
Elusive
An annoying little shits that are a pain in the arse

>things holding them back from a major technological revolution
>pragmatism

My goblins are going to be slightly more humanoid monkeys (or chimps, haven't decided yet), essentially. Forest- and jungle-dwellers, primitive hunter-gatherers and scavengers.

Their intelligence is somewhere between IRL chimpanzees and human children—enough to use tools and weapons, but not enough to make any themselves, other than the crudest of implements. The most intelligent of goblin races might barely reach the level of IRL Pygmies, but I'm undecided on that.

They live and hunt in packs. Aggressiveness towards humans (and dwarves etc.) varies from race to race and from region to region: goblins in temperate forests tend to avoid humans, but if human encroachment on their habitat leaves them hungry, they will occasionally raid isolated farmsteads bordering their woods. The goblins of the equatorial rainforests are rather more aggressive and territorial, attacking anyone who enters their territory (including other goblin tribes), and often attack the resident jungle-elves.

The average goblin is about as strong as a chimp—surprisingly strong, actually. You don't want to take on one unarmed, but if you have a decent weapon, a single one won't be a problem (even if the goblin is armed as well, because it's not going to be very skilled).
Unfortunately, you'll seldom face a single goblin. Being surrounded by a handful would be dangerous even for a trained soldier—especially since this is GURPS.

Other tidbits:
A pack of goblins is made up of an alpha male, a harem of females (5–10), and the alpha's brothers (3–5), plus children (carried by the mothers).

When the young grow up, the females stay with the alpha's sons, who fight among themselves for status, while the brothers' sons (if there are any) go off to try and steal another pack's females.

They mostly eat fruit, berries, nuts, and hunt small game like rabbits or young deer with pointy sticks, clubs, and whatever human weapons they may have taken. Some are crafty enough to make simple traps.

Yiff in Hell

Monkey goblins are kosher.

Ï like the slav cockroach approach, employing ""tactics"" that endanger them but they are so resilient and fast in their reproducing (be sure not to make this seem magical realmy) that they are very hard to get rid of and will become a force of nature that drains an area of its natural resources.

>slav cockroach
So Slav or British? Make up your mind.

>organized military culture
That's hobgoblin's bag, though

Yes, pragmatism. Many of the things they invent they have no need for, and are thus never persued. The ballista has been "invented" several times, but they have no need for a weapon like that, so the prototypes are neglected until their materials are needed. Same goes for steam power. Fuel is scarce, so a steam engine is near useless. They don't really have any need for electricity, but they have come up with ways to generate it.


Thats the direction I went with halflings.

They're the ultimate mutts, a little bit of everything, and they spread like roaches. More often than not a successful rout of a half long village is often just the first stage of their counter attack. High elves are always leery of taking halfling slaves because they've been theasterminds behind some of the most devastating slave revolts.

I'm still short on ideas for my gorilla-orcs.

I want them to be useable as slaves on plantations, but not really capable of much agriculture on their own.