Goblinoids

Goblinoids are a type of monstrous humanoid found throughout Andaria. Although goblinoids differ significantly based on subspecies, they all share incredible adaptability that allows them to flourish in a variety of climates.

Broadly speaking, there are three known subspecies of goblinoids: goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. Goblins are small humanoids that take malicious glee in causing mayhem and violence. Hobgoblins are human-sized and war-like in the extreme, forming legions and utilizing competent tactics to conquer new territory and take more slaves. Bugbears are perhaps the most terrifying of the goblinoids, largest and most brutal of their kind, with a tendancy to combine horrific torture with unrelenting sadism.

Goblins tend to live in small packs or tribes, while hobgoblins form settlements ranging in size from villages to cities. Bugbears, in contrast, prefer to work, live, and kill alone.

It is not uncommon for goblinoids of different subspecies to band together. Bugbears will sometimes bully a pack of goblins into submission, and hobgoblins will sometimes conscript goblins and bugbears as sword fodder and elite soldiers respectively. The common goal shared by a group of different goblinoids depends entirely on the power dynamic within the group: a hobgoblin in charge will attempt to grow its legion and take new slaves, while a bugbear in charge generally uses the goblins as a means to feed itself and find new victims. Goblins rarely end up in the upper echelons of power within a goblinoid group.