Saga of the Goblin Horde: Troblin Rat Handler

I released the first four archetypes for Saga of the Goblin Horde back in March last year, and promised I would release another archetype every month until I'd finished them all. That time has finally arrived.

I've previously covered the five races (bugbear, goblin, gremlin, half-human and hobgoblin) and four of the goblin mutant subraces (amphiblin, barghest, canitaur and psioblin), but now its time to look at the fifth and final mutant subrace, the troblin.

So allow me to present the fifteenth archetype: the troblin rat handler!

As always, the Savage Worlds version of the archetypes is available here, and the Swift d12 version here.

The Next Step

I released the first adventure for Saga of the Goblin Horde back in December 2015, so the fifteenth archetype also marks the fifteenth month I've been working on the setting. Of course I also worked on a lot of other projects in parallel, including freelancing for several licensees and polishing up several of my older fan supplements to practice my presentation and layout skills.

But fifteen months is still a long time, so I'm now planning to focus my efforts on bringing the project to completion. I may still release another goblin One Sheet or two, and will also need to finalize the Campaign Deck at some point, but I don't plan to work on any unrelated side projects until Saga of the Goblin Horde is finished.

Wild Die Podcast

This coming Sunday I will be on the Wild Die Podcast, talking about my work. If you're interested in Saga of the Goblin Horde, you should definitely check out the podcast, as I'll be making some announcements, and discussing things that aren't yet public. You can also email the Wild Die guys (thewilddie at gmail.com) if there are any specific questions you'd like to ask me.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Hobgoblin Marauder

A new year means a new month, and therefore a new archetype. There are five races in Saga of the Goblin Horde, and I've previously covered four of them (bugbear, goblin, gremlin and half-human), so for the fourteenth archetype I've decided to explore the final race.

Meet the hobgoblin marauder!

As usual, the Savage Worlds version of the archetypes is available here, and the Swift d12 version here.

If you're looking for somewhere to use them, there are six Savage Worlds One Sheet adventures available here, here, here, here, here and here. I haven't yet had the chance to convert the adventures to Swift d12, but I plan to do so in the near future.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Priestess

We're over half way through December, so it's time for the thirteenth archetype, and now that the "Gods and Magic" chapter of the setting book is complete, I decided it would be a good time to add the goblin priestess.

As always you can get the archetypes here, and the six One Sheet adventures are available here, here, here, here, here and here.

Swift d12 Archetypes

Those who have expressed an interest in the new system I've been writing can download the Swift d12 version of the archetypes from here.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Barghest Whelp

Another month, another archetype, and this time it's another one of the five goblin mutant subraces (the Amphiblin, Canitaur, and Psioblin archetypes are also goblin mutants).

So allow me to present the twelfth archetype: the barghest whelp!

This particular archetype is a nod to D&D, where the barghests are demonic goblin-lupine-like creatures capable of shapechanging into wolves and goblins. In Saga of the Goblin Horde, barghests are lycanthrope-like goblins capable of shifting into wolf and hybrid forms.

As usual you can get the archetypes from here, and the five One Sheet adventures here, here, here, here and here.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Psychonaut

I had originally planned to release the Barghest Whelp archetype for October, but last month Rick Hershey started a new Fantasy Character Subscription, and as he was accepting suggestions I proposed a goblin - which he promptly added. So I decided to use it for the October archetype.

So here is the eleventh archetype: the goblin psychonaut!

This particular archetype is a tribute to my friend David Teeder, who played a character called Squiggle on my MUD many years ago (the hair is inspired by his real haircut!).

As usual you can get the archetypes from here, and the three One Sheet adventures here, here and here.

The fourth One Sheet, Samhain Surprise, will be released on Monday. Frank Turfler of Middle Kingdoms Adventure & Trading Company is creating a set of free maps to go with the adventure, and has already released the first two here and here. The third and final map will be released on the same day as the One Sheet.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Wolf Rider

Month ten means the tenth archetype, and this time I'm posting it really early in the month, as I'm planning to run a game for a local group, and want to get the latest archetype finished before I announced the game.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce the goblin wolf rider!

As usual you can get the archetypes here, and the three One Sheet adventures here, here and here (the fourth adventure, Samhain Surprise, will be released next month).

Note that I've adjusted the fonts to keep the archetypes in line with the latest draft version of the setting book.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Half-Human Berserker

Another month, another archetype - which means we're now up to archetype number nine, and this time I didn't leave it to the very end of the month! Admittedly that was mostly because I'm away visiting family all next week, and I don't know how much time I'll have available for working on my goblin setting.

Saga of the Goblin Horde offers five playable races: goblins, gremlins, hobgoblins, bugbears and half-humans. Most of the archetypes I've released so far are goblins, although I have also covered bugbear and gremlin, but I felt it was about time to cover another one of the races - so the ninth archetype is the half-human berserker!

As usual you can get the archetypes here, and the three One Sheet adventures here, here and here.

I also (finally) got around to updating the trade dress on my archetypes to use the same style as the main setting book, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I've not updated the One Sheets yet, but I plan to sort them out soon as well.

Although I've talked in the past about moving the archetypes into a primer, I've recently been looking at how other settings handle it (particularly Pinnacle's settings), and they generally seem to keep them separate - so I've decided to do the same.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Thug

July is nearly over, and it's been yet another busy month, with final edits for the upcoming Mutation Deck and a revised version of Savage Dragons, not to mention my ongoing work with the Saga of the Goblin Horde setting book.

But I didn't want to miss my monthly archetype! So without further ado, here is the eighth archetype: the goblin thug.

As always, you can grab the archetypes from here, and the three One Sheet adventures from here, here and here.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Psionicist

Another month, another archetype. Most of my attention has been focused on Drakonheim lately, but now that the Kickstarter has finished I've started getting back to my other projects.

I still plan to finish updating Savage Dragons in the next week or two, but other than that I'm trying to focus on Saga of the Goblin Horde. So here is the seventh archetype: the goblin psionicist!

As usual, you can grab the archetypes from here, and the three One Sheet adventures from here, here and here.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Goblin Pyromancer

Although my plan is to eventually move the Saga of the Goblin Horde archetypes into a primer (along with an overview of the setting and a preview of the new mechanics), I've run a bit short on time again this month. However I didn't want to miss my goal of one archetype per month, so here's the sixth archetype: the goblin pyromancer!

As always, you can download all the archetypes here, and don't forget to check out the One Sheets if you haven't already: Sanguine Solstice, Bone of Contention, and Egg Hunt.

I'm also planning a fourth One Sheet for Halloween, which I'm calling Samhain Surprise, but I'll need to keep most of my adventure ideas for the full setting book, as Plot Point Campaigns require a lot of adventures!

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Gremlin Saboteur

Last month I released the first four archetypes for a setting I'm working on, Saga of the Goblin Horde.

As I mentioned previously, my goal is to add one archetype each month until I've finished them all. I've been pretty busy with other projects this month, and ended up leaving it a bit late, but I wanted to try and stick to my goal - so here's the fifth archetype: the gremlin saboteur!

Grab all five archetypes here.

One Sheets

If you've not yet checked out the free One Sheet adventures for Saga of the Goblin Horde, you can grab those too:

1. Sanguine Solstice: The goblins crash a Yuletide celebration, hoping to participate in a little "feasting" of their own.
2. Bone of Contention: The goblins confront an army of undead ninja nuns while tracking down a rogue necromancer.
3. Egg Hunt: The goblins set out to steal a clutch of dragon eggs from Rojer and his band of rabbitfolk warriors.

Saga of the Goblin Horde: 4 Archetypes

Back in December I released my first One Sheet adventure, called Sanguine Solstice. At the time, I said I was planning to release some archetypes for it, but those plans became increasingly extravagant - when I finally released Bone of Contention in February, I still hadn't finished the archetypes.

So I've decided to revise my plans, and instead of waiting to release all the archetypes in one go, I'm going to spread them out. My goal is now to update the document with one additional archetype every month, until I have finished them all.

The first version of the document contains four archetypes, and you can download it from here:

Saga of the Goblin Horde: Archetypes

The initial four archetypes are canitaur crossbowman, river goblin, goblin scout, and bugbear brute, and their background descriptions also provide some insight into the setting.

About the Setting

I've converted several different settings to Savage Worlds, but haven't yet released any of my own. I'd like to change that, and I think Saga of the Goblin Horde could make a fun mini setting.

The setting is primarily fantasy, with elements of horror and a streak of dark humor (think of the movie "Gremlins" for a rough idea of the sort of feel I'm aiming for). The campaign will focus on a relatively small geographical area, and can be played either as its own setting, or slotted into an established fantasy game world. The story follows the war between the civilized races (humans, elves, dwarves, etc) and the goblin tribes, with everything described from the goblin perspective.

As with the One Sheets, the players take on the role of goblin gang leaders, which means each player controls their own gang rather than just a single character. The Plot Point Campaign will include some adventures triggered by location and others by date, using a simple hexcrawl system for travel and a rough calendar for tracking the days.

Archetypes based on D&D Classes

Last month I completed the Savage Vancian Magic fan supplement, which is designed to capture the flavour of the D&D magic system in a way that still feels and plays like Savage Worlds - or as I like to think of it, Savage Vancian Magic is to D&D settings as the Super Powers Companion is to superhero settings.

In this blog post I'd like to show how Savage Vancian Magic can be used to help design character archetypes that are based thematically on the D&D base classes.

My current campaign (Savage War of the Burning Sky) includes a similar set of archetypes. One player just wanted to play a wizard, so she picked the wizard archetype and used it as written. Another player wanted to create an aggressive warrior, so he picked the barbarian archetype and swapped a few things around. The third player wasn't interested in the archetypes at all, so she ignored them and created a rather unique acrobatic carpenter with a fondness for brawling. Everyone was able to invest as much (or as little) effort as they wished into character creation, and they all ended up with the characters they wanted.

Classes as Archetypes

I'm not personally a fan of classes, as I find them confining, and I certainly wouldn't want to add classes to Savage Worlds. However I find archetypes an excellent compromise - they provide a quick and easy way to create new characters that fit the setting, without limiting players who want to build less orthodox characters.

D&D settings are obviously designed with the D&D game system in mind, which means they usually include the same selection of common classes. When converting such settings to Savage Worlds, it can therefore be beneficial to offer archetypes that reflect the base classes:

Barbarian

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d4, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Climbing d4, Evading d6, Fighting d6, Healing d4, Intimidation d4, Notice d4, Riding d4, Shooting d4, Survival d4, Swimming d4, Throwing d6, Tracking d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 8; Parry: 6 (1); Toughness: 7 (1)

Hindrances: One Major, Illiterate, one additional Minor

Edges: Berserk, Fleet-Footed

Gear: Battle axe (Str+d8), target shield (+1 Parry), throwing axe (Str+d6; range 3/6/12), thick furs (+1)

Bard

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d4

Skills: Climbing d4, Evading d4, Fighting d4, Knowledge (Bardic Lore) d6, Lockpicking d4, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Riding d4, Shooting d4, Spellsinging d6, Stealth d4, Streetwise d4

Charisma: +2; Pace: 6; Parry: 6 (2); Toughness: 5 (1)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Charismatic, Novice Spellsinger

Gear: Rapier (Str+d4; +1 Parry), buckler (+1 Parry), bow (2d6; range 12/24/48), padded vest (+1)

Cleric

Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Evading d4, Faith d8, Fighting d4, Healing d6, Knowledge (Planes) d4, Knowledge (Religion) d6, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Riding d4, Throwing d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 5 (1); Toughness: 7 (2)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Novice Cleric, Turn Undead

Gear: Warhammer (Str+d6), target shield (+1 Parry), sling, chainmail vest (+2)

Druid

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d6

Skills: Druidry d8, Evading d4, Fighting d4, Healing d4, Knowledge (Nature) d6, Notice d4, Riding d4, Survival d6, Swimming d4, Throwing d4, Tracking d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 5 (1); Toughness: 6 (1)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Beast Master, Novice Druid

Gear: Staff (Str+d4; +1 Parry), sling, hide shirt (+1)

Fighter

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6

Skills: Climbing d4, Evading d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d4, Knowledge (Battle) d4, Notice d4, Riding d4, Shooting d8, Throwing d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 7 (1); Toughness: 9 (3)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Brawny

Gear: Longsword (Str+d8), target shield (+1 Parry), dagger (Str+d4; range 3/6/12), bow (2d6; range 12/24/48), breastplate (+3)

Monk

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Climbing d6, Evading d8, Fighting d8, Healing d6, Knowledge (Religion) d6, Notice d6, Stealth d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Martial Artist

Gear: Robes

Paladin

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6

Skills: Evading d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Knowledge (Religion) d4, Notice d4, Persuasion d4, Riding d6, Shooting d6

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 7 (1); Toughness: 7 (2)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Paladin

Gear: Shortsword (Str+d6), target shield (+1 Parry), chainmail vest (+2)

Ranger

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d4

Skills: Evading d6, Fighting d6, Healing d4, Notice d4, Shooting d6, Stealth d4, Survival d8, Tracking d8

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 6 (1); Toughness: 5 (1)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Woodsman, Ranger Fighting Style

Gear: Shortsword (Str+d6), main gauche* (Str+d4; +1 Parry), bow (2d6; range 12/24/48), leather jerkin (+1)

Rogue

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d4

Skills: Climbing d6, Evading d8, Fighting d6, Lockpicking d6, Notice d4, Repair d4, Stealth d8, Streetwise d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 7 (1); Toughness: 5 (1)

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Thief, Sneak Attack

Gear: Shortsword (Str+d6), main gauche* (Str+d4; +1 Parry), dagger (Str+d4; range 3/6/12), padded vest (+1)

Sorcerer

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d4

Skills: Evading d4, Fighting d4, Intimidation d8, Notice d4, Persuasion d8, Sorcery d8, Streetwise d6, Throwing d4

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 5 (1); Toughness: 4

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Familiar Bond, Novice Sorcerer

Gear: Spear (Str+d6; +1 Parry)

Wizard

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d4

Skills: Evading d4, Fighting d4, Investigation d6, Knowledge (Arcana) d8, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Throwing d4, Wizardry d10

Charisma: –; Pace: 6; Parry: 5 (1); Toughness: 4

Hindrances: One Major, two Minor

Edges: Familiar Bond, Novice Wizard

Gear: Staff (Str+d4; +1 Parry)

* Use the same stats as a rapier if you're just using the core weapon list.

Note that these archetypes do not include race bonuses. So if you're playing a human, for example, then you would also add another Edge of your choice.

Setting Rules

These archetypes are designed with two setting rules in mind:

• Evading: In addition to Fighting, Shooting and Throwing, there is also an Evading combat skill. Parry is based on Evading (rather than Fighting), and Evading is also used in place of Agility for avoiding area-effect attacks, diving for cover, etc. The reason for this rule is explained in more detail here, if you don't wish to use it then just let the player reallocate the skill points as they see fit.

• Magical Training: If you start play with a spellcasting skill, you cannot raise any of your combat skills higher than d4 during character creation.