What would you find in a goblin quarter of a city?

[Cyclops08]

In my world there are two kinds of goblins, Civilized and Feral.

Feral goblins are the monsters from the MM, savage and bestial. Bug Bears and hobgoblins are 100% of the feral sort.

Civilized Goblins started as mercenaries and now are welcomed in many cities. They can be of any alignment. 50% are still doing mercenary work, the rest have found employment in many trades. A peaceful life has brought many benefits to Civilized goblins, old age being one of them.

Still I want some cultural heritage for them, even if only acquired since they became civilized.

So what would be found in a goblin quarter of the city?

[mrzomby]

this might sound weird, 1. some sort of adventurers guild where you can post quests and try to buy mercenaries would be important. there can be another adventures guild, but the one in the goblin part is gonna be a little bit more "dirty" with plenty of rogues, and maybe less spell casters. definately less wizards, probably more clerics/druids than wizards.

2. Another thing is deciding what goblins eat, and having a few stores serving their cultures food. maybe food carts.

3. an area with just homes, no reason for adventurers to go there, unless they need to question some goblins in their homes. include lots of alleys and crisscrossing roads so thugs might attack them, and run away if they can't win. A confusing maze of alleys can let them escape with a simple hide or disguise check, or going into a door.

4. if there is a lot of mercenaries, should have a few blacksmiths, or tanners to take care of armor/weapons.

5. some sort of place of worship for goblin deities. maybe humans protesting allowing this?

6. Thieves guild may enjoy operating in the goblin part of the city, then going to other parts to do their heists.

7. Underground fighting tournaments, from animals fighting, to goblins boxing each other.

8. tattoo artists?

[Xalyz]

It really depends on what kind of Civilized Goblins you want. Do you want them to be tinkery or tricky? If they were more trickey they might be street peddlers, merchants, or maybe even couriers. The Tinkery side might be jewelers, whitesmiths, or clock-makers.

They might have food carts with strange foods, Hot mud baths, or strange rituals. Maybe they don't have Traditional families but large communes.

Think outside the box

[Cyclops08]

It really depends on what kind of Civilized Goblins you want. Do you want them to be tinkery or tricky?

Think outside the box

tinkery or tricky? A bit of both actually. Dwarves and gnomes are Tinkery. But I don't want people to think of civilized goblins as a den of thieves either.

I guess I am really looking for an emerging culture. Mercenary work elevated them in the first place. Maybe non-magical (and affordable) medicines developed after the wars were done.

1) simple medicines and doctors offices for those who cannot afford magic.
2) Homes for wounded soldiers.
3) Spas: health and massage at first for retired mercs, and now catering for the big folk. The later would be on the edge of the goblin quarter. I really like the mudbaths mentioned above, goblins might really like that.
4) a factory for medicine kits you can buy in the Player's Handbook.

Dieties. mrzomby mentioned this. The dieties would have to be different that the savage ones they used to worship. Their lifestyles elevated, so should their worship demand more. The first one would be a neutral diety of war. Later as they expanded culturally, other dieties would take them in as well.

Surprisingly, a diety of music and art would accept them. Goblin bards have developed a unique form of music that is very popular.
5) taverns and night clubs might pop up at the fringes of a goblin town. as well as local clubs deep within.

6) goblins are carnivorous. Butcher shops take on a heightened importance. Outside the city they could run ranches. something as simple as breeding rabbits could make then very good furriers in no time. These farmer Goblins likely are good friends with Halflings.
6a) Butcher shops
6b) Leathers and furs.

[SandyAndy]

I like my gobbos to be fairly advanced even without civilization. They can barely hold their own against a cat 1-on-1, so they become masters of taking every possible advantage. My goblin tribes are guerilla warfare experts. Traps, ambushes, camouflage, etc, all made from makeshift materials. The most advanced metallurgy they have is bronze casting so no big stone buildings or wrought iron shackles.

If they have their own quarter of a city, I imagine a lot of those old-school cultural traits would apply. Maybe they have their own quarter because nobody trusts the goblins. They will take advantage of you if you give them the chance, after all. Maybe they have ratty, worn out clothes because you should never waste anything. Their homes and furniture might be ramshackle structures made from scrap wood for the same reason. Their food market could double selling bones for crafting, sinews for making bowstrings and thread, out back of the butcher shop is a tannery to make immediate use of the hide.

Culturally, they probably don't think of it as taking advantage of you. Instead they might see it as helping you think through you actions and scalping the shopkeeper is just making sure he learns for next time. They don't look at themselves as scavengers, instead the little goblin children roaming the streets collecting scraps and wasted materials are doing a valuable service for the town. There's a lot you could do but I've never done the civilized goblin thing.

Of course, that is all assuming you have a fairly stereotypical goblin setting in the first place. This might not fit with your world. Whatever you do, I would love to hear about how you handle it and how your players react.

[sktarq]

Well things that come to mind.

firstly if lots of goblins are mercenaries then ask "what to mercenaries spend their pay on"

some stuff will be pretty normal but may well be influences by their own or original culture. Housing for example. If they are away traveling would that mean they would want to keep their wealth with them instead of at home? if so you need ways of making wealth portable...jewelry, would a classic so jewelry traders and makers would be drawn to the area...if they start investing their money somewhere what would they bring into their house?

And I'd bet weapon, armour, leather good shops (including just boot, bags, bandoleers, belts, and backpacks), and other such stuff that a merc prepping for his next job would want to pick up would start to appear...as well as those who are looking to sell off stuff they no longer need as they retire. Plus with so many going off to such a job people that teach young goblins to fight well (and thus sell their first services higher etc) would probably crop up from some semi-retired mercs.
plus you'd have food supplies, possibly specialist crafts (tattooist, special feather crest weavers, potters who make specialist traditional items for goblin ancestor worship, ear pierces/earring makers, manicurists for well of goblins to show off their claws) that have more social meaning than direct
also if so many goblins are merc that implies a lot of time away from home....so possibly short term places to stay while they are on a local job and also quite likely some way to take care of kids while the merc parents are away....so perhaps some kind of creche system?
plus what do merc do when they are not on the job....classically they could be pretty rough and tended to spend money on entertainment services including red-light district services...so taverns, bordellos etc...which may have cultural or racial segregation (think those areas that catered to troops of foreign powers throughout history...be it ancient Rome/China or the more modern Canal Zone).

also things might be shaped by local laws and views from the powers that be of how the area turns out. If goblins have issues becoming official residents or opening their own businesses they may just start working out their homes in a more secretive way. While the classic human may live above his shop the goblins may have hidden businesses in their back room. or have an understanding that certain donations are asked for when eating Mr Mcglubrack's home cooking... This has happened in our world in some places...which while I'll avoid details here I'd recommend you look for those examples to turn your apparent all residential area into a thriving functional community that both keeps outsiders away but still works. Otherwise you may have city watch post all over if the goblins are viewed as untrustworthy for example.

also if you want to advocate for their more crafty side. ask what other industries they may have gotten into. Goblins classically live in pretty smelly situation and so may be less put off by say dyeing, butchery, chimney sweeping, and other smelly jobs and have made those industries part of their emerging culture.

and while you may want to stay away from high end weapons and such (as they are classically linked to dwarves or elves) such things like finework (lock parts, hinges, the small metal frames or corners of boxes etc) or alchemy and trapwork could be a niche they could compete with gnomes for...also perhaps just something like weaving, rope making etc that rewards deft small hands could well be a good cultural fit.

also think what they may do for internal status other than fight....what do they display? conspicuous consumption or potlucks perhaps? or to they laud their boar-jockeys? (or horse jockeys as their light weight could be a benefit)

[SandyAndy]

firstly if lots of goblins are mercenaries then ask "what to mercenaries spend their pay on"

Two words: Goblin hookers.

Goblin sauce. Goblins have a very poor sense of taste that lets them choke down just about anything they can get in their mouth. Enterprising city dwellers began selling them super-spicy dishes that allowed them to get some taste variety and goblins went crazy for it. Goblin sauce is a catch-all term for a variety of extremely spicy sauces used for cooking or as condiments. Every cookshop and street-cart catering to goblins has their own particular mix. Even cookshops that don't cater exclusively to goblins have their own varieties of goblin sauce that can be added to their dishes (and possibly attract some goblin customers). And pickles. Goblins love pickled things. And sour beer. Which has made them a god-send to the brewers. But not IPAs, because goblins have *some* standards.

Shadow theaters. Goblins can live to an old age now, but they're still a pretty vicious bunch and there's no attractive retirement options. Old goblins can make money putting on shadow plays with fairly complex leather puppets. These stories serve as goblin schools for most young goblins, teaching them their history and the cultural norms of their new society. Most of the shadow theaters are simple tent structures that can be thrown up and moved but a few of the best have enough income to set up in simple buildings. Bonus points if someone figures out these theaters can be used to influence the goblin population.

Sam's Stoo. A food-cart run by an elderly goblin which is reputed to serve the finest food in town. Sam has never made nice with the town authorities or the guilds and they are always trying to shut him down. Sam never sets up in the same location twice and, more often than not, is actively hidden. But his customers always find him, passing his location from person to person with all the passion and skill of an espionage ring (frequently using grafitti tags), and tip him off when the authorities are closing in. Sam serves stew and anyone who asks what's in it will be told "It's stew", which comes out as "I'stoo". Sam caters to a non-goblin clientele and operates outside the goblin quarter.

The Warg Pit. An old pit-fighting location turned into a goblin tavern. This is where young goblins, the city-born who have never had to hide from a bugbear, hang out along with young halflings, gnomes, and humans who like to walk the dark path. Older goblins, humans, gnomes, and halflings are united in their hatred for the place. It's a neutral territory for the young gangs (who are all united in their hatred for the old, established gangs) and features aggressive folk-punk bands who have taken goblin themes and musical styles and added the instruments of civilization. The dance floor is the old fighting pit and it's a non-stop mosh after dark.

All of these ideas are fantastic! I am stealing them.

[Shocksrivers]

and features aggressive folk-punk bands who have taken goblin themes and musical styles and added the instruments of civilization. The dance floor is the old fighting pit and it's a non-stop mosh after dark.

Might I suggest fantasy-thrash-metal: Nekrogoblikon! To set the seen for your players!

[Grim Portent]

In my world there are two kinds of goblins, Civilized and Feral.

Feral goblins are the monsters from the MM, savage and bestial. Bug Bears and hobgoblins are 100% of the feral sort.

Civilized Goblins started as mercenaries and now are welcomed in many cities. They can be of any alignment. 50% are still doing mercenary work, the rest have found employment in many trades. A peaceful life has brought many benefits to Civilized goblins, old age being one of them.

Still I want some cultural heritage for them, even if only acquired since they became civilized.

So what would be found in a goblin quarter of the city?

Depending on how recently the goblins have joined civilization, and with so many still being mercenaries, a lot will be doing civilian jobs for the military groups.

Fletchers, leatherworkers, smiths, wainrights, stable staff, taverns, bunkhouses, brothels, musicians, priests, cooks, tailors, barber surgeons, brewers. These are all things mercenaries are going to need/want access to and don't necessarily take a huge amount of infrastructure. Mercenaries are mostly not going to own property of their own, so bunkhouses and inns would probably make the bulk of their residences and big chunks of the civilian goblins will up sticks and follow the mercenaries when they deploy out of the city in order to keep selling them their services, so sometimes the area will be nearly empty.

If they've been established for long enough then carpenters, masons, jewelers, bankers and so on would start to exist. More goblins would start to own property and build houses with goblin style architecture, and it would generally start to look like any established ethnic enclave but with more green skin and pointy ears.


Given that so many of them are mercenaries, I'd lean towards their quarter being a somewhat refitted section of the cities normal architecture, modified for goblin use. It would likely resemble a slum in many respects, individual mercenaries aren't generally flush with cash to spend on property and home improvements. Goblin civilians would essentially be like medieval camp followers, plying various trades that there's a market for among the soldiers, which would result in some of them having decent money since they can concentrate the wealth from the mercs by selling a high demand service, but running a service like a blacksmith or tavern isn't cheap so even then they won't be wealthy for a good while.

Guilds probably won't operate in the goblin quarter so the various craftsmen will be independant, indeed the entire enclave might be somewhat detached from the normal operation of the city. Given that half the goblin population is soldiers the remaining half probably isn't enough to meet the civilian worker needs of the quarter, so there's probably some non-goblins living and working in the area to bulk up the numbers of civilians.


On an unpleasant note, mercenaries in the medieval period were prone to turn to crime when short on work for extended periods, often raiding villages or starting protection rackets. If the goblins aren't being mobilised often enough or kept on retainer then a lot of them are going to run short on cash during peace time and start looking for other ways to make money and/or feed themselves and their families. Basically bits of the goblin quarter would be dominated by gangs formed from some of the mercenary factions who haven't had a job in a while and have started shaking down the civilians for money and goods, and once a gang forms it's hard to dismantle. Some ethnic enclaves were left to their own devices for enforcing law and order within their own boundaries, and the goblins might be in the same boat, with a council of their own being in charge of keeping things peaceful as best they can. Or the city watch might occasionally be sent into the quarter to deal with crime and civil unrest.

[Aniikinis]

Given that many races still wouldn't like goblins due to their histories together and their high level of militarization, I can see lots of internal policing and organized crime. Additionally, these are also things that the mercenaries themselves would be getting involved in frequently. Lots of drugs, black markets, Red Light districts, gang wars, and territorial disputes. However, as they get more of a civilian presence then more businesses would end up cropping up. Given the communal nature that goblins tend to have I'd expect a lot of soup kitchens, thrift stores, charity events, and the like to allow for the less fortunate to be able to get the things they want/need while still adding to the prosperity of the quarter as a whole.

Additionally, given their typical presentation is that of a race that reproduces fairly quickly to keep the population up, I highly doubt that'd slow down until many, maaaany generations later. Meaning that over time the goblin quarter would grow far faster than any other racial enclaves and would comprise a large percentage of the local power, even if they're merely seen as working class or lower by the rest. Leading to a major voting block in democratic areas, tons of slaves in slaver societies, possible high levels of instability in authoritarian areas due to the burgeoning populace and difference in culture and mindset compared to the others in the system, and lots and lots of cheap, easy to train and use soldiers for protecting the borders, towns, lands, and provinces of the kingdom even if they're not allowed to serve in the army themselves.

[noob]

You find hundreds of murderous adventurers that died in traps and no goblins because it is a decoy to attract too much murderous people and get rid of them without risking the lives of innocent goblins?

[brian 333]

Glassworks. This is a very dangerous art using Medieval technology. It is not a science yet, and its primary use is decorative. Conspicuous display of glass is a status symbol at this tech level. The use of lead to manufacture crystal glasswares, lamp ornamentation, and windows causes mental damage, especially among glazers employed in the making of stained glass for windows and decorative panels.

Goblins, as new members of society, must take what work is available, and a noisy factory that spews coal smoke all day would not be welcome in more affluent quarters of the city.

[Composer99]

If goblins are recently emerging from the stereotypical classical society, then I think the word that best describes a goblin enclave is "warren".

[Bohandas]

Ranchers and shepherds who are excessively enthusiastic about slaughtering and castrating the livestock.

EDIT:
Or the slaughterhouse district at any rate. That's a little but more urban. In any case, they are excessively enthusiastic about it.

[Alcore]

So what would be found in a goblin quarter of the city?

Such a loaded question with only three keywords; civilized, feral and MM (monster manual, i presume?).


Even if we look at Magic the Gathering no goblins ever looked the same unless from the same world. Some followed Tolkien, others looked like ratmen. Even pathfinder had unique goblins; little flappy eared midgets with bubbleheads. It is also never a givdn for them acting the same...


Alright...


Mercenary. Doesn't sound like they stopped being completely feral. Unnecessary fortifications, locked doors, entire culdesacs that look like miny forts? Young goblins dressed up and marching in formation.

3.5 never really gave them a culture. Don't know 4e or 5e enough to help.

[noob]

Such a loaded question with only three keywords; civilized, feral and MM (monster manual, i presume?).


Even if we look at Magic the Gathering no goblins ever looked the same unless from the same world. Some followed Tolkien, others looked like ratmen. Even pathfinder had unique goblins; little flappy eared midgets with bubbleheads. It is also never a givdn for them acting the same...


Alright...


Mercenary. Doesn't sound like they stopped being completely feral. Unnecessary fortifications, locked doors, entire culdesacs that look like miny forts? Young goblins dressed up and marching in formation.

3.5 never really gave them a culture. Don't know 4e or 5e enough to help.

I am not sure there is such thing as an unnecessary fortification in dnd.

[brian 333]

I do like the image of goblin school children in school uniforms and marching to class.

Goblins would be colliers who deliver coal to mansions in the middle of the night, businesses at the crack of dawn, and end their shift either hawking the remnants of their lots in a market place or wheeling up and down the streets of the lower quarters selling a brick for a penny.

The nightsoil carters would do the same. Except they wouldn't hawk their wares in the market, or bother with the kow quarters where folk hurl it hn the street and hope for rain. They would be headed out the gates by dawn to sell their collections to the farmers who want a few pots of fertilizer for their gardens.

Related to the above: dry cleaners would be sending buyers to collect urine for use in the making of ammonia with which they could clean the expensive clothes of the wealthy, along with their rugs, wall hangings, and draperies.

[SpoonR]

Stall run by Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, serving meat pies.
A barber of the old ‘surgery and bloodletting’ type

The neighborhood started as a temporary camp. As goblins started staying for more than a couple days, they started throwing up more permanent structures with whatever cheap material they could find. It turns into a maze of goblin-height buildings, many half-collapsed or built on other shanties. Kowloon walled city.

City guard (and fire watch) hq. Because for goblin mercs more interested in money than fighting, guard duty is their dream job.

[Ajustusdaniel]

Goblins!

Okay, but being more helpful, what were the circumstances of the original influx of goblins to the city?

Were a bunch of goblin mercenaries settled there as a reward for military service? You see that more often with farmland on frontiers, but I suppose it could happen in a city, especially one that had seen a major population drop due to plague/monster attack/faerie abductions. That might suggest a fairly prosperous and carefully laid out core neighborhood of veteran goblins, either fighting as mercenaries part of the year or pursuing careers based on skill learned while on campaign (as mentioned above, leatherworking, blacksmithing, probably moneylending and administration (the kind of fellow who can keep an army of goblins paid, fed, and shod on a regular basis seems like someone you want in your organization) and the like). This neighborhood would then be surrounded by less prosperous goblins who decided to settle in the city among people who looked, spoke, and ate like them, but didn't have the initial grant of a home and/or business. One might expect tension between the well-off citizen/soldier goblins and the non-goblin lower class of the city, (why do they get handed a good life when we've lived here for generations?) likely inflamed by more powerful ideologues and/or opportunists among the city's more long term residents.


Did a relatively small number of highly successful goblins (the equivalent of wealthy adventurers) move in? In that case you're looking at sizable homes, possibly with extensive grounds if this is the outskirt of the city, and then a neighborhood that grows up around that to cater to the specific needs and wants of the goblin adventurer elite (rat farms?). This is ripe for social encounters- perhaps a wealthy goblin wants to hire the bard to tutor him in the social graces of the city's old money families. Or perhaps they've been snubbed by the city elites and want to hire the party to pull of an ultimately harmless and borderline legal but increasing humiliating series of pranks.

Or is the settlement largely goblins who don't have an awful lot to their name coming to make a better life? In that case they're going to be housed in close quarters, with relatively little access to social services, and most of them are probably going to be working for non-goblins. This is the ideal condition for goblin-specific organized crime to arise. It would originate with the intention of serving the purposes of services denied to the goblins (loans, policing, distribution of goods) or at least mythologize itself as having done so, but would soon become dedicated to the preservation and expansion of its own wealth and power above any initial mission statement.

[Xania]

But the trust must come from both sides, I think, other than halflings are those goblins fine with everybody else in the city or still prefer the company of kobolds, xvarts or whatever they could get along?

Since they have art skills they could make gargoyles, at least I like to imagine they decorate their walls carvin faces, skulls and things like that rather than being just surrounded in filth.