Level 1 Goblin

An RPG about being little guys

Level 1 Goblins is a tabletop RPG. You will need a group of friends and a bunch of 4- and 6-sided dice. One person is the GOBLIN MASTER (GM). The rest create a horde of goblins.


Making Goblins

Everyone makes 3 goblins and controls all of them

Goblin Schemes

How to be tricky little goblins

Goblin Fights

How to be stabby little goblins

Goblin World

What goblins do and why adventurers suck

Making Goblins


Every player creates and controls 3 goblins. Every goblin is Level 1.

If a player doesn't want to control all their goblins they can let the GM take over if the GM promises to follow orders.

There is one step to creating a goblin and that is naming the goblin. Every goblin has a 3-part name.

First name

A goblin has 2 possible first names: TRICKY or MIGHTY.
Goblins named TRICKY have d6 dice. They are good at goblin schemes.
Goblins named MIGHTY have d4 dice. They are good at goblin fights.

Middle Name

A goblin's middle name is Goblin.

Last Name

The last name of every goblin is what about themselves they are most proud of.

Nickname

Take your favorite syllable out of the goblin's name. That is their nickname.


Other Goblins

The GM makes as many goblins as they want who are other members of the goblin clan. They are busy doing their own goblin stuff but each has a way they can be convinced to help.

The following are a few of the players' fellow goblins. The GM can make more if they like. Their nicknames are in [brackets].

  1. Tricky Goblin Great With Bow Can Shoot Bug Even [Bug]. Wants a magic arrow. Has never seen magic arrows before.

  2. Mighty Goblin Once Punched A Bear For Real [Bear]. Wants a smooch from Mud. She does not think he punched a bear for real.

  3. Tricky Goblin Covered In Mud Where Did She Go? [Mud]. Wants the finest hat from the human-town's haberdashery.

  4. Mighty Goblin Pick Up Rock Size of Goblin [Rock]. Wants an obstacle course he can train his powerful muscles on.

  5. Tricky Goblin Best Whistler In Entire Planet Maybe [Tire]. Wants the human-town minstrel's flute.

  6. Mighty Goblin Wow So Fast [Wow]. Wants you to beat her in a footrace. Insists on extremely hazardous tracks.

  7. Tricky Goblin Climb Tree and Catch Bird No Problem [Bird]. Wants to eat the mysterious Phoenix Bird.

  8. Mighty Goblin Hold Breath For Like Five Minutes [Min]. Wants a trained war wolf.

Goblin Schemes


When Goblins get together and come up with a plan, the GM decides how many things could go wrong with it and tallies up the total. That’s the plan’s DIFFICULTY. Each goblin tells the GM what they’re doing. If the GM thinks they’re being useful for the plan, they get to add their die to the pile, plus any dice from their last names.

The Result

The pile is rolled. A die that has a 4 or higher on it is a SUCCESS.

The GM subtracts the number of SUCCESSES from the plan’s DIFFICULTY. If the result is 0 or below, the plan was a total success.

Messing Up

If the result is 1 or more, the plan has MESSED UP and that many things go wrong; the GM picks which from the list of challenges.

Once a plan has MESSED UP it’s every goblin for themselves. Until they all get away and have time to catch their breath they roll everything solo—no more dice piles.

Goblin Fights


When Goblins get in a fight, they pile up all their dice and roll them all at once. The other side does the same.

A character may add as many d4s to a pile as they have levels. Goblins are always level 1, but their enemies are often higher level than they are.

Any die that shows a 4 counts as a STAB. Whichever side has the most stabs wins. Subtract the loser’s stabs from the winner’s stabs. The winner gets to stab that many people.

Goblins (being very cunning) decide who on the loser’s side gets stabbed.

After the stabbings, every goblin may choose whether to fight again and roll another pile of dice, or run away.

Stabbed

Anyone who gets stabbed is rolling around on the ground and can’t add their dice if the fight keeps going.
When a goblin is stabbed, flip a coin. On heads the goblin pops back up. On a tails the goblin has been dealt a DIRE WOUND.

Dire Wounds

A goblin dealt a dire wound must give a Moving Soliloquy. If it’s moving enough that everyone claps the goblin dies beautifully. Otherwise the goblin is dragged back to the goblin tree and sewn back up over the course of 3 turns. Flip another coin. If it’s heads they survive the Goblin Surgery. When they come out they append “Who Also Survived [whatever wounded them] By The Way” to their last name.

Goblin World


Turns

The game is done in turns. Each turn is about an hour. On a turn, every goblin gets to spend one action. Actions are things like:

When a goblin spends an action, it starts a scene that other goblins can decide to be a part of at any time, even after the scene has already started, as long as the GM is ok with it. In order to be helpful or useful during that scene, or roll any dice in it, they need to spend their action too. Otherwise they are just there to laugh, throw small stones, etc.

Adventurers


Adventurers cause all kinds of problems for goblins. To start your game, have 2 or 3 of them running around. The more adventurers you have at once, the harder your game is going to be.

Each adventurer is of a level around how many players are playing. To make an adventurer, roll a d4 to pick which kind, and then give them one Powerful Thing for each level they are.

Powerful Thing examples are included—roll a d8 to automatically pick from them.

Types (1d4) & Powerful Things (1d8)

1:Cleric. Has the authority to boss other humans around.
1They are particularly powerful: +1d4 levels
2They have a reliquary dragged around by a posse of servants, with a magical artifact inside that creates thunderstorms
3They’ve subjugated a frightening abomination of double their level, hailed by the church as an Angel
4A mob of 2d6 level 1 peasants are convinced they are a living saint
5They may Lay on Hands to turn open wounds into gross mutations
6They possess a holy hammer that causes small earthquakes
7Their God is an invisible, bloodthirsty demon who follows them around
8They command 2d4 church knights of half their level.
2:Rogue. Gets to add an extra point to their goals per turn.
1They’re particularly powerful: +1d4 levels
2They’ve tricked a big dumb ogre of double their level into working for them
3They have a sword that they can command to animate by singing
4They’ve conned a town into thinking they’re the mayor, and have 3d6 level 1 guards fooled
5They’re head of a gang of 1d4 fellow thieves of their level
6They have the map to a great treasure which will make them super-rich if they get it
7They’ve got a warrior of 1 level lower hopelessly infatuated with them
8They have a bag of seeds, each of which grows into a perilously tall beanstalk
3:Warrior. Loses a level when stabbed, instead of going down.
1They’re particularly powerful: +1d4 levels
2They command a horde of 2d6 horsemen
3They have constructed a Keep right on your Borderlands
4They are crazy strong--bending bars, lifting gates, and deadlifting cattle.
5They have a cursed sword that can raise the dead
6They've married a very bored princess; her dad furnished them with a nice carriage and 2d4 level 3 royal guards
7A wizard of their level believes them to be part of a great prophecy, and will seek to keep them safe
8They have a suit of holy armor that keeps them from being harmed by weapons
4:Wizard. Gets 1 extra Powerful Thing.
1They may cast Fireball
2They may fly
3They may animate golems out of mud
4They know how to hypnotize people
5Their shadow can detach and do things--it's invisible without light
6They may summon magical palisades from trees
7They may summon clouds of devil-bees
8They have a set of 2d6 retainers, each a warrior of half their level

Goals

Every adventurer has goals, which will cause problems for the goblins once they complete. Each turn, they get a number of adventure points equal to their level, which they can add to their goals--the total keeps increasing until the goal is completed or rendered impossible.

At the end of a turn, each adventurer rolls a d20. If the result is equal to or lower than the number of adventure points they've added to a goal, the adventurer begins their goal as the next turn starts, and accomplishes it by the turn's end.

When an adventurer completes a goal, they level up and start a new, even more ambitious goal.

Example goals (in order of ambition)
1Steal a treasure from the goblin clan
2Poison a goblin well, forcing the players to find a new one for the clan
3Slay one of the players' clan-mates
4Martial a town guard that prevents goblin theft
5Raid a dungeon that will wake up a monster the goblins have to deal with
6Use a treasure from that dungeon to become lord of the land, and put a bounty on goblin heads
7Convince the king to send an army in from the capital
8Wipe the goblins out

Weaknesses

Every adventurer has a weakness that the goblins can exploit. It's not the only way to stop them but it's a really good one. Adventurers try to hide their weaknesses.

Example weaknesses
1A tragic backstory that they weep upon remembering
2A deathly allergy
3A pet they are devoted to and will do anything to protect
4A weapon hidden in a dungeon that is fated by prophecy to slay them
5A debt with a dragon they keep defaulting on
6A nagging addiction they can never quite kick
7They are secretly a vampire and can't be out in the daytime
8They'd secretly much rather be a famous dancer and will abandon adventuring if given the right opportunity