7 Types of Goblins for the Goblin Wars

1. Basic Goblin

The most common sort of goblin is a short creature usually around four and a half to five feet tall, notable for have large ears, large nose, and an aggressively omnivorous diet. Within the phenotype of the basic goblin there are three sub-species that have no meta or statistical difference, only cosmetic. Basic Goblins are restricted to Primitive Hunter, Primitive Gatherer, Primitive Stalker, meaning they have very sub-par fighting and rogue classes and pretty much nothing else.

Green Goblins are the most common basic goblins and have mottled green-gray skin, much like a frog. They favor forests and hills.

Red Goblins are found in deserts and other arid environments. They are more adapted to hot and dry climates, and have rough red skin, and wirey hair to protect their sense organs from sand and flying debris.

Tan or Brown Goblins are found in mountains and underground locations and have profuse body hair but the smallest ears, hands, and feet. They are well adapted to live in cool and cold environments and retain their body heat more easily.

2. Hobgoblin

The Hobgoblin is an advanced form or goblin with the most important changes being that they are larger and go from being a small creature to a medium-sized creature. Previously goblins are halfling/hobbit-sized, and hobgoblins are human and elf-sized.

The second important change for a hobgoblin is that they can start taking regular NPC classes. Hobgoblins can be traditional fighter, rogue, and can branch into being clerics of dark gods, or members of Monstrous Cults

3. Chromatic Hobgoblin

The next step up from a regular hobgoblin is a chromatic version of a hobgoblin. This is a general improvement of all basic attributes, and at this point in their development, they are superior to the average human in most physical stats. The thing that triggers the evolution of a chromatic hobgoblin is what they have focused on and specialized into. These changes are not random, but very specific.

Crimson Hobgoblins are combat specialists and can branch into weapon masters, blade masters, and the equivalent of knights. They favor axes, pole arms, and chopping blades and not swords

Tawny Hobgoblin are ranged specialists and go from hobgoblins with bows and slings into archers, slingers, or javelin specialists. Hobgoblin slingers are more common than archers and they specialize in using slings to hurl baseball-sized stones with great speed and accuracy.

Amber Hobgoblin have specialized into clerical magic and thaumaturgy and can be clerics, paladins, and crusaders.

Viridescent Hobgoblin are specialized into rogue advanced classes such as assassin, master thief, scouts, and rangers.

Saxe Hobgoblin are considered some of the most frightening of the chromatic hobgoblins because they are the barbarians, berzerkers, druids, shapeshifters, and beast masters. 

Purpul Hobgoblin are the least common and require the outside dedicated effort of a magic user forcing a hobgoblin to keep trying to learn magic until they die, turn purple, or the evil wizard has to kill them for being too tough to die and too dumb to succeed.

4. Goblin Champion

A hobgoblin has the potential to become a goblin champion, but this requires the goblin to survive several battles, sustain serious injury, and manage to have enough charisma to take on a leadership role. Goblin Champions that are built around strength become troll-like in size and power, where agility built hobgoblins become akin to high elves in their physical conformation. They do not look like these respective races, however, they just have similar physical stats.

Standard Goblin Champions are the goblin equivalent of a bugbear but retain their goblin appearance.

Chromatic Goblin Champions are color coded Uruk-Hai or larger comparative versions, but again, retain their goblin appearance. Orange and green hobgoblins become the goblin counterparts to traditional elves and are exceedingly capable. Red and blue goblins are super-orc goblins, and yellow and purple hobgoblins become high elf counterparts with specialization in magic casting. 

5. Goblin Lord

A Goblin Lord is similar to a Goblin Champion in size and stature, but they are able to unlock premium NPC classes. A Purpul Goblin Lord isn't just a magic caster, they are a specialist becoming a Grand Goblin Enchanter, or Luminary Incindiary Pyromancer. The same applies to the other chromatic hobgoblins and champions. They go from being good at something to likely being the best at it. A Goblin Lord swordmaster is a whirling dervish of blades, the goblin lord archer can shoot with the best of the High Elves, and so forth.

Goblin Lords can lead warbands and act as a controlling force, granting morale and initiative bonuses to the gobs at their command. This is really the thing that makes them dangerous. The presence of a Goblin Lord can turn a mass of goblin morons, slackers, chicken thieves, and pranksters into a cold and competent fighting force.

6. Goblin King

The presence of a Goblin King is a rare and terrible thing. They are functionally enhanced Goblin Lords, and have the ability to force evolutions in lesser goblins, raising them to the next tier of their growth. There is a limitation in that a King can only do this one time to a single goblin. Another frightening power of a goblin king, or more specifically his counterpart, the Goblin Queen is that goblins gain the ability to reproduce at their current evolutionary tier, or at the tier of the lowest-ranked partner. Thus it is fairly common for a goblin king to promote the strongest goblin females, and then the queen ensuring that rather than breeding base goblins, having the Saxe Hobgoblin Lord banging red and saxe hobgoblin femmes, producing superior stock chromatic hobgoblins in litters.

7. Goblin Ascendant

There has only been one Goblin Ascendant, Zol'dox the Hazencrest Persecutor and his path was to scourge the DungeonVerse, unite the lands and break them, and end up being turned into a non-terrestrial material upon being slain by a the sole survivor of a great dungeon, a dragon brood mother, and an eldritch abomination. His powers were unknown but records indicate he could cause regular goblins to spring from the soil, could elevate goblins by as many as 3 tiers, could annoint goblin lords and ladies, and was in the process of creating new entire strains of goblinkind when he was defeated and shattered.