D&D General The Appearance of Female Goblins

[Charlaquin]

I'd argue that as with An Unexpected Journey and with Labyrinth, Goblins could be male or female and you wouldn't know it, because these are degenerate troglodytic people of an already twisted race of mutilated, twisted, tortured, defiled, corrupted, and indoctrinated Elves and/or Humans. Or they sprung from mud (but were somehow cross-bred by Saruman) per the Fellowship film. Either way, the concept of gender, orientation, and sexuality doesn't seem to apply to Goblins when used for this purpose.

Now, I don’t know all the Labyrinth Deep Lore, but I’m pretty sure none of this is true of its goblins. IIRC, Jareth just kinda found them in his interplanar travels, found them amusing, and declared himself their king. They were just the native inhabitants of the place where he would eventually make the Labyrinth.

 

[Marandahir]

Now, I don’t know all the Labyrinth Deep Lore, but I’m pretty sure none of this is true of its goblins. IIRC, Jareth just kinda found them in his interplanar travels, found them amusing, and declared himself their king. They were just the native inhabitants of the place where he would eventually make the Labyrinth.

Sorry, I ran away with the Hobbit depiction and forgot that my explanation was specific to that and not to Labyrinth. My intention of including Labyrinth was to support the concept of Goblins who are hard to distinguish based on secondary sexual characteristics, not that they were degenerate elves or humans (the former of which may not even exist in the Labyrinth setting - though it's a pretty broad tent place with its dream-like qualities).

They also happen to wear armour in general, which would hide any secondary characteristics we'd notice. Unless horns are only on some male Goblins?

 

[Weiley31]

For both male and female goblins, I generally just use the Pathfinder style in terms of looks and personality, even though I'm running D&D. I've yet to have a player ask me questions about goblin boobs. I suspect that they'd get a look askance and I'd move on.

Best way of doing it. I use the Pathfinder take on Oni/Ogre Mages for Ogre Mages in DND. The Pathfinder take on Goblins may ACTUALLY make me play a Goblin in DND.

 

[Weiley31]

In Tomb of Annihilation, there are female goblins. They don't look very different than the male. They certainly don't look like short humans with large ears.

Personally, I love the Pathfinder female goblin. Being almost exactly like the male, but has lipstick.

View attachment 123613

Now that I think about it, how do you know if that is a Female goblin? Goblins may just love Lipstick for all we know.

 

[Charlaquin]

Sorry, I ran away with the Hobbit depiction and forgot that my explanation was specific to that and not to Labyrinth. My intention of including Labyrinth was to support the concept of Goblins who are hard to distinguish based on secondary sexual characteristics, not that they were degenerate elves or humans (the former of which may not even exist in the Labyrinth setting - though it's a pretty broad tent place with its dream-like qualities).

Not sure about elves as such, but there are definitely fae entities of sorts, such as the ice queen from the comic. And arguably Jareth.

They also happen to wear armour in general, which would hide any secondary characteristics we'd notice. Unless horns are only on some male Goblins?

Labyrinth goblins (along with pretty much every other creature Brian Froud designs) are so dimorphic on an individual level, I wouldn’t expect any such pattern to hold consistently.

That, by the way, is how I like my goblins. Weird, wild things that look so vastly different from one to the next as to hopelessly confound anyone trying to organize them taxonomically. Words like “hobgoblin” and “bugbear” are just blanket terms applied more or less arbitrarily to goblins that fall into certain broad size categories.

 

[Marandahir]

Not sure about elves as such, but there are definitely fae entities of sorts, such as the ice queen from the comic. And arguably Jareth.

I read the Amerimanga years ago, and was guessing if anywhere it would be there, but couldn't recall.

Labyrinth goblins (along with pretty much every other creature Brian Froud designs) are so dimorphic on an individual level, I wouldn’t expect any such pattern to hold consistently.

That, by the way, is how I like my goblins. Weird, wild things that look so vastly different from one to the next as to hopelessly confound anyone trying to organize them taxonomically. Words like “hobgoblin” and “bugbear” are just blanket terms applied more or less arbitrarily to goblins that fall into certain broad size categories.

I've been leaning this way recently, too. I like this description for it! Those giant goblins in Labyrinth (and the Great Goblin in The Hobbit) are what we'd call Bugbears, but they're all Goblins, to them.

 

[Tonguez]

Not sure about elves as such, but there are definitely fae entities of sorts, such as the ice queen from the comic. And arguably Jareth.


Labyrinth goblins (along with pretty much every other creature Brian Froud designs) are so dimorphic on an individual level, I wouldn’t expect any such pattern to hold consistently.

That, by the way, is how I like my goblins. Weird, wild things that look so vastly different from one to the next as to hopelessly confound anyone trying to organize them taxonomically. Words like “hobgoblin” and “bugbear” are just blanket terms applied more or less arbitrarily to goblins that fall into certain broad size categories.

I like how GURPS Goblins explains Goblin diversity developing thusly:
"At birth they have an unformed, foetal appearance, exactly 12 inches long and weighing exactly 3 lbs., with a coffee-and-cream complexion and no distinguishing features. Because they are all the same they are not given names, but instead are all known as Prole.

From the moment of birth however, individual Proles start adapting to their environment, growing tall if food is found in high places; becoming tiny if safety is found in small nooks and crannies. Those brought up in dark places develop keen night vision, while those raised near the sea become sleek-bodied and proficient swimmers. By the age of six, the Proles have been stretched and warped into every conceivable shape and size by their unique histories and environments . . ."

 

[Weiley31]

You know, one could reskin Goblins as the movie Gremlins. Hmmmmm. scratches chin

 

[MarkB]

You know, one could reskin Goblins as the movie Gremlins. Hmmmmm. scratches chin

And gnomes as Mogwai. Most goblin outbreaks are merely the result of one ill-advised midnight feast.

 

[Imaculata]

Armour should not be showing mammaries. Full stop. It's a deathtrap.

Even light armour would be finding a way to work around this with flat plates and padding to make it harder for weapons to pierce vulnerable areas.

Armour is a equalizing factor - look at Cara & She-Ra in doctorbadwolf's images above. Neither emphasize their chests in their armoured costumes, because doing that is calling out "point sword here."

Historically armors have OFTEN accentuated chests. See Roman or Greek chest armor.
While it is true that a piece of armor is more effective when it directs blows away from the vital areas, a piece of metal is still a piece of metal, and will protect you regardless of how it is shaped. If you want boob-armor in your fantasy rpg, go for it. There is no historical basis for saying it is wrong or unrealistic.