When do baby goblins become evil?

[Umbran]

Not that this is ever talked about in the game, but it seems to imply that creatuires are of their own alignment from birth on.

I disagree. The PHB rules are pretty clear - in general, creatures that cannot make moral decisions are Neutral. I'm pretty sure infants fit in that category.

At some point in their development, children of sentient species gain enough life-context to understand their choices (at least to some extent). At that point, and not before, they may become aligned. Exactly when that point comes depends upon your take on psychology, and humanoid developmental speeds.

 

[BOZ]

i'm all with the free will thang, baby.

if a dwarf, elf, or halfling can turn evil and be a villan, then a goblin or orc can learn to be good and heroes.

 

[Arkhandus]

Goblins don't have the Evil subtype, so they aren't born evil, they just learn to be evil the same as anyone else does, from their parents and their peers and how they're treated. So very young goblins can probably develop into decent people if carefully guided. Though, the fact that their people are usually chaotic evil or so probably means that they have some natural inclinations towards chaotic evil behavior. So, they'll probably be disobedient and hard to raise well, but no moreso than a stubborn human child. Goblins in most settings age quickly though, so a 5-year-old goblin is probably equivalent to an 8 or 10-year-old human. So I'd guess that goblins more than 4 or 5 years old are probably going to be exceedingly difficult to rehabilitate, just like angsty pre-teen punks. :^D

 

[Darkness]

I think that's a campaign question and thus, ultimately up to the DM. (Unless, maybe, they're playing in a published setting where there's an answer to this question.)

MM, p.305, regarding Alignment:

Usually: The majority (more than 50%) of these creatures have the given alignment. This may be due to strong cultural influences, or it may be a legacy of the creatures' origin. For example, most elves inherited their chaotic good tendencies from their creator, the deity Corellon Larethian.

 

[Hurtfultater]

If you're positing free will, there's a certain upper limit to how CE goblins can be naturally. They're social creatures, and forming successful complex social groups, as an animal, requires a certain amount of predictability, altruism, and empathy.

 

[Wormwood]

Goblins don't have children; they have larva.

Same evil, smaller package.

 

[tarchon]

Goblins become evil on their 8th birthdays. It's a big, festive occasion, when the little goblin receives his first black hat.

 

[silentspace]

They turn evil at five years old. Exactly. Feel free to kill the ones older than five

 

[The_Universe]

Probably as they learn to take "adult" roles in society?

While in a fantasy realm one could theoretically say that they actually are natively, inherently evil, if oen chooses to say that it is a matter of nurture, rather than nature, I would guess that the socialization would happen as little goblin boys become goblin warriors, or shamans, or whatever.

 

[Darkness]

Goblins become evil on their 8th birthdays. It's a big, festive occasion, when the little goblin receives his first black hat.

tarchon, that was beautiful.