In Forgotten Relms there is a variation of Goblin called the Dekantor Goblin that is stronger, smarter and has a more bestial face with a rhinoceros horn on its snout. In Pathfinder there is a variation of Wikkawak, which is a "Snow Bugbear". These two are forgotten and deserved a Monster of The Week.
The sheer love and nerdy joy that went into John Vril’s tweet says everything there is to say about how fucking awesome this channel is. Dungeon Dad = Pure Platinum
Love these!! The best way to throw off veteran players who think goblins are a simple one-hit is to send a nilbog into their camp. Total chaos and such an underutilised creature. Love these types of videos DD. Expanding on the simple stuff to make ordinary encounters interesting is so amazing
Was so excited when I saw this guy in an upcoming video. These are my favorite goblinoid but I could never find any good hombrew for their monster statblock
Suggestion: The Thoul They are vary obscure, underutilized, and deserves some love. They are the product of mad sorcery, being a hybrid of hobgoblin, troll and ghoul, possessing paralyzing touch and regeneration. Much like the Vril with Goblins, they have an odd relationship with Hobgoblins. While they are great for catching unknowing players flatfooted, they can make for a lot of role-playing and world-building opportunities if they can be given more limelight to develop.
That is funny, I ran short 6-sesh underdark campaign a while ago that featured vrill and the kuatoa leviathan, and here you are giving them to us back to back!
The problem with most goblins in pop-culture nowadays is that they are not treated seriously, they are the comic relief in most media, and if they are not they are treated as just another type of humanoid. I will always put out the flavor text from Magic: the gathering's 2010's Goblin Chieftain as what goblins should be/treated as “We are goblinkind, heirs to the mountain empires of chieftains past. Rest is death to us, and arson is our call to war.” They should be a threat, a equal and opposite to the dwarfs, where the Dwarfs have smithing and stubbornness the goblins have numbers and cunning, where dwarfs have great ancient kingdoms that are slowly falling goblins have numerus clans that are broken & created all the time.
@nulllex0099 I think the problem is that a lot of the 'smaller' monsters races (Goblins, Kobolds, Rat folk, etc.) are all trying to fit the same niche, weak when alone but overwhelming in numbers with there 'cleverness' making up for that. Either have one of them that you can designate as the 'main' and make them the main thereat, or try to flesh the 'small monster races' out from one another in other ways so that they are distinct at a glance, such as emphasizing the kobolds dragon worship more or the rat folks scavenging from the goblin's Trible society's.
Seriously, great job on this video! this is one of my favorites for sure that you’ve made in recent times. Always impressed how you continue to one up yourself!
Your videos are always awesome! So, re: the Drow, I fell into an interesting Forgotten Realms rabbit hole earlier regarding the Jaezred Chaulssin, and a unique kind of half-shadow dragon drow called a zekyl. There's a lot of cool lore there, and just so many names with apostrophes.
These are my favorite videos of yours! The monster of the week that focuses on a new/old sub-type of creature like a new dragon, giant, golem, genie or in this case goblinoid. Great video! I also really appreciate you making all the stat blocks and game mechanics free.
How about you put down that participation trophy and pick up your bootstraps?!?! But actually how are we supposed to survive this society we are bound to?
Another great video, more humanoid monsters are always fun! I have a player whose character is a hobgoblin prince and another campaign playing Out of the Abyss, so my mind is immediately racing with how can I add vril into those stories. Also, if you swap the climb speed for a fly speed, these things could make PERFECT batfolk. I'm sure there's plenty of fun stuff you could do there. Perhaps some kind of night stalking vigilante... his parents killed by drow so now he stalks the shadows to fight evil.
I wasn't planning on including underdark creatures in my campaign, but now I'm definitely going to find a way to incorporate the Vrill. Purple bat goblins are just too good
This is your reminder that goblinoids actually came from the Feywilds, that may make them easier to work into the story because when in doubt its Fey shenanigans
Huh. I'd forgotten about them. I should definitely revisit an old adventure idea I had decades ago. work them into the backstory. Way back in 3e I came up with a 'team build' that would allow a group of 3+ 'Blues' (psionic goblins) and one or more regular goblins (if they were necromancers) to essentially tie their souls together in a knot and prevent it from leaving the Prime Material plane, while becoming a very minor demigod. Wrote a whole adventure about these breakaway goblins building their own goblin utopia in rejection of Maglubiyet, turning instead to ancestor worship and every one of their number joining The Council as a prime-bound ghost telepathically linked to the collective after they die. With goblin breeding patterns augmented by basic sanitation and a lack of petty infighting, they rapidly gained souls and power until they were in the minor leagues of deities, but Mags couldn't do anything since they were on the prime, and knew how to fight goblins better than regular goblins. Suddenly there's a neo-rome filled with shintoist goblins on the border of an established human kingdom, and they're not just mud-splattered maggots throwing poo at each other, but a credible society, even minting their own coinage.
I figured the vril always worshipped Magubliyet because of their goblin ancestors worshiping him. Maybe he even helped them escape enslavement when he saw they'd be useful to him. Now they're in the underdark pestering the drow and growing their numbers. Personally I think they'd rank beneath hobgoblins because they're smaller and hobgoblins can move around on the surface without issues and are thus a more useful soldier there whereas vril can be used in the underdark for guiding goblinoid forces and acting as assassins
Ah. I thought we were going to hear about Blues from the Psionics Handbook (/Expanded PA). Lots of races and race variants out there for you to make videos on too. Tibbits, Gloamings, Fey'ri (elven-tieflings), Tanarukk (orc-tieflings), Diopsid, Wolfen, etc. Looking forward to seeing what you cover next.
Goblins are really just the d&d evolution of the celtic legendary "red cap". Which has appeared in the editions for decades. Imo these are the goblins that never get discussed. Great video though! Thank you for your effort!
I think it would make an interesting twist to have the Vril trying to gain favor with a god/goddess of good. Eilistraee comes to mind, or maybe one of the Dwarven gods. "After being used by the Drow, dying at the hands of Orcs, and then being turned into canon fodder by the Goblin god the Vril decide to make all the Underdark their enemy."
Do these guys have any (cannon) connection to Goblin Blues? Blues were (if i remember correctly) first discussed in 1e as being random mutants that sometimes occur in goblin populations. Especially those in the underdark. While being even smaller and frailer than conventional goblins (described as the runts of a litter) they would rapidly develop psionic powers (or ingrained magic ala sorcerers) which made them useful enough that they'd be allowed to live unlike most unhealthy children in goblin society. I dont think they ever got stats until 3e (2e maybe?) but i always thought they were cool. From a homebrew perspective i could see maybe making them the root for these guys. Maybe the drow deliberately bred them for those genes? As always thanks for doing this, love your work!
I got an idea for a plothook! As poison was used to subjugate the Grill, maybe a sect of them are killing all the toxic creatures in a certain area to... I'll give some examples bellow. But! The players need one of those toxic creactures for a potion or the creatures have a toxin that the BBEG is susceptible to! Leading to a confrontation were they could negotiate, sneak or fight to get access to the creatures! So, I thought of some possibilities for why the Vrill would risk confrontations with creatures that attack in ways they are vulnerable to: - to cut off supply lines that Drow need to make the poisons they use to subjugate them. - to collect the poisons to make antidotes or resistance potions, or simply collecting the poison to develop natrual resistance to it through small repeated doses, like some allergy treatments - because they see any poison as an affront to nature in a religious sense, because of their history as being subjugated by poisons. (That last one could be a Player character motivation too, I think.)
This video just helped me figure out what the journey of self discovery of my goblin barbarian is leading up to. Shunned from her tribe for reasons unknown (being annoying and "different"), she gravitatied toward the barbarian class (screaming when going into a rage and weilds a warpick), and is on the path of the zealot (in service of a (undecided but now maybe decidedl god). Plus I LOVE bats so. This is the perfect race for me. Thank you for bringing it to light (even if they're better suited for the dark xD)!
I swear I've read about these Vril before. I think my Uncle John had this book in his endless catalogue of old D&D stuff, and I happened to read this entry just out of boredom during my grade school days.
There are also Bhukas, Dekanters, Norkers, and Blues. There used to be so many different goblins. The Norker does have a 5e statblock but its hidden away in Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio with the crabfolk, mite, etc.
Nice to know of more goblins beyond the homebrew scene (okay the Dankwood Goblins exist too) too bad the Bhuka from "Sandstorm" aren't unique enough stat wise to make the cut for a video.
Great episode! Ever consider doing the Thouls? Starting out as a typo in the first printings of the White Box, they evolved into a race of hobgoblin/troll/ghoul hybrids, and they really have some interesting lore. I recommend checking out their 4e incarnation from Dragon issue #418, which drastically expanded upon the meagre lore from 2nd edition's Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix.
Lyssendrith, the main Big Bad Evil Satan God in my homebrew setting, thoroughly enjoys kicking (or rather, tail-whipping; she’s a mountain-sized Marilith, after all) Lolth in the shins, and stealing her favorite toys* through trickery is a favorite pastime for the Furnace-Serpent. I could totally see the Vril turning on the Drow to defect to Lyssendrith’s side in return for the smog-choked, SUNLESS skies of Condassa (the “Evil Continent”). Thank you for the idea, Dungeon Dad! Very cool! *read: the greatest advantages and champions of the Drow
Personally i think we need a video about Variant Phoenixes. My brother had a scrip to Dragon magazine among others and he showed me the Autumn Phoenix. i heard there was like...half a dozen variants, but before he could show me the others his basement got flooded and the flood claimed his stash of 3rd party lore. not sure if you cover 3rd party stuff here but these need to be covered somewhere cause they were amazing.
Frost men / frost folk. They have the stat block of a monster, but have historical ties to the little-known Sossal (and the Sossrim who hail from that nation) and darker powers that be. Information is so scarce that learning more about the Sossrim (which in of itself is spread out across many books and articles) is the only way to infer the history and habits of the Frost Men and Frost Folk.
These fellas make a great blanc canvas of a late game-ish quest starter, them prowling in the night murdering caravans for the players to go deal with, and find a ravine connected to the underdark. That's some one-shot content right there
I can see a group of Vrill allying with drow who worship Eilistraee and being adopted into the fold in the collective struggle to liberate the Underdark from the tyranny of Lolth.
When I first clicked I thought this was going to either be the Blues (the psionic goblins) or the Bhuka (the peaceful desert goblins from Sandstorm). Defiantly even more gobbos need to be uncovered.
11:44 the story got funnier when 3,0 made Gruumsh go from Lawful to chaotic evil, because to fight Maglubiyet he's STILL on a Lawful-Lawful-Evil plane (Between pure law and Baator)
With goblinoids having joined the fae I like the idea of a faction of oath of ancients vril hunting mages in the underdark. Plus this would make it so this particular group can be friend or foe to the party.
I wonder if you know about the Varag from I think either Monster Manual 2 or 3 [edit: it was MM4] from 3.5. I'd love for you to visit them again. Also, the original printing of Vril was misprinted, because they didn't have text for one of their abilities, I believe? Even funnier, I looked in the book I have, it flat out doesn't have a statblock! Like, it doesn't exist and had to be added via Errata. Ah, yep, I got excited and put this down before I got to that section of your video, hahaha.
Idk about draining their life, but remember hags are Fey, I would think it would be more like a clan of Fey who go around having fairies banquets that entrance the victims to live in revelry for all time, remember the fey also operate outside of time's normal flow, so the victims would live for lifetimes just to eventually be returned hundreds of years later once they are too old to be fed on anymore, the appearance of long lost persons decades or centuries later for even the shortest lived races
@@ConstantChaos1 ... I'm sorry, but your comment almost feels like a non sequitur. Vampires muses are actual vampires. From the Feywild. Who inspire artists while draining their blood bit by bit. Some of this blood is put in a large cauldron that functions similar to a lich's phylactery.
@@TheHornedKingthat's because the vampire muse was condemned for its un-Fey vibes, 4e trashed all existing lore, including cultural origins. Hence why I preposed a way to change the lore so it would fit with toril and not abeir. Part of the issue with 4th ed conversions is they literally dont fit in standard d&d.
@@TheHornedKing yeah they sound cool but dont fit the lore and the revisions to the Fey actually caused a scandal with pagan groups because it was rewriting part of their sacred history while using the names and likenesses of sacred spirits for profit. They sound really cool but without a lore change they are literally stuck in a different dimension (not even a diff plane) and cant cross into 5/5.5 lore, I mean they are fey so there is always the excuse of Fey shenanigans but still. The lore difference means it cant really be converted without remaking it 🤷♂️ I was just trying to provide a new option to make them fit with toril fey and actual origins of Fey lore.
there are a LOT of forgotten goblinoids that i wish would make a comeback. blues and varags are interesting parts of goblinoid society and the undead bonedrinkers were an interesting addition to the necromantic traditions of their shamans and such
My thought with regards to the Vril and the armies of the god of goblins is, they might end up at *the same* rank as the hobgoblins - but fulfilling different roles. the hobgoblins being more prone to and focused on direct assaults and strategies for full on battles, while the vril focus more on subterfuge, intelligence gathering, and generally lead relatively small groups on targeted attacks - say, on supply lines.
I thought it was going to be about mind goblins. Givin the vril's intelligence, i guess they could be mind goblins? Is that where the idea of vril came from?
I am of the opinion that goblins are one of, if not the most, dangerous low level CR monsters on hand if used correctly, so color ME thrilled to find out there's a new subrace that I can play around with which are specifically, and, amazingly, much more intelligent than your average goblin? Oh man, my players are never going to know what hit them when it comes time to unleash a goblin horde!
Goblins in our new Kickstarter next yr are a cross between red caps & Vrill called "Mulkiers." And not something a DM can throw at a low level party! 😂
Funny thought if using these guys in Pathfinder 1e, you could have one that became an Alchemist. This would make him resistant or immune to poison, explaining how they broke away from the Drow...
What monster is next?
What about the Scro from Spelljammer, or the Inevitables?
Chances are you already know my suggestion.
i'd still like to know about the living nebula from old spelljammer you mentioned once
Do a funny little guy next 🙂
Tremors= Graboid and shrinker ?? There some 3.5 status...would be a kool video.
Big fan of Vril joining the Duragar as part of the "Screw the Drow" club, but still not happy about helping anyone else either
Duergar*, FFS 😢
And here I've been thinking i got a misprinted Drow of the Underdark all these years. Thanks for the intel
They're ALL misprints, it's hilarious. And wizards took down the errata
In Forgotten Relms there is a variation of Goblin called the Dekantor Goblin that is stronger, smarter and has a more bestial face with a rhinoceros horn on its snout. In Pathfinder there is a variation of Wikkawak, which is a "Snow Bugbear". These two are forgotten and deserved a Monster of The Week.
My favorite goblinoid is the Blue from the Psionic Handbook. This Vril kind is pretty awesome.
I thought that was what this was going to be at first
oh the mind goblin
I am absolutely loving what youve done with the opening, and how the show has evolved over the years
Thanks! I know you’ve been around for awhile, so you’ve seen me learn how to edit in real time lol
I see the drow took a page from the mind flayers's book and as expacted, it backfired horribly as well.
Just about right...
They also seem to have taken a page from Dungeon Dad’s book. The stat block in particular
The sheer love and nerdy joy that went into John Vril’s tweet says everything there is to say about how fucking awesome this channel is.
Dungeon Dad = Pure Platinum
Silly drow! You can't improve perfection.
Or goblins, but just look around, there are so many of us. You'll probably find what you're looking for.
they look so artificial grape flavoured i wanna eat one
A very Laios coded response. 😂
Therapist: "Vril Krenko doesn't exist, he can't hurt you"
Love these!!
The best way to throw off veteran players who think goblins are a simple one-hit is to send a nilbog into their camp. Total chaos and such an underutilised creature.
Love these types of videos DD. Expanding on the simple stuff to make ordinary encounters interesting is so amazing
Was so excited when I saw this guy in an upcoming video. These are my favorite goblinoid but I could never find any good hombrew for their monster statblock
Suggestion: The Thoul
They are vary obscure, underutilized, and deserves some love. They are the product of mad sorcery, being a hybrid of hobgoblin, troll and ghoul, possessing paralyzing touch and regeneration. Much like the Vril with Goblins, they have an odd relationship with Hobgoblins.
While they are great for catching unknowing players flatfooted, they can make for a lot of role-playing and world-building opportunities if they can be given more limelight to develop.
Vril in the thumbnail? Let's go!
That is funny, I ran short 6-sesh underdark campaign a while ago that featured vrill and the kuatoa leviathan, and here you are giving them to us back to back!
Vril was a secret society in WWII Germany, so I must conclude they were created as a secret weapon.
i love your videos! planning on running a one shot all about goblins in 3 days so this came out right when i was doing some research!
Thanks! Also that’s perfect, the stars have aligned!
It wasn't coincidence. The Vril have been planning this allll along
The problem with most goblins in pop-culture nowadays is that they are not treated seriously, they are the comic relief in most media, and if they are not they are treated as just another type of humanoid. I will always put out the flavor text from Magic: the gathering's 2010's Goblin Chieftain as what goblins should be/treated as “We are goblinkind, heirs to the mountain empires of chieftains past. Rest is death to us, and arson is our call to war.” They should be a threat, a equal and opposite to the dwarfs, where the Dwarfs have smithing and stubbornness the goblins have numbers and cunning, where dwarfs have great ancient kingdoms that are slowly falling goblins have numerus clans that are broken & created all the time.
@nulllex0099 I think the problem is that a lot of the 'smaller' monsters races (Goblins, Kobolds, Rat folk, etc.) are all trying to fit the same niche, weak when alone but overwhelming in numbers with there 'cleverness' making up for that. Either have one of them that you can designate as the 'main' and make them the main thereat, or try to flesh the 'small monster races' out from one another in other ways so that they are distinct at a glance, such as emphasizing the kobolds dragon worship more or the rat folks scavenging from the goblin's Trible society's.
Goblin slayer anime? The paladin anime? Alot of media still uses them proper
Goblin Slayer has entered the chat
Seriously, great job on this video! this is one of my favorites for sure that you’ve made in recent times. Always impressed how you continue to one up yourself!
Your videos are always awesome! So, re: the Drow, I fell into an interesting Forgotten Realms rabbit hole earlier regarding the Jaezred Chaulssin, and a unique kind of half-shadow dragon drow called a zekyl. There's a lot of cool lore there, and just so many names with apostrophes.
DEEP ROCK GALACTIC MENTIONED! ROCK AND STONE TO THE BONE!
FOR ROCK AND STONE!
ROCK, AND, STOOOOOONNEEE!!!
DID I HEAR ROCK AND STONE?
WHEN YOU ROCK AND STONE, YOU'RE NEVER ALONE!
ROCK AND STONE!
I love my Vril. Always use them in my homebrew setting. Thanks for shedding light on these bat boys!
Vrill and Bugbear become friends and each one has a buddy-cop dynamic assigned at birth
I'm just imagining a Grung Monk hearing about these guys and just grinning his head off in manic glee...
I got about 10 straight minutes of enjoyment from your inclusion of a 1 second clip of the Cheddar Goblin from Mandy.
I know PC options are a bit more work but I’d love to see more. I wish we’d get more monstrous races for 5e.
These are my favorite videos of yours! The monster of the week that focuses on a new/old sub-type of creature like a new dragon, giant, golem, genie or in this case goblinoid. Great video!
I also really appreciate you making all the stat blocks and game mechanics free.
support your local llibraries, museums, and universities! they do amazing archiving work that helps save media that would be lost.
Grom campains in total war taught me the best way was to collect food and feed it to them for wacky effects.
"Sweet boy he was..."
👍👍 And I think about eleven thousand years later the Vril have become the Gith and the Drow have become the Illithid 🙂
"Forced to toil and die for a society you're not welcomed in"
As a millennial that hits too close to home.
Word
How about you put down that participation trophy and pick up your bootstraps?!?!
But actually how are we supposed to survive this society we are bound to?
@@holmd90It rhymes with evolution.
@@josephgeorge5741 fair fair
@@josephgeorge5741”Have ablution?”
Another great video, more humanoid monsters are always fun! I have a player whose character is a hobgoblin prince and another campaign playing Out of the Abyss, so my mind is immediately racing with how can I add vril into those stories. Also, if you swap the climb speed for a fly speed, these things could make PERFECT batfolk. I'm sure there's plenty of fun stuff you could do there. Perhaps some kind of night stalking vigilante... his parents killed by drow so now he stalks the shadows to fight evil.
So this is one of the best videos you've made. Lots of creative options and having another gonlin with a little higher CR is always welocme.
I wasn't planning on including underdark creatures in my campaign, but now I'm definitely going to find a way to incorporate the Vrill. Purple bat goblins are just too good
This is your reminder that goblinoids actually came from the Feywilds, that may make them easier to work into the story because when in doubt its Fey shenanigans
Nice! Friends wanted to put together a goblin party, we have a goblin, bugbear and hobgoblin. Thank you for giving us a 4th!
Huh. I'd forgotten about them. I should definitely revisit an old adventure idea I had decades ago. work them into the backstory.
Way back in 3e I came up with a 'team build' that would allow a group of 3+ 'Blues' (psionic goblins) and one or more regular goblins (if they were necromancers) to essentially tie their souls together in a knot and prevent it from leaving the Prime Material plane, while becoming a very minor demigod. Wrote a whole adventure about these breakaway goblins building their own goblin utopia in rejection of Maglubiyet, turning instead to ancestor worship and every one of their number joining The Council as a prime-bound ghost telepathically linked to the collective after they die. With goblin breeding patterns augmented by basic sanitation and a lack of petty infighting, they rapidly gained souls and power until they were in the minor leagues of deities, but Mags couldn't do anything since they were on the prime, and knew how to fight goblins better than regular goblins.
Suddenly there's a neo-rome filled with shintoist goblins on the border of an established human kingdom, and they're not just mud-splattered maggots throwing poo at each other, but a credible society, even minting their own coinage.
Sick intro, idk why it took almost 2 weeks for this vid to pop in my feed
I just recently read through this book and spent 20 minutes looking for this stat block. Thank you for confirming I'm not insane
I figured the vril always worshipped Magubliyet because of their goblin ancestors worshiping him. Maybe he even helped them escape enslavement when he saw they'd be useful to him. Now they're in the underdark pestering the drow and growing their numbers. Personally I think they'd rank beneath hobgoblins because they're smaller and hobgoblins can move around on the surface without issues and are thus a more useful soldier there whereas vril can be used in the underdark for guiding goblinoid forces and acting as assassins
I used these in an under dark arc a few years back, and they were so much fun! They became a great reoccurring problem for my party.
Long time user of Dekanter and Gibberlings, love these little guys too. Who says goblins can't be terrifying? ^.^
Ah. I thought we were going to hear about Blues from the Psionics Handbook (/Expanded PA). Lots of races and race variants out there for you to make videos on too. Tibbits, Gloamings, Fey'ri (elven-tieflings), Tanarukk (orc-tieflings), Diopsid, Wolfen, etc. Looking forward to seeing what you cover next.
Goblins are really just the d&d evolution of the celtic legendary "red cap". Which has appeared in the editions for decades. Imo these are the goblins that never get discussed. Great video though! Thank you for your effort!
My favorite Goblins are from Artemis Fowl; Fire-controlling reptile-frog fey that tend to be gangers. Love it.
Great channel, informative content, and engagibg delivery. I enthusiastically subscribed and am gonna deep dive this channel
Omg I just found this channel and I'm bout to binge watch all of them
I have a feeling that end up being Mercenaries serving all of the different factions may be equally while being their own masters
Very cool ep, vampire bat vril would be my pick.
I think it would make an interesting twist to have the Vril trying to gain favor with a god/goddess of good. Eilistraee comes to mind, or maybe one of the Dwarven gods. "After being used by the Drow, dying at the hands of Orcs, and then being turned into canon fodder by the Goblin god the Vril decide to make all the Underdark their enemy."
I could see them going with Eilistraee SPECIFICALLY to stick it to the Drow.
Do these guys have any (cannon) connection to Goblin Blues?
Blues were (if i remember correctly) first discussed in 1e as being random mutants that sometimes occur in goblin populations. Especially those in the underdark. While being even smaller and frailer than conventional goblins (described as the runts of a litter) they would rapidly develop psionic powers (or ingrained magic ala sorcerers) which made them useful enough that they'd be allowed to live unlike most unhealthy children in goblin society. I dont think they ever got stats until 3e (2e maybe?) but i always thought they were cool.
From a homebrew perspective i could see maybe making them the root for these guys. Maybe the drow deliberately bred them for those genes?
As always thanks for doing this, love your work!
I got an idea for a plothook! As poison was used to subjugate the Grill, maybe a sect of them are killing all the toxic creatures in a certain area to... I'll give some examples bellow. But! The players need one of those toxic creactures for a potion or the creatures have a toxin that the BBEG is susceptible to! Leading to a confrontation were they could negotiate, sneak or fight to get access to the creatures!
So, I thought of some possibilities for why the Vrill would risk confrontations with creatures that attack in ways they are vulnerable to:
- to cut off supply lines that Drow need to make the poisons they use to subjugate them.
- to collect the poisons to make antidotes or resistance potions, or simply collecting the poison to develop natrual resistance to it through small repeated doses, like some allergy treatments
- because they see any poison as an affront to nature in a religious sense, because of their history as being subjugated by poisons. (That last one could be a Player character motivation too, I think.)
This video just helped me figure out what the journey of self discovery of my goblin barbarian is leading up to. Shunned from her tribe for reasons unknown (being annoying and "different"), she gravitatied toward the barbarian class (screaming when going into a rage and weilds a warpick), and is on the path of the zealot (in service of a (undecided but now maybe decidedl god). Plus I LOVE bats so. This is the perfect race for me. Thank you for bringing it to light (even if they're better suited for the dark xD)!
I swear I've read about these Vril before. I think my Uncle John had this book in his endless catalogue of old D&D stuff, and I happened to read this entry just out of boredom during my grade school days.
There are also Bhukas, Dekanters, Norkers, and Blues. There used to be so many different goblins. The Norker does have a 5e statblock but its hidden away in Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio with the crabfolk, mite, etc.
I'm diggin this one. I always admire your work but this one deserved a comment
Nice to know of more goblins beyond the homebrew scene (okay the Dankwood Goblins exist too) too bad the Bhuka from "Sandstorm" aren't unique enough stat wise to make the cut for a video.
Fun fact goblinoids came from the Fey wilds
Great episode! Ever consider doing the Thouls? Starting out as a typo in the first printings of the White Box, they evolved into a race of hobgoblin/troll/ghoul hybrids, and they really have some interesting lore. I recommend checking out their 4e incarnation from Dragon issue #418, which drastically expanded upon the meagre lore from 2nd edition's Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix.
I know you do monster of the week, but I can see the Virl being a race in DnD as well 😊
Immediately I’m imagining a character that’s like a fusion between Experiment 626 from Lilo and Stitch and Koba from Planet of the Apes.
Dude I love the concept of taking a weak fodder-monster and turning it into a legitimate threat
Lyssendrith, the main Big Bad Evil Satan God in my homebrew setting, thoroughly enjoys kicking (or rather, tail-whipping; she’s a mountain-sized Marilith, after all) Lolth in the shins, and stealing her favorite toys* through trickery is a favorite pastime for the Furnace-Serpent. I could totally see the Vril turning on the Drow to defect to Lyssendrith’s side in return for the smog-choked, SUNLESS skies of Condassa (the “Evil Continent”).
Thank you for the idea, Dungeon Dad! Very cool!
*read: the greatest advantages and champions of the Drow
Personally i think we need a video about Variant Phoenixes. My brother had a scrip to Dragon magazine among others and he showed me the Autumn Phoenix. i heard there was like...half a dozen variants, but before he could show me the others his basement got flooded and the flood claimed his stash of 3rd party lore. not sure if you cover 3rd party stuff here but these need to be covered somewhere cause they were amazing.
You'd kinda HOPE that with ears like THAT, the Vril had better be good listeners! A spy to tell the Drow what the players are planning? How devious!
Dungeon Dad for Kraken week confirmed! Woo!
Frost men / frost folk. They have the stat block of a monster, but have historical ties to the little-known Sossal (and the Sossrim who hail from that nation) and darker powers that be. Information is so scarce that learning more about the Sossrim (which in of itself is spread out across many books and articles) is the only way to infer the history and habits of the Frost Men and Frost Folk.
These fellas make a great blanc canvas of a late game-ish quest starter, them prowling in the night murdering caravans for the players to go deal with, and find a ravine connected to the underdark. That's some one-shot content right there
I'm running Lost Mines of Phandelver and these guys are definitely making an appearance as Mind Flayer creations.
I can see a group of Vrill allying with drow who worship Eilistraee and being adopted into the fold in the collective struggle to liberate the Underdark from the tyranny of Lolth.
When I first clicked I thought this was going to either be the Blues (the psionic goblins) or the Bhuka (the peaceful desert goblins from Sandstorm). Defiantly even more gobbos need to be uncovered.
Played one of these, whole theme of the character was "Jump GOOD!" and at low levels was getting like +30 to jump.
Hey love your work man
11:44 the story got funnier when 3,0 made Gruumsh go from Lawful to chaotic evil, because to fight Maglubiyet he's STILL on a Lawful-Lawful-Evil plane (Between pure law and Baator)
I could see the vrill also joining up with the gnolls and worshiping yeenaguh
With goblinoids having joined the fae I like the idea of a faction of oath of ancients vril hunting mages in the underdark. Plus this would make it so this particular group can be friend or foe to the party.
love the plot hook ! keep it up !
If not just do a couple including this because this is awesome
The Evangelion preview music at the end threw me for a loop.
From the thumbnail, I thought this was gonna be a Mind Goblin episode.
Mind goblin these nuts!
Yessss omg I love them! I’m so sad I didn’t know about them and their adorably pointy ears!
Next time, you should cover my favorite sub-race of goblins. The mind goblin
I wonder if you know about the Varag from I think either Monster Manual 2 or 3 [edit: it was MM4] from 3.5. I'd love for you to visit them again.
Also, the original printing of Vril was misprinted, because they didn't have text for one of their abilities, I believe? Even funnier, I looked in the book I have, it flat out doesn't have a statblock! Like, it doesn't exist and had to be added via Errata.
Ah, yep, I got excited and put this down before I got to that section of your video, hahaha.
I want a video about vampire muses. Feywild vampires who inspire artists, at the same time as they slowly drain their life away.
Idk about draining their life, but remember hags are Fey, I would think it would be more like a clan of Fey who go around having fairies banquets that entrance the victims to live in revelry for all time, remember the fey also operate outside of time's normal flow, so the victims would live for lifetimes just to eventually be returned hundreds of years later once they are too old to be fed on anymore, the appearance of long lost persons decades or centuries later for even the shortest lived races
@@ConstantChaos1 ... I'm sorry, but your comment almost feels like a non sequitur.
Vampires muses are actual vampires. From the Feywild. Who inspire artists while draining their blood bit by bit. Some of this blood is put in a large cauldron that functions similar to a lich's phylactery.
@@TheHornedKingthat's because the vampire muse was condemned for its un-Fey vibes, 4e trashed all existing lore, including cultural origins. Hence why I preposed a way to change the lore so it would fit with toril and not abeir. Part of the issue with 4th ed conversions is they literally dont fit in standard d&d.
@@ConstantChaos1 Well I think they sound cool.
@@TheHornedKing yeah they sound cool but dont fit the lore and the revisions to the Fey actually caused a scandal with pagan groups because it was rewriting part of their sacred history while using the names and likenesses of sacred spirits for profit.
They sound really cool but without a lore change they are literally stuck in a different dimension (not even a diff plane) and cant cross into 5/5.5 lore, I mean they are fey so there is always the excuse of Fey shenanigans but still. The lore difference means it cant really be converted without remaking it 🤷♂️
I was just trying to provide a new option to make them fit with toril fey and actual origins of Fey lore.
"We all love little goblins" I was playing MtG during the _Onslaught_ block, those green rats can burn in Hell.
there are a LOT of forgotten goblinoids that i wish would make a comeback. blues and varags are interesting parts of goblinoid society and the undead bonedrinkers were an interesting addition to the necromantic traditions of their shamans and such
I was hoping you'd finally do an episode on Mind Goblins
My thought with regards to the Vril and the armies of the god of goblins is, they might end up at *the same* rank as the hobgoblins - but fulfilling different roles.
the hobgoblins being more prone to and focused on direct assaults and strategies for full on battles, while the vril focus more on subterfuge, intelligence gathering, and generally lead relatively small groups on targeted attacks - say, on supply lines.
One day I hope to see the Ondonti orcs make a reappearance. They were the pacifist branch of orc, who had cleric spells.
I thought it was going to be about mind goblins. Givin the vril's intelligence, i guess they could be mind goblins? Is that where the idea of vril came from?
I am of the opinion that goblins are one of, if not the most, dangerous low level CR monsters on hand if used correctly, so color ME thrilled to find out there's a new subrace that I can play around with which are specifically, and, amazingly, much more intelligent than your average goblin? Oh man, my players are never going to know what hit them when it comes time to unleash a goblin horde!
How hecking DARE you reveal my favorite 3.5 goblinoid race to use as a player OR a dm like this 😂😂
ok my adventurers are exploring the underdark and not high level and more goblins are always welcome in my DM arsenal so this video is very welcome.
Goblins in our new Kickstarter next yr are a cross between red caps & Vrill called "Mulkiers." And not something a DM can throw at a low level party! 😂
Giving them a rock-splitting shriek and super sensitive ears seems like a cruel joke... but I guess this is the Drow, so that checks out.
Did not expect to be so early. Wasn't even a minute yet.
seeing the thumbnail, i thought it was some kind of psionic goblin. Like a Mind Goblin
I think the Shirokinukatsukami is really cool. I hope he converts that monster!
Funny thought if using these guys in Pathfinder 1e, you could have one that became an Alchemist. This would make him resistant or immune to poison, explaining how they broke away from the Drow...
"I'm half goblin, half other goblin"
"isnt that fully goblin?"
"no"
i instantly recognized the Tormod's Crypt art