Goblin - Soupling | GM Binder

# Goblin Species - "Souplings"

*Leaf-8 considered the tome before them with a scrutinizing, buggy eye. A long, curved claw scraped across the page, highlighting each word in turn. Their mouth moved slowly and particularly; pale greenish lips slid over pointy teeth, forming long, magical-sounding syllables. Tin-Cup-3 waited impatiently for the results. "So? What does it say?" they asked. Leaf-8 looked up, inhaled deeply, and closed their eyes to deliver the news: "I believe it's a recipe for something called 'chocolate chip cookies.'"*
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Long ago and far away, a powerful wizard created a batch of servant creatures called "goblings" (known by most as "souplings" these days) by mixing together alchemical reagents in a great copper cauldron. The original formula has been lost to time, but the results remain: a thriving population of intelligent, if often underestimated, critters with a penchant for improvising quickly and cooking up new ideas. Their reproduction still relies on the cauldron method, mixing up a wide catalog of ingredients in an "evolutionary soup" to create new members of their species.

### Producing Souplings
The main ritual involved in producing new souplings is that on a rotating basis, each member of the souplings' village is permitted to add one ingredient of their choice to the bubbling mixture of mud, water, sticks, and all previous ingredients. Ingredients are not restricted to food, and often include precious objects. The only generally prohibited or taboo ingredient is biomatter (meat, bone, droppings, hair, etc). The new ingredient is recorded in a journal, as well as the length of time between adding the ingredient and when the soupling emerges. When a new soupling is born, the next member of the rota is allowed to add a new ingredient. Souplings emerge from their birth-cauldron fully formed, bald, and at their approximate adult height and weight.

### Anatomy of a Soupling
Short in stature (3-4' tall) and lightweight (30-45 lbs), souplings are considered a small creature, well-adapted for both climbing and digging. They sport greenish skin, ranging from pale spring green to almost black, and often have brownish spots and/or stripes of varying intensity. Large, bright eyes with irises of yellows and oranges are common. They are born hairless, but most grow some form of hair as they age, which can come in any color or texture. Their broad hands, with three spindly fingers and two thumbs (one on the left side of the hand and one on the right) are typical of the goblinoid species. Likewise, their toes are semi-prehensile, and their feet are generally outsized for their diminutive frames. They stand on two semi-digitigrade legs, and they have a prehensile tail that comes to a blunt tip.

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As an asexually reproducing species, souplings do not exhibit sexual dimorphism, and they decorate their bodies as they please. There is no fine distinction between "masculine" and "feminine" in their culture. Sometimes the cauldron will produce an individual with what one might think of as "traditionally gendered" physical characteristics (such as a large bust or facial hair), but to souplings, these are not social markers of a gender system, and they do not have any particular bearing on the way that the individual is treated by their fellows.

### Soupling Names
Souplings are commonly named after the ingredient that was added to their birth-cauldron before they emerged, and then a numerical designation to show how many times that ingredient has been used in that same cauldron, e.g. *Carrot-37, Hairbrush-1, Old-Sock-10.* Some soupling villages instead use a numerical designation for how much time passed between adding the ingredient and the soupling's birth. Some use both. Personal pronouns are generally nonexistent, referring to each other with full names as a sign of respect, but those souplings who spend more time with Outsiders may acquire a preference.

### Soupling Culture
Soupling ideas of beauty and temperament focus mainly on how long it took for the added ingredient to produce the individual. If one is short-tempered, others may refer to them as "underdone" (lit. "one-day-cook"), and in the opposite direction, if one is particularly patient and kind, they are referred to as "well-burned." Souplings do not focus much on outer beauty or looks to determine the desirability of an individual.

They often live in villages formed around a central cauldron. Most souplings strive to live in balance with nature and leave a minimal footprint, and so choose to live alongside nature in the forests and jungles of the realm. Outsiders are generally welcomed to the clan with open arms -- as long as they practice the same degree of care for their surroundings. Purposeful pollution or taking more than one needs are considered the worst transgressions, and may lead to exile.

### Leaving the Village ##
A soupling may decide to pick up adventuring to acquire rare ingredients, or travel between villages to share recipes and records of their village's cauldron results. Nature, sharing, science, and literacy are highly valued in soupling society. Some particularly zealous individuals work and share cultivation techniques in the farms and gardens of nearby settlements, or even apprentice in the kitchens and restaurants of big cities in their pursuit of knowledge.

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### Soupling Traits
Your soupling character has some traits that are shared with all other souplings, regardless of birth-cauldron.

**Ability Score Increase.** Thanks to your prehensile toes and tail, your Dexterity score increases by 1. Your cultural emphasis on literacy increases your Intelligence score by 1.

**Age.** Soupling lifespan from birth to natural death is around 25 years. "Infancy," in a non-traditional sense, is their first 3 years of life, and most souplings hit "retirement age" around 20 years old.

**Alignment.** Souplings are most often lawful, owing to their highly structured society with strict ideas of propriety and taboo. They commonly behave in good or neutral manners towards others around them -- natural balance and scientific inquiry sometimes take priority over the individual.

**Size.** Most souplings are between 3 and 4 feet tall, and weigh 30-45 lbs, but owing to variation in their individual recipe, some outliers occur on either side. Normally your size is Small.

**Speed.** Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

**Darkvision.** Coming from the thick forests and jungles of the realm, your species is accustomed to the darkness. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

**Natural Curiosity.** Your keen senses and cultural inclination toward scientific inquiry have given you proficiency in the Investigation skill.

**Culinary Arts.** You have proficiency with artisan's tools (cook's utensils). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour to construct a Nourishing Meal for up to 4 adventurers, which can be consumed immediately after production and gives the diner the same effects as a Short Rest. Additionally, eating it provides 3 temporary hit points per level of the soupling cook, up to a maximum of 10 temporary hit points at level 4.

**Languages.** Stewing in the collective knowledge of your ancestors imbues you with the ability to speak, read, and write both Common and Goblin from birth. Refer to the Bonus Soupling Language table to randomly roll a d8 to acquire an additional language, based on your Stock.

**Subspecies.** Depending on where your village is located and the availability of local resources, you may find a bit of difference between your group and others. These are broken up into three subspecies, referred to as Stocks: Veg Stock, Fruit Stock, and the rarer Item Stock. Choose one of these subspecies, or work with your GM to invent your own if you find them lacking in flavor.

#### Veg Stock
Most likely located near forests, mountains, or Outsider settlements where roots and tubers are everyday fare, your village has found it convenient to gather mainly vegetables and roots for your central cauldron. You're inclined to be hardier and more suited to colder climes than your Fruit Stock cousins. Veg Stock souplings have spread the farthest and are thus the most common variety.

**Ability Score Increase.** Familiar with the process of searching and digging for your food, your Strength score increases by 1.

**Tuber Toughness.** Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

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#### Fruit Stock
Common to the thick jungles and tropics of the realm, your village's central cauldron has long been stewing with the abundance of the land: berries, melons, and fruits of all kinds form the majority of your heritage. Your people are better suited to hot and humid environments than your Veg Stock cousins, and the sheer variety of food available to your group means it is important to learn about each plant you use.

**Ability Score Increase.** Thanks to climbing around in the jungles of your youth, your Dexterity score increases by 1.

**Natural Abundance.** You gain proficiency in the Nature and Survival skills.

#### Item Stock
These souplings arise in urban settings, castles, dungeons, or other circumstances rarer than your Veg or Fruit Stock cousins. Your village has found it more convenient, or possibly more appealing, to mainly use non-food objects in your central cauldron. There are plenty of indigestible odds, ends, and trinkets in your lineage: a rock here, a boot there, maybe even the occasional taboo bone. Perhaps your ancestors fell on hard times, or maybe they are acting in pursuit of a greater scientific discovery.

**Ability Score Increase.** The inorganic material that makes you unique increases your Constitution score by 1.

**Indigestible Heritage.** You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

##### Bonus Soupling Languages

| d8 | Veg Stock | Fruit Stock | Item Stock |
|:---:|:----:|:---:|:---:|
|  1  | Dwarvish | Elvish | Draconic |
|  2  | Orc | Sylvan | Undercommon |
|  3  | Elvish | Celestial | Halfling |
|  4  | Giant | Gnomish | Orc |
|  5  | Halfling | Primordial | Gnomish |
|  6  | Gnomish | Halfling | Giant |
|  7  | Sylvan | Giant | Dwarvish |
|  8  | Undercommon | Orc | Elvish |
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