Dread Ones races

While the elves, gnomes and dwarves were the first to be exiled from the Faewilds and Faelands, they were not the last. One of the scariest group appears to be the beings that are commonly known as the Dread Ones. Legends and stories about the Dread Ones all converge into them being supernatural beings that were used by the feylords as their grunt soldiers, infiltrators or another form of sick entertainment they so enjoyed. Not a united race, the Dread Ones appeared in this reality about 1000 years ago and soon after began causing trouble for everyone. While they officially signed the Treaty of Centauri, they never truly engage in anything other than piracy, raids and random occupation of colonies before abandoning as soon as things get rough. They are not officially a Client State of any of the Tripartite factions, more of a general nuisance to everyone involved, but there seems to be not real check to their power and their constant desire to “get the shinies”.

The vast majority of their equipment appears to have been repurposed, recycled and reconstructed from any technology they can get their hands on and they apparently have no fear of death as swarms of smaller ships often raid larger ones in hope of acquiring “more shooties”. The Dread One “organization” (the term has to be used very loosely) is composed of hundreds of smaller to larger warlords who rule their group with fear, power and the promise of more plunder. The strongest race in the Dread Ones appear to be the Hobgoblins, the only one of the races which seem to be able to organize in any significant fashion. Small hobgoblin empires seem to pop up every few years, before they crumble under their weight and due to infighting amongst members. Hobgoblins look like hairless elves with far larger teeth and far more muscles. Far more numerous are the swarms of goblins. Goblins are able to organize in small groups, generally enough to man a ship, but regularly require hobgoblins to properly command them. Goblins have an unnatural obsession with explosives, which seems to keep some of their population in check, at least. Again, goblins look like hairless gnomes with enormous mouth full of extremely sharp teeth. Scariest of the most common races of the Dread Ones are the Trolls, gigantic mountain of muscles with an inversely proportional amount of brains. Trolls are simply too stupid to ever amount to anything without the help of either goblins or hobgoblins, but they are incredibly resilient, able to regrow lost limbs in a matter of minutes and with teeth and claws sharp enough to rip a fully armoured marine to shreds in seconds. To make matters worst, trolls can even “survive” in vacuum, as their body enters a state of hibernation until they once again breath something similar to oxygen (methane based atmospheres seemed to have the same effect on trolls, even though methane was poisonous to all other Dread Ones who were tested). There is also a large variety of other creatures that generally get combined together under the term “gremlins” by Terran scientists as they all share similitude but come in various shapes and forms. Those gremlins are apparently fully sentient but are kept as pets by the larger races and are often used as infiltrators and saboteurs by their masters, exchanging their work for scraps of food and technology.

Peace offering were advanced by the Terran Confederacy and Baal'Ken Hordes, attempting to open trade routes with some of the more influential Hobgoblin leaders, but sadly, nothing good really came of this, except maybe a short lived reduction in raids against trade ships for a few months. Bounties on hobgoblin captains and (properly) severed troll heads are common throughout both the Empire and Union.

## **Races:**

Trolls are much too powerful to be a player race. Rules for goblin and hobgoblin characters follow.

### *Goblins:*

#### Standard Racial Traits:

**Size and Type:** Goblins are small humanoids with the goblinoid subtype.

**Ability score modifier:** Goblins are incredibly fast and cunning, gaining a +2 to their Dexterity and Intelligence, but generally make rash decisions, giving them a -2 to Wisdom.

**Hit Points:** Goblins are not very resilient, starting with only 3 Racial HP.

**Mental slipperiness:** Goblins have a very alien brain that nobody really understands. Goblins are immune to all forms of telepathy except if used by another goblinoid and have a +2 to all Saves against mental effects.

**Senses:** All goblins have darkvision for up to 60ft.

**IT GOES BOOM!:** All goblins are proficient in grenades and gain a +2 to all check when using explosives.

### ***Hobgoblins:***

#### Standard Racial Traits:

**Size and Type:** Hobgoblins are medium humanoids with the goblinoid subtype.

**Ability score modifiers:** Hobgoblins are strong and tough, granting them a +2 to STR and CON, but generally have a very short fuse, giving them -2 to Wisdom.

**Hit points:** Hobgoblins are very tough and resilient, starting with 6 Racial HP.

**Authoritative:** Hobgoblins are great at motivating the rest of his troops, either by force or by reason. They gain a +2 to Diplomacy and Intimidate checks, and both those skills are always considered Class skills for an Hobgoblin.

**Eyes in the back of the head:** Hobgoblins are always ready for someone to backstab them, and gain a +4 to all Perception checks to detect an ambush.