Greetings @all,

I was inspired by a lot of anime and Manga lately that gave me a very interesting Idea for the game, that (I guess) will also fit with the "no fairy / elf / fantasy" Theme of the game.

You may call those "creatures" Goblins or what ever else, but basically they are (where) a human race just like any other. Due to some evil Scientists, Alchemists and other Dark Arts ("Magic") (Or more natural Causes: Radiation, In-Breeding, Darkness,..) there came to be a certain creature with distinct features that differ from the human races. That Tribe, over the cause of many unspeakable experiments and years of living in caves and Dungeons, came to posses abilities that the human races don't have.

• Better sight in near darkness (Due to the caves)
• Better hearing (Longer / Bigger Ears due to experiments and in-breeding)
• Different Skin colour (Green? Due to substances in the food (Chlorophyll from glowing moss/potatoes))

After years of unthinkable torture and greed from Scientists, Alchemists and a like, in an effort to create "minions that can fight in the dark" to sell them to a King for war, those tribes retaliated and broke loose from their captors. Seeking shelter in an environment that they can live in, they migrated into caves, ate what ever they could find and established their very own way of life and a unique culture. They sometimes hunted game, or foolish Humans who wandered into their territory. (Mostly due to their fear and hatred of past generations, rather than their meat)

Some however (after some generations) started to make contact with nearby villages to agree on mutual benefits, trading and such, as living in caves often gave the Tribe access to rare minerals and Gems that the humans where fond of but they them selves had no use for what so ever. Also trading herbs and mushrooms for food, tools and cloth.

There where those symbiotic establishments but there where also those from the church and power who where not satisfied with the not-human creatures or wanted to have more of the gems and minerals. Greed and Religion driving some to fight these Tribes, causing troubles and creating stories.

To Sum it all up in a game point-of-view:

• Creatures/Tribes that are fully NPC/AI
• They where once Humans (of what ever (small) Tribe)
• Disliked by some Religions as they are not "what the divine intended Humans to be/look like"
• Greed of the wealthy to get more gems and minerals (Either aid the Tribes to prosper more or remove them and let Humans build a mine)
• Nearby Villages have to make a decision to either help and coexist or to seek help to remove the pests.

• The Fate of these Tribes is open for many outcomes and stories to tell: Will they survive and forgive mankind for their crimes against them, will their hate evolve and turn into them reeking havoc upon their torturers, or will they be extinct at some point?

• Gives Players stories and opportunities. Quests, Decisions, ..

• Some players may even go solo/Party on them (if they somehow manage to find a tribe that has no combat power what so ever) and kills them all for their riches
• Some other players may befriend them and protect them from greed, benefiting from their protections as they then can sell the goods on markets for profit.

Such Tribes are within the realm of "possible" and "plausible". A different (human driven / forced) direction of evolution of the races. Still a "Human" race but even more "different" than the blue skinned giants, or the tiny yellow skinned big-eyes living in trees. These Tribes, if developed into a hunting race might even regularly raid settlements and have the abilities to forge and create means to defend against humans and be strong enough to be a real major thread to even big cities.

It gives an interesting opportunity and a real thread for the world other than wild beasts and animals. (Just like Sid Meier's Civilisations "Gandhi".. An AI gone rough) You may want to let that AI loose and see what happens :D

Creating these should also be simple enough as they are "human", they use the same Rig, animations and a similar AI. They use there original language (from the race they where modified from) and some may even gain the same skills as humans. So they just are a sub-set of human with only some different features and a very much punished AI that tries to survive even harder than the average Human does.

I hope I didn't make it too complicated there, it is just an Idea but I think it would create some very unique and interesting things for the gameplay and "Adventures".

If there is a similar Idea floating around somewhere.. sorry for posting it again, but I hope that this will be given some kind of thought, as "Goblins" shouldn't necessarily be seen as just "Monsters". They where humans too.. some very long time ago..