Religion

Goblinoid religion is based around worship of Deities (singular or group), Beast or the force of Nature.

Most Goblinoids are fairly fickle in their worship, and will prey to whichever religion they deem the greatest threat (either from environmental circumstances like a plague or storm, or from an organised religious following taking control of their social surroundings and demanding worship). Some goblinoids will always secretly worship their chosen god while paying lip service to any others as required, others (including many priests) are fanatical followers of their "one true god" and would not worship another god even under threat of death.

Dieties:
Bane (The Black Lord), Baphomet (The Guardian), Beshaba (Maid of Misfortune), Bhaal (Lord of Murder), The Elder Elemental God, Erythnul (The Slaughter), Gruumsh (He-who-Never-Sleeps), Jubilex (The Faceless Lord), Leira (Lady of the Mists), Lolth (The Spider Queen), Loviatar (Maiden of Pain), Malar (The Beastlord), Mask (Lord of Shadows), Myrkul (Lord of Bones), Set (The Serpent God), Shar (Mistress of the Night), Talona (Lady of Poison), Umberlee (The Bitch Queen), Vaprak (The Destoyer), Vecna (The Whispered One), Wee Jas (The Dead Witch), Yeenoghu (The Plague bringer).
The deities of the Goblinoids are worshipped out of fear (for the harm they control or bring into the world) and craving (for the power they can grant to the faithful). All deities are considered to be of lingering evil intent, and never benevolent or neutral in their outlook.

Pantheons:
The Lost Gods - Baphomet, The Elder Elemental God, Jubilex, Set
The Three - Beeshaba, Shar, Wee Jas (and Vecna)
The Fury - Bhaal, Erythnul, Loviatar, Malar, Umberlee
Death - Myrkul, Talona, Yeenoghu
Some dieties are worshipped as a small group of related entities that are percieved by some goblinoids to have a relationship, serve a common purpose, or oversee similar aspects. Even clerics may serve a pantheon rather then an individual diety. This does not mean that individual worship of pantheon members (and conflict between them) is uncommon. Many dieties do not belong to a pantheon, and many of the dieties that are in a pantheon have worshippers who believe they are not (or who dispute their 'correct place' within the pantheon).

Druidic Cults:
Ashbound, Children of Winter, Gatekeepers, Greensinger, Wardens of the Wood.
There are no deities of nature. Those characters that hold nature in reverence over any Deity or Beast are normally aligned to one of the druidic cults above. Nature is still perceived as a threatening force that brings disaster if left unappeased, not a happy loving force of universal kindness.

Beast Cults:
Ankheg, Basilisk, Behir, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Dire Animals (Ape, Wolf, Boar, Lion, Bear, Tiger), Displacer Beast, Harpy, Manticore, Otyugh, Rust Monster.
The worship of beasts is fairly uncommon, but still occurs in some of the more isolated tribes and clans. The beast is either worshiped out of fear, or otherwise the tribe has some sort of symbiotic relationship with the beast in question where the beasts are afforded the respect and privileges of the tribe.


Most tribes will not allow religious conflict to take place within the tribe (especially when other nearby tribes, races or monstrous predators are a serious threat) however it is not uncommon for a "religious overthrow" to occur within a tribe from time to time. It is also not unusual for a tribe to either forbid open worship or discussion of religion, or designate a 'preferred tribal religion'. In the later case other religions are either forbidden, or permitted on the basis that they serve a common purpose and keep their political influence to a minimum.

By far the most commonly worshiped of the deities are Gruumsh and Vecna, and these two religions often oppose each other - sometimes with conflict escalating to inter-tribal war. Most other religions will not openly oppose another, as this weakens both of them and allows the other nearby religions to gain dominance. Individuals within a religion are free to oppose other religions, and sometimes local worshipers of different religions will actively band together to serve a common purpose (often to overthrow a more powerful enemy). Conflict and power struggle within a religion can also occur, especially within some of the more chaotic religions, but such issues are normally resolved quickly in a very violent manner).

Source: Beast Cults are monsters from the Monster Manual. Druidic Cults are from the Eberron Setting. Dieties are from Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk and Conan campaign settings (but in many cases will not be identical to the gods/religions/priests as presented in those settings).