Basic Fantasy’s goblin is not Banestorm’s taxpaying citizen and not quite the DF3 racial template. It is dungeon chaff that becomes a problem in a hole. Convert the book in front of you.
Source: Basic Fantasy RPG r139, p. 104.
The box: AC 14 in leather and shield (11 natural), HD 1−1, one weapon for 1d6, Move 20'/30' unarmored, Darkvision 30', Morale 7. They stand 3 to 3½ feet and weigh 40–45 pounds. One in eight is a 3−3 warrior, one in fifteen in a settlement is a 5−5 chieftain in mail, a lair of 30+ gets a 7−7 king, and 1-in-6 (2-in-6 with a king) is a shaman with Cleric spells at 1d4+1. Dire wolf riders exist. Morale ticks up with a warrior or the king.
Those hyphenated Hit Dice are hit-point modifiers, not a second stat. Monsters roll d8s; 3+2 is 3d8+2, so 5−5 is 5d8−5. Attack bonus, saves, and XP still use the whole number of dice, except 1−1 counts as “less than 1 HD” on the XP table. That is why fodder is 10 XP and the king is 670.
The one decision that matters
Official GURPS goblins are almost always SM −1. BFRPG wrote a smaller animal. Three feet and forty-five pounds is SM −2.
Keep it. Reach C on most one-handed weapons, a short stride that still looks quick, and ST 8 that is dense rather than frail. If you would rather line up with DF3, stand them up to about four and a half feet, ST 9–10, SM −1, and stop calling it a BFRPG conversion.
Darkvision 30' is not GURPS Dark Vision. Thirty feet is a hallway. Night Vision 5 is the honest translation.
Natural AC 11 is unarmored human. No hide DR.
Morale 7 is Cowardice (12). Leaders buy it off or take Fearlessness. The +1 / +2 morale rules then fall out of the sheet.
Package and patrol
Goblin [−15]
ST −2 [−20]; DX +1 [20]; IQ −1 [−20]; HT +1 [10].
SM −2; HP +1 [2]; Per +1 [5].
Night Vision 5 [5]; Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+3) [10]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Silence 1 [5].
Ugly [−8]; Cowardice (12) [−10]; Social Stigma (Monster) [−15].
Fodder: ST 8 DX 11 IQ 9 HT 11; HP 9 Will 9 Per 11 FP 11; Speed 5.50; Move 4 in kit, 5 stripped; Dodge 8, Parry 8, Block 8. Leather (DR 1), light shield (DB 1), cheap shortsword or spear, slings in the back rank. Shortsword or Spear-12, Shield-11, Sling-12, Stealth-12, Brawling-12.
Damage is 1d−3 cut / 1d−2 imp. They do not win duels. They win numbers, darkness, and the gallery over your shoulder.
Do not import the d8s
Rolled BFRPG hit points are not GURPS HP. Fodder at 1d8−1 feels like GURPS fodder — one honest hit ends them — but a 7−7 king’s 7d8−7 is ogre meat in a child-sized frame. GURPS HP is mostly mass. BFRPG HP is also boss budget.
Leave ST on the body. Buy the ladder as skill, armor, and a little Extra HP:
| Role | ST | HP | Kit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fodder | 8 | 9 | leather, small shield, weapon-12 |
| Warrior (1 in 8) | 9 | 11 | same kit, weapon-13, Cowardice bought down or Fearlessness 1 |
| Chieftain (1 in 15) | 10 | 14 | mail, weapon-14, Tactics-12, no Cowardice |
| King (lair of 30+) | 11 | 16–18 | mail, weapon-15, Combat Reflexes, Fearlessness 2 |
| Shaman | 8 | 9 | fodder body, IQ 11, PI 1 or 2, boring, useful clerical spells |
A lone goblin is a nuisance. Eight with slings and Night Vision 5 is a problem. The king in a doorway with two warriors is the actual fight. When the king drops, Cowardice does the rest.
Dire wolf: Basic Set wolf, a little Extra HP, same Night Vision so the pair can hunt at 3 a.m.
The other goblins
Banestorm p. 192 is 19 points, IQ +1, Night Vision 9, Impulsiveness. He pays taxes. DF3 is the PC-viable cousin: SM −1, Rapid Healing, goblin-kin stigma. Use those when someone wants to play a goblin. Use this one when you want the Basic Fantasy encounter table to survive contact with 4e.
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