Welcome to Goblin TownWelcome to Goblin Town is a bi-weekly livestreamed web series featuring the art and storytelling expertise of Daryl Basarte, alongside courageous players (and real life archaeologists) Michael Zimmerman, Bryandra Owen, Lisa Cipolla, Anna Coon, and Jacob Coffey. The campaign is set within a homebrew universe featuring goblins, creatures, and strong archaeological themes.
The story of Goblin Town originally had its debut as a one-shot campaign, titled Murder of the Goblin Guild Leaders, during the 2020 ArchaeoGaming Conference. With support and encouragement from other members of the ArchaeoGaming Collective, the campaign was converted to a long running web series with the goal of promoting outreach and discussion of real archaeology in a fun and entertaining way. So come join us, as we stumble upon ancient sites and cursed remains scattered across the land of Klaarg. Can we put a stop to the looting of artifacts before it's too late? Find out, every other Saturday at 4:00 PM PST on Twitch! |
Note from Harusakiemon
The original spark that ignited Goblin Town was the thought: "There has to be something more to goblins."
Goblins are a nearly ubiquitous presence in fantasy worlds beyond just Dungeons and Dragons. Yet while there are nearly endless explorations of elven cities, dwarven mines, and ogre castles, there is almost nothing on what goblins do. Goblins live in tents and caves just outside of town and are quickly wiped out as players move from Level 1 to Level 2. So, I took some of the scant bits of goblin lore from the game books of Dungeons and Dragons (I haven’t really read any of the novels) and started to piece them together, and Goblin Town was born.
Working on "Welcome to Goblin Town," I have come to realize one of the most important shortcomings in Dungeons and Dragons. Game lore provides narrative tools that serve two functions. First, they provide a context for the players' actions. "This elven village is under attack by raiders who ride wolves." That leads to the second function: to guide the players toward their goals. Goblins in D&D are well-known for taming and using wolves, so a typical campaign might make that association and guide players towards a hostile group of goblins as the culprits. However, the real world doesn't work that way. Taming wolves is a cultural artifact not a biological one. Wolf raiders might wear necklaces with wolf teeth, have wolf icons, or perhaps just smell like wet fur. That sort of material culture is in sharp contrast to how D&D historically often structures narrative elements along racial lines rather than cultural ones.
And that is my goal for this campaign: to develop a fictional culture that functions more similarly to the real world. Festivals, folklore, funerary practices, food, and more are how we make identities. Archaeology, anthropology, and art history have helped immensely in building this fictional world. Because of that, the goblins you will meet here have come to reflect the human experience in what I hope is a fun and entertaining way.
Welcome to Goblin Town.
Goblins are a nearly ubiquitous presence in fantasy worlds beyond just Dungeons and Dragons. Yet while there are nearly endless explorations of elven cities, dwarven mines, and ogre castles, there is almost nothing on what goblins do. Goblins live in tents and caves just outside of town and are quickly wiped out as players move from Level 1 to Level 2. So, I took some of the scant bits of goblin lore from the game books of Dungeons and Dragons (I haven’t really read any of the novels) and started to piece them together, and Goblin Town was born.
Working on "Welcome to Goblin Town," I have come to realize one of the most important shortcomings in Dungeons and Dragons. Game lore provides narrative tools that serve two functions. First, they provide a context for the players' actions. "This elven village is under attack by raiders who ride wolves." That leads to the second function: to guide the players toward their goals. Goblins in D&D are well-known for taming and using wolves, so a typical campaign might make that association and guide players towards a hostile group of goblins as the culprits. However, the real world doesn't work that way. Taming wolves is a cultural artifact not a biological one. Wolf raiders might wear necklaces with wolf teeth, have wolf icons, or perhaps just smell like wet fur. That sort of material culture is in sharp contrast to how D&D historically often structures narrative elements along racial lines rather than cultural ones.
And that is my goal for this campaign: to develop a fictional culture that functions more similarly to the real world. Festivals, folklore, funerary practices, food, and more are how we make identities. Archaeology, anthropology, and art history have helped immensely in building this fictional world. Because of that, the goblins you will meet here have come to reflect the human experience in what I hope is a fun and entertaining way.
Welcome to Goblin Town.
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The Dungeon MasterHarusakiemon
Daryl Basarte of Harusakiemon leads, writes, and draws for the Welcome to Goblin Town D&D Campaign. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art. He has also spent a few years in Japan, Korea, and China. His art and interests include the paranormal, folklore, archaeology, paleontology, monsters, comics and cartoons. He is particularly interested in how pop culture can be used to promote diversity and explore neglected narratives.
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The Music SponsorNekrogoblikon
Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 2006, by Tim Lyakhovetskiy and Nicky Calonne. The band has released four full-length albums, Goblin Island, Stench, Heavy Meta, and Welcome to Bonkers, with one EP called Power. The band's music centers around goblins.
Nekrogoblikon has kindly lent us their musical support, and we love them for it! Our opening melody is from: Goblins. |