Dryads as a PC/NPC Race

I've always been a big fan of dryads, probably because one of my first exposures to epic fantasy was the Belgariad by David Eddings, and a dryad figures into that series as a major character.  Official dryads in Pathfinder have certain limitations that prevent them  from being a usable character race, most notably the fact that they are essentially 'tethered' to their tree and straying too far from it is eventually fatal.  Dryads are mysterious and insular by nature, but the dryads presented below are somewhat more worldly than their Pathfinder-canon counterparts.  Due to their fey nature, they have certain special racial traits and abilities, but I've tried to balance those out with disadvantages that I believe make sense.

Racial Traits

• +2 Charisma, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength: Dryads are wise, beautiful, and subtle, and tend to prefer magic over brute strength.
• Medium: Dryads are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Normal Speed: Dryads have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Fey Immunities: Dryads are immune to charm effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against other enchantment spells and effects.
• Fey Magic: Dryads get a +2 racial bonus to their caster level for enchantment spells.
• Aversion to Metal: Dryads get a -4 penalty to skills, attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks when touching metal or carrying metal anywhere on their person.  However, metal weapons have no special bonuses against dryads.
• Treebound: A dryad's life force is bound to the tree of her choosing.  She may undergo a 24-hour ritual to bind herself to a different tree.  If a dryad's tree is cut down or otherwise killed, she becomes sickened and takes 1d6 points of Constitution damage per day until she is bound to a new tree.
• Forestbound: Dryads become sickened if they are ever more than 1200 yards from the nearest tree.  In addition, after every hour spent in a polluted, blighted, or densely populated area (anything larger than a small city), dryads must make a DC 15 fortitude save or become nauseated for the next hour.
• Natural Armor: Dryads receive a +3 racial bonus to their natural armor.
• Tree Meld: A dryad can meld with any tree, similar to how the spell meld into stone functions. She can remain melded with a tree as long as she wishes.  Dryads must Tree Meld in order to rest.  Tree Meld is a supernatural ability.
• Weapon Familiarity: Dryads are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), quarterstaves, and shortbows (including composite shortbows).
• Wild Empathy: This works like the druid's wild empathy class feature, except the dryad has a +2 racial bonus on the check, and an additional +1 for every 4 class levels. Dryads with druid levels add this racial modifier to their wild empathy checks.
• Woodcraft: Dryads receive a +2 bonus to all craft checks involving wood, and an additional +1 for every 4 class levels.
• Languages: Dryads begin play speaking Common and Sylvan. Dryads with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc.

Appearance

Dryads are always female, and their skin and hair take on the color of the bark and leaves (respectively) of their bound trees.  Apart from this, Dryads appear similar to half-elves in most other respects. 

Aging and Lifespan

Dryads accrue normal bonuses and penalties for aging, do not appear to age beyond adulthood.  Dryads have the same lifespan as elves.

Alignment

Dryads are typically Neutral, although with slight Chaotic Good leanings.

Society

Dryads typically gather in small communities of five to thirty, called groves.  The eldest dryads in a grove typically form an elder council, and one member of the council is chosen to be the Grove Mother, who is considered to be the leader of the community.  Dryads have a loose social structure, and the Grove Mother often acts more as a first-among-equals than a ruler.

Relations

Dryads are insular and naturally suspicious of outsiders, but their tendency toward good makes it difficult for them to completely ignore people in need, and they are often willing to allow outsiders to prove themselves in order to earn their trust.  Dryads refer to humans, dwarves, and gnomes as "metal folk" due to their unusual habit of covering themselves with metal.  However, their physical aversion to metal does not translate to an aversion to races that use metal; instead, dryads view metal users with curiosity and bemusement.

Magic

Dryads have a strong preference for charm magic and any magic involving nature or plants.  They tend to shy away from fire, and are strongly averse to necromancy.  Dryad necromancers are exceedingly rare, and are considered traitors to their race.  Neutral dryad clerics (and other classes with spontaneous cure magic and channel energy) will almost always choose positive energy due to the association of negative energy with necromancy.

Ecology

Dryads are able to reproduce with any humanoid or fey race (including other dryads), and people of either gender.  The resulting offspring are always full dryads, although they may take on some minor characteristics of the non-dryad parent.  (Notably, dryads that have not come into contact with humans tend to be more elven in appearance.)

Adventurers

Dryad adventurers are somewhat unusual, but they do exist.  Dryads generally take to adventure out of a sense of wanderlust, although some do so because they are driven from their home forest for whatever reason (due to logging, etc).  Dryads adventurers tend to take levels in Cleric, Druid, Oracle, Sorcerer, and Witch.

Lendrick's Musings on Alignment

This post is adapted from a comment I posted on Reddit, in response to a discussion on whether or not alignment is actually useful.  It includes a few reasons that alignment can be helpful in a game like Pathfinder, and (more importantly) a summary of how I rule on alignment, which allows for a more complicated Grey and Grey (warning: tvtropes) morality system while still allowing people to use alignment to resolve spell effects and such.

Here is why alignment is useful:

• Certain classes, like Paladins, are somewhat more powerful than other classes. Forcing them to act a certain way or lose their powers is a good way to balance that out.
• Reigning in terrible roleplaying. Since D&D has nothing in the way of real world consequences, there's nothing stopping an (ostensibly) good D&D character from suddenly deciding to murder everyone in town for no reason at all. Alignment allows the DM to impose a consequence for that by docking experience, which is particularly relevant if the character is so powerful that no one in the game world is able to do anything about it.
• Determining spell outcomes in a somewhat predictable way.

Now, before someone else points it out, I'll happily admit outright that it's not, strictly speaking, necessary in any of these cases. In the case of the second example, it's entirely possible that a character has been evil all along and is just pretending to be good, but it's also quite possible that the player in question is just a terrible roleplayer who needs to be reigned in so they don't ruin the enjoyment of the game for the other players.
All that being said, for experienced roleplayers it can be pretty constricting, so here's how I prefer to handle alignment in my games:

• Alignment is malleable, and doesn't require a great ordeal to change. I don't see the point of docking experience points for people who are just playing their characters. If an alignment change is believable, I have no problem with it, even in the middle of a session (I don't think I would like people changing their alignment every session, but I've never had anyone try that).
• The good/evil axis is about willingness to take risks or make sacrifices for the good of people you don't know (good), versus willingness to harm innocents for your benefit (evil). Most people believe themselves to be "good people", but are in fact neutral. A neutral character may want to be the sort of person who puts themselves at risk to defend people they don't know, but can't bring themselves to do it most of the time. Taking risks and making sacrifices to help your loved ones is a neutral act -- it doesn't affect alignment one way or another. Even evil people can care about other people.
• The law/chaos is about adherence to a meaningful personal code or obedience to authority, or lack thereof. This code can often include obeying the law of the land, but it doesn't have to. To be meaningful, the code has to involve some sort of "sacrifice" on the part of the character. For instance, when a lawful character is faced with a difficult choice about whether to follow their code of honor (or a lawful order from a superior), they choose to do so, even if not doing so would be the easier path. A chaotic character, on the other hand, has no qualms about fighting dirty in order to achieve their goals and has a problem with authority in general (this of course doesn't preclude them from being good -- they're just more likely to stab the villain in the back rather than taking them on face-to-face). Neutrality on the law/chaos axis is again the path of least resistance. Neutral characters obey the law (or their personal code) most of the time and don't have a particular problem with the concept of authority in general, but will break the law to further their goals if the benefits outweigh the consequences.

Running alignment like this allows for more complexity in a story. Good people aren't all automatically on the same team; there are cases where both sides of a conflict can have good people, and sometimes those good people kill each other. The point being, it's possible to use alignment as a tool for resolving spell effects and such while still allowing for stories that are perhaps more tragic and complicated that the typical good-versus-evil teen fantasy fare. This also prevents the old "I'm good and goblins are all evil, so I'm morally obligated to kill every goblin I see" style of gaming, which drives me crazy.

Fun with Low Level Undead

One of the things that's always bothered me about lower level undead creatures is that by and large you need a relatively powerful necromancer to create them.  To create even the weakest undead, you need to be, at bare minimum, a level 5 cleric (or a level 7 wizard), which means that realistically, if your low level (1-2) group is on an adventure fighting off large numbers of undead, there's a boss waiting for them at the end of the adventure who's at least a little bit above their pay grade.

Now, a DM can get around this most of the time with a little bit of hand-waving.  Maybe the dead are coming to life because of "residual dark energies" or something of the sort that you might find in an ancient temple to an evil god.  Or maybe there's some sort of artifact that's flooding the area with negative energy.  This is all well and good, but these sorts of explanations have gotten more than a little bit cliche over the years, so rather than falling back on something like that, I'd like to make things a bit more interesting.

So, here's my idea:  Imagine a necromancer who's a little too ambitious for his own good.  If you think about it, this is likely a common trait among people who are willing to desecrate the dead to achieve their own ends -- many of them are probably megalomanic sociopaths.  So it's not that much of a stretch to assume that at least some of them might overestimate their own abilities and attempt things that maybe they're not quite up to in terms of skill -- like turning themselves into a lich...

Failed Lich (template)

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Type: The creature's type changes to undead.

Senses: A Failed Lich gains darkvision 60ft.

Armor Class: A failed lich has a +2 natural armor bonus or the base creature's natural armor bonus, whichever is better.

Hit Dice: Failed Liches lose any class levels, and their racial hit die changes to 1d8.  They receive an additional 2 racial hit dice.

Defensive Abilities: A Failed Lich resists 10 points of cold and electricity damage.

Melee Attack: A Failed Lich gains a touch attack, similar to that of a normal Lich.

Damage: A Failed Lich's touch attack does 1d6 + 1 damage per two hit dice in the form of negative energy.  The Failed Lich may use this ability to heal other undead, or use it on itself as a full-round action.

Special Attacks: A Failed Lich gains the two special attacks described below. Save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 their HD + their Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Horrid Shriek (Su): A failed lich can shriek as a standard action, and any non-deaf creatures of 5 HD or less must make a will save or become shaken for a number of rounds equal to the Failed Lich's hit dice. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same failed lich's shriek for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Weakening Touch (Su):  An living creature hit by the Failed Lich's touch attack must make a fortitude save or take 1d3 points of Strength damage.

Abilities: A failed lich is not completely mindless, retaining a glimmer of its former intelligence.  Its intelligence becomes 2, and it has no constitution score.  All other ability scores remain the same.

Skills: A failed lich has the normal number of skill points for its hit dice (generally 1 point per HD due to its low intelligence).  Failed lich's gain perception as a class skill.

Half Elf Failed Lich (CR 4)
XP 800
CE Medium Undead
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60ft; Perception +8
Defense
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+2 natural, +5 armor, +3 dex)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5
Resist electricty 10, Resist cold 10
Offense
Spd 30ft
Melee touch +3 (1d6+1)
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 16, Con --, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 15
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD +2
Feats Toughness, Weapon Focus (touch attack)
Special Abilities

Horrid Shriek (Su): A failed lich can shriek as a standard action, and any non-deaf creatures of 5 HD or less must make a DC 13 will save or become shaken for a number of rounds equal to the Failed Lich's hit dice. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same failed lich's shriek for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Weakening Touch (Su):  An living creature hit by the Failed Lich's touch attack must make a DC 13 fortitude save or take 1d3 points of Strength damage.

Living Constructs in Pathfinder

One thing I miss about version 3.5 of The System That Shall Not Be Named is the idea of a living construct.  My own campaign setting is a fantasy steampunk world that includes a race of living constructs called Sapients that were originally built by humans and intended as slaves.  At the time, I borrowed the stats of another living construct race from a well-known 3.5 campaign setting, but I'm currently trying to rebuild the race from scratch to fit better into my own campaign.  I'd like to post them here for comments.  Note that at the moment they aren't necessarily balanced for use by PCs, and I wouldn't recommend allowing players to choose Sapient as their race without careful balance considerations.

Sapient Racial Traits

• +2 to one ability score and -2 to another ability score, or +2 to two ability scores and -2 to two other ability scores: Sapients are often highly specialized for a particular function.
• Favored class: A sapient may choose any one favored class.
• Built-in weapon: Sapients may have one or two one-handed melee weapons built in.  These may be retracted when not in use.  Sapients are automatically familiar with their built-in weapons, even if they are not familiar with other weapons of the same type.
• Metal: Sapients are made of metal, which gives them a natural armor bonus of 2.
• Darkvision: Sapients can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Fast: Sapients have a base speed of 40 feet.
• Relentless: Sapients take no penalties from fatigue or exhaustion, and do not require sleep.  They are not affected by spells that cause magical sleep or fatigue (although unlike Elves, charm spells affect them normally).  Like other races that do not require sleep, Sapients must meditate to regain their spells.
• Magical: Sapients require magic to live, the same way most races need air.  Sapients suffocate (per suffocation rules) in ares where magic doesn't work (such as anti-magic zones).  They experience no ill effects from lack of air.
• Inorganic: Sapients do not eat, and cannot become sickened or nauseated.
• Environmental Adaptations: A Sapient takes no damage from hot or cold environments.  Instead, they function at a reduced capacity, with a -4 penalty to Strength and Constitution and a -10 feet penalty to base speed.  A sapient may be built specifically to withstand hot or cold temperatures, in which case one set of penalties is eliminated and the other set is doubled.
• Living Construct: Sapients are healed with repair spells instead of healing spells.  Sapients do not bleed any fluid, per se, but when reduced to less than zero hit points, they leak magical energy until stabilized.  This is, for all intents and purposes, the same as a bleed effect for other races, and so they are not immune to bleeding.  They may be stabilized with any repair damage spell.  Furthermore, Knowledge: Engineering replaces Heal for all healing skill checks made on a Sapient.
• Electricity Resistance: Sapients ignore 10 points of electricity damage.  A Sapient hit with an electrical attack must make a fortitude save at a DC of 5 plus the damage done or be slowed for 1d4 rounds.
• Corrosion Vulnerability: Sapients do not heal acid damage naturally, although it may be repaired with any repair skill or a Treat Deadly Wounds check with Knowledge: Engineering.

Note that Sapients have a speed bonus and certain immunities that might make them a bit stronger than other characters.  I'm not necessarily convinced that their additional weaknesses (to corrosion and anti-magic zones) make up for these benefits (although I don't think they would be enough to modify the CR of an NPC).  I'd be interested to hear what other people think about this.

Sapient Template 


Sapients are sometimes built in non-humanoid forms.  The Sapient template can be applied to any corporeal monster without class levels:

• Supernatural abilities: The creature loses all Supernatural and Spell-like abilities.
• Type: The base creature's type becomes Construct, and it loses any subtypes it had.  A sapient retains its constitution score and bonuses despite its type.
• Intelligent: Sapients are sentient.  A sapient's intelligence score is 8 or the base creature's, whichever is higher.
• Metal: Sapients are made of metal, which gives them a natural armor bonus of 2.  This bonus increases by 2 for ever size category beyond medium.
• Darkvision: Sapients can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Fast: Sapients have a base speed bonus of 10 feet over their base creature.
• Relentless: Sapients take no penalties from fatigue or exhaustion, and do not require sleep.  They are not affected by spells that cause magical sleep or fatigue (although unlike Elves, charm spells affect them normally).  Like other races that do not require sleep, Sapients must meditate to regain their spells.
• Magical: Sapients require magic to live, the same way most races need air.  Sapients suffocate (per suffocation rules) in ares where magic doesn't work (such as anti-magic zones).  They experience no ill effects from lack of air.
• Inorganic: Sapients do not eat, and cannot become sickened or nauseated.
• Environmental Adaptations: A Sapient takes no damage from hot or cold environments.  Instead, they function at a reduced capacity, with a -4 penalty to Strength and Constitution and a -10 feet penalty to base speed.  A sapient may be built specifically to withstand hot or cold temperatures, in which case one set of penalties is eliminated and the other set is doubled.
• Living Construct: Sapients are healed with repair spells instead of healing spells.  Sapients do not bleed any fluid, per se, but when reduced to less than zero hit points, they leak magical energy until stabilized.  This is, for all intents and purposes, the same as a bleed effect for other races, and so they are not immune to bleeding.  They may be stabilized with any repair damage spell.  Furthermore, Knowledge: Engineering replaces Heal for all healing skill checks made on a Sapient.
• Electricity Resistance: Sapients ignore 10 points of electricity damage.  A Sapient hit with an electrical attack must make a fortitude save at a DC of 5 plus the damage done or be slowed for 1d4 rounds.
  
• Corrosion Vulnerability: Sapients do not heal acid damage naturally, although it may be repaired with any repair skill or a Treat Deadly Wounds check with Knowledge: Engineering.

This template has not been heavily playtested, but at the moment I would estimate its CR to be the half of the base creature's hit dice, rounded up.  I will update this as the template is tested in play.

More Interesting Goblins

Goblins are annoying little bastards, to be sure, but the treatment they receive in the Pathfinder Bestiary is minimal.  If you need goblin stats for a quick adventure, most likely you'll be using the standard level 1 warrior goblin in the book, which makes for pretty bland goblin lairs.  This is okay for first level characters, but if your group is higher than that, you might want to make things a bit more interesting.  As such, I'm sharing with you a number of goblin stat blocks that I'm creating for my own game.

Goblin Grunt (CR 1/2)
XP 200
Goblin warrior 2
NE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -1
Defense
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +2 dex, +1 shield, +1 size)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will -1
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +2 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged short bow +4 (1d4/x3)
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Ride +10, Stealth +11, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, light wooden shield, short sword, short bow with 20 arrows, other treasure)

A Goblin Grunt is a goblin who's survived a fight or two.  While not particularly strong, he's a bit tougher and more seasoned than most of his compatriots.

Goblin Warrior (CR 1)
XP 400
Goblin warrior 3
NE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception 0
Defense
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 armor, +2 dex, +1 shield, +1 size)
hp 19 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +0
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee long sword +4 (1d6/19-20), or long sword +3 (1d6+2/19-20) with Power Attack
Ranged long bow +6 (1d6/x3)
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack
Skills Ride +10, Stealth +12, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (studded leather armor, light wooden shield, long sword, long bow with 20 arrows, other treasure)

The Goblin Warrior has been around the block a few times.  He knows which when to fight and when to hang back, and he's managed to scrounge up slightly better equipment.  A goblin warrior is particularly dangerous because of how easy he is to underestimate; more than one adventurer has fallen under his blade after assuming he would be a push-over.

Feral Goblin (CR 1/2)
XP 200
Goblin barbarian 1
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -2
Defense
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +1 dex, +1 size)
hp 7 (1d12+1)
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will -2
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee greatclub +3 (1d8+2/19-20); or greatclub +2 (1d8+4/19-20) with Power Attack
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 6, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 11
Feats Power Attack
Skills Intimidate +4, Ride +8, Stealth +4, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, greatclub, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Rage (Ex) A feral goblin can rage (per the barbarian class ability) for five rounds per day.  This increases his hit points to 9, and adds +2 to his attack and damage rolls.  His will save increases to +0, and his AC decreases to 12.  See the Barbarian class description for more details on this ability.

Feral Goblins lack even the rudimentary sense of self preservation that other goblins have, but make up for it with sheer insanity.  A feral goblin will fly into a rage at the first hint of a fight, and has a surprising capacity to dish out damage.  Feral goblins carry large, spiked clubs, and typically adorn themselves with furs, warpaint, scalps, teeth, and whatever other gruesome things they can get their hands on.

Savage Goblin (CR 1)
XP 400
Goblin barbarian 2
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -2
Defense
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +1 dex, +1 size)
hp 15 (2d12+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will -2
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee greatclub +4 (1d8+2/19-20); or greatclub +3 (1d8+4/19-20) with Power Attack
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 6, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 12
Feats Power Attack
Skills Intimidate +5, Ride +5, Stealth +5, Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, greatclub, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Rage (Ex) A feral goblin can rage (per the barbarian class ability) for five rounds per day.  This increases his hit points to 9, and adds +2 to his attack and damage rolls.  His will save increases to +0, and his AC decreases to 12.  See the Barbarian class description for more details on this ability.
Reckless Abandon (Ex) While raging, the barbarian can take a –1 penalty to AC to gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls. The AC penalty increases by –1 and the attack roll bonus increases by +1 at 4th level and every four levels thereafter.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) A savage goblin can to react to danger before his  senses would normally allow him to do so. he cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does he lose his Dex bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. He still loses his Dextterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A savage goblin with this ability can still lose his Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against him.

Savage goblins are pretty much like feral goblins, except tougher and crazier.

Goblin Cutpurse (CR 1/2)
XP 200
Goblin rogue 1
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -2
Defense
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)
hp 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will -2
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +0 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged short bow +2 (1d4/x3)
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 6, Cha 9
Base Atk +0; CMB -1; CMD 10
Feats Dodge
Skills Ride +10, Stealth +10, Swim +4, Acrobatics +6, Climb +4, Escape Artist +6, Bluff +4, Use Magic Device +2; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, short sword, short bow, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Sneak Attack A goblin cutpurse has Sneak Attack 1d6, per the Rogue class description.
Accuracy (Ex) A goblin cutpurse halves all range increment penalties when making ranged attacks with a bow or crossbow (per the Sniper archetype).

A goblin cutpurse has no compunctions about stealing, even from his own kind.  In battle, he shuns direct confrontation and instead prefers to strike from the shadows, using his natural stealth to ambush opponents from behind with his bow.   In general, he would rather avoid combat altogether and instead pilfer the belongings of his unsuspecting victims.

Goblin Thief (CR 2)
XP 600
Goblin rogue 3
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -2
Defense
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)
hp 16 (3d8+3)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will -1
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +2 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged short bow +4 (1d4/x3); or 2 shortbow +2 (1d4/x3) with Rapid Shot; note: +1 on attack and damage from 30 ft. or less with Point Blank Shot
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 6, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB 1; CMD 12
Feats Dodge, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
Skills Ride +12, Stealth +12, Swim +6, Acrobatics +8, Climb +6, Escape Artist +8, Bluff +6, Use Magic Device +4; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (leather armor, short sword, short bow, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Sneak Attack A goblin thief has Sneak Attack 2d6, per the Rogue class description.
Accuracy (Ex) A goblin thief halves all range increment penalties when making ranged attacks with a bow or crossbow (per the Sniper archetype).

A goblin thief has honed his short bow skills and is better at hiding than most other goblins.  Though he's a force to be reckoned with in combat, he still prefers to avoid fighting entirely and steal from people unnoticed.

Goblin Medicine Woman (CR 2)
XP 600
Goblin witch 3
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -1
Defense
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+1 dex, +1 size)
hp 13 (3d6+3)
Fort +1, Ref +1, Will+3
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee quarterstaff -1 (1d4-2/20)
Statistics Str 6, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 9, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB 0; CMD 11
Feats Combat Casting, Brew Potion
Skills +7 Ride, +5 Stealth, +2 Heal, +6 Use Magic Device; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
Treasure NPC gear (cure moderate wounds potion, quarterstaff, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Misfortune (Su) Per the Misfortune hex in the Witch class description (save DC 13).
Slumber (Su) Per the Slumber hex in the Witch cldiscussionass description (save DC 13).
Familiar (Ex) The goblin medicine woman's familiar is a toad, granting her +3 hit points.
Witch Spells (Su) A typical goblin medicine woman has prepared the following spells:
Cantrips: Daze, Resistance, Touch of Fatigue
Level 1: Ill Omen, Cure Light Wounds, Ray of Enfeeblement
Level 2: Hold Person, Miserable Pity

The goblin medicine woman is viewed with suspicion by other goblins, but is tolerated because she serves as a healer.  She prefers to remain hidden when danger is afoot, assisting her fellow goblins by putting hexes on their opponents.  She is not above hexing her own kind when they cross her.

Some interesting notes on the Medicine Woman, from a discussion on Reddit: Redditors skuppy and Pleinair suggest giving the Medicine Woman the Cackle hex instead Slumber, and putting her in a large chamber where the cackle echoes to the point where it's difficult to pinpoint her position without a DC 20 to 25 perception check.  This would extend the Misfortune hex indefinitely (or at least until they find her).  Just remember when playing this NPC that she's more than smart enough to know that she can't stand up in direct combat with the PCs, so she'll probably give herself an escape route if she's discovered.