Lore Conflicts & Canon Decisions
Lore Conflicts: Campaign vs. Official Modules
Generated: 2026-04-01
Sources checked: We Be Goblins! (1), We Be Goblins Too! (2), We Be Goblins Free! (3), We B4 Goblins! (4), We Be 5uper Goblins! (5)
Note: We Be Goblins Too! and We Be Goblins! were available as raw PDF-extracted .txt files only; all content is confirmed. we-be-goblins-1.md and we-be-goblins-too.md do not yet exist as processed markdown.
Rule: The Creative Director's campaign version is canon. Conflicts are noted for awareness only.
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[Beat 1] — Village start in whelping cage, do dares
Campaign version: The session opens in the whelping cage, followed by dares inside or around the village.
Official lore: Module 1 (We Be Goblins!) opens with the goblins already grown and recognised as adult Licktoad heroes, summoned to Chief Gutwad's Moot House for a mission briefing — they are not in the whelping cage. The whelping cage / coming-of-age context belongs to Module 4 (We B4 Goblins!), which is a prequel set before the heroes earn their names. In Module 4 the goblins ARE released from the whelping cage and then do badge challenges (Animal Fiendship, Squirmtongue, Happy Beat, Hurtful Words) inside the Licktoad village — but that module ends at the Paddlefoot Farm raid, not at a ship.
Impact: Sequence compression. The campaign collapses Module 4's whelping-cage opening with Module 1's dare sequence into a single beat. The dares described in Module 1 (Dance with Squealy Nord, Eat Bull Slugs, Hide or Get Clubbed, Rusty Earbiter) are different from Module 4's badge challenges. It is ambiguous which set of dares was actually played.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Whelping cage opening is established; which dare set was used is left to the CD's recollection.
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[Beat 2] — Sent to first ship in Brinestump — encounter spider, skill checks at river, fight crocodile
Campaign version: Journey to the first ship involves: a spider encounter, skill checks at a river crossing, then a crocodile fight.
Official lore (Module 1): The journey from the Licktoad village to the shipwreck is described as a roughly one-mile slog along a creek's southern bank. The only named encounter en route is the giant spider Lotslegs Eat Goblin Babies Many (CR 1 giant spider), who lurks along the creek ambushing goblins. There is no river crossing with skill checks called out as a formal encounter, and no crocodile anywhere in the module. The marsh does include stretches of deep water that must be skirted, but these are environmental flavour, not a named encounter.
Impact: The crocodile fight has no source in Module 1. Either it was a GM-improvised encounter, or it comes from a source not yet extracted. The river/skill-check sequence may reflect the creek navigation described in the module, reshaped by actual play.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Crocodile and river skill checks are canon additions to the journey.
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[Beat 3] — Beach, night camp, encounters
Campaign version: After the journey, there is a beach and a night camp with encounters.
Official lore (Module 1): The shipwreck (Kaijitsu Star) is described as lodged in a shallow pool of swamp water, close enough to the coast to hear waves but not on an open beach. The module does not include a separate beach camp or overnight rest as a structured beat — the goblins arrive at the wreck and proceed to explore it. There are no formal "night camp encounter" tables.
Impact: The beach camp is either original play content or terrain the GM ran as a resting point before boarding. No module conflict exists beyond the setting description (swamp versus open beach).
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Beach and night camp are established canon.
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[Beat 4] — Board ship — kill horse, talk to and kill Vorka
Campaign version: The goblins board the ship, kill a horse, talk to Vorka, and then kill her.
Official lore (Module 1): Closely matches, with these specifics:
- The horse is named **Stomp** — a filthy, dark gray stallion in a fenced pen surrounding the ship. Vorka keeps it as a pet/guardian. Killing the horse is expected and mechanically supported.
- Vorka is found asleep in her cabin (Area 6) when the PCs first arrive. She does NOT initiate conversation as a primary behaviour — she awakens progressively as the goblins cause disturbances (each encounter above decks adds a cumulative 25% chance of waking her). Once awake she prepares then attacks. She does make threatening/flavour dialogue during combat ("Those ears might taste fine stuffed with eyes"), so a "talk to Vorka" beat could reflect pre-combat taunting or a player attempting negotiation.
- Vorka fights to the death (morale: never retreats or surrenders).
Impact: Minor. The module does not frame Vorka as someone who has a conversation before dying — she is asleep, awakens, buffs, then attacks. If the campaign includes a dialogue beat, it is either GM-added or player-initiated. No structural conflict.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. "Talk to and kill Vorka" is canon.
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[Beat 5] — Return — meet an elf
Campaign version: After dealing with Vorka and the ship, the goblins return and meet an elf.
Official lore (Module 1): The return after the fireworks retrieval is handled briefly. The module ends with a celebratory feast back at Licktoad Village — Chief Gutwad rewards the PCs, one is offered marriage to his daughter Gupy Wartbits, and the tribe celebrates. There is no elf encounter on the return journey or at the village in any of the We Be Goblins modules.
Impact (RESOLVED): The elfNPC is Magical Maggie (Maggdelena Stackdeck) — a half-elf alchemist traveling merchant with a painted wagon stuck in the mud. She opened with a sales pitch, threw rocks when the goblins had no coin, then bombs. The party killed her and looted the wagon. Her looted map (large red X on Paddlefoot Farm) became the direct hook for the Paddlefoot Farm mission. Source confirmed: We B4 Goblins! (T1). Earlier lore versions incorrectly identified this encounter as Shalelu Andosana — that was an error. Shalelu's first confirmed fromin-campaign session notes. Sheappearance is the elvenLeer rangersession from(March Rise of the Runelords who monitors goblin activity near Sandpoint and acts as an unofficial ally to the town. Her appearance here is consistent with RotR, where she is established as a recurring NPC who tracks goblin movements along the Lost Coast. This ties the campaign into the RotR narrative framework: she recruited the goblins to deal with the Thistletop cult threat.2025).
Game decision: Follow campaign version. ShaleluMagical AndosanaMaggie is the half-elf NPC.NPC on the return from the Kaijitsu Star.
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[Beat 6] — Village celebration — pig (Squealy Nord) is gone
Campaign version: After returning, there is a village celebration and it is discovered that Squealy Nord the pig is missing.
Official lore:
- **Module 1** ends with a village celebration/feast. Squealy Nord in Module 1 is a hyperactive piglet who lives in a muddy pit at the Licktoad village — he is used for the "Dance with Squealy Nord" dare before the ship mission. He is not described as going missing at the end of Module 1.
- **Module 4 (We B4 Goblins!):** Squealy Nord first appears at the Paddlefoot Farm as a piglet in the animal pens who "may take a liking to one goblin" and follows the goblins home. This is Module 4's origin of Nord joining the tribe.
- **Module 2 (We Be Goblins Too!):** Squealy Nord is found captive at Pa Munchmeat's farm (the Munchmeat Farm, area 3 — "Squealy Nord's Prison"), imprisoned in a pig sty under an upturned boat alongside Princess Crackling and Piggy. Pa has been fattening him up for bacon. The goblins rescue him here.
- **Module 5 (We Be 5uper Goblins!):** Nord goes missing into the Baglands (a pocket dimension inside a magic bag). He is the central MacGuffin of the whole adventure.
Conflict: The campaign's "Squealy Nord is gone after the celebration" most closely echoes Module 5's framing (Nord disappears during a celebration), but in Module 5 that happens much later in the series (the goblins are 6th-level chieftains of the Birdcruncher tribe). In the campaign's sequence this is happening much earlier, after the first ship mission. The campaign appears to use "pig gone" as a hook to beat 7 (rescuing the pig from a farm), which mirrors Module 2's Squealy Nord at the Munchmeat Farm — but Module 2's pig-gone situation is never framed as discovery after a village celebration; the goblins arrive at the Birdcrunchers already homeless and are immediately told about the ogre problem.
Impact: Sequence and context diverge significantly from all modules. The campaign fuses multiple sources into an original flow.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Squealy Nord's absence after the celebration is canon.
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[Beat 7] — Go to farm elf mentioned — pig in cage — rescue Squealy Nord
Campaign version: TheMagical elfMaggie's fromlooted map (Beat 55) mentionspointed ato farm.Paddlefoot Farm. The goblins go there, find Squealy Nord in a cage, and rescue him.
Official lore (Module 2): Squealy Nord IS found captive on a farm — Pa Munchmeat's farm (the Munchmeat Farm). He is in a pig sty (area 3 — "Squealy Nord's Prison") under an upturned boat, chained, and being fattened for slaughter. The goblins rescue him as part of the broader mission to kill/drive off Pa Munchmeat. However:
- The farm in Module 2 is an **ogre druid's farm** (Pa Munchmeat), not a human or elf farm.
- The campaign's elf from Beat 5 is the one pointing them there — in Module 2, the direction comes from **Wise Mummy Sprattleharsh** (goblin adept), who gives the goblins a crude map.
- The farm visit in Module 2 also involves fighting Pa Munchmeat, his daughter Guffy, fire-breathing pigs (Piggy, Princess Crackling), a feral rottweiler, and an owlbear. The campaign version calls this out only as "pig freeing" — suggesting the full farm encounter may come later (Beat 16: Manschmied farm).
Impact: Farm location/ownership may differ. In the modules the farm where Nord is caged belongs to an ogre. The campaign version's farm may be distinct from Pa Munchmeat's (see Beat 16 for "Manschmied farm"). This could mean the campaign split the Module 2 farm into two separate locations, orThe the elf'sred-X farm on Magical Maggie's map is originalPaddlefoot contentFarm entirely.(halfling farm, confirmed canon).
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Elf'Magical Maggie's farmmap pointing to Paddlefoot Farm and the first Squealy Nord rescue are canon.
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[Beat 8] — Sent to second ship — encounters — find chest and hilt
Campaign version: A second ship mission involves encounters, then finding a chest and a sword hilt.
Official lore: There is only one ship mission in the We Be Goblins! modules — the Kaijitsu Star in Module 1. No module in the series describes a second ship expedition. The red chest containing fireworks is from Module 1's Vorka's Cabin (Area 6) — it is unlocked and contains fireworks. No sword hilt is mentioned in any module ship content.
Impact (PARTIALLY RESOLVED): The second ship and the chest + hilt are confirmed as original GM content from that specific adventure. The hilt contains a rolled paper with text written on it — contents unknown (no party member has read it yet, by choice). The hilt is almost certainly a significant plot item for future sessions. Module source unknown.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Second ship, chest, and hilt are canon.
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[Beat 9] — Follow skeleton/hero group trail
Campaign version: After the second ship, the goblins follow the trail of a skeleton or hero group.
Official lore: No module in the We Be Goblins! series involves following a skeleton or adventuring hero group's trail as a structured beat. The closest thematic element is that human adventurers destroyed the Licktoad tribe (mentioned in Module 2's intro and Module 5's backstory), but the goblins never follow their trail in any module.
Impact: This beat appears to be original content or sourced from an unextracted adventure (possibly a bridge encounter the GM created, or content from Rise of the Runelords).
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Skeleton/hero trail is canon.
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[Beat 10] — Arrive at burning village — heroes gone — kill skeletons
Campaign version: The goblins arrive at a burning village that the hero group has already left; they kill the remaining skeletons.
Official lore: No We Be Goblins! module contains this scene. This is consistent with Rise of the Runelords territory (skeletons, burning villages, adventuring heroes), but that AP is not among the extracted sources.
Impact: Likely original GM content or from Rise of the Runelords (unextracted). No module conflict can be precisely stated.
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 11] — North to Ashen Rise
Campaign version: The goblins travel north to a location called "Ashen Rise."
Official lore: "Ashen Rise" does not appear in any extracted module. It is not a named location in We Be Goblins!, We Be Goblins Too!, We Be Goblins Free!, We B4 Goblins!, or We Be 5uper Goblins!.
Impact: Either a GM-created location name, a real location from the Lost Coast/Varisia geography that doesn't appear in the extracted sources, or a name the players gave to a location.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. "Ashen Rise" is established as a canon location name.
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[Beat 12] — Pass Habe's Sanatorium (not entered)
Campaign version: The goblins pass Habe's Sanatorium but do not go inside.
Official lore: Habe's Sanatorium (Saintly Haven of Respite) is a real location in Rise of the Runelords (Pathfinder Adventure Path), located south of Sandpoint near the Lost Coast. It is run by Dr. Erin Habe and is relevant to the Skinsaw Murders chapter. It does not appear in any We Be Goblins! module.
Impact: The campaign is crossing into Rise of the Runelords geography. The goblins passing it without entering is a GM choice about scope — this is not a conflict with any goblin module (those modules don't reference this location at all), but it does confirm the campaign is using the broader Varisian Lost Coast setting.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Habe's Sanatorium is passed but not entered — this is canon.
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[Beat 13] — Find Shvub-Mah's ruin above Habe's
Campaign version: Above Habe's Sanatorium, the goblins find a ruin called "Shvub-Mah's ruin."
Official lore: "Shvub-Mah" does not appear in any extracted module. No ruin above Habe's Sanatorium is described in the We Be Goblins! series.
Impact: Likely a GM-created or player-named location. Could be a goblinized name for a real Varisian location.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Shvub-Mah's ruin is canon.
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[Beat 14] — South between mountains and Devil's Platter — meet Birdcrunchers at river
Campaign version: Travelling south between the mountains and Devil's Platter, the goblins meet Birdcruncher goblins at a river.
Official lore (Module 2): The Birdcrunchers are encountered when the Licktoad heroes arrive at their cave — described as being in the hills on the western edge of Devil's Platter. The encounter is at or near the Birdcruncher cave, not at a river. The goblins arrive and Wise Mummy Sprattleharsh greets them. There is no river rendezvous.
Module 3 (We Be Goblins Free!) places the Birdcruncher cave "less than a mile southeast of Sandpoint," with the Bestest Truffle Field about a mile northeast near Ravenroost foothills.
Impact: The meeting location (river vs. cave) differs from Module 2. The campaign likely reskins the "arrival at the Birdcrunchers" moment as a river encounter. No NPC conflict — Wise Mummy Sprattleharsh is still the probable greeter.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. River meeting is canon.
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[Beat 15] — Go to Birdcruncher territory — challenges and party
Campaign version: The goblins enter Birdcruncher territory and participate in challenges and a party.
Official lore (Module 2): Closely matches. The Birdcruncher Moot in Module 2 involves three dares to determine chieftainship: Blind Bird Shoot, Stirge Swamp Stomp, and Bird Pie. A feast/party is held both the night of arrival and after the moot. The module specifically frames this as a chieftain-selection process.
Conflict: Minor — the challenges in the module are specifically for becoming chieftain of the Birdcrunchers. The campaign version does not explicitly frame the goblins as becoming chieftains here, since they are already from the Licktoad tribe and the sequence is different. Depending on the CD's intent, the goblins may or may not become Birdcruncher chieftains at this point.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Challenges and party are canon.
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[Beat 16] — Sent to Manschmied farm — stealth, pig freeing, some already dead
Campaign version: The goblins are sent to a farm called "Manschmied farm" — they use stealth, free some pigs, and find some inhabitants already dead.
Official lore (Module 2): The farm mission targets Pa Munchmeat's farm (referred to as "Munchmeat Farm"). The name "Manschmied" does not appear in any extracted module. Pa Munchmeat's farm contains:
- Fire-breathing pigs (Piggy, Princess Crackling)
- Squealy Nord caged under an upturned boat
- Pa Munchmeat (ogre druid)
- Guffy (ogrekin daughter)
- A feral rottweiler
- An owlbear under the house
The module does not describe any inhabitants as "already dead" on arrival — the farm is fully occupied and active. Stealth IS a viable approach (the module notes the PCs have plenty of opportunity to sneak around).
Impact: Two possible conflicts: (1) The farm name "Manschmied" vs. "Munchmeat" — either a different farm entirely or a name change. (2) "Some already dead" is not in the module — this is original play content, possibly the result of in-game events.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. "Manschmied farm," stealth approach, and already-dead inhabitants are canon.
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[Beat 17] — Follow tracks — dead spider — mountain — cave with two pillars
Campaign version: Tracks lead to a dead spider, then a mountain, then a cave with two pillars.
Official lore (Module 5 — We Be 5uper Goblins!): Module 5's inciting incident involves the magic bag (the Baglands), not a cave with pillars. There is a cave complex inside the Baglands (Golbert Cave, areas E1–E3) but it is described as a "practice dungeon" with bat swarms, a pit trap, and a lair — not a two-pillar entrance. No dead spider or mountain appears in this context.
In none of the We Be Goblins! modules does a "dead spider + mountain + cave with two pillars" sequence appear as a structured encounter chain.
Impact: This beat appears to be original GM content or sourced from an unextracted adventure. The two pillars suggest a specific physical location that may have significance later (the transport device in Beat 18).
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 18] — Spider encounter inside — device transports party to astral plane
Campaign version: Inside the cave, there is a spider encounter, then a device transports the whole party to the astral plane.
Official lore (Module 5): Module 5 involves entry into a pocket demiplane (the Baglands — interior of a bag of holding), not the astral plane. The entry method is falling into the bag, not activation of a device. The Baglands has morphic/chaos-aligned planar traits and flows at roughly 1 week inside per day. Exiting involves golden shears to pierce the bag walls, which dumps the pocket dimension "into the Astral Plane" — but the adventure itself takes place inside the bag, not on the astral plane itself.
Conflicts:
1. Astral plane vs. Baglands demiplane: The campaign names the destination "the astral plane." The module sends the goblins into a bag of holding's interior demiplane (the Baglands). When the golden shears cut the bag, the read-aloud text describes the Astral Plane as visible beyond the newly-opened wall — but that is an exit destination, not where the adventure takes place.
2. Device vs. falling: The module's entry is accidental (goblins fall into the bag). The campaign has a device that actively transports the party.
3. Location: The module's entry point is in the Birdcruncher village after a drunken celebration; the campaign places it in a cave with two pillars.
Impact (RESOLVED): Confirmed original content — Module 5 was NOT played. The sequence is entirely GM-created:
1. Activate device in spider cave (2nd level of the cave/tower)
2. Enter the other plane → tower door → step onto clouds
3. Step off clouds → float weightlessly above the world
4. Wake up / arrive in Nettlewood jungle
5. Rrrahah Bäähh dreams during the transit
No Module 5 NPCs (Golbert, scavengers, King of Hammers, razorback dragon) exist in the campaign. Squealy Nord did NOT transform. This is a brief atmospheric transit corridor, not a full planar adventure.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. The astral sequence is original GM content.
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[Beat 19] — Astral plane — cloud tower — float through — Rrrahah Bäähh dreams
Campaign version: On the astral plane there is a cloud tower, the party floats through it, and a character named (or nicknamed) "Rrrahah Bäähh" has dreams.
Official lore (Module 5): The Baglands interior contains: a lake, forests, castle ruins (Golbert Castle), a crooked house (the Crooked House), a tower (Golbert Tower, 50 feet tall, formerly Boss Sparrow's roost), and a cave complex. The tower is not a cloud tower — it is a stone tower Golbert painted one story at a time, now inhabited by yeth hounds. There is no floating mechanic inside the Baglands other than constant feather fall (no damage from falls), and the Boss Sparrow encounter involves flying, not floating through a tower.
"Rrrahah Bäähh" does not appear in any extracted module. This appears to be a player character name or an in-game persona.
Impact: The cloud tower and floating mechanic diverge from Module 5's Golbert Tower. Either the campaign is using an original astral plane setting (not the Baglands at all), or the Golbert Tower was significantly reskinned for this play group. "Rrrahah Bäähh" is an original character name with no module counterpart.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Cloud tower, floating mechanic, and Rrrahah Bäähh are canon.
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[Beat 20] — Emerge into Nettlewood jungle
Campaign version: The party emerges from the planar excursion into somewhere called the "Nettlewood jungle."
Official lore (Module 5): Exiting the Baglands via golden shears opens into the Astral Plane (read-aloud: "a swirling, sparkling void... rivers and stones drift through the sky, alien creatures flap through the floating landscape"). The alternative exit (Squealy Nord as razorback dragon) carries the goblins up and out through the bag's mouth. Neither exit leads to a jungle. The Lost Coast near Sandpoint is not described as jungle terrain in any module.
"Nettlewood" is a real location in the Pathfinder campaign setting — it is the forest north of Thistletop, relevant to Rise of the Runelords (the goblin stronghold of Thistletop is accessible via Nettlewood). This location is not in any We Be Goblins! module but is directly relevant to Thistletop (Beats 21–30).
Impact: The campaign uses "Nettlewood jungle" as the emergence point, positioning the goblins near Thistletop for the second half. Geographically correct — Nettlewood is the forest directly north of Thistletop. The term "jungle" is a CD flourish: confirmed from RotR source, Nettlewood is dense coastal forest of tangled briars, thorns, and nettles (some patches 20 feet high), not a jungle. Our game can use the dense, overgrown briar-forest aesthetic while keeping the CD's "jungle" flavor description.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Nettlewood as the emergence point is canon.
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[Beat 21] — Thistletop first assault — sneak, kill some, retreat
Campaign version: First assault on Thistletop: the goblins sneak in, kill some enemies, and retreat.
Official lore: Thistletop appears in Rise of the Runelords (Burnt Offerings), not in any We Be Goblins! module. It is the goblin stronghold led by Chief Ripnugget of the Thistletop tribe, allied with Nualia. It is a two-part dungeon: a surface level (the Thistletop plateau accessed via rope bridge over sea cliffs) and an underground dungeon below. The extracted sources do not include Rise of the Runelords, so specific module conflicts cannot be confirmed, but the general structure is consistent with the known setting.
Impact: No extracted module covers Thistletop content. The campaign sequence from Beats 21–30 cannot be checked against source text. These beats are noted as requiring a Rise of the Runelords source extraction to fully verify.
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 22] — Second assault — free Birdcruncher prisoners, retreat
Campaign version: Second Thistletop assault: Birdcruncher goblin prisoners are freed, then another retreat.
Official lore: Thistletop in Rise of the Runelords does hold prisoners, but they are not specifically identified as Birdcruncher goblins in the published source (the Thistletop dungeon has a prisoner — Shadowmist the horse and possibly others — but not Birdcrunchers by name). No We Be Goblins! module contains Birdcruncher prisoners at Thistletop.
Impact: Birdcruncher prisoners at Thistletop appear to be original content or GM additions, giving the player-tribe a personal stake in the dungeon.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Birdcruncher prisoners are canon.
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[Beat 23] — Meet helpful NPC on return
Campaign version: On the way back from the second Thistletop assault, the goblins meet a helpful NPC.
Official lore: No extracted module places a helpful NPC on the road back from Thistletop in a goblin campaign context.
Impact: Original GM content or a reskinned module NPC. Identity unknown from available sources.
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 24] — Sea caves from south — kill weresealion — find treasure
Campaign version: Approaching Thistletop from the south via sea caves, the goblins kill a weresealion and find treasure.
Official lore (Rise of the Runelords — CONFIRMED): Thistletop's sea caves (C25–C27) are confirmed in the source. The guardian is a bunyip (CR 3 aquatic predator, area C27). The goblins above use the Howling Hole (C2) to drop prisoners into the bunyip's lair. No weresealion exists anywhere in the Thistletop source.
Impact (RESOLVED): Confirmed from session notes as "Wereseal" (not weresealion). Not a published Pathfinder creature. Pure GM homebrew. The canonical module creature is a bunyip — the campaign replaced it with an original wereseal.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Weresealion is canon.
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[Beat 25] — Cross to Thistletop island via bridge
Campaign version: The goblins cross to the Thistletop island via a bridge.
Official lore (Rise of the Runelords): This matches the published Thistletop geography exactly. Thistletop is an island connected to the Nettlewood cliffs by a rope bridge. Crossing the bridge is the standard approach in the module. No conflict.
Game decision: Campaign matches known source geography.
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[Beat 26] — Storm roof, enter interior
Campaign version: The goblins storm the roof of Thistletop and enter the interior.
Official lore: Thistletop has a surface level (the plateau/compound with Ripnugget's goblin tribe) and the dungeon below. The "roof" here likely refers to the surface compound. This is consistent with the published module's layout. No specific conflict, though the extracted sources don't include Rise of the Runelords for detailed comparison.
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 27] — Climbing encounter with human/orc figure
Campaign version: While climbing somewhere inside Thistletop, the goblins encounter a human or orc figure.
Official lore: Several human and half-orc NPCs appear in Thistletop in Rise of the Runelords (Nualia is a half-angel aasimar; Tsuto Kaijitsu is a half-elf; various human cultists and mercenaries are present). No specific climbing encounter with a human/orc is a named set piece in the extracted sources.
Impact: Cannot confirm against unextracted Rise of the Runelords source. May match a specific NPC encounter.
Game decision: Follow campaign version.
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[Beat 28] — Down via toilet shaft
Campaign version: The goblins descend into the dungeon level via a toilet shaft.
Official lore (Rise of the Runelords): Thistletop does have a privy/latrine that connects between levels — this is a known feature of the published dungeon and is consistent with player accounts of the module. This appears to match the source. No conflict.
Game decision: Campaign matches known source geography.
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[Beat 29] — Dungeon — NPC prisoner + bears in cages — free the NPC
Campaign version: In the dungeon, there is an NPC prisoner and bears in cages; the goblins free the prisoner.
Official lore (Rise of the Runelords — CONFIRMED): Full Thistletop dungeon now extracted. Caged creatures on the surface: rabbits (C17, food storage) and Shadowmist the warhorse (C18). In the dungeon: goblin nursery cages (D3, empty), prison cells (D8–D9). No bears anywhere in the dungeon or compound. The potential prisoner in D9 is Ameiko Kaijitsu — a half-elf innkeeper from Sandpoint, captured by her half-elf brother Tsuto and brought here. She would be unconscious, badly wounded, distraught about her brother's betrayal.
Impact: Bears are confirmed GM original content — not in the published dungeon. The freed NPC prisoner matches Ameiko Kaijitsu exactly: a person (not a monster) in the wrong place through someone else's choices (her brother). She owes the party for freeing her.
Game decision: Follow campaign version. Bears and freed NPC are canon.
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[Beat 30] — Temple of Lamashtu — final encounter
Campaign version: The final encounter takes place in a Temple of Lamashtu.
Official lore (Rise of the Runelords): Thistletop's dungeon does contain a shrine/temple to Lamashtu — the demon goddess of monsters and goblins. This is consistent with published material. Nualia, the main antagonist of Burnt Offerings, is a devotee of Lamashtu. The final confrontation in the Thistletop dungeon (in the published module) involves Nualia herself in or near Lamashtu's shrine. This is one of the more accurate matches between the campaign sequence and a known source.
Impact: No conflict — this is consistent with Rise of the Runelords.
Game decision: Campaign matches known source.
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Summary: Unmatched Content (No Known Module Source)
The following campaign elements do not appear in any of the five extracted We Be Goblins! modules and cannot be sourced:
1. Beat 5 — The half-elf NPC: RESOLVED — ShaleluMagical AndosanaMaggie (Maggdelena Stackdeck), thehalf-elf elvenalchemist rangertraveling frommerchant. RiseKilled of the Runelords who monitors goblin activity near Sandpoint. Her involvement ties the campaign to the RotR narrative (she directedby the party towardon the Thistletopreturn cultfrom threat)the Kaijitsu Star. Her looted map (red X on Paddlefoot Farm) was the hook for the Paddlefoot Farm mission. Source: We B4 Goblins! (T1). Earlier versions incorrectly named Shalelu Andosana — corrected.
2. Beat 8 — The second ship: No second ship mission exists in any extracted module. Could be a GM-created expedition or may connect to the Jade Regent Adventure Path hooks embedded in Module 1 (the ivory fan with a Brinestump map).
3. Beat 8 — The sword hilt: Not found in any extracted module. May be a custom plot item or from the Jade Regent AP.
4. Beats 9–10 — Skeleton/hero trail and burning village: Skeleton enemies and pursuing a hero group's trail is consistent with Rise of the Runelords themes but not present in the We Be Goblins! series.
5. Beats 11–13 — Ashen Rise, Shvub-Mah's ruin: These location names appear nowhere in the extracted modules. Either GM-created or local names the players assigned.
6. Beat 16 — "Manschmied farm": The name "Manschmied" does not appear in any module. May be a renaming of Pa Munchmeat's farm, or a separate original location.
7. Beats 17–19 — Cave with two pillars, transport device, astral plane, cloud tower, Rrrahah Bäähh: None of these elements match Module 5's Baglands exactly, though there is thematic overlap. Either a heavily reskinned version of Module 5 or fully original content.
8. Beat 22 — Birdcruncher prisoners at Thistletop: Not described in the We Be Goblins! modules (Thistletop not covered) and not a standard feature of the published Rise of the Runelords encounter as documented in available lore.
9. Beat 23 — Helpful NPC on return from Thistletop: No source identified.
10. Beat 24 — Weresealion: Not a creature in any extracted source. Original GM content or from an unextracted supplement.
11. Beat 29 — Bears in cages: CONFIRMED original GM content. No bears exist anywhere in published Thistletop (caged creatures are rabbits, a horse, and empty nursery cages). Bears are a GM addition.
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Notes on Module Coverage Gaps
- **Rise of the Runelords (Burnt Offerings)** is the source for Thistletop (Beats 21–30) but has not been extracted. Many Beat 21–30 conflicts cannot be fully assessed without it.
- **We Be Goblins Too! and We Be Goblins!** were available only as raw PDF-extracted .txt files with significant formatting noise. All content was confirmed through careful reading but processed .md versions do not yet exist.
- **We Be Goblins! (Module 1)** is confirmed: ship = Kaijitsu Star, spider = Lotslegs, Vorka = goblin druid CR 2, horse = Stomp.
- **We Be Goblins Too! (Module 2):** Squealy Nord is at the Munchmeat Farm; rescue happens as part of defeating Pa Munchmeat (ogre druid).
- **Licktoad Village geography (CONFIRMED):** Located **southwest** of Sandpoint inside Brinestump Marsh. Module 1's "south" is imprecise; "southwest" is the canonical direction per PathfinderWiki.
- **Birdcruncher cave geography (CONFIRMED):** Located **southeast** of Sandpoint, in hills on the western edge of Devil's Platter. Module 2's "east" and Module 5's "south" are errors; Module 3's "southeast" is correct per PathfinderWiki.
- **Weresealion (Beat 24, CONFIRMED):** Not a Pathfinder creature. Pure GM homebrew — no official stat block exists in any Paizo publication.