Oblivion's forgotten goblin wars system, which saw gobbos battling each other all over Cyrodiil, emerged from designing a single quest: 'I figured it wouldn't be a lot more work to make this systemic'

Oblivion Remastered - a character in armor stands in front of a flaming Oblivion gate symbol.

Oblivion's radiant AI system is mainly remembered for its impeccable, if entirely unintentional, comedic timing, producing non-sequiturs and bizarre NPC interactions all over Cyrodiil. Players are currently discovering this all over again in Bethesda's immensely popular remaster. But one of the system's lesser-known effects is how it also influenced goblin behaviour.

Far from being mindless greenskins, Oblivion's goblins exist in their own tribal ecosystem. The game's seven goblin tribes all carry and cherish their own sacred goblin totem staff, and if that staff is stolen, they'll send out a war party to retrieve it.