Sunday, March 1, 2020

OSE Encounter Activities - Hobgoblins

I’m not sure if it was the tactics and advice outlined in B2 that first made me decide to go with a more militarily focused Hobgoblin, but I’m pretty sure it was the depiction of what I suspected were Hobgoblins on the cover of that module that made me insist on orange skin and Lamellar armor. There was a paucity of color illustration to fire the imagination in those days, so like many newly-minted DMs, one gleaned whatever scraps one could from the few scattered clues.

I use them to fill the role of a brutally disciplined Chaotic force (I never saw that as a contradiction). They make for excellent soldiers and incredible generals, and many an army has fallen to their clever strategies and war-minded philosophy. Some of the decisions they make and standing orders they obey may seem unusual at first, but to the Hobgoblin these are tried and true means of achieving victory over the enemy and constant war for war’s sake. Law has a harder time finding a footing during times of strife.

Unaffected by sunlight, I don’t stick them down in Dungeons too often these days, but that’s not to say you couldn’t keep them locked away like that. I think they’re at their best when there’s a world either at war or with one a-brewing.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Search

Labels

random tables (285) d100 (283) tables (163) encounters (141) OSE Encounters (133) OSE (132) magic items (36) dungeons (23) equipment (19) monsters (19) dnd (17) wilderness tier (17) character generation (16) magic (16) spells (15) rumors (14) wilderness (14) clerics (13) magical items (12) treasure (12) NPCs (11) gear (11) generators (11) house rules (11) spell features (11) hex crawls (10) hexes (10) BECMI (9) RC hacks and house rules (8) ideas (8) plants (8) advancement (7) dnd hacks (7) magic users (7) names (7) resources (7) adventure hooks (6) characters (6) cities (6) dressing (6) events (6) settlements (6) weapons (6) animals (5) backgrounds (5) classes (5) clues (5) curses (5) dolmenwood (5) domain tier (5) dungeon stocking (5) religion (5) set dressing (5) shrines (5) treasures (5) why tables (5) yoon-suin (5) character sheets (4) current campaign (4) dragons (4) fairy tales (4) hooks (4) mountains (4) reviews (4) stocking (4) team tuesday (4) villages (4) what tables (4) 4e (3) Elfs (3) TROIKA! (3) WHITEHACK (3) abilities (3) armor (3) cantrips (3) carousing (3) character classes (3) decoration (3) dm (3) domain (3) doors (3) dungeon dressing (3) fair folk (3) food (3) foraging (3) foreground growth (3) fourth edition (3) fungi (3) goblin project (3) hirelings (3) landmarks (3) locks (3) mentzer (3) mushrooms (3) potions (3) procedures (3) quests (3) religions (3) rules cyclopedia (3) spellbooks (3) swords (3) tells (3) tools (3) traits (3) transcripts (3) traps (3) world building (3) Cairn (2) Dwarfs (2) ability scores (2) abstract combat (2) adventures (2) backstories (2) books (2) bows (2) castles (2) character death (2) city crawls (2) community projects (2) d&d (2) death (2) deities (2) deity disfavor (2) downtime (2) experience (2) factions (2) fairy tale friday (2) fighters (2) flaws (2) flora (2) followers (2) forests (2) furniture (2) gods (2) gorgon trail (2) habits (2) harry clarke (2) hazard system (2) herbs (2) hex crawling (2) hex-describe (2) how tables (2) identification (2) identifying (2) jewelry (2) knacks (2) lore (2) magic systems (2) magic-users (2) magical research (2) miens (2) omens (2) portals (2) projects (2) puzzles (2) reaction rolls (2) reagents (2) rituals (2) rooms (2) saving throws (2) scrolls (2) shields (2) single-use items (2) skills (2) smells (2) special abilities (2) spoor (2) staffs (2) stocking tables (2) strongholds (2) superstitions (2) tex-crawl (2) thieves (2) toadstools (2) traces (2) tracks (2) wizards (2) wonders (2) 20 minute dungeons (1) 5e (1) DR (1) GLOG (1) KtA (1) NPC Party (1) OSR (1) PCs (1) Rival Adventuring Parties (1) VEINS (1) activities (1) adventure seeds (1) alcohol (1) altars (1) ammo (1) ammunition (1) arduin (1) arrows (1) artifacts (1) axes (1) backpacks (1) bags (1) balms (1) bards (1) beans (1) berries (1) birds (1) blessings (1) body art (1) bookshelves (1) boons (1) boots (1) bounties (1) breath weapons (1) buildings (1) calendars (1) campaign starters (1) camping (1) candace (1) candles (1) cards (1) cartography (1) ceremonies (1) clergy (1) cloaks (1) clothing (1) clubs (1) coins (1) cold iron (1) combat (1) complications (1) consumables (1) containers (1) corridors (1) cosmology (1) couplets (1) crossbows (1) crowdsourcing (1) customs (1) d12 (1) d36 (1) d66 (1) dances (1) deception (1) deeds (1) defenses (1) dimensions (1) discoveries (1) diseases (1) dogs (1) donkeys (1) downloads (1) drinks (1) encounter activities (1) encumbrance (1) energy drain (1) fairies (1) familiars (1) fauna (1) festivals (1) fey (1) fish (1) fishing (1) flow charts (1) foibles (1) folklore (1) foodways (1) fountains (1) friendly monsters (1) fruits (1) future campaigns (1) galmours (1) game jams (1) garlic (1) garments (1) gary gygax (1) gauntlets (1) gloves (1) grimoires (1) groups (1) gullets (1) hacks (1) hallways (1) hats (1) healing (1) helmets (1) hexagons (1) hints (1) history (1) hobbies (1) holiday (1) holidays (1) horses (1) humanoids (1) illusions (1) in medias res (1) incense (1) ingredients (1) initiative (1) insects (1) itch.io (1) keys (1) lairs (1) legends (1) limited-use items (1) lockpicks (1) maces (1) magic research (1) magic words (1) mapping (1) maps (1) meanwhiles (1) meetings (1) memes (1) mentors (1) mercenaries (1) miniatures (1) mishaps (1) modern (1) money (1) monster motivations (1) motivations (1) mules (1) mutations (1) mysteries (1) new spells (1) obituaries (1) ointments (1) overland travel (1) overloaded encounter die (1) percepts (1) perchance (1) perdition (1) pets (1) pits (1) places (1) planes (1) player characters (1) poisons (1) pools (1) pouches (1) pranks (1) priests (1) procedural flow charts (1) process (1) protection scrolls (1) purses (1) quarrels (1) raise dead (1) referee aids (1) relics (1) reputation (1) restocking (1) rests (1) resurrection (1) retainers (1) rewards (1) rings (1) roads (1) robes (1) rolemaster (1) ropes (1) rules (1) ruminations (1) saints (1) salves (1) scenery (1) seafood (1) secret doors (1) senses (1) sentient swords (1) session starters (1) shoes (1) shopping (1) side effects (1) software (1) soirées (1) song tables (1) songs (1) sounds (1) spears (1) special attacks (1) special results (1) specials (1) spell casting (1) springs (1) statues (1) stomachs (1) stories (1) streets (1) strict time keeping (1) subsystems (1) surprise (1) swanson abilities (1) swansong abilities (1) table talk (1) task resolution (1) tattoos (1) terrain (1) the middle road (1) thief (1) tieflings (1) timekeeping (1) tinkering (1) tomes (1) trees (1) turn undead (1) urban crawls (1) venoms (1) vermin (1) vignettes (1) voronoi (1) wands (1) waterskins (1) weather (1) whence tables (1) where tables (1) xp (1) ynn (1)

Blog Archive