All that talk about Hobgoblins in another thread has inspired me. So here we have a thread in which I'm going to put together some homebrew hobgoblins. They'll be open for use in anyone's campaign, and questions/ideas on details are always welcome, especially mechanically. I'm going to be going through the various aspects of culture building, starting with this post. I'll try to make it not suck to read. I'll be editing this and adding stats for things (ie: marsh otyugh) later tonight. Now... without further ado:
HOBGOBLINS
Environment
Hobgoblins don’t have an easy life. They’ve eked out an existence in fens and temperate bogs around the edges of deep, coldwater lakes. They've protected their mineral rich territories from invaders. And always, they've persisted; in such a forbidding land, the hobgoblins have survived, and even thrived. But that doesn’t change the fact that, despite its wealth, the land is unpleasant at best - and hobgoblins have developed attitudes that reflect the harshness of their homes.
Climate and Living Quarters
Extreme continental. During the summer, the Hobgoblin territories are rainy, humid, and fairly hot. The resultant insect explosion could very well be the world’s itchiest. During the winter, the marshes freeze over and powerful winds whip through the fens, carrying heavy snowfall with them.
Hobgoblin architecture reflects the realities of their environment. Although the city lands have been partially drained, building area is sparse - so the hobgoblins built upward. The materials on hand (willow wood and bamboo forests) resulted in high, light towers of arching wood, with spire-like roofs to shed snow. Interior rooms are insulated by wall hangings and tapestries, and kept warm in the winters with smoldering trays of aromatic peat carried from a fire pit at the broad base of the building. These peat trays flood the interior of a room with a faintly spicy aroma, and lend a heaviness to the air.
Aromatic Peat: A mixture of treated peat with a secret blend of herbs and spices, 1 pound of aromatic peat costs 3 copper pieces and is sufficient to cover one campfire. After covering a campfire, the flames are extinguished, but the peat continues to emit a comfortable level of heat for 8-10 hours. Additionally, the aroma given off by the peat effectively masks the natural scent of all living creatures within a 50 yard radius, rendering them indistinguishable via the scent EX ability.
Hobgoblins prefer shadowy lighting. Although their buildings do have narrow slat windows, the hobgoblins don’t bother with glass as the windows are only used for simple ventilation during the summer. During the winter, the ports are shuttered (except in the fire pit room, which has its own chimney and several windows near the roof). Illumination is kept dim, usually through the use of permanent faerie fire in the form of glowing runes along the floor.
Fire itself is a serious hazard to the buildings, and all hobgoblins are imparted with a terror of flames in confined spaces from a young age. The idea of using fireplaces and lamps to light the insides of buildings seems completely insane to the average hobgoblin, and most will not be able to sleep with a fire in the room. (“Why don’t you just use more blankets?!”) The fire pit room is always, always guarded and carefully maintained.
Unfortunately for hobgoblins, the light structure of their towers is a bit of a problem in the heavy winds during the winter. Read: the towers tilt, then blow the hell over. As black as hobgoblin humor is, they aren’t okay with their cities blowing down, which means the towers had to be anchored. So, these soaring buildings are tethered to the ground, like circus tents, by a series of heavy ropes. A few disasters later, it was discovered that normal rope really didn’t cut the mustard, so:
Adamant Rope
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Casting Time: varies (ritual)
Components: V, S, M
Range: Touch
Target: length of rope, up to 1 foot per level
Duration: permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Adamant rope allows a regular, hemp rope to be imbued with the strength of a metal cable. The spell is slow to cast; several wizards usually work in conjunction to speed the process. Dragon turtle sinew is boiled in water, resulting in a thick, yellowish broth (which smells like a dead dragon turtle. Lucky guys, those wizards.) The adamant rope spell is actually cast on that broth, and the lengths of rope are bathed in the mixture for several hours. Once the process is complete, the rope has taken on a great strength. Its hardness increases by 40, its break DC increases by 20, and its weight capacity is multiplied by 10. Hobgoblins generally only perform this ritual sparingly, as dragon turtle sinew isn’t exactly easy to come by. Rope treated with this spell is almost impossible to cut, of regular weight, and in high demand.
City Planning and Major Works
Hobgoblin cities are built on slightly raised areas in the marshes, cleared of trees and reeds, and partially drained via a ring of dykes. These dykes were built with move earth and topped with fortified towers of clay brick and wood. They act as the primary defense for the city. The dykes don’t keep the city completely dry, however; they are designed to let water in from a marsh river channel (the amount can be adjusted via the water gates). Two primary channels, a sewage system and a drinking water system, come from the same source but are kept separate. These channels run beneath the feet of the buildings, below the boardwalks that connect them. The richer part of any hobgoblin city will be nearest the water gates, where there is less sewage in the waste water channel. During serious flooding, the channels, only separated by an earthen divide, can mix. This spells humanitarian disaster.
In the winter, the surface of the marsh is frozen, but the hobgoblins drill public watering holes into the ice. Waste is usually left outside the city walls and freezes solid, but it can attract a lot of unwanted attention (colonies of otyugh gathering there in the winter are a serious concern for single hobgoblins or hobgoblin children).
The silty marsh bottom is loaded with both precious metals (from the nearby mountains) and rare shells (from snails). Hobgoblins engage in a type of ‘dive mining’ during the summer, where groups of divers will scout out the watery areas of the swamp in small reed boats, looking for a deposit. When they find one, they build an enclosed dyke system, drain the water, and clear out the deposit. Heavy pulleys supporting fine mesh nets are used to sift through the gunk. The resultant structure looks like a great, skeletal stork, limbs festooned with hanging ropes, sitting in a hole in the middle of the marsh.
Rare Red Snail shell: These strange shells can be found in the silty bottoms of the marshes. The shells contain an anesthetic and coagulant that is released when crushed, resulting in the recovery of 1 hit point. Shells usually sell for 1 gp each, but can be found while diving with a DC 20 survival check. Harvesting requires 4 hours and turns up 1d6 shells.
Food
What hobgoblins eat depends a lot on the season. Any visitor during the summer is in for a treat, because there are literally hundreds of types of waterfowl, most of which are delicious. Ever wanted to eat white heron stuffed with wild rice and truffles? That’s a hobgoblin tradition. Herons, ibis, and many types of duck make up the standard repast, in addition to all types of catfish (some are very huge), turtles, snails, and bony plated fish. For vegetables, you’re looking at wild rice, sugar cane, a sweet white fruit called the marshberry, plantains, licorice root, and a variety of mushrooms and truffles. Hobgoblins make flatbreads out of pounded rice meal, and often serve meat and vegetable stews wrapped in rice crepes, which are then baked or fried. They sometimes fry large swamp beetles and powder them with sugar, but this is considered a treat for kids.
Hobgoblins do know about about alcohol, but they use it (in the form of strong rice wine) as a disinfectant as opposed to drinking it. For recreational drinks, hobgoblins have a preference for marsh poppy juice mixed with sugary water. Dyed a variety of colors and flavored with marshberry, strawberry, or licorice, this is essentially a dilute opium.
Rata: Hobgoblin ‘recreational drink’. Ingested. DC 24 fortitude, initial damage is 1d2 dexterity, secondary effect is euphoria for 1d6 hours. During the period of euphoria, target is highly resistant to pain and fear, gaining a +2 bonus on all saves versus pain or fear based effects. 1 dose costs 4 cp.
During the winter, the meal plan is a bit sparse. Hobgoblins are proficient ice fishers, but even then, most of the stores of food are smoked meats, breads, dried mushrooms… and a type of fermented fish paste made by pulverizing catfish and leaving it buried in peat for months on end. This incredibly pungent goo is spread on crepes like butter, and will sure as hell clear your sinuses.
Omian: Fermented fish paste. 2 sp for a pound, which is a week’s worth. Excellent source of protein and calories for its weight and size, but hard to stomach. Eating requires a DC 10 fortitude save to prevent feeling a little ill and being sickened for 1 hour.
Trail Stew: A dried mushroom cap stuffed with various nuts and berries, these are boiled over water to form a stew base. Has therapeutic properties: any individuals drinking the broth recover an additional 2d6 hit points after a full night’s rest. 1 cap costs 4 silver.
The Dragon Turtle
Dragon Turtles are a big deal to hobgoblins, who consider the beasts to be ‘pretty dangerous’. Even though the meat is vile (described as a cross between genoa salami and turpentine), hobgoblins are big on hunting these things down as both a show of force and a competition between neighboring towns. Usually, several hunting parties will be arranged per year. The parties can get pretty large, and it’s considered a mark of honor to take a turtle down – you even get first dibs on the disgusting meat! Only a few hunts actually succeed, because dragon turtles are, in fact, ‘pretty dangerous’.
Dragon turtles, in addition to being food, feature prominently in hobgoblin art and symbolism. As opposed to something like a lion being representative of rulership and ferocity, hobgoblins use the dragon turtle – they include it in given names, crests, children’s stories, and games. Two of the sides on a hobgoblin die are home to depictions of the top and bottom of a dragon turtle’s shell, representing highest and lowest value, respectively. (the other 4 sides are a reed, a sword, a bowl, and an arrow, each of which is taken to beat the other as per reed>sword>bowl>arrow>reed. See later sections for details of their gambling games.)
Turtles on dice aside, the hobgoblins’ reverence for dragon turtles has filtered down into their divine magic:
Turtle’s Ferocity
Transmutation
Level: Clrc 2, Drd 2, Rgr 2
Casting Time: full round action
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Target: creature touched
Duration: 1 minute/ level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
A spell in the possession of hobgoblin priests, druids, and rangers, Turtle’s Ferocity calls upon the spirit of the mighty dragon turtle to aid the recipient in battle. The target gains a +2 enhancement bonus to strength and constitution, as well as a +2 deflection bonus to armor class. Although numerically better than a standard buff, it is somewhat slower to cast, as befits its… turtle-y nature.
HOBGOBLINS
Environment
Hobgoblins don’t have an easy life. They’ve eked out an existence in fens and temperate bogs around the edges of deep, coldwater lakes. They've protected their mineral rich territories from invaders. And always, they've persisted; in such a forbidding land, the hobgoblins have survived, and even thrived. But that doesn’t change the fact that, despite its wealth, the land is unpleasant at best - and hobgoblins have developed attitudes that reflect the harshness of their homes.
Climate and Living Quarters
Extreme continental. During the summer, the Hobgoblin territories are rainy, humid, and fairly hot. The resultant insect explosion could very well be the world’s itchiest. During the winter, the marshes freeze over and powerful winds whip through the fens, carrying heavy snowfall with them.
Hobgoblin architecture reflects the realities of their environment. Although the city lands have been partially drained, building area is sparse - so the hobgoblins built upward. The materials on hand (willow wood and bamboo forests) resulted in high, light towers of arching wood, with spire-like roofs to shed snow. Interior rooms are insulated by wall hangings and tapestries, and kept warm in the winters with smoldering trays of aromatic peat carried from a fire pit at the broad base of the building. These peat trays flood the interior of a room with a faintly spicy aroma, and lend a heaviness to the air.
Aromatic Peat: A mixture of treated peat with a secret blend of herbs and spices, 1 pound of aromatic peat costs 3 copper pieces and is sufficient to cover one campfire. After covering a campfire, the flames are extinguished, but the peat continues to emit a comfortable level of heat for 8-10 hours. Additionally, the aroma given off by the peat effectively masks the natural scent of all living creatures within a 50 yard radius, rendering them indistinguishable via the scent EX ability.
Hobgoblins prefer shadowy lighting. Although their buildings do have narrow slat windows, the hobgoblins don’t bother with glass as the windows are only used for simple ventilation during the summer. During the winter, the ports are shuttered (except in the fire pit room, which has its own chimney and several windows near the roof). Illumination is kept dim, usually through the use of permanent faerie fire in the form of glowing runes along the floor.
Fire itself is a serious hazard to the buildings, and all hobgoblins are imparted with a terror of flames in confined spaces from a young age. The idea of using fireplaces and lamps to light the insides of buildings seems completely insane to the average hobgoblin, and most will not be able to sleep with a fire in the room. (“Why don’t you just use more blankets?!”) The fire pit room is always, always guarded and carefully maintained.
Unfortunately for hobgoblins, the light structure of their towers is a bit of a problem in the heavy winds during the winter. Read: the towers tilt, then blow the hell over. As black as hobgoblin humor is, they aren’t okay with their cities blowing down, which means the towers had to be anchored. So, these soaring buildings are tethered to the ground, like circus tents, by a series of heavy ropes. A few disasters later, it was discovered that normal rope really didn’t cut the mustard, so:
Adamant Rope
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Casting Time: varies (ritual)
Components: V, S, M
Range: Touch
Target: length of rope, up to 1 foot per level
Duration: permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Adamant rope allows a regular, hemp rope to be imbued with the strength of a metal cable. The spell is slow to cast; several wizards usually work in conjunction to speed the process. Dragon turtle sinew is boiled in water, resulting in a thick, yellowish broth (which smells like a dead dragon turtle. Lucky guys, those wizards.) The adamant rope spell is actually cast on that broth, and the lengths of rope are bathed in the mixture for several hours. Once the process is complete, the rope has taken on a great strength. Its hardness increases by 40, its break DC increases by 20, and its weight capacity is multiplied by 10. Hobgoblins generally only perform this ritual sparingly, as dragon turtle sinew isn’t exactly easy to come by. Rope treated with this spell is almost impossible to cut, of regular weight, and in high demand.
City Planning and Major Works
Hobgoblin cities are built on slightly raised areas in the marshes, cleared of trees and reeds, and partially drained via a ring of dykes. These dykes were built with move earth and topped with fortified towers of clay brick and wood. They act as the primary defense for the city. The dykes don’t keep the city completely dry, however; they are designed to let water in from a marsh river channel (the amount can be adjusted via the water gates). Two primary channels, a sewage system and a drinking water system, come from the same source but are kept separate. These channels run beneath the feet of the buildings, below the boardwalks that connect them. The richer part of any hobgoblin city will be nearest the water gates, where there is less sewage in the waste water channel. During serious flooding, the channels, only separated by an earthen divide, can mix. This spells humanitarian disaster.
In the winter, the surface of the marsh is frozen, but the hobgoblins drill public watering holes into the ice. Waste is usually left outside the city walls and freezes solid, but it can attract a lot of unwanted attention (colonies of otyugh gathering there in the winter are a serious concern for single hobgoblins or hobgoblin children).
The silty marsh bottom is loaded with both precious metals (from the nearby mountains) and rare shells (from snails). Hobgoblins engage in a type of ‘dive mining’ during the summer, where groups of divers will scout out the watery areas of the swamp in small reed boats, looking for a deposit. When they find one, they build an enclosed dyke system, drain the water, and clear out the deposit. Heavy pulleys supporting fine mesh nets are used to sift through the gunk. The resultant structure looks like a great, skeletal stork, limbs festooned with hanging ropes, sitting in a hole in the middle of the marsh.
Rare Red Snail shell: These strange shells can be found in the silty bottoms of the marshes. The shells contain an anesthetic and coagulant that is released when crushed, resulting in the recovery of 1 hit point. Shells usually sell for 1 gp each, but can be found while diving with a DC 20 survival check. Harvesting requires 4 hours and turns up 1d6 shells.
Food
What hobgoblins eat depends a lot on the season. Any visitor during the summer is in for a treat, because there are literally hundreds of types of waterfowl, most of which are delicious. Ever wanted to eat white heron stuffed with wild rice and truffles? That’s a hobgoblin tradition. Herons, ibis, and many types of duck make up the standard repast, in addition to all types of catfish (some are very huge), turtles, snails, and bony plated fish. For vegetables, you’re looking at wild rice, sugar cane, a sweet white fruit called the marshberry, plantains, licorice root, and a variety of mushrooms and truffles. Hobgoblins make flatbreads out of pounded rice meal, and often serve meat and vegetable stews wrapped in rice crepes, which are then baked or fried. They sometimes fry large swamp beetles and powder them with sugar, but this is considered a treat for kids.
Hobgoblins do know about about alcohol, but they use it (in the form of strong rice wine) as a disinfectant as opposed to drinking it. For recreational drinks, hobgoblins have a preference for marsh poppy juice mixed with sugary water. Dyed a variety of colors and flavored with marshberry, strawberry, or licorice, this is essentially a dilute opium.
Rata: Hobgoblin ‘recreational drink’. Ingested. DC 24 fortitude, initial damage is 1d2 dexterity, secondary effect is euphoria for 1d6 hours. During the period of euphoria, target is highly resistant to pain and fear, gaining a +2 bonus on all saves versus pain or fear based effects. 1 dose costs 4 cp.
During the winter, the meal plan is a bit sparse. Hobgoblins are proficient ice fishers, but even then, most of the stores of food are smoked meats, breads, dried mushrooms… and a type of fermented fish paste made by pulverizing catfish and leaving it buried in peat for months on end. This incredibly pungent goo is spread on crepes like butter, and will sure as hell clear your sinuses.
Omian: Fermented fish paste. 2 sp for a pound, which is a week’s worth. Excellent source of protein and calories for its weight and size, but hard to stomach. Eating requires a DC 10 fortitude save to prevent feeling a little ill and being sickened for 1 hour.
Trail Stew: A dried mushroom cap stuffed with various nuts and berries, these are boiled over water to form a stew base. Has therapeutic properties: any individuals drinking the broth recover an additional 2d6 hit points after a full night’s rest. 1 cap costs 4 silver.
The Dragon Turtle
Dragon Turtles are a big deal to hobgoblins, who consider the beasts to be ‘pretty dangerous’. Even though the meat is vile (described as a cross between genoa salami and turpentine), hobgoblins are big on hunting these things down as both a show of force and a competition between neighboring towns. Usually, several hunting parties will be arranged per year. The parties can get pretty large, and it’s considered a mark of honor to take a turtle down – you even get first dibs on the disgusting meat! Only a few hunts actually succeed, because dragon turtles are, in fact, ‘pretty dangerous’.
Dragon turtles, in addition to being food, feature prominently in hobgoblin art and symbolism. As opposed to something like a lion being representative of rulership and ferocity, hobgoblins use the dragon turtle – they include it in given names, crests, children’s stories, and games. Two of the sides on a hobgoblin die are home to depictions of the top and bottom of a dragon turtle’s shell, representing highest and lowest value, respectively. (the other 4 sides are a reed, a sword, a bowl, and an arrow, each of which is taken to beat the other as per reed>sword>bowl>arrow>reed. See later sections for details of their gambling games.)
Turtles on dice aside, the hobgoblins’ reverence for dragon turtles has filtered down into their divine magic:
Turtle’s Ferocity
Transmutation
Level: Clrc 2, Drd 2, Rgr 2
Casting Time: full round action
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Target: creature touched
Duration: 1 minute/ level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
A spell in the possession of hobgoblin priests, druids, and rangers, Turtle’s Ferocity calls upon the spirit of the mighty dragon turtle to aid the recipient in battle. The target gains a +2 enhancement bonus to strength and constitution, as well as a +2 deflection bonus to armor class. Although numerically better than a standard buff, it is somewhat slower to cast, as befits its… turtle-y nature.
