Goblin Brawlers (four monsters, feedback appreciated)

[TheNinjaD]

Only the toughest of goblins could ever hope to become brawlers and only the most foolish would want to be. Strong but often dull-witted, brawlers are the goblin masters of unarmed combat. They use their feet and their fists to defeat their enemies or die trying (often it's the latter).

Tactics
Brawlers try to get face-to-face with their opponents as quickly as possible. They are often the first to engage, seeking glory and possibly death.

Despite their favoring of combat without weapons, brawlers hold no higher of an idea of fairness than other goblins. They gang up on their enemies whenever possible, preferring to fight along other brawlers when the opportunity presents itself. Just like other goblins, brawlers make use of their Goblin Tactics ability whenever they can, though they will always re-engage on their next turn.

Wannabe Goblin Brawler
Level 1 Minion Brute
Small natural humanoid (goblin)
XP 25
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
Initiative +3
AC 14, Fortitude 14, Reflex 14, Will 12
Perception 0
Speed 6; see also goblin tactics
low-light vision
STANDARD ACTIONS
Brawler's Strike
Basic Melee
At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +6 vs AC
Hit: 5 damage
TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Goblin Tactics
At-Will
Trigger: The goblin is missed by a melee attack.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The goblin shifts 1 square.
Skills : Endurance +6, Stealth +6
STR 13 (+1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 8 (-1) WIS 10 (0) CHA 8 (-1)
Alignment unaligned
Languages goblin

Goblins that choose to become brawlers usually do so when they are very young – then die soon after. The survivors could go on to become legends among their tribe, or just die a little later on and still be forgotten.

Amateur Goblin Brawler
Level 2 Minion Brute
Small natural humanoid (goblin)
XP 31
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion
Initiative +4
AC 15, Fortitude 15, Reflex 15, Will 13
Perception 0
Speed 6; see also goblin tactics
low-light vision
STANDARD ACTIONS
Brawler's Strike
Basic Melee
At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +7 vs AC
Hit: 5 damage
TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Goblin Tactics
At-Will
Trigger: The goblin is missed by a melee attack.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The goblin shifts 1 square.
Skills : Endurance +7, Stealth +7
STR 13 (+1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 8 (-1) WIS 10 (0) CHA 8 (-1)
Alignment unaligned
Languages goblin

Brawlers that survive their early youth usually end up becoming entertainers of sorts for their tribes. They fight others to the death for the amusement of all who would watch. Fewer still survive this portion of their career.

Novice Goblin Brawler
Level 1 Brute
Small natural humanoid (goblin)
XP 100
HP 32; Bloodied 16
Initiative +3
AC 14, Fortitude 14, Reflex 14, Will 12
Perception 0
Speed 6; see also goblin tactics
low-light vision
STANDARD ACTIONS
Brawler's Strike
Basic Melee
At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +6 vs AC
Hit: 1d8+6 damage
TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Goblin Tactics
At-Will
Trigger: The goblin is missed by a melee attack.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The goblin shifts 1 square.
Skills : Endurance +6, Stealth +6
STR 13 (+1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 8 (-1) WIS 10 (0) CHA 8 (-1)
Alignment unaligned
Languages goblin

After young brawlers have survived a few fights and proven themselves as warriors, they start to be taken more seriously by their tribe. They are allowed to start making actual use of their skills are unarmed warriors, often even taken along on more raids. However, it is not uncommon for brawlers at this point to become a little dulled by spending time away from the fighting pits.

Apprentice Goblin Brawler
Level 2 Brute
Small natural humanoid (goblin)
XP 125
HP 42; Bloodied 21
Initiative +4
AC 15, Fortitude 15, Reflex 15, Will 13
Perception +1
Speed 6; see also goblin tactics
low-light vision
STANDARD ACTIONS
Brawler's Strike
Basic Melee
At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +7 vs AC
Hit: 1d8+7 damage
TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Goblin Tactics
At-Will
Trigger: The goblin is missed by a melee attack.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The goblin shifts 1 square.
Skills : Endurance +7, Stealth +7
STR 13 (+1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 8 (-1) WIS 10 (0) CHA 8 (-1)
Alignment unaligned
Languages goblin

Sometimes, a young brawler is chosen to be trained by a more experienced member of the tribe. This student-teacher relationship almost always ends with one killing the other.

Master Goblin Brawler
Level 3 Brute (Leader)
Small natural humanoid (goblin)
XP 150
HP 52; Bloodied 26
Initiative +4
AC 16, Fortitude 16, Reflex 16, Will 14
Perception +1
Speed 6; see also superior goblin tactics
low-light vision
STANDARD ACTIONS
Master Brawler's Strike
Basic Melee
At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +8 vs AC
Hit: 2d6+6 damage
Special: On a critical hit, the target is knocked prone.
TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Superior Goblin Tactics
At-Will
Trigger: The goblin is missed by a melee attack.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The goblin and up to two allies within its line of sight shift 1 square.
Skills : Endurance +7, Stealth +7
STR 13 (+1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 12 (+1) INT 8 (-1) WIS 10 (0) CHA 8 (-1)
Alignment unaligned
Languages goblin

The most skilled of brawlers are revered by their tribe as some of the bravest of all warriors. They live the goblin idea of a life of luxury for as long as they continue to show their usefulness. Often, they are also expected to take on apprentices and train them in the ways of unarmed combat.

 

[the Jester]

They're okay, but look kinda boring. I'd give the non-minion ones some other ability or power, even if it's just an encounter power that knocks the enemy prone or something.

 

[TheNinjaD]

They're meant to be very basic. They're the first in what I expect to me a long line of creatures like this that I put together.

I was also thinking that maybe some kind of additional power for the non-minions would be a good idea.

 

[Mesh Hong]

My basic advice when designing creatures is to think about what you want them to do, what makes them different, what is their combat style or signature move. When you have a concept from that you then design the creature to act in that way.

An issue with your level 3 goblin brawler (leader) is that it only has one attack and it’s a punch, admittedly it has an extra critical component but there is a very good chance that it will never come up in play. Your creature sort of fulfils the leader role with its Superior Goblin Tactics (which I like) but again it could maybe have more.

When I think of a goblin brawler I see a lightweight fist fighter, possibly like a bare knuckle boxer or streetfighter, personally I see skirmisher rather than brute, but brute could work if it was more hard hitting and less footwork based:

These are ideas or concepts that spring to mind (for brute):
- one, two punch
- sucker punch
- knockout blow
- leg sweep
- pinning hold
- dirty kick
- duck and punch
- block
- toughness (used to taking punches to its little green face)

This is what that leads to, I have tried to keep to your stated aim of keeping it simple (to me that means trying to do away with recharge powers to keep bookkeeping to a minimum).

Goblin Brawler Level 3 Brute (Leader)
Small Natural Humanoid (goblin) XP 150

Initiative +2 Senses Perception +1, low-light vision
HP 56; Bloodied 28
AC 15; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 14
Speed 6

TRAITS
He's the Champ!♦ aura 5
All allied goblins inside the aura gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls and can
shift 2 squares instead of 1 when using their Goblin Tactics power

STANDARD ACTIONS
Straight Punch ♦ at-will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +8 vs AC
Hit: 1d10+6 damage

The Old One Two ♦ at-will
Primary Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +8 vs AC
Hit: 1d4+4 damage and the Goblin Brawler gains a +2 bonus to its attack
roll when making the Secondary Attack
Effect: The Goblin Brawler shifts one square and makes the following
Secondary Attack against the same target
Secondary Attack: Melee 1 (primary target); +6 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d6+6 damage and the target is knocked prone

MOVE ACTIONS
Ducking and Diving ♦ encounter)
Effect: The Goblin Brawler shifts 3 squares

MINOR ACTIONS
Dirty Kick ♦ 1/round
Attack: Melee 1 (one prone creature); +6 vs Reflex
Hit: 4 damage and the target takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls until the
end of its next turn

TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Block and Dodge♦ at-will
Trigger: The Goblin Brawler is damaged by a melee attack
Effect (Immediate Interrupt): The Goblin Brawler takes half damage and
shifts into any free square adjacent to the triggering creature

Alignment Unaligned Languages (slurred) common, goblin
Skills Athletics +9, Endurance +9, Streetwise +4
Str 16 (+4) Dex 12 (+2) Wis 10 (+1)
Con 16 (+4) Int 8 (+0) Cha 6 (-1)
Equipment iron armguards

What I have tried to do is build him in a memorable way and make him different to other goblins. I think The Old One Two and Dirt Kick are quite flavourful and Block and Dodge should be memorable, it could be a little annoying as an at will power but he really hasn’t got a lot of HPs to play with so I think it is fine.

Anyway I hope you find this useful or it gives you some ideas.

 

[TheNinjaD]

Starting out, I had wanted to make sure I had a variety of low-level goblins for my upcoming campaign. I also wanted to get back into the swing of making monster since I haven't played in a long time. I wanted to cover all, or at least most, roles.

I had been thinking of the more as thugs (and therefore brutes) but you make a very good point about them working better as skirmishers. I might actually take that and go with it for the brawlers. To not waste this work, I will probably reskin these guys as goblins using rocks or clubs.

Thanks.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I see my example goblin brawler as a Brute/Skirmisher hybrid, it has a brutes power with a little bit of a skirmishers movement, but not enough for it to be a full skirmisher.

Anyway good luck with your monsters if you need any advice you'll find plenty on this forum.