tardigrade
Explorer
Okay, so I’ve got this great new D&D adventure for you. Giants! Dragons! Rollicking cross-continent adventuring! Sure it has some problems, like it starts with fighting goblins in a cave- no wait don’t go!
That's the opening of the Critical Hits review of SKT, and I have to admit it touches a nerve. We started our campaign with "Temple of the Nightbringers" by M T Black, which was recommended somewhere (possibly on here) as a good introduction for players new to D&D. It went well. However, it involves fighting goblins in an underground temple. SKT has the Dripping Caves in its opening chapter, LMoP starts with a goblin ambush, and I have a couple of other short, low-level mini-adventures I might have used but that also involve goblins, and there's a very real chance my players will get utterly, utterly sick of them.
Out of interest, what do you do to replace (or spice up) low-level goblin encounters in published 5e adventures to keep players interested? Do you reskin them as other creatures? Add tribal details and backstory? Replace them with something different entirely? For instance, I'm wondering about using kua-toa, kobolds or gnolls (or anything that isn't goblins) for the Dripping Caves - any race that keeps slaves and can occasionally be found in caves should do the trick.