D&D 5E Volo's Guide to Monsters Hobgoblins: You would think there are many cities.

[Unwise]

IMC every few years, a hobgoblin delegation turns up at the human palace. The king hops down off his throne and gives them a huge chest of gold and riches. This is normally done in silence and most people don't remember why.

Enter the new king, a rash forward thinker who has little time for the traditions of the past. He denies the hobgoblins entry to the royal city. They turn around wordlessly and head back home.

An old ambassador/loremaster pleads with the king, but is mocked and cast out of royal service. He is a gandalf style character, was a hero the nation, but that was a long time ago and few remember. He appeals to the PCs for help.

It turns out, the hobgoblins occupy the Great Wall, which they have pretty much turned into a fortress. The uneducated humans think that they pay the hobgoblins to keep monsters on the other side of the wall away. Monsters the humans no longer believe in. In reality, the hobgoblins have a huge empire on the other side of the wall (which was originally built to keep them out). The humans pay the hobgoblins tribute and step off the throne as an act of homage to their emperor. They can easily sweep in an crush the puny human kingdom with a wave of their emperor's hand.

The PCs need to work out what to do, find another tribute to offer? fight an impossible fight? appeal for time from the hobgoblin emperor? regicide and offer the kings head as an apology? An adventure that involves going into a hobgoblin empire should be fun. They are basically mongol horde who have conquered everything, now sit around kind of bored wondering what to do next. They are becoming civilized and they are not sure that they like that, "winning" does not really agree with them much.

 

[Parmandur]

Reading the Goblinoid section again last night...Hobgoblins are not really presented as "builders" of long lasting institutions like cities. The Legions (tribes) seem way too petty and fractious, it notes that they keep logs of slights they receive from other legions within a host, so they can keep grudges going after the host disperses. They are Lawful, but possibly too evil to have super-stable nations on a regular basis.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

yeah, but at the very least there should be a spartan like city of them somewhere that , while never be a major power, would be a seriously tough nut to crack and a monster factory for hobgoblin raiders and mercenaries for other factions.

 

[Parmandur]

yeah, but at the very least there should be a spartan like city of them somewhere that , while never be a major power, would be a seriously tough nut to crack and a monster factory for hobgoblin raiders and mercenaries for other factions.

Sure, and there ae
Re, as I mentioned in a previous post: quite a few in the FR, really.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

I believe it, but a simple list in volo's guide would sure help to figure out where they are sure would have been helpful.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I really like the idea of a portable city, but would have to figure out a way to make it so it can appear just about any where as needed, while avoiding the standard "wizard did it." I could see the hobgoblin engineering corps can have a city pop up overnight and tear one down the next.

I don't mean they would have cities indoor plumbing or anything, but the strictly militaristic Hobgoblins could have huge Mobile Military camps, where every evening every soldier or group of soldiers sets up his or their tent. Quartermasters set up shop. Smith's set up smithies. Cooks set up kitchens, Camp followers sut up their tests, Spouses their tents and so on. Magic could certainly aid in this, but I don't think it would be strictly necessary.

Also how do you have factions within the city that just don't break off and go their separate ways?

That's called mutiny or desertion, which does happen from time to time. Usually the results are bloody.

 

[Parmandur]

I believe it, but a simple list in volo's guide would sure help to figure out where they are sure would have been helpful.

True, but Volos isn't a FR book, marketing fluff aside; I believe the AL has a Hobgoblin Legion that is part of the Lords' Alliance, for PC background purposes?

 

[Edwin Suijkerbuijk]

Hobgoblins are the weird race out. They really have nothing in common with goblins (or bugbears) and seem like they should be nation builders. But they haven't been portrayed that way in the past. There's at least one (if not two) orc heavy nations in the Realms (and Golarion & Eberron) but no real hobgoblin empires or kingdoms.

They're a nation of Spartans that gets forgotten.

Intresting you mention Spartans becouse I think of the hobgoblins would build a nation it would be a lot like Sparta.

in spartan society there where 3 classes Spartiates (ruling warior class), Periokoi ( free men mostly craftsmen with no voting rights) , Herlots ( slaves/serfs )
Spartiates would be the Hobgoblins
Periokoi would be mostly goblins and bugbears + individuals from conqured people that proved themselves loyal and usefull.
Herlots peoples enslaved from conqured people might caontain a lot of humans.

 

[gyor]

Some found couple of Hobgoblin empires, one used to be in Tethyr and the other is still around in part of old Shantar.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

okay

is there a particularly good place for such a settlement somewhere around the anauroch?