D&D 5E Oh god, not goblins again...

[tardigrade]

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.

 

[Lanliss]

Duergar or Drow could also work, IIRC, though I make no promises on the party survivability. You might check out Volo's guide, it has some nice fresh monsters. Failing that, you can grab the starting area from a different adventure, that doesn't involve goblins, and tie it in the same way as SKT does the caves*.

*I don't know how difficult this would be, as I don't have SKT, now know what the tie is for the dripping caves. Chances are though, that tie can be easily grafted onto any other adventure, not even necessarily one starting in a cave.

 

[TerraDave]

You get to choose goblins, or kobolds. Sunless Citadel (in TftYP) has both!

One option is just slightly tougher monsters, maybe with a twist. Village of Hommlet threw all sort of non-level appropriate things at 1st level parties, with the possibility that they could recruit help from the village (which could backfire disastrously).

Another option is to put a twist on the goblins or kobolds. Funny, friendly, extra cunning, strange allies, etc.

Finally, maybe go to longer levels when you play. So that when you get back to low levels again, it all feels fresh!

 

[Demetrios1453]

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.

Absolutely nothing. My group was perfectly fine with goblins again.



Sent from my VS987 using EN World mobile app

 

[CrashFiend82]

I personally enjoy reskinning based on mythological creatures. It is possible to find great artwork online, plus I can tweak them to better fit the adventure or to thwart player expectations without having to justify changing core monsters.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I like fighting goblins. I wish I could spend more time fighting goblins.

In my world, goblins are a type of demon, so you don't need to feel bad about killing them. Sometimes they show up in groups of twenty or more.

 

[Mistwell]

Was this a problem in Lord of the Rings too? Were Sam and Frodo saying, "Ah man, not orcs again! It's goblins (little orcs) or Orcs (medium orcs) or Uruk-hai (big orcs) 90% of the time!"

 

[Lanliss]

Was this a problem in Lord of the Rings too? Were Sam and Frodo saying, "Ah man, not orcs again! It's goblins (little orcs) or Orcs (medium orcs) or Uruk-hai (big orcs) 90% of the time!"

That was a massive over-arching storyline, where Orcs were a mighty host of terror. This is D&D, where goblins should have realistically died off long ago, and would have if they didn't breed like rabbits and survive like rats. Not to mention, Frodo and Sam only ever seemed to reach level 2 or 3, based on the fact that frodo was still one-shot by a simple giant spider. Pan over to Aragorn & Friends, slaying dozens of orcs a day without breaking a sweat. If they didn't have the alternate objective of defending the keep, the Orcs would have been wiped out without trouble. Clever DM, attaching a requirement to victory, kind of like those terrible "Defend this person while they act useless" missions in games.

 

[Azzy]

This thread made me realize that I haven't used goblins in years.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

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.

Hunh. I thought this was going to be a thread about high-level PCs who dread fighting goblins, because 5E goblins are actually quite deadly. At 10th level, you're obviously no longer going to be frightened of six goblins, but even a DMG Medium fight against goblins (using decent tactics) is going to be far tougher than a Medium fight against flesh golems or demons.

Edit: I guess I owe you an answer to your actual question. I bought but didn't run SKT, barely even skimmed it to be honest except for the monsters at the back. I don't necessarily have a problem with goblins, but if I wanted some variety and the theme was "giants" I'd probably start off by having the first level characters fight hill giants and trolls. If they survive they'll level up pretty quick. It's not like it will be the first time I've thrown CR 4-5 monsters at low-level PCs.

So my answer is, "If my players complained about low-level monsters, I'd skip the low-level monsters entirely instead of re-skinning them."