D&D 5E A "Ronin Legion" Hobgoblin-based Mercenary Company

[MattW]

Have you read the "Black Company" series by Glen Cook? There are some good ideas that you could steal - especially the company's nastiest employer: a sort of undead lich/magic-user called simply "The Lady". Some of the Lady's servants are fairly decent and treat their mercenaries well, but some are very creepy...

My favourite aspect of the Black Company is that it has an "Annalist" who keeps the unit's journal/diary. The Annalist's duties include public readings of sections of the company's history (which covers hundreds of years). IMHO, this is a great way of introducing exposition and clues.

In terms of campaign play, I would suggest that the "Legion" format you described is the ORIGINAL structure (and an ambition for the future). Your players may find it easier to understand the unit if you start the campaign with a smaller number of soldiers - and the campaign is about "levelling up" the Legion.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

But why are they ronin? They are all serving a lord - their lord is a mercenary captain, but those often had ways of becoming real lords

I've mostly been thinking of the Roman part of the Hobgoblin origins, but haven't put too thought much into the feudal Japanese part yet.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

But thinking back to Hobgoblins with the idea of they might have been originally fey, Animism (the idea that there's spirits in everything) is very much a part of Hobgoblin beliefs since spirits are a lot more active in Feywild. Some of the greater spirits solidified into the ideas behind the Paladin Oaths. In fact it's thought that it was from Hobgoblin society where the Oaths originally came from. Many Hobgoblins live by tenets and the ideals behind the Oaths, though for most (as in non-Paladins) they can live flexibly within the Oaths and can change the ones they have an affinity for a different points in life.

The Imperial Republic is where the Legion originally came from, is not a republic in the modern sense, as it's really those in higher positions in society like nobles and lords/daimyo who get to vote. There once was a daimyo-legate who dealt with dark forces from beyond looking gain any advantage above their rival lords, corrupted the lands causing an extraplanar incursion. With the lands twisted and the spirits in pain, the Legion became outcasts to the Imperial Republic and swore to never serve such petty lords.

 

[Ancalagon]

But thinking back to Hobgoblins with the idea of they might have been originally fey, Animism (the idea that there's spirits in everything) is very much a part of Hobgoblin beliefs since spirits are a lot more active in Feywild. Some of the greater spirits solidified into the ideas behind the Paladin Oaths. In fact it's thought that it was from Hobgoblin society where the Oaths originally came from. Many Hobgoblins live by tenets and the ideals behind the Oaths, though for most (as in non-Paladins) they can live flexibly within the Oaths and can change the ones they have an affinity for a different points in life.

The Imperial Republic is where the Legion originally came from, is not a republic in the modern sense, as it's really those in higher positions in society like nobles and lords/daimyo who get to vote. There once was a daimyo-legate who dealt with dark forces from beyond looking gain any advantage above their rival lords, corrupted the lands causing an extraplanar incursion. With the lands twisted and the spirits in pain, the Legion became outcasts to the Imperial Republic and swore to never serve such petty lords.

So in other word, the name ronin was given to them as an insult by the Imperial Republics, to make them less legitimate, and the Ronin legion's reaction was to embrace the title? Because that is solid

 

[Bupp]

I've worked up the organizational structure of the hobgoblin legions for my World of Eska. Feel free to adjust the troop counts to reflect the levels of mass combat you desire. The name in my head was The One Hundred Legions.

Ten generals in a legions sounds like a lot, but I like the Black Sabbath lyric "generals gathered in their masses". I wanted to use the unit name of Fist from the trollocs of Wheel of Time. I went with 4 15-man squads over 5 10-man squads just to make the middle finger joke. I started playing around with the idea of each squad having a specialty, but that's about as far as I got. Might scrap that idea.

A hobgoblin legion is made up of 4,800 infantry troopers, and 300 cavalry, led by a Warlord.

Each of the Legions is broken down into 10 Cohorts of 480 troopers, led by a General.

Each Cohort has 4 Spears of 120 troopers, led by a Captain.

Each Spear is divided into two Fists of 60 troopers, a fist has four Fingers of 15 hobgoblin troopers. A fist is led by a Mid-Captain (often jokingly called a Middle Finger).

Each Fist is made of hobgoblins from the same batch, all share the same last name, and call each other “brother”. They call all other troopers “cousins”.

Thumb. Breach fillers. Heavy troopers.

Pointer Finger. Scouts, intelligence gathering.

Middle Finger. The Mid Captain.

Ring Finger. ?

Pinky. ?

Hobgoblin Legions

Like, Follow, Share, Support! The Náraleth empire groups their hobgoblin troopers into legions. A hobgoblin legion is made up of 4,800 infantry troopers, and 300 cavalry, led by a Warlord. Each of …

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