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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nail" data-source="post: 1158607" data-attributes="member: 224">Hmmm.Well, I'd like you to continue to be able to use the rules, logic etc. I'd like players to be able to "think ahead" of the situation, and as a player I've only found that possible if the DM has a reasonably structured setting.  I'm sure all of you agree.So I really feel I have to address this "goblins = lawful" issue.  (Goblins are Neutral Evil, BTW.  Neither Chaotic nor Lawful.)I disagree that the goblins are acting "Lawfully".Of course, this whole discussion is tinged with an incomplete picture of the facts.  That's a given.Setting that aside, I disagree that anything the goblins have done is a "suicide mission".  That phrase rather over-states the situation.  Without revealing too much, it seemed pretty clear that the ambush into which you stumbled had an excellent chance of killing you, and, for most invaders, would be an excellent way of defending their lair.  That the plan is not perfect, and has holes in its planning, discipline, and execution, should be typical of the goblin approach.For example, the hiding goblins did not have to reveal themselves.  Them revealing themselves may have been caused by their belief they could win, and win easily.  In fact, there may have been other goblins, in other positions, that chose not to reveal themselves, again with that sort of "cowardly calculus" in mind.  You may remember that although your position at the "Intersection of Death"(tm) was bad, your position at other parts of the battlefield was not so bad.The "backed into a corner" statement is accurate, though I think you should conceed it is your PCs that are doing the "backing".   You should also consider the intelligence (both accuracy and timeliness) the goblins have with respect to you.  A timeline might be helpful when thinking about this.  I agree that the "seasoned" adjective is appropriate when applied to the goblins who ambushed you.  I do not agree that seasoned = lawful.  The goblins you just encountered were better than those you've run into previously.  Why or how that is is up to interpretation and further fact-finding.  How many more of these "superior goblins" there are.....is also left for further fact-finding.  It is safe to assume there is not an indefinite supply.  I do, in fact, keep track of how many are killed, in what circumstance (surpirsed, slaughtered, etc), and where other groups might be.  I also do not treat goblin tribes as "one mind" or "one unit".  My hope is that your experience with the gatehouse up above might give hints in that direction.  You have noted various leaders and leadership styles, I'm sure.  Perhaps a question of why those goblins were up there, given the efficiency of this ambush, might have also crossed your mind.Regardless, I always take these sorts of criticisms seriously, and I will carefully think over what the goblins are doing, planning, have available, know about their situation, etc.  I have some former gaming friends that I'll run this by as well.  We'll see!.....I'm getting way too serious here.   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />   Game on, man!    <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /></blockquote>

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