D&D 5E NEED ADVICE: Goblin Invasion Long One-Shot/Short Campaign

[embee]

With the 5e conversion of Abomination Vaults, I got to thinking...

What about a one shot that's the standard level 1 party goes after some goblins but... the goblin village was already raided. By other goblins. Specifically, by PF goblins.

What are some flavor differences between 5e and Paizo goblins? Paizoverse seem a little more Gremlin-like to me, mad bombers and the like, whereas 5e seem more like mischievous little scamps. What would you put in to have Paizoverse goblins?

Also, lengthwise, the group plays weekly for about 2.5 hours per session. Obviously, part 1 is the goblin village. And the finale should be closing the rift to the Paizoverse. What other (and how many) intervening encounters would you put in?

 

[ninjayeti]

Check out Paizo's Ten Fun Facts About Goblins. It is pretty old, so I am not sure if it represents the current depiction of goblins (now that they are an official PC race), but seems like it would be helpful for what you are thinking about.

 

[aco175]

I would have the PCs level up between the two parts. I did something like this once and had the level 1 sheet on one side and flip it over to level 2 in the middle of the game. The players liked it and gave them a bit of a bump for the big fight.

Not sure on the goblins themselves, but you can add other helper monsters like giant rats and worgs.

 

[LordEntrails]

For a 4 hour convention one-shot I normally plan 2 combats and 1 roleplaying encounter. With maybe a backup encounter of some type.

If this is with your existing group you will need to adjust based on how quickly the play plus how long you need to get the setup underway.
I could see a starting investigation encounter indicating who attacked and giving them some reason to track down the invaders (i.e. so the goblins are dead, why does the party care and why might they wish to follow-up?) Followed by a combat encounter that leaves clues to the final location, or is part two. i.e. these could be getting into the compound and ten fighting the chieftain.

 

[Yaarel]

A reallife fairy tale influences my take on goblins.

They are definitely fey - fairy. Small and "hideous". Magically powerful.

The interesting thing is, they remind of modern drug dealers. They sell magic, in this tale potions, that have beneficial effects but also terrible side effects including dependence and addiction, and slowly fading away from the material world. So they literally sell these "cursed" magic items in dark alleys to the ignorant or desperate. It is unusual to break free from the "curse", and requires heroic effort and often help from others.

Altho the goblins are smart and cunning, they are also humorously dimwitted and gullible and even stupid and ineffectual in some ways.

In D&D, I prefer goblins to be Any alignment. But to have a cursed magic "drug cartel" as a Lawful Evil faction, who is racist against humans and intentionally targets them as a kind of "opium war", is fine by me.