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

[guachi]

I am running B10 Night's Dark Terror which is an endless sea of goblins for the first half or so.

What makes it interesting is that the goblins aren't just plain goblins. The goblins have different tribes that make them a little distinct (as distinct as you can make a 1HD-1 creature in Basic D&D) and their lairs are all a little different.

 

[LarryD]

Goblin cultists! No one's all that tired of cultists, are they?

 

[Luz]

Kenkus and jackalweres make great 1st level enemies. Also, there's the olive slime creature or the yellow musk zombie from 5th Edition Foes by Frog God Games. These things are really good for putting a spin on almost any low level rural settlement or community, as there could be an infestation of yellow musk or olive slime that has infected the population. You could even have it infest a goblin lair, with the PCs fighting their way through what they believe to be zombie goblins.

 

[Scary]

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.

What I have used with great success that causes a real pain and gets the low level party really moving are enemy combatants using Bows & Crossbows, either or both. If you have enough fighters keeping the party busy and throw in 2 or 3 archers than can really cause problems. On the flip side, the party has now armed all who can use ranged weapons with them to help out in a fight, really changed their views on combat and what helps win a fight.

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[hawknsparrow]

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.

Use some type of worm or giant beast that the 1st level monsters are worshiping or serving... send in your adventurers behind another group from the village who get slaughtered in front of them... throw in the kobilds or whatever hampering their retreat.... wear them down to death saves but don't let them die... or do let one die. They'll remember that battle.

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