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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nittanytbone" data-source="post: 3861015" data-attributes="member: 35709">No mechanical changes are needed.Just play the bad guys "smart."  You are absolutely correct that upon first contact, mooks may assume these humans are just another band of militia to be cut down.  However, if these guys are of mid-level, word of Gord the Goblin Smasher should be spreading among the tribes.  Perhaps the shaman, who has a few ranks in Knowledge (Local), has warned his troops to be on the lookout.  Maybe a dark wizard gives a friendly tip to the local humanoids and gives them a wagon full of tower shields.  Perhaps a more advanced tribe of hobgoblins sends some level 3 Fighter Sergeants to come and train the locals in more advanced tactics.  Humanoids are cunning -- their lives are nasty, brutish and short, and the ones that can't adapt to the fortunes of war die off.Disciplined troops (lawful types, such as hobgoblins) will recoil from the initial blows and reform.  They will then employ missile weapons or formation tactics to overwhelm the spiked chain wielder.  For example, a front rank could advance with tower shields using full defense for a bonus to AC while a second rank armed with polearms uses the aid another action to boost the front rank's AC.  Once the phalanx has closed to threat range, the second (and third/fourth) ranks also get the benefit of cover from the spiked chain.Use minor alchemical items to shape the battlefield.  You can't strike what you can't see.  A simple smokestick or obscuring mist spell from a level 1 adept provides effective concealment for an advance.  Plus, the miss chance ensures that great cleave will fail after 5 times on average.Chaotic foes might charge in one at a time, boasting each other to best the previous onrusher's attempt.  This draws out the AoO until they're all sucked up.  Chaotic foes might also break and run only to set up an ambush under more favorable conditions later.  An orc barbarian might hurl a spear before charging in or pull out a longspear.Tactics such as grappling might also be effective.They might also trust to a shaman or witch doctor to deal with the threat...  A simple "Command" spell might take the spiked chain wielder out of the fight for a round, which is all the foes need to surround and pound them.Finally, as Magneto says in X-Men, "That's why the pawns go first."  Low HD humanoid mooks are just pawns for more powerful leaders.  Against a mid-high level adventuring party, they will die in swarms, but they soak up AoO, drain resources (Fighter's HP and wizard's spells), and buy time for the leaders to buff/get into position.</blockquote>

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