D&D 5E UA Kobold & Hobgoblin: Possibly for a Forgotten Realms Setting Book

[Urriak Uruk]

Yeah the one specific region will be Faerun . Seriously I've heard this one region at a time thing since Tomb of Annihilation and it never happened.

What are you talking about? 5E books have been giving deep dives on lots of regions in FR.

• The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (the Sword Coast)
• Out of the Abyss (the Sword Coast's Underdark)
• Tomb of Annihilation (Chult)
• Dragon Heist (Waterdeep Gazetteer)
• Dungeon of the Mad Mage (Undermountain)
• Descent into Avernus (Baldur's Gate Gazetteer)
• Rime of the Frostmaiden (Icewind Dale)
• Candlekeep Mysteries (Candlekeep)

Seems like the D&D team is a lot more keen on exploring Toril by going deep rather than wide, so I see no reason for why they would throw some really expansive book like a guide to all of Faerun. It seems completely contrary to their whole method for exploring Forgotten Realms in 5E.

I know you personally are very keen on a Faerun guide similar to the FRCS, but I'm very doubtful that's ever going to happen for 5E. I'm not sure which region most intrigues the D&D team, although I remember a while ago on a Spoilers & Swag they wanted to release more books exploring different cultures. I think an updated book (with modern sensibilities and a diverse group of consultants) on Al-Qadim would be a great revisit for example.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I could see that for Hobgoblin, but not Kobold.

I think the speculative First World setting is more likely to connect fey goblinoids* with miniature dragons. Then the versions presented in Volo are their degenerate decedents.


*The lack of goblin and bugbear lineages in the UA should have tipped us off that something was fishy about the inclusion of the hobgoblin.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I think the speculative First World setting is more likely to connect fey goblinoids* with miniature dragons. Then the versions presented in Volo are their degenerate decedents.


*The lack of goblin and bugbear lineages in the UA should have tipped us off that something was fishy about the inclusion of the hobgoblin.

This would be a very fun take, good idea!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Assuming the fey hobgoblins actually are fey hobgoblins, and not intentionally obscured a bit, I cannot see them being in a Forgotten Realms book.

I think a Feywild counterpart to Van Richten's seems not-unlikely to me. Hopefully they'll reprint the satyr race there, too, which feels like a weird omission from Witchlight.

 

[Parmandur]

Assuming the fey hobgoblins actually are fey hobgoblins, and not intentionally obscured a bit, I cannot see them being in a Forgotten Realms book.

I think a Feywild counterpart to Van Richten's seems not-unlikely to me. Hopefully they'll reprint the satyr race there, too, which feels like a weird omission from Witchlight.

I could see them being very lightly obscired: "Fey Hobgoblins" when they are actually testing something with a different Goblin-y name like Broggarts or something. That's what they did with the Owlin in the same document.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I could see them being very lightly obscired: "Fey Hobgoblins" when they are actually testing something with a different Goblin-y name like Broggarts or something. That's what they did with the Owlin in the same document.

I don't think that is likely, for the following reasons:

Their "Fey Gift" ability is based around "Feywild’s rule of reciprocity". This rule is also mentioned in Wild Beyond the Witchlight. This clearly links them to the Feywild.

Their "Fortune from the Many" ability is mechanically the same as the current hobgoblin "Saving Face" ability, but with different fluff. This makes them actual hobgoblins.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Their "Fey Gift" ability is based around "Feywild’s rule of reciprocity". This rule is also mentioned in Wild Beyond the Witchlight. This clearly links them to the Feywild.

Their "Fortune from the Many" ability is mechanically the same as the current hobgoblin "Saving Face" ability, but with different fluff. This makes them actual hobgoblins.

So, if they're really being saved for another book, it's probably either another Feywild book or a big book of more races and lineages.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think that is likely, for the following reasons:

Their "Fey Gift" ability is based around "Feywild’s rule of reciprocity". This rule is also mentioned in Wild Beyond the Witchlight. This clearly links them to the Feywild.

Their "Fortune from the Many" ability is mechanically the same as the current hobgoblin "Saving Face" ability, but with different fluff. This makes them actual hobgoblins.

Well, actual Goblinoids seems a given, but there are oodles and oodles of local variations on the concept of "Goblin," like "Hobb, "Bugbear" or "Kobold."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, and that's possibility number three: A big book on goblinoids.

Possibility number four: That might be a way to handle all the formerly evil races: A soft reboot of Volo's showing alternate takes on "always evil" groups like orcs and goblinoids, with variant subraces, new cultures, subclasses themed for many of them, etc. That could even be where the jungle and arctic drow are going to show up, since we know art was done for their cities.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Look at how VRGtR was designed, a what 10-15 Domains got a multiple page deep dive, and the rest got a couple of paragraphs. FR is likely be bigger book with more pages devoted to detailing the setting.

There are about 20-30 major nations in Faerun that could get a deep dive of 3-4 pages, so 60 to 120 pages, with lots of room for other stuff. They might merge some nations too. Personally I'd have Mulhorand retake Mugholm for example.

You consider 4 pages of material on an entire country a "deep dive" of that country...?

Okay.