Conquerers of Every Horizon
Habitat: Desert, Forest, Grassland, Hill, Mountain, Planar (Acheron), Underdark; Treasure: Armaments, Individual
Hobgoblin warlords lead armies of hobgoblins and their allies, using their experience and strategic minds to command amid the ebb and flow of battle.
Hobgoblins embody the primal urge to grow and spread, expressing such drives by bending the world to their whims. Lone hobgoblins claim woodland territories and plunder the wilds. In groups, they form hierarchical, martial societies bent on conquering lands and stripping them of resources to serve their expansionist zeal.
Hobgoblins often subjugate animals, monsters, and destructive Fey—particularly goblins and bugbears—to serve their plans. Hobgoblins might ally with dragons, warlords, the servants of warlike gods, or other powerful creatures that promise them control of new territories. Should hobgoblins bring an entire land to heel, they seek new conquests, venturing across seas, into the Underdark, or to stars and planes of existence beyond.
Many hobgoblins serve the violent god Maglubiyet, whose hunger for conquest matches their own. Hobgoblin followers of Maglubiyet flourish in the Infinite Battlefield of Acheron, where they endlessly indulge their drive for domination. These war-obsessed hobgoblins employ elaborate tactics and strange weapons, which they sometimes unleash on worlds of the Material Plane.
The drive to subjugate and pillage is part of hobgoblins’ supernatural nature, though a few might repress their warlike tendencies or turn them to more useful ends. Roll on or choose a result from the Hobgoblin Strategies table to inspire how a hobgoblin carries out its conquest.
| 1d6 | The Hobgoblin Works To … |
|---|---|
| 1 | Build a vessel to carry hobgoblin armies to new conquests. |
| 2 | Capture monsters and train them to fight. |
| 3 | Collapse a region into the Underdark so riches can be sifted from the ruins. |
| 4 | Construct a giant machine to strip resources. |
| 5 | Convince devils, dragons, or hobgoblins from Acheron to invade an enemy land. |
| 6 | Help shortsighted merchants undermine a government or despoil the environment. |
Aura of Authority. While in a 30-foot Emanation originating from the hobgoblin, the hobgoblin and its allies have Advantage on attack rolls and saving throws, provided the hobgoblin doesn’t have the Incapacitated condition.
Multiattack. The hobgoblin makes three attacks, using Javelin or Longsword in any combination.
Javelin. Melee or Ranged Attack Roll:+6, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) Piercing damage, and the target’s Speed decreases by 10 feet until the start of the hobgoblin’s next turn.
Longsword. Melee Attack Roll:+6, reach 5 ft. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) Slashing damage.
Parry. Trigger: The hobgoblin is hit by a melee attack roll while holding a weapon: Response: The hobgoblin adds 3 to its AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
