Consider the following when building an early-level goblin adventure in DnD 5e or Pathfinder 2e:
For RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons 5e and Pathfinder 2e, goblin encounters are often used an early-game quest to gain those sweet first few levels. They work well as a menace right outside the starting village, with variations called “goblinoids”, including various types of goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears.
Goblins are heinous little foot soldiers who specialize in ambush tactics and guerilla warfare. Individually, they are relatively week. However, they gain strength in numbers—especially when led by a hobgoblin or bugbear chieftain.
Across fantasy role playing games, goblins come with many different traits—tricksy tactics or tinkering or adapted as a pest in a particular environment. We could use the stat blocks for goblins as is, using the traditional goblin in the encounter. Or we could repaint the goblins, using the goblin stat block for something like a gremlin or ferocious fairy.
Either way, we should understand the thematic elements all these goblins share—they’re tricky, chaotic and frustrating.
Whatever RPG you’re playing, goblins will have definite characteristics that can be invoked or heightened. With these traits in mind, we can even develop our own goblinoid. Common characteristics include:
If you’d like a premade pirate adventure with unique bat goblins, click here or below.
So, what makes goblins a threat? Sure, they look ugly—with green skin, weird heads, fangs and long ears. But it can be all too easy to use them as fodder for leveling up. Therefore, let’s stray away from head-on goblin attacks and make sure they strike with an ambush. The more cunning the goblins, the more interesting the encounter will be.
A goblin ambush may come on the road, during a lull in the game, as the party travels to the first town. The party hires a wagon and a few horses but soon finds a strange object blocking the road. Maybe this object is an overturned carriage, or maybe it’s the dead husk of a monster. Suddenly, a poison arrow strikes the coach driver.
Or it could come while trekking through the wild, as the goblins utilize their natural surroundings in their ambush. Being small and dexterous, they could easily climb into trees, hide in holes and find cover in their given environment. In fact, they probably know the land way better than most of the party. This kind of attack is especially likely if my players are already on a mission to destroy the goblin camp.
For goblins, traps can be used either as an ambush tactic or as camp defense. Either way, the party can expect strange and effective surprises during an encounter. Think of ways we could use the environment to enhance a trap. Maybe a cave has falling boulders at its entrance, or maybe a deep ditch covered with a false floor crosses the road outside the camp.
Consider these trap ideas for inspiration:
A goblin’s weakness can actually be a strength when they strap bombs to themselves. Good luck closing in on those archers if they explode on you. Across fantasy lore, goblins have a reputation for reckless bomb making and a general disregard for safety. Sure, their cowardly enough to run away from a straight fight—but they might just blow everything up out of sheer negligence.
Pathfinder leans heavier into bomb-making goblins. However, my Goblin Bomb Wizard article covers DnD 5e bomb rules—as well as a goblin bomb wizard build.
Try these explosive scenarios:
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Other than creative tenacity, players will have to deal with one of the goblins’ greatest strengths: numbers. Individually, they are easily killed. Together, they gain a significant benefit—especially in turn-based combat. Be sure to stack enough goblins against the party and spread the assailants out as much as possible—with a few pockets of groups for fun.
Most goblins will attack with a shortbow, covering different angles to spread the party away from each other. Don’t forget, the ones that decide to run in for melee may be armed with a bomb or poisoned blade. Either way, the numbers enhance the chaotic nature of each individual goblin. The little monsters can afford to be reckless.
Other than being ambushed as an early monster encounter, the most common goblin interaction would be a retrieval mission to a goblin camp.
Outside the very first tavern is a village on the edge of the unknown. This type of scenario is common because it places the players closer to the action. At some point, the party is going to want to escape the introductions and flex their new characters.
Fortunately, every village in a fantasy story is at the mercy of a sudden raid by some sort of nefarious force. This town is plagued by a goblin menace—one that’s stolen the blacksmith’s daughter. Upon saving the young girl, the blacksmith will reward the party with gold and weapon upgrades (such as silvering or a +1 attack or damage).
Or the goblins could steal a sacred amulet from a church or museum. However, a twist comes when the party realizes the amulet belongs to the goblins in the first place. Whatever the story transforms into, the basis of “search and destroy” can send the party in a certain direction, then flip the story on its head.
No normal goblin will want to take the lead of a group, so bigger, badder goblinoids often step in to rule over a gang or tribe.
More often than not, this role is picked up by a bugbear—a hulking, furry goblinoid warrior. Though this monstrous goblinoid is larger in Dnd 5e than Pathfinder, both versions are ambush hunters who pack a punch. If the surrounding goblins pose a threat in numbers, the bugbear poses a single physical threat of brute strength. In the lore of both worlds, bugbear are renowned leaders and gods of goblin-kind.
On the other hand, hobgoblins offer a goblin equivalent to a human—both in stature and society. These human-sized goblinoids are more likely to have competent warriors and spellcrafters. Due to this competency, they make leaders in a unique situation. Scorned from their own society, a hobgoblin leader of goblins should come with a fascinating backstory.
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Goblin campaigns have tons of lore to pull from—The Hobbit, fairy tales, Dnd or Pathfinder lore—and one of my favorite story tropes is the Goblin King. This so-called king is royalty only compared to the squalor he rules over. When it comes to role playing, this figure can change up the pace of a game. For instance—storming the camp could lead to capture, resulting in a conversation with the king.
Of course, the king should be obnoxious, believing he is royalty. Actually, a Goblin Queen could be a fun twist on the concept. Either way, this is an opportunity to play a wannabe tyrant who is easily distracted by shiny things.
A hobgoblin version of the Goblin King would be slightly smarter than a bugbear. Therefore, we could lean into this intelligence to make him or her a cult sorcerer or witchdoctor. On the other hand, the bugbear will be a simple, barbaric leader who is easy to trick. Hard to fight, but easy to trick.
Maybe the party needs to negotiate with this king. Perhaps a truce or a trade for a sacred object. Or it could all lead into an epic end conflict, giving the party their first boss fight.
Though goblins are often found in wild environments, an urban variant could set up shop in the sewers of a great metropolis. These goblins make for fantastic rogues, thieves and black-market merchants. Ancient cities are often built on top of even more ancient cities, creating a subterranean underworld we could use as a fascinating first adventure.
Consider the following urban goblin encounters:
Because goblins prefer to live in squalor, a fun world build could be a steampunk junkyard. These sorts of games can include elements of technology not normally found in classic DnD 5e or Pathfinder setups. Sure, we have Warforged and automatons, but what about racing or flying vehicles? A steampunk campaign can break the normal rules of fantasy adventure and add racing, exploration or problem-solving elements to the adventure.
Consider these steampunk goblin adventures:
Both Pathfinder 2e and DnD 5e have goblins as playable characters, and we can use this as a major hook. Does the player have a backstory that connects to the local goblin tribe? Did the player do something that went against goblin culture and was ousted? Now, the party can dive into the story of one of their own and explore it further.
Try one of these setups:
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