Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.

Like other goblinoids, hobs have been in D&D since the beginning, where they used to fit right above Orcs in the Humanoid Power Ladder. Having 1+1 HD prevented them from being casually cleaved by OD&D fighters.

In 4e, as I’ve already discussed, they’re the most disciplined and militaristic of goblinoids, and likely to be in charge in any situation where the three types are working together. They produce their fair share of empire-building commanders, and can also be found working as mercenaries for any number of clients. Their discipline makes them the most reliable goblinoid mercenaries money can buy.

Once again we have seven hobgoblin stat blocks in the MM and four in the MV. Let’s look at them by order of level.

The Numbers

Hobgoblins are some of the monsters that changed the most between books, and this includes their standard traits. Both versions have Speed 6 and low-light vision, but the signature powers are pretty different.

Monster Manual hobgoblins have two such traits: Hobgoblin Resilience is a reaction that allows them to immediately make a save when hit by an effect a save can end. And Phalanx Soldier is a passive trait that gives them a +2 bonus to AC when adjacent to at least one other hobgoblin. All hobs have the first, and only warrior-types have the second.

You can probably see the problem here - these two traits make hobgoblins a lot harder to kill than their level would indicate. A fight against hobgoblins could drag on for a long time, particularly when the players are still inexperienced.

The signature trait for Monster Vault hobgoblins is Phalanx Movement, a move action that allows both the user and each ally in a Close Burst 1 to shift 1 square, as long as they all end up adjacent to each other. This allows a group of hobgoblins to slowly advance as a unit, with no gaps in their formation. Hobgoblin Resilience still makes an appearance in the MV stat blocks, but only once.

Hobgoblin Grunt (MM)

The rank and file of a hobgoblin army, these are Level 3 Skirmisher minions. They wear leather and wield a light shield and a longsword. They have Hobgoblin Resilience and Phalanx Soldier, but no other special tricks.

There’s also a Hobgoblin Warrior that’s identical to the grunt, but is level 8.

Hobgoblin Archer (MM)

These are Level 3 Artillery with 39 HP. They have Hobgoblin Resilience, but no formation-related traits. Their gear is similar to the grunt’s with the addition of a longbow and quiver of arrows.

Their longsword attacks are nothing special; longbow attacks grant an ally within 5 squares of the target a +2 bonus to hit it on their next attack. The little “tactics” paragraph for archers says they have a Coordinated Fire trait, but that’s absent from the actual stat block. Not sure if it was ever added on errata or not.

Still, they do very well as support for melee combatants in addition to being a source of ranged damage themselves. With “coordinated fire” not being a thing, you should spread your archers out in a loose skirmish line beyond the reach of melee PCs.

Hobgoblin Soldier (MM)

Hobgoblin Soldiers are Level 3 Soldiers with 47 HP, and a very good case study of how Hobgoblin Resilience and Phalanx Soldier together can be frustrating.

Being soldiers, their AC is already higher than normal - in fact, at 20, it’s 1 point higher than the new math says it should be. Phalanx Soldier gives then another +2 on top of that when you have multiple adjacent hobgoblins (which you will always have). They’ll also outright ignore about half of the effects that require saves that are thrown their way.

They will usually be facing level 1-3 PCs, which will likely not be able to throw multiple save effects per round to overcome their resilience. And they’ll be as hard to hit with AC attacks as level 6 soldiers until there is one lone hobgoblin left. The party is in for a long fight.

Offensively, hob soldiers fight with flails. Their basic attack both marks and slows for a turn, and they can also perform a Formation Strike that does the same damage and allows them to shift 1 square to end up adjacent to another hobgoblin. So that fight is going to last even longer because the PCs will spend much of it slowed and will find it hard to knock the hobs out of formation.

You will most likely want to leave these guys out of your game entirely, and use Battle Guards in their stead.

Hobgoblin Battle Guard (MV)

This is the updated version of the Soldier above. It’s a Level 3 Soldier with 49 HP and most of the original’s frustrating features removed.

The flail attack still marks, but no longer slows. Hobgoblin Resilience is gone, and Phalanx Soldier has been replaced by Share Shield, an interrupt that grants an adjacent ally +2 to AC and Reflex against one attack that targets either of those two defenses. Being an interrupt, it will only work once per turn, so it can be overwhelmed by PCs without too much trouble. The Battle Guard gets Phalanx Movement as well.

So in the end you have a soldier-type that gets stronger when it’s in a tight formation with its fellow soldiers, but not so strong as to make the fight impossible or super-long. It’s also easier to disrupt that formation.

Hobgoblin Spear Soldier (MV)

A Level 3 Skirmisher with 48 HP, the spear soldier was made to complement the Battle Guard above. It wields a longspear and carries a sheaf of javelins.

You want to have a line of spear soldiers in formation behind a line of battle guards. All of them will advance together via Phalanx Movement. The spearhobs will throw those Range 20 javelins as the unit closes in, and once melee starts will attack with their Reach 2 spears from behind the safety of the battle guard shield wall. Yes, Share Shield works on allies behind the user. If a PC manages to get adjacent to one of them, they can shift 3 squares as a reaction.

Hobgoblin Beast Master (MV)

Beast masters are Level 3 Controllers (Leaders) with 47 HP. While goblins prefer to use their tamed beasts as mounts, these hobs are trained to wrangle a pack of attack animals. They wield a goad (works as a war pick) in one hand and a whip in the other.

Whenever a beast or magical beast ally adjacent to the beast master hits with an attack, it gains 5 temporary HP. The beast master’s goad is a basic attack. The whip does damage and knocks down on a hit, and can slide the target 1 square as an effect. It can also choose to give an attack order to an adjacent beast or magical beast ally, giving it a Lazy Warlord-style free basic attack.

The beast master has Phalanx Movement, which does work on its beasts since the ability doesn’t specify the affected allies must be hobgoblins.

Hobgoblin Warcaster (MM)

A Level 3 Controller (Leader) with 46 HP, representing a wizard who specializes in electricity and force spells.

Warcasters carry staffs that do piddly damage as basic attacks, but which can be charged with electricity (Melee 1 vs. AC; recharge 4-6) to do respectable lightning damage and daze for a turn.

They can attack at range with force spells: Force Lure (Ranged 5 vs. Fortitude; recharge 5-6) does force damage and slides 3 squares on a hit; Force Pulse (Close Blast 5 vs. Reflex; Recharge 6) also does force damage, pushes 1 square and knocks targets down. On a miss, it does half damage with no riders.

The warcaster doesn’t get special bonuses from being in formation, but it benefits from Hobgoblin Resilience.

Hobgoblin Warmonger (MV)

This Level 4 Artillery (Leader) monster has 46 HP and is basically an upgraded version of the Archer we already saw. It uses a mace in melee and a longbow at range.

Its arrows do a fair bit of damage and cause the target to grant combat advantage for a turn, which is simpler and more powerful than the archer’s rider. It can also use a Battle Cry (Area burst 1 within 10 vs. Will) that has a somewhat complicated effect.

Each ally in the burst gets to charge or make a basic attack as a free action. If they hit, they gain 5 temporary HP. Each enemy in the burst is subject to an attack against their Will, and if hit must make a basic attack against a creature of the warmonger’s choosing. It yells “kill the wizard!” with such conviction even the PCs must make an effort not to follow the order! Less facetiously, this is likely some sort of Bane-powered charm, as it does have the charm keyword.

Unlike the archer, the warmonger has Phalanx Movement, meaning it can march in lockstep with its unit of bodyguards.

Hobgoblin Commander (Both)

A rare goblinoid stat block that has the same name in both books. Commanders are Level 5 Soldiers (Leaders) with 64 HP. They wear scale and wield heavy shields and spears.

The commander’s spear attacks mark for a turn. It also has a Lead from the Front trait which gives its allies +2 to attack and damage for a turn against anyone it hits with the spear.

While the commander lacks Phalanx Movement, it can issue orders for a Tactical Deployment (Close Burst 5; recharge 5-6; minor action) to allow allies in the burst to shift 3 squares. And it’s the sole MV hobgoblin to have Hobgoblin Resilience.

The older MM version is pretty much identical, except it has worse damage and can shift 1 square if it hits with an opportunity attack.

Hobgoblin Hand of Bane (MM)

Likely a powerful paladin of Bane. This is a Level 8 Elite Soldier with 184 HP. It wears plate, carries a heavy shield, and wields a flail.

This is the Flail of Dread, whose basic attacks mark for a turn and allow a secondary attack against Will. A hit on that one gives the target -2 to all defenses for the rest of the encounter or until the Hand of Bane dies. Yikes!

The flail can also be used in a Flail of Tyranny attack (recharge 6), which does more damage and stuns for a turn on a hit.

Bane’s Blessing gives the Hand a +4 to its damage rolls once it’s first bloodied, and it also has Hobgoblin Resilience. It lacks any formation-based tricks, though.

Final Impressions

The hobgoblin niche of being the “organized, militaristic” humanoids actually makes them the most reasonable of the bunch. That’s admitedly not a very high bar to clear in a “bunch” that includes gnolls and orcs, but it’s already something.

A given band of hobgoblins is likely to be pursuing an objective more complex than “kill everyone and raze every building”, and doesn’t need to be defeated with that same tactic. They’ll leave if you can prevent them from accomplishing their goals, and the truly reasonable among them will also leave if you manage to negotiate a nonviolent solution.

Heck, it’s not impossible for a paragon or epic party to hire themselves a company of hobgoblin mercs to help deal with a some aspect of a major threat. A morally risky move, but not an impossibility.

Eberron goes further on this by making them not actually villainous. Its human nations view the goblin kingdom of Darguun with suspicion, and it might become a real menace if the wrong clan ascends to power, but it’s at it root no better or worse than any other Khorvairian nation.