Hobgoblin
Hobgoblins trace their origins to the ancient courts of the Feywild, where they first appeared with their Goblin and Bugbear kin. Many of them were driven from the Feywild by the conquering god Maglubiyet, who marshaled them as soldiers, but the Fey realm left its mark; wherever they are in the multiverse, they continue to channel an aspect of the Feywild's rule of reciprocity, which creates a mystical bond between the giver and the receiver of a gift.
Hobgoblins are generally taller than their goblin cousins but not quite as big as bugbears. They have curved, pointed ears and noses that turn bright red or blue during displays of emotion.
Hobgoblin culture measures virtue by physical strength and martial prowess, caring about nothing except the opportunity to demonstrate skill and cunning in battle. Hobgoblins of high military rank attain their positions by force, then hold those positions by imposing their authority through draconian measures.
Hobgoblins train to fight with a variety of weapons, and have great skill at crafting arms, armor, siege engines, and other military devices. Organized and disciplined, they take exceptional care of their weapons, armor, and personal possessions. They favor the bold colors associated with their legions, and trim their often-elaborate uniforms with blood-red piping and leather dyed black.
Hobgoblins organize themselves into bands known as legions. In their martial society, every hobgoblin has a rank, from the powerful leaders and champions, to the rank-and-file foot soldiers, to the goblins that find themselves driven into the front lines at spear point. A legion is headed by a warlord with several captains serving under its command. A hobgoblin warlord is often ruthless tyrant more interested in strategy, victory, glory, reputation, and dominion than leading troops into battle.
As loyal and disciplined as hobgoblins are in their own legion, rival legions compete constantly for reputation and status. Meetings between legions erupt in violence if troops aren't restrained, and only exceptionally powerful leaders can force legions to cooperate on the battlefield.
Hobgoblins have a strong grasp of tactics and discipline, and can carry out sophisticated battle plans under the direction of a strategically minded leader. However, many hate Elves due to their fey ancestry, and attack them first in battle over any other opponents, even if doing so would be a tactical error.
Legions often supplement their ranks with less reliable and more expendable troops, including goblins, bugbears, humans, Ogres, and Giants.
Hobgoblins have a long history of training animals to service. They use oxen and horses to transport goods and weaponry over long distances. They communicate with each other using trained ravens, and keep vicious wolves to guard prisoners and protect hobgoblin camps. Hobgoblin cavalry use trained Worgs as steeds, in the same way that goblins ride wolves. Some tribes even keep carnivorous apes as fighting beasts.
Hobgoblin legions claim lands with abundant resources, and they can be found in forests and mountains, near mines and humanoid settlements, and anywhere else that wood, metal, and potential slaves can be found. They build and conquer strongholds in strategically advantageous locations, which they then use as staging areas to expand their territory.
Hobgoblin warlords never tire of combat, but they don't take up arms lightly. Before they attack, hobgoblins conduct thorough reconnaissance to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of their foes. When assaulting a stronghold, they surround it first to cut off escape routes and supply lines, then slowly starve their enemies out.
Hobgoblins fortify their own holdings, bolstering existing defenses with innovations of their own. Whether they lair in cavern complexes, dungeons, ruins, or forests, they protect their strongholds with ditches, fences, gates, guard towers, pit traps, and crude catapults or ballistas.
- Creature Type: You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a goblinoid for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a goblinoid.
- Size: You are Medium.
- Speed: Your walking speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
- Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed condition on yourself.
- Fortune from the Many. If you miss with an attack roll or fail an ability check or a saving throw, you can draw on your bonds of reciprocity to gain a bonus to the roll equal to the number of allies you can see within 30 feet of you (maximum bonus of +3). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
- Fey Gift: You can use this trait to take the Help action as a bonus action, and you can do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Starting at 3rd level, choose one of the options below each time you take the Help action with this trait:
- Hospitality: You and the creature you help each gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d6 plus your proficiency bonus.
- Passage: You and the creature you help each increase your walking speeds by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
- Spite: Until the start of your next turn, the first time the creature you help hits a target with an attack roll, that target has disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes within the next minute.
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