Epic Hobgoblin Stronghold

[Griskard]

I have just started a 5E game as DM. The main enemy of this campaign is Hobgoblins, but hardcore hobgoblins. There is no fudging of the dice and they use their martial advantage to the full. I even have a special forces group of them with PC classes and levels. My players are cool with the threat of death hanging over them.

I want to create a truly terrifying stronghold for them to take on, they are only early levels at the moment, but I think that perhaps destroying the hobgoblin stronghold (or dying in the process of) could make a fitting end to the campaign. The players want a bittersweet end (long way off yet, but during the character creation session we had they voiced that sort of opinion), so I expect some characters to die and/or lose something.

But anyway I'm getting distracted. The campaign is 'low magic' in the sense that none of the players are casters (Ranger, Ranger, Paladin and Fighter) and I don't put many casters in there. Magic items are not particularly common or rare. I want this to be an "ultimate test" thing for the players at level 20 with Epic Boons, but it will also feature semi-regularly before then in various ways. I'm thinking having a large slave population surrounding the stronghold, then have the vast majority of the stronghold itself below ground. The population would be around 20,000 Hobgoblins, and the slave population to support it would probably be around another 30.

Essentially what I want is to pick your brains (Because I am still a somewhat new DM) for cool ideas for inclusion. From what I can tell the players will probably have an airship armada by then, as they have already begun)

Does anyone have any really epic/cool ideas they always wished they could see in a campaign, or always wanted to include but never have? It is still early enough in the campaign that I can add or remove things easily.

[Madfellow]

Essentially what I want is to pick your brains (Because I am still a somewhat new DM) for cool ideas for inclusion. From what I can tell the players will probably have an airship armada by then, as they have already begun)

Does anyone have any really epic/cool ideas they always wished they could see in a campaign, or always wanted to include but never have? It is still early enough in the campaign that I can add or remove things easily.

Sounds like this could make for a really cool multi-part adventure/dungeon. First they have to assault the stronghold itself, then blast their way into the underground, then navigate the massive labyrinth within. :smallamused:

I'm not sure how relevant this is to your question, but there is this one encounter I've been wanting to throw at my group ever since we started playing D&D. I've put it in a number of adventures over the years, but my party has always managed to avoid it just by not going where the encounter is waiting for them. They don't even know what it is. :smalltongue:

Basically, the idea is that an area that the party has to go through is filled with water (waist-deep or so). While walking through, suddenly they are attacked by a swarm of massive snakes from beneath the water. A fight progresses as normal, but every time a snake is killed, two more replace it. You see where I'm going with this. :smallamused: Turns out, they're standing right on top of a hydra that's buried itself in mud to wait for prey.

Hobgoblins are known for capturing wild monsters and taming them, so I don't see any reason an encounter like this couldn't take place within one of their strongholds.

[Celcey]

I have a question: Are they planning on bombing the stronghold? I don't see how they plan to kill 20,000 hobgoblins, even at 20th level.

[Shining Wrath]

Hobgoblins should be very good at warfare. Not too much any other art or science, but warfare, yes.

Consider that in a D&D world flight is fairly common - first creature in the MM is the Aararoka, there's gargoyles, there's rangers riding giant eagles, and so on. So compared to an medieval castle there's going to be a lot more attention paid to the idea of Death From Above. Everything will have a roof, there will be archer stations designed to deal with flying enemies, the catapults will have the ability to fire weighted nets to try to ensnare a flying foe, et cetera.

Protection against burrowing creatures will also be incorporated into fortress design. The foundations and basement floors may well have metal sheathes.

From there go with defense in depth, features designed to let the defenders move from one area to another while denying that to invaders (i.e., locked gates which your party has to force open under fire).

I envision Hobgoblin wizards as being Evokers. They are bringing the blasty. The lot of a Hobgoblin wizard would be a difficult one; in a world where martial prowess is the only thing that is truly respected, convincing everyone that your book learning finger-waving mumbling is powerful is going to require flash and bang.

Their clerics will be War domain.:smallbiggrin:

Hobgoblins would be VERY likely to employ Bugbears as Assassins or Ninja Monks. A bugbear doing the shadow step thing and emerging in the space the party thinks it just cleared, then attacking the party from behind at an opportune moment would delight hobgoblin hearts.

Put some thought into what sort of music a Hobgoblin Bard would perform. I'm thinking something heavy on the bass line with lots of howling. The JS Bach cello suites with a punk rock vocal line overlaid on top would do nicely.

[Argo]

Catapults loaded with burning pitch that they use to set your airship ablaze, bringing it down before it even gets close to the fortress.
Teams of hobgoblins riding gryphons (? or other flying creatures) that harry your ship with arrows from above.
Wave after wave of Slave-Soldiers forced to fight as disposable troops, with the promise of "kill the invaders and we will give you your freedom." Take a bunch of humans, dwarves, etc, stick some clubs and spears in their hands and shove them out there to fight the party. A nice moral challenge for the party. If they join with the PCs, an arrow or two into their unarmored backs should take care of them.
Starving dogs, released in large numbers to tear the PCs to shreds.
Boiling oil, through grates in the ceiling.
A dozen gelatinous cubes released to surround the PCs.
Rust Monsters on rope / leather leashes, led by teams behind wooden tower shields.
A buried catapult, to be activated by a hobgoblin when he spots a PC getting too close to the door. If outside, it flings the PC X feet, directly into the crocodile river, or wherever. If already inside, as a trap, it hurls the PC with great force directly into a stone wall dealing massive damage.

[Mrmox42]

Well, the players and their army of airships have quite a task, there.

Possible way of taking the city:

1.Infiltrate the slave population. A slave rebellion can cause some confusion, and may cause the hobgoblins to divide forces doing the battle.

2.Infiltrate the stronghold. Poison food and wells a few days before the attack. Kill the leaders of the hobgoblin army. Start fires. Seize chokepoints to prevent the hobgoblins from shifting their troops.

3.Make a diversion. Apart from the slave revolt, make some other diversion, to keep some hobgoblins pointed the wrong way. Does the centaur army make a show of force outside the walls? Does a great force of burrowing Earth Elementals, Bulettes and Xorn attempt to dig their way in? Is there a major flooding of the lower levels of the stronghold, with aquatic allies wreaking havoc?

4.Bombard the stronghold. Fly high, above the flak, and drop big rocks. Repeat this for a long time. Incendiaries can be fun too, as can dropping tough monsters, grenades and other interesting stuff.

5.Fly low and engage surviving flak with your own warmachines, crossbowmen and spearthrowers.

6.Land at strategic points and start the hack and slash. Challenge surviving hobgoblin generals to duels. Make Groo do what Groo does best.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

whatever you do, try not to end up with the players just chopping their way through huge waves of minions. players should always have important objectives to complete that arn't just attrition based - even if it's just taking out critical war machines or the anti-airship wizard's tower.

i would suggest including a hobgoblin panic button or 'ultimate attack'. whether it's a self destruct, a doomsday spell, opening a planar gate, empowering themselves with a dead god, etc. - your hobbos should have one last trick to play.

[Shining Wrath]

Catapults loaded with burning pitch that they use to set your airship ablaze, bringing it down before it even gets close to the fortress.
Teams of hobgoblins riding gryphons (? or other flying creatures) that harry your ship with arrows from above.
Wave after wave of Slave-Soldiers forced to fight as disposable troops, with the promise of "kill the invaders and we will give you your freedom." Take a bunch of humans, dwarves, etc, stick some clubs and spears in their hands and shove them out there to fight the party. A nice moral challenge for the party. If they join with the PCs, an arrow or two into their unarmored backs should take care of them.
Starving dogs, released in large numbers to tear the PCs to shreds.
Boiling oil, through grates in the ceiling.
A dozen gelatinous cubes released to surround the PCs.
Rust Monsters on rope / leather leashes, led by teams behind wooden tower shields.
A buried catapult, to be activated by a hobgoblin when he spots a PC getting too close to the door. If outside, it flings the PC X feet, directly into the crocodile river, or wherever. If already inside, as a trap, it hurls the PC with great force directly into a stone wall dealing massive damage.


Gelatinous Cubes make lovely replacements for boiling oil.

[Dizlag]

You could run them through a self-modified version of The Red Hand of Doom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hand_of_Doom) campaign which could wittle down the forces in the stronghold as the campaign progresses. It has hobgoblins as the main forces in it and an epic siege of a city near the end of the campaign by the hobgoblin horde. One of the best adventures I've ever spent my money on for this hobby. =)

Dizlag