Of Hobgoblins

Dated: 27 Aug, 2026

This is the latest in a series of Blog Posts about Humanoids on Barnaynia. While these thoughts need have no real effect on your game, they are here as food for thought, if nothing else….

Physical Appearance (and breeds)

Large and Brutish in appearance and demeanour, Hobgoblins stand taller than Humans with broad shoulders and heavily muscled bodies. The skin is orange to red-brown and matted with thick, straggly hairs all over the torso, thighs and upper arms. The face is even more orange, and the males have a prominent red or orange nose, which is used in evaluating reproductive capabilities. Apart from the bulbous nose, the main difference between males and females is the height and width – the females are about a foot shorter than the males and wider around the middle.

All Hobgoblins have steeply receding foreheads, small, pointed ears and a face fixed in an angry snarl due to the shape of their teeth. Males and females alike sharpen their teeth, polish them and display them prominently.

Feet and hands are thick-skinned and clawed, making boots unnecessary and handling normal weapons difficult; Hobgoblins will need weapons to be adapted to have thicker handles.

Although they seem more intelligent than Orcs and Goblins, this is misleading as they can remember and communicate well, but lack initiative, self-awareness and many other traits associated with Wisdom and Charisma (both of which are only 1d6+2 Hobgoblins). As a result, Hobgoblins are insensitive to any kind of nuanced interaction or humour.

They instead delight in cruelty and are fixated on everything relating to the infliction of pain. This includes weapons, torture devices and medical information. Bizarrely, they are also fascinated with inflicting pain on each other and themselves and, if the opportunity presents itself, will often indulge in behaviour that would probably make the producers of the Jackass productions blanche. This applies to both males and females.

Clothes, personal attire and particularly weapons and armour are of paramount importance to all Hobgoblins. Members of the same tribe will have matching elements, symbols or styles to their attire and all equipment will be clean and meticulously maintained.

Despite their name, it is not thought that Hobgoblins are related to Goblins.

Geography and Habitat

Despite their apparent superiority to many other Humanoids, the population of Hobgoblins on the planet is a lot less than Orcs or Goblins, for instance. From an ecological point of view, it is thought that their inability to innovate and react in a novel way to a situation has inhibited their progress as a species.

They seem to dislike hot and cold climates, and so are found predominantly in temperate zones on the Upper World. Within the Darkworld they are a lot more widespread.

Deep Elves, in particular, employ them as cheap mercenaries so they are found throughout the Vaults. Due to their dull wits they are usually assigned to caravan guard and sentry duties as they tend to lack the initiative for more complex duties. In war they tend to be used as shock troops as they are best in a headlong charge or assault, where the initial plan is simple and there is unlikely to be too many complicated situations.

Diet

Hobgoblins prefer meat, cooked if at all possible and eat many different varieties of Thaumofungus as well. They will pretty much try and eat anything that might be classed as an animal, fish, insects, spiders and birds, but do not have the digestive abilities of Orcs or Goblins and will not attempt to eat them raw. They will not eat plants or fruit.

Hobgoblins are not known to be cannibalistic but will happily eat other Humanoids.

They seem to be affected by Alcohol very easily but they don’t seem to enjoy the process nor seek to repeat it often.

Alignment Preferences

Hobgoblin society is rigidly ordered by age and sex, making it seem Lawful, but individuals vary a lot within the general scope of Evil (Nasty). Instinctively they are Chaotic but really lack the imagination to do much beyond doing what they are told. Their undying fascination with causing pain and dissecting anything they come across makes them inevitably evil in the eyes of every living thing.

It needs to be emphasised that this obsession with torturing and cutting into living things does not come from any detached curiosity or anything approaching Scientific process; they just want to inflict pain and see what’s inside things.

Social Structure

Hobgoblins exist in large groups of associated, probably related, individuals named “Tribes” for lack of a better word. Hierarchy is based purely on age.

Each tribe is administered by the oldest living Hobgoblins, male or female, who are usually the toughest as well. The oldest of these, male or female, will be the chief or “Headhob”, which term might even be where we get the term Hobgoblin from. Headhobs who prove bad at managing the tribe will usually be murdered by one of the other Hobgoblins. For this reason, most Hobgoblins are not keen to become the leader, and some will lie about their age or even flee the tribe to avoid the appointment.

The only ones exempt from this process are the Shamans and Witch Doctors, called the Wide Elders, who administer the process and often do the killing.

There are such things as ambitious Hobgoblins who desire the power and some can be quite successful at it, but they are relatively rare. This is the reason why Hobgoblins tend to work best for other entities who are forceful enough to command them.

The most immediately apparent aspect of Hobgoblin society is the absolute segregation of the sexes. From a very early age Hobgoblins are regimented by sex and age. Once they are 15 years old, they are classed as adults and may reproduce. The elders negotiate appropriate mates and, for a period of time not exceeding 4 months, the two candidates live together. Although they enjoy this process it is part of Hobgoblin philosophy that they must NOT admit it and generally describe the whole process as uncomfortable at best.

Once the period of time is up, or if the female becomes pregnant, the two separate and relationships are re-negotiated. The Hobgoblins get older they will be consulted about any preferences, but such information rarely influences the outcome of young adults. There is nothing resembling the concept of romantic love in Hobgoblin philosophy and personal preference is usually dictated purely on lust, not that any of them would ever admit this.

Hobgoblin society is predicated on maintaining face in front of one’s peers. Activities that might cause a Hobgoblin to lose the respect of his peers include:

• Admitting they are interested in the opposite sex;
• Indulging or entertaining children;
• Having dirty weapons or armour;
• Being squeamish;
• Having their nose cut off (males) or losing weight (females);
• Having their tribal emblem removed or losing it;
• Treating someone older than they are with disrespect.

Hobgoblins that disappoint their elders will be the subject of the most grotesque punishments, but these processes will absolve them of their error and they are rarely killed for such misdemeanours.

Religion and Spirituality

Hobgoblins indulge in a kind of ancestor worship based on the unassailable belief that the older they are, the wiser they are, but the specific deities they recognise partly vary depending on their sex.

The deities the males pray to are usually guardians of the dead or involved in the process of passage to the afterlife in some regard. The females pray to Gods associated with fertility and childbirth in the most abstract ways.

Both sexes pray to war gods and all the characters they refer to seem to be modelled on beings from the Heliopean (Egyptian) Mythos.

Reproduction and Family

Newborns are cared for by the mother in the main, supported by the other mothers and children. The males are not involved at all. The tribe will have a creche for this purpose, with rooms for mothers to one side. Females are expected to re-enter the strange mating rituals a year and a month after the birth of their child.

At the age of 4 the Hobgoblin children, termed Nadgers or Hobblers, are separated into male and female groups and then trained in the roles they will have. Since males and females both do everything, they are all trained in everything but separately. The exception being that females are trained in child rearing as well.

Needless to say, Males believe completely that they are the superior sex at everything, and the females believe they are.

Weapons, Armour and Equipment

All Hobgoblin equipment is copied or stolen from other societies. While they have a feverish fascination with different weapons and tools, especially those that cause the most pain and suffering, they lack the imagination to develop new designs themselves. They are often distracted by the difference and gaudiness of weapons they discover and rarely select them on a practical basis.

The kind of mis-balanced and top-heavy weapons one sees in Anime or some medieval torture chambers would be a big hit with your average Hobgoblin.

Whatever the source of their equipment, and they are capable, if uncreative, metal and wood workers, and can replicate most equipment. Such weapons might lake the deeper knowledge involved in folding and quenching, for instance, but they will look the same. As has been said, all Hobgoblins take excellent care of all their equipment.

Special Tactics and Strategies

Hobgoblins have no special strategy or tactics of their own, but they will know a number of different processes and methodologies on small and large unit tactics, learned from others. They are knowledgeable of ambushes, feints, flanking movements, tactical retreats and such. When such tactics are used properly, they can be very successful, however they are very lazy and easily distracted so it will be very unlikely they will have practiced these ideas very thoroughly. As such, they can be predictable and easily fooled.

If a strategy works, they are likely to repeat it every time until it doesn’t. Flexibility of approach is not something they really do well but if the plan is a good one, they will carry it out. Of course, the first rule or war is that “no plan survives contact with he enemy”. Hobgoblins have never really understood what this means.

© Dunromin University Press

If you found this item useful/interesting/fun then you might be interested in our other articles about Humanoids:

Goblins here

Orcs here

Kobolds here

Lizardmen here

More may be added over time…