Monster Manual 5E

War horns sound, stones fly from catapults, and the
thunde r of a thousand booted fee t echoes across
the land as hobgoblins march to battle. Across the
borde rlands of civilization, settlements and settlers
must conte nd with these aggressive humanoids, whose
thirs t for conquest is never satisfied.
Hobgoblins have dark orange or red-orange skin, and
hair ranging from dark red-brown to dark gray. Yellow
or dark brown eyes pee r out beneath th eir beetling
brows, and th e ir wide mouths sport sharp and yellowed
teeth. A male hobgoblin might have a large blue or red
nose, which symbolizes virility and power a mong
goblinkin. Hobgoblins can live as long as humans,
though their love of warfa re and battle means
that few do.
Goblinoids. Hobgoblins belong to a family of
creatures called goblinoids. They a re often found
lording over the ir cousins, the smaller goblins and the
fe rocious bugbears.
Martial Might. A hobgoblin measures virtue by
physical strength and martial prowess, caring about
nothing except th e opportunity to demonstrate skill
and cunning in battle. Hobgoblins of high military
rank attain their positions by force, the n hold those
positions by imposing thei~ authority through
draconian measures.
Hobgoblins tra in to fight with a va ri ety of weapons,
and have gre at skill at crafting arms, armor, siege
engines, and other. military devices. Organized and
disciplined, they take exceptional care oftheir weapons,
armor, and pe rsonal possessions. They favor the bold
colors associated with their tribes, a nd trim the ir
often-elaborate uniforms with blood-red piping a nd
leath er dyed black.
Military Legions. Hobgoblins organize th emselves
into tribal bands known as legions. In their martial
society, every hobgoblin has a rank, from the powerful
leaders and c hampions, to the rank-and-file foot
soldiers, to th e goblins that find the mselves drive n
into th e front lines at spear point. A legion is headed
by a warlord with several captains serving unde r its
command. A hobgoblin wa rlord is a ruthless tyra nt
more inte rested 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 compe te cons ta ntly for
re putation and s tatus. Meetings between legions
erupt in viole nce if troops aren't restra ined, and only
exceptionally powe rful leaders can force legions to
cooperate on the ba ttlefield.
Strategic Thinkers. Hobgoblins have a strong grasp
of tactics and discipline , and can carry out sophisticated
battl e plans unde r the direction of a strategically
minded leade r. However, they hate elves and attack
the m fir s t in battle over any other opponents, even if
doing so would be a tactical error.
Legions often s upplement their ranks with less
reliable and more expendable troops, including goblins,
bugbears, orcs, evil humans, ogres, and giants.