AC 13 (leather armor)
HP 10 (3d6; bloodied 5)
Speed 30 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 11
Skills Stealth +3 (+1d4)
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Goblin
ACTIONS
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage.
BONUS ACTIONS
Nimble Escape. The goblin takes the Disengage or Hide action.
Combat
Goblins attack only when they outnumber their opponents. They employ ambush, firing arrows from hiding and then using Nimble Escape to hide elsewhere. When they can, they turn an aspect of the battle to their advantage, attacking in darkness or from above or amongst traps and hazards. If a goblin is engaged in melee while not in an advantageous position, it attacks with its shortsword and then disengages. Unless a powerful leader forces them to stand their ground, goblins retreat once they no longer outnumber their enemy.
Goblin Names
Blacktooth, Briarbones, Dinda, Flea, Flundercork, Grimgargle, Gurp, One-Toe, Ood, Skirn, Thrunk, Vivvle
Legends and Lore
With a History or Nature check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Goblins are small humanoids. While many find them disgusting, they are clever and resourceful creatures.
DC 15 Goblins rarely attack unless they outnumber their foes. For every goblin you see, there are usually two more lurking nearby.
DC 20 Goblins sometimes serve larger humanoids or train giant rats as watchdogs or mounts.
From the wildest forests to the most sprawling metropolises, there's no place in the world you won't find goblins. For these small, individually weak creatures, survival is the greatest virtue.
It's A Living. Life is unfair to goblins. It's the one thing they can count on. Goblins are rarely granted mercy or kindness by larger folk, and in return they rarely extend it to others.
Goblins are often found in the service of more powerful creatures, particularly larger goblinoids such as hobgoblins . When faced with impossible tasks or unfair expectations, goblins grumble and complain, plot petty revenge, then roll up their sleeves and get to work. Where other creatures might turn up their noses at disgusting, cramped environments, goblins see opportunity. They will carve out space where none exists, flourishing in the cracks of civilization or in the unforgiving wilderness.
Expert Opportunists. Goblins often lurk in civilization’s liminal spaces: in abandoned mines within raiding distance of a village, or in a sprawling sewer beneath a city. Goblins can find a use for almost anything, from broken or discarded gear to abandoned tunnels to the rotting husks of long-dead trees. Goblin equipment is frequently scavenged or crafted out of unlikely materials. Goblins rarely risk combat, except when they are certain they have the upper hand. They will gladly take your discarded food, however—and, if you're not careful, whatever's on your table and in the bag you left unattended, as well.
Feral Glee. Goblins take their joy wherever they can find it. An unsupervised moment to play is a prize they cherish more than food or treasure. It may not last long, but goblins can make a game out of anything, and they respond well to anyone who plays along.
Lone Behavior
1–3 Scouting or patrolling for a larger group
4 Exiled; will betray its former comrades’ location to well-armed travelers (unless it’s a doublecross?)
5 Loaded down with stolen treasure
6 A goblin with no tribe; it knows the local area well
Group Behavior in Desert or Grassland
1 Drinking and filling waterskins at a well or stream
2 Hungry; arguing about the direction of the nearest food source
3 Traders who know their way through the trackless expanse
4 Living in an abandoned temple or palace
Group Behavior in Hills or Mountains
1 Hiding at a peak or clifftop, waiting to ambush travelers
2 Dragging a stumbling dwarf captive back to their camp
3 Fleeing from tyrannical hobgoblin masters
4 Scouting near their lair
Group Behavior in Tundra
1 Pulling and riding in a dogsled
2 Shivering next to a campfire
3 Having a snowball fight
4 Lying in ambush under snow
Group Behavior in Forest, Jungle, or Swamp
1 Hiding in the underbrush, waiting to ambush travelers
2 Stealthily surrounding an isolated homestead
3 Setting fires or preparing a fire trap
4 Lying in ambush in the trees, armed with nets
Group Behavior in Settled Land
1 On a raid, setting fire to a barn
2 Stealing panicky horses, several goblins to a horse
3 With goods to trade
4 Running a traveling circus or theater
Group Behavior Underground
1 Unwilling servants of a tough monster
2 Struggling to open a stuck door or crawl through a narrow crack
3 Spreading caltrops
4 Sleeping, guarded by a drowsy sentry
5 Looking down from holes in the ceiling, prepared to shoot arrows and drop rocks
6 Hiding in ambush behind giant mushrooms, stalagmites, furniture, or pillars
1 DC 15 Perception or Survival check: small footprints
2 DC 15 Perception or Survival check: a concealed trap, such as a hunting trap, pit trap, or tripwire
3 A filthy campsite
4 A looted corpse or an arrow-riddled game animal
5 A dead goblin
6 Discarded gear, such as a broken shortsword, an arrow stuck in the ground, or a smashed bottle
Goblins can eke out an existence in nearly any environment.
CR 0–2 1d4 goblins ; goblin with bloodhawk or giant rat
Treasure 25 gp, 150 sp, 3 potions of climbing , 2 potions of healing
CR 3–4 4 to 6 goblins with goblin boss , goblin warlock , or 2 goblin specialists ; 3 or 4 goblins riding worgs (or Large rats with the statistics of worgs); 3 or 4 goblins with bugbear, death dog, or ogre; 4 to 6 goblin specialists
Treasure 100 gp, 500 sp, dented silver helmet (75 gp), a hollow book containing 2 potions of growth and 2 potions of healing , 6 1 arrows
CR 5–10 goblin boss and 1d6 + 6 goblins with one of the following: cave bear or goblin warlock , 2 ogrekin , 3 goblin specialists , or 4 hobgoblins or worgs
Treasure 400 gp, 1,000 sp, silver and garnet necklace (250 gp), a wagon full of trade goods (500 gp), hat of disguise , immovable rod
Humanoids include a number of different intelligent, language-using bipeds of Small or Medium size. Humans and elves are humanoids, and so are orcs and goblins. Humanoids may employ magic but are not fundamentally magical—a characteristic that distinguishes them from bipedal, language-using fey, fiends, and other monsters. Humanoids have no inherent alignment, meaning that no humanoid ancestry is naturally good or evil, lawful or chaotic.