Hobgoblin
Hobgoblins exist in perpetual war against all other races, believing that "lesser" species are fit only for battle fodder. In mixed groups, hobgoblin officers often lead units of goblins or orcs, whom they bully and make to feel inferior. Other peoples find them paranoid, insulting, and dismissive, while hobgoblins in turn treat all others as potential threats. Hobgoblin mercenaries may offer their services to powerful and wealthy members of other races, however.
Hobgoblins are adept at uniting fragmented goblin tribes under their command. Powerful creatures such as bugbears, ogres, and trolls may occasionally assume leadership positions in a hobgoblin tribe, but normally act as front line muscle. Barghests who join hobgoblin tribes usually become leaders, integrating seamlessly into their culture. Barghest chieftains often sponsor blackguards among their hobgoblin minions, who are then ready to take over the tribe when the barghest returns to its home plane.
Hobgoblins have an extreme hatred of elves. If given a choice in who to kill, they will always pick elves first.
Hobgoblins, like many humanoid races, systematically strip their territories of resources with no thought for conservation. This forces them to move frequently, often targeting agricultural lands to raid for food. Hobgoblins are omnivores, but prefer meat. Most tribes keep small herds of livestock, but the bulk of their food comes from raiding. They may enslave or capture members of other races more given to agriculture than hobgoblins are. If they trade with other races, a hobgoblin tribe's chief resources are mercenaries and drums they have crafted.
Hobgoblins breed themselves through a selective eugenics program (as the citizens of the Scarlet Brotherhood also do). They do not have marriages or monogamous relationships, and children are reared communally by the tribal priests.
Contents
Environment
Hobgoblins prefer to dwell in warm hills, but can survive in almost any terrain. Most hobgoblins dwell in subterranean complexes, though about a fifth dwell in fortified villages on the surface. They fortify their homes with ditches, gates, guard towers, catapults, pit traps, and ballistas.
Typical physical characteristics
Hobgoblins resemble large, muscled humans, their bodies covered in coarse fur with red-brown or gray skin and red or orange faces. Large males have blue or red noses, and may have beards and male-pattern baldness. Hobgoblin eyes are dark brown or yellowish, and their teeth tend to be yellow. They are lean and tall, averaging six and a half feet in height and weighing around 200 pounds. Their muscles are designed more for agility than brute strength, and they have been described as having almost feline dexterity. They specialize in moving without sound. Hobgoblins can see in the dark up to 60 feet (18 m) away.
Hobgoblins prefer blood-red garments with black-tinted leather. Their weapons are kept highly polished and in good repair. Many hobgoblins sport tattoos, deep scars gouged and burnt into their flesh meant to display their tolerance for pain rather than for art's sake. Some hobgoblins sport piercings for the same reason, though they always keep their noses unobstructed. Their hair is often braided with jewelry carved from the bones of slain enemies. Any other adornments worn are also meant to call attention to their endurance or battle prowess.
Alignment
Hobgoblins are usually lawful evil. They are well-organized, well-trained, and obey a strict military code. They are driven to survive through continuous military conquest. Each maintains a rigid "personal perimeter" that represents both personal space and that individual's portion of the tribal land. In order to continue constant vigilance over this perimeter, they seek to purge themselves of emotion and superfluous thoughts. Mercy and compassion are considered weakness and individual freedom meaningless. Hobgoblins are mentally conditioned through years of physical and mental abuse to achieve this state.
Society
Hobgoblin tribes always fight to determine dominance, but once this hierarchical relationship is established they tend to work well together. Some of the more successful tribes include the Rippers, the Leg Breakers, the Skull Smashers, the Flesh Renders, the Marrow Suckers, the Flayers, and the Slow Killers.
Hobgoblin society is divided into four major castes: military, religious, craftsmen, and slaves. Caste assignment is based on a combination of individual affinity and the current needs of the tribe. Once given, a caste assignment doesn't change unless the individual's ability to perform it or the tribe's need for the position changes. The tribe's leader is almost always a member of the military caste, typically with roguish skills. Spellcasters are usually members of the military caste. Spellscourges are elite warriors who undergo harsh and disfiguring rituals to gain special defenses against magic, while warcasters undergo similar rituals for magical power. Adult hobgoblins are considered the property of their superiors.
Hobgoblins typically get their armaments by repairing weapons and armor taken from their fallen foes. Besides the reclamation of weaponry, they may express themselves creatively through their war drums, or hrun'doums in their tongue, and smaller percussion instruments such as steel drums, kintalas, and p'doums, or "talking drums." They may use magical drums in battle.
Religion
Maglubiyet, the god of war and rulership, is the chief deity of both goblins and hobgoblins. However, Nomog-Geaya, the deity of war and authority, is considered the patron deity of hobgoblins specifically. The goblinoid god Bargrivyek encourages cooperation between the goblin races.
War itself is almost a religious experience for hobgoblins. Weakness is feared and actively destroyed in their society, and weapons that break in battle are considered ill omens, even if there are plenty of replacements.
Unusual for such a martial race, hobgoblins view death in combat as a sign of weakness rather than glory, although they do honor their dead to some extent. In order to minimize the risk of a dishonorable death in battle, hobgoblin warriors who are no longer fit for combat usually commit ritual suicide in a way similar to the rites of ritual sacrifice to the hobgoblin gods (i.e., those offering themselves to Maglubiyet kill themselves with the blade of an axe).
Language
Hobgoblins speak the guttural Goblin tongue, which uses the same script as Dwarven, and Common. They may also speak Orcish and, more rarely, the language of carnivorous apes.
Hobgoblins are named at birth by their religious caste. Females have the suffix 'ken appended to their names, while males use the suffix 'kon. This is followed by their mother or father's name, the name of their tribe, and their tribal position (for example, Guard of the First Perimeter). Hobgoblins in other societies often include their current employment when identifying themselves. An example hobgoblin name might be Maelgynym Ulok'ken of the Slow Killers, Spellscourge.
Hobgoblin subraces
An aquatic form of hobgoblin, the koalinth, is a feared predator beneath the seas. They have light green skin, webbed hands and feet, and gills. They are sleeker than their hobgoblin kin. They dwell in shallow fresh or salt water in caves. They detest aquatic elves with the same intensity that hobgoblins hate terrestrial elves.
Another related species is the norker, found in the original Fiend Folio.
