Hobgoblins

I basically have them be the Cobra Kai.

This, but if goblins are the equivalent of Halflings and hobgoblin are the equivalent of humans, bugbears are the orcs of the goblinoid genus

They are the soldier race of the Fey and other Powers/titans, lots of time used as more ugly humans for they petty domains too because they hierachial and normal to good intelligence,like the Goblins are the average serf/slave race (tough tricksters and moody they work hard if you have a strong hand to guide them) .
Depending of the Entity or fey taste/powers they look different, so a River godling hobgoblin will look different to one than serves a powerful Dryad, tought at the base they are much or less the same.
Bugbears are the Priest/assasin/mage race (they have powerful powers and they are independent and smart,tough brutal) and some times break "free" and make wild Hoboblin/goblin tribes, than tend to be scooped over be powerful mages or entities because they have a low protection to be dominated be powerful beings, that's one of the reason they are seen be everyone as the average mook for evil forces and hated on sight. Tough if you let them free they tend to be hierarchial and treat the goblins fair and like useful if moody children, and prefer to be left alone and live in peace.

I like the idea of hobgoblins just being the bigger, less shitty version of goblins.

>gm calls them Hobs
>showed up and never seen again
>calling them Hobs really gets under my skin for some reason

Hobgoblins are dire humans.

If you wait until dark and find a hill with a log on it, you can perform a ritual that will summon Nomog-Geaya, the hobgoblin god. If you're anything more than a run-of-the-mill human, you're probably toast at that point. Nomog-Geaya hates a showoff. In fact, the only thing he hates more than a showoff is a fucking runt trying to curry favors.

So he does what's right and gives you, the most pathetic of men, a chance to seize what could have been yours if you could rub two coppers together without dropping them with your shitty, uncoordinated fingers.

Congratulations. Now you're a hobgoblin, and you've got a jobgoblin to do: Make Nomog-Geaya PROUD.

>Art
>Science
>War
>Mostly that last one, between banditry and setting up toll bridges so no one has to pay a troll toll, just a hobnobbing goblin's fee

I completely ignore them because thematically they fill exactly the same niche as Orcs.

Hobgoblins and Halflings/Hobbits are the same thing in my world. Tricksterish pooka people who can turn into tiny animals once a day.

They like to work for human families as day laborers. Repairing shoes, doing housework, cleaning, cooking, etc. If they're given a fancy new cloak or pair of boots or some other piece of clothing they become independent and wander.

If they're mistreated or become alienated and lonesome they twist into spiteful goblins (Hob in old English is really just a slang way of saying 'Good')

To extrapolate further, they seem to be a kind of mirror to the races of men in my setting. Whereas humans and halflings are connected by birth, so too are goblins and hobgoblins. Where humans are the more commonly born with halflings having fewer numbers, the inverse is true with the smaller goblins being commonly born, and hobgoblins being born in fewer numbers.

That said, there is always the exception, like the Halflings of Meeklund, whose militant kingdom puts the humans of their population in worker farms to feed the populace. There is possibly a place in the world where Hobgoblins are more commonly born.

>What do you do with these guys in your settings, Veeky Forums?

Trolls occasionally sire such odd, ugly, or weird looking children that they can't muster up the necessary instincts to take care of them and end up tossing them into Goblin pits. Goblins, of course, are extremely broody and will take care of ANYTHING (infertile Goblins will even steal babies), so Troll babies no matter how weird are basically mana from heaven for all they're concerned. These Trolls eventually grow up and either leave (as soon as they're strong enough to resist their Goblin siblings and parents from keeping them in the pit) or they remain and fuck their Goblin comrades and siblings; producing Hobgoblins.

Hobgoblins are (typically)infertile crossbreeds; half Troll, half Goblin, Hobgoblins have a decent mix of both the strengths and weaknesses of their parents:
Hobgoblins don't burn up or turn to stone when exposed to sunlight, but their regenerative abilities aren't nearly as strong as Trolls. Hobgoblins don't constantly grow throughout their lives 'till the die, but they will grow larger than a Human. Hobgoblins are far more genetically stable and consistent than Trolls, but they can still be born with horns, tusks, and occasionally tails, but never more than one head. Hobgoblins are smarter than Trolls, but a little bit less than a neutered Goblin.

Goblin pits are usually pretty densely populated, so while the Hobgoblin % is small by comparison; Goblins do house and breed quite a few Hobgoblins for their muscle, obedience, and just general competency: since they can think about something besides eating, fucking, or sleeping for longer than 15 minutes.

>hobgoblins (viagesh) are forged out of captured goblin souls by the lord of the steel
>essentially just tall skinny byzantines who eat fire
>have a strict honor bound caste sytem
>worlds best smiths and soldiers
>notorious for enslaving peoples
>led one of the most successful raids on the orc/troll lands
>weakened the dwarves after they betrayed lord steel's father, Death
on the downside
>most of them have no rights
>they fucking die when soaked in water
>they're too prone to infighting (9 clans) to actually pose a threat
>their god won't recognize worship if they aren't in a clan
>they are magically hindered any time they try to use another clan's signature weapon

I got rid of them entirely, bugbears too

if I want evil non-human humanoids, I have goblins and orcs, and if I want organized evil armies, I have humans

All goblins actually belong to the same species. Unlike orcs, they're born from the mud, LOTR style. (Hence why kobold dens have nurseries, but goblins don't.)

They start as the well-known green kind, but lack of food and safety often turns them into a stunted, paler-looking variety.
Healthy goblins start to take a distinctly yellow skin tone and wider build. Finally, they become red and somewhat human-sized.

This is where they begin to specialize. Half of them grow fur and become Bugbears, the builders and workers. The other half develop a mind for tactics and turn into Hobgoblins, the architects and soldiers.

This is why you don't let a goblin infestation overstay its welcome. Wait a year and you've got Bugbears and Hobs to deal with. Nasty little bastards.

Kingdoms of Kalamar has Hobgobbos set out.

I like the vaguely Japanese style of the old hobgoblin art. Their faces are like those facemasks of the samurai.

They are a nice early enemy to harass the party. I use them like orks in LOTR. They look more threatening than your typical goblin, but still aren’t a big bad

I like Bugbears, but I think of them as more solitary and crafty. Big, but also wickedly intelligent. Kind of going off that their favoured class in 3.x was Rogue. Not something you'd do with orcs, who are tribal and stone-age type barbarians.

Hobgoblins are just uglier evil humans though.

When I was starting out with D&D as a teen I was enamored with Hobgoblins and when I later entered official D&D forums I found that the sentiment is shared. They aren't just monsters, they're *civilized* monsters! They can form empires and fight in phalanx!
I remember when I first saw pic related it angered me a little. But as years gone by I realized how true it is.

There's a lot of overlap in "low-mid level savage monstrous humanoids" in D&D. Orcs, Hobgoblins, Lizardmen, Sahaugin, Troglodytes, Bullywugs, Gnolls and just good ol' humans all fill the same role. The difference is in many cases due to environments. Hobgoblins are "organized", but you can just as well have orcs, undead or evil humans/dwarves/whatever fill this role, and at high levels there's all kinds of things like Devils or Gith. Hobgoblins get kind of lost in the crowd.

I use them as a more civilized (if you can call a humanoid such a thing) race of goblinoids. my game splits humans, demi-humans, and humanoids up by how well they behave and interact with other races.

hobogoblins are very warlike and territorial, but militaristic, and manage treaties and trade agreements with certain nations, usually the humans. The elves hate them, but hobogoblins have a strange liking for elven culture, and appropriate it where possible. so much so that their language and dialect is a diminutive form of elven.

elves despise them, but drow will often take on small amries of hobogoblins who seek out peaceful relations with them.

Goblins, but less smol (around 5 feet tall on average for both sexes) and more civilized.

I'm also partial to shadowrun hobgoblins.