I'm trying to get a feel for the sizes of the five goblin tribes. During the initial assault on Sandpoint the combined might of the five tribes is thirty warriors. Obviously they're all holding people back, and we can probably assume that almost none of those thirty return home.
After the assault, the Birdcruncher tribe is left leaderless and many of the goblins of that tribe flee into the wilderness. Twenty of their warriors, however, decide to join the Thistletop tribe. If there are no Thistletop goblins other than those described in Burnt Offerings then there are about twenty tribe members total left alive (so no wonder Ripnugget isn't sure how to integrate twenty former Bircrunchers into his forces).
Presumably there might be some Thistletop goblins still out on patrol or otherwise not listed in the description of the lair, but perhaps not many. If we assume that each tribe lost half a dozen goblins in the initial raid on Sandpoint and that the eight goblins in the Glassworks are all from the Thistletop tribe and that there are another half dozen Thistletop goblins out on patrol, that gives us forty as a starting number for the Thistletop tribe.
So is it a reasonable ballpark guess to estimate that each tribe has roughly forty adult members at the beginning of the adventure, with the Mosswood tribe having a few more?
The Thistle Top tribe is supposed to be the strongest tribe in the area, so I would probably give most of the other tribes a bit less then the number you arrive at for them.
The Thistle Top tribe is supposed to be the strongest tribe in the area, so I would probably give most of the other tribes a bit less then the number you arrive at for them.
It says on page 19 that the Mosswood tribe is likely the largest, and that the Thistletop tribe has the best lair.
What I really need is the number for the Birdcrunchers, and I'll probably go with there being about thirty-five able-bodied adults at the beginning of the adventure.
I'm trying to get a feel for the sizes of the five goblin tribes. During the initial assault on Sandpoint the combined might of the five tribes is thirty warriors. Obviously they're all holding people back, and we can probably assume that almost none of those thirty return home.
....
So is it a reasonable ballpark guess to estimate that each tribe has roughly forty adult members at the beginning of the adventure, with the Mosswood tribe having a few more?
p 24 under Interrogating Tsuto
"Of more pressing concern are the next several pages, which illustratean assault on Sandpoint by a force of what appears to be two hundred goblins."
If it is assumed that all able-bodied goblins participate in the final raid, and each tribe is aproximately the same size, this means each of the five tribes would hold ~ 40 goblins.
So your figures are probably correct.
I would say then that these are not tribes as describeds in the Monster Manual but more 'bands' (the five bands together being a single 'tribe' - quotated terms from MM entry) - although that terminology does not agree with the adventure path terminology.
Following that logic there should be 100% noncombatants (MM p 133) So one noncombatant for each combatant goblin, But the adventure specifically state the Thistletop nusery is abnormally barren, it could be assumed that the other tribes are not this way.
Further each tribe should have two 'sergeants' of ~ 3rd level (Of which we can assume Gogmurt is one). Possibly the other 'sergenat' was Brunkel who died at the hands of the sheriff (see Brunkel's lair RotRLAP p 48). And each 'band' should have a leader of 4th - 6th level (Ripnugget).
All that puts the RotRLAP goblin tribe size at somewhere between 10-100, Thistletop may be one of the smallest (due to their lair, they are restricted by its size) - at any rate I would guess each tribe in the adventure was between 35 to 75 strong.
Wow - That was longer than intended.
For our all-goblin campaign I said that there were about forty combatants in the Birdcrunchers (including the chief and his sergeants) and about as many young, old, and other non-combatants.
Then I named them all and assigned classes and levels. If for whatever insane reason any of you need a tonne of detail about the Birdcrunchers, I'm your man.