Elite Goblin Calvary


Advice


So I'm thinking I'll be especially evil with the players next time we play. The party consists of Cleric 5, Warrior 5, Rogue 5, and either a 4th or 5th level NPC (depends on how they roleplay).

Anyways they are going to be attacked while out in the wilds. I was thinking using goblins cavaliers armed with bows or crossbows riding orc barbarians wielding either greataxes or falchions and shields.

First off, thoughts?

What do you think the level of the baddies should be, or number of them for that matter? Do I load on levels for one, or go lower levels and make a handful?

Thanks for any feedback.


Wait... Warrior 5? As in the NPC class warrior? Also the 4th or 5th level NPC: is that an NPC with PC class levels, or and NPC with only NPC class levels? These things affect what you should consider the APL for designing an encounter.

Goblin cavaliers riding orc barbarians? Did I read that right? Cavaliers gain a mount at level as a druid's animal companion, so they should have better suited mounts as it is. Riding a orc would cause troubles of its own, especially if the goblinoid riders were planning on using ranged weapons. If their mount is threatened in melee, they will be too, so firing a ranged weapon would provoke AoOs.

Flachions and greataxes are two handed weapons as well, they cannot be used at the same time as shields, with the exception of bucklers which carry their own benefits and penalties.

To determine the classes and levels of the opposition for the PCs a few factors would be helpful. How challenging do you intend the fight to be; easy (APL -1), average (APL equivilent), somewhat challenging (APL +1), difficult (APL +2), or potentially lethal (APL +3)?

When you say the party is going to be attacked while out in the wild, how much hampering terrian do you intend to include? Will their be dense foliage that will make ranged attacks more difficult, but also limit mobility, or will the fight take place in a relatively featureless area, save for a bit of cover perhaps?

Depending on battlefield conditions it may be appropiate to give the goblins medium flying or climbing mounts, perhaps in the form of vermin for flavor (spiders or beetles may work well), which would aid their defense should they intend to be ranged combatants. If you would like multiple bodies on the field use warriors and experts instead of barbarians and cavaliers. Warriors still get full BAB, but since the CR of a warrior of the same level as a fighter is lower you can have more of them on the field with a comparable chance to hit and better HP. You can fluff in the cavelier and barbarian stuff, unless there are specific class abilities from those that you would like to include in the encounter.

Whether you would like a few powerful enemies or a lot of mooks is completely up to personal preference. In any case, it would be a good idea to have one member of the lot of a higher level in a leadership position, perhaps as an adept with spells like bless, to aid his companions, with a bit of spell artiliry as well. Try to have the goblinoids and orcs react appropriately should their leader fall.

I hope that helps a bit.


Sorry, I met fighter 5. The NPC will also have PC class levels. I wanted the encounter to be difficult. As that the monsters will be using cavalry tactics there won't be a lot of hindering terrain. There will be a bit though as well as some cover for the pc's.

As for the archery problem how about making an advanced goblin fighter 4 with the archer archtype and then the feat point blank master. That takes care of the firing in melee problem.

So maybe a bunch of goblin mooks.

The advanced goblin fighter is the actual leader.

I'd need some fluff as to why a goblin would be using an orc as a mount, but hey I have a week till we play.


Or I just give the orc a reach weapon, which takes care of firing while threatened...


As a thought: a phalanx soldier fighter 3 can weild a polearm in one hand and a shield in another. Give an orc fighter 3 a guisarme and a tower shield. The orc fighter can damage or trip opponents with the guisarme, and damage or trip them with AoOs (not even requiring improved trip, thanks to reach, if you don't feel like burning on feats). Or barring that, after the goblin archer takes a shot or several, he can take total cover behind the tower shield. Since one is considered to share their mount's space for simplicity during combat...


rocklax wrote:

Sorry, I met fighter 5. The NPC will also have PC class levels. I wanted the encounter to be difficult. As that the monsters will be using cavalry tactics there won't be a lot of hindering terrain. There will be a bit though as well as some cover for the pc's.

As for the archery problem how about making an advanced goblin fighter 4 with the archer archtype and then the feat point blank master. That takes care of the firing in melee problem.

So maybe a bunch of goblin mooks.

The advanced goblin fighter is the actual leader.

I'd need some fluff as to why a goblin would be using an orc as a mount, but hey I have a week till we play.

O_o

Wow...um...er...I'm just going to quietly go back to my own game & not say anything.


Thing is, orcs just aren't mounts. There are so many rules problems with this scenario in the first place just regarding class features, much less the weird treasure left behind by all the "special saddles," etc.

Don't get me wrong: I'm all for weirdness, and I do encourage you to throw in an encounter where goblins are being piggy-backed on orcs. But treat these elements as they are intended to be treated. The orcs should be regular combatants suffering from encumbrance issues, and the goblins should suffer penalties for riding piggy-back while trying to fight.

The reason is that when you go applying additional combat rules like mounted fighting and those based on class features, to creatures who are already balanced for combat with their own class levels in the first place, you are skewing the CR into places you probably can't anticipate.

I can give you my own experience with similar ideas, where I have had goblins riding in special baskets on the backs of ogres or cyclopes. I treated them as separate combatants, but sharing the same space. The goblins got soft cover against anyone the ogres were "facing," but they also had no control over where the ogres went, and they suffered the penalty for firing while mounted because they simply weren't built for this. I can also warn you that having two targets sharing the same space can make them easier to bring down (think: goblins become collateral damage).

It was fun and funny, but I wouldn't make a career out of it. And I certainly wouldn't have treated the ogres as mounts.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

Calvary = place where Jesus was crucified
Cavalry = mounted combat troops

Sczarni

If you're dead set on having the Goblins ride Orcs, I'd suggest you make the Orcs the real threat, with Goblins as ammo/fodder/food sources.

If you're familiar with Warhammer or Warhammer 40K, these are the typical tactics for the Orc Army:

Swarm with mooks, each poses little threat individually, but can really do some damage with flanking / aid another / sneak attack.

Once the main target is engaged, the lower level Orc baddies move to melee, firing (usually wildly) as they approach.

Finally, the Orc Warboss (generally the biggest & baddest of the bunch) will engage with his personal guard (tougher than mooks, but no real threat to the Boss himself) against any high-value targets (or if his blood gets up...see Raging Barbarian, for example)

That being said, I'd scrap the "Goblin Cavalry on Orcs" idea and instead have "Swarm of Gobbo's with Orc Bosses" instead.

If, on the other hand, you were dead set on Gobbo Cavalary, Cavaliers & Rangers on wolves, with a few Worgs thrown in there for good measure, makes for a pretty tasty hit & run style Goblin Threat.

Goblin Cavalier 1 =CR 1/2 = 200 XP
Goblin Ranger 1 = CR 1/2 = 200 XP
Worg = CR 2 = 600 XP

For a CR 6 Encounter (APL+1 for challenging fight), that gives you:

4 Cavaliers on Wolf Mounts
2 Rangers on Worg Mounts
2 Worgs.

Give the Cavaliers lances, shields, and decent armor, give the Rangers Composite Longbows, and you're all set for your Goblin Raiding Party.

Alternatively, for your Mixed Orc & Goblin Fight:

Same CR = 2400 XP Budget
Each regular Goblin = CR 1/3 = 135 XP
Each regular Orc = CR 1/3 = 135 XP

If you have one "Boss Orc" Advanced Orc Barbarian 1 (CR 3 = 800XP)
and 3 "Bodyguards" as Orc Barbarian 1 (CR 1/2 = 200 XP)

that leaves 1000 XP worth of Goblins, or 8-9 regular little Gobbos or Orcs.

That second encounter is potentially much more deadly (Boss will hit VERY hard for the level, and have decent defenses, and the rest of the group will be able to swarm fairly effectively to mitigate retaliation)

The Gobbo Cavalry encounter seems more in line with what you originally posted, though, and gives you the "hit & run" style of combat that raiders are famous for.

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