Hobgoblin Swordsman 1
Hobgoblin Swordsman 1 — The Encounter
Low-stancing duelist, blade already mid-cut · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Hobgoblin Swordsman 1
The cohort's swordsmen are its skirmishers and duelists, drilled not in the rigid wall-fight but in the war of openings. This one fights low and fast, reading the rhythm of a foe's guard and slipping inside it on the half-beat. Where a legionary holds the line, a swordsman is loosed to break it: to gut a faltering enemy, to flank a planted spear, to answer a missed swing with one of its own. They favor the curved blade for the way it bites on the draw, and they train the pivot until it is reflex, never standing where the last cut landed. Veterans wear the topknot of their fencing-school with grim pride. A swordsman alone is a fair fight; a swordsman with a friend at your back is a knife between your ribs.
Run Hobgoblin Swordsman 1 in Sixty Seconds
- Fight with a friend. Land hits next to an ally for the 2d6 Martial Advantage, then Cut and Pivot to keep flanks open.
- Riposte every miss. If a melee attacker whiffs, it gets a free curved-sword cut in return.
- Kill-priority. It pivots past the bruisers to reach lightly armored casters and archers.
- When bloodied. It dances on the edge of reach, using Pivot to stay mobile and Riposte to bleed pursuers.
- Three ways to run it: a paired flanking duo, a mobile skirmisher against the back line, or an elite harasser beside a bigger boss.
Hobgoblin Swordsman 1
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEMartial Advantage. Once per turn, the swordsman deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 ft. of an ally of the swordsman that isn't incapacitated.
Cut and Pivot. Signature. When the swordsman hits a creature with a melee attack, it can immediately move up to 5 ft. without provoking an opportunity attack from that creature, slipping to a flank as it cuts.
Actions
Multiattack. The swordsman makes two Curved Sword attacks.
Curved Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+3) slashing damage.
Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Riposte (Reaction). When a creature the swordsman can see misses it with a melee attack, the swordsman may make one Curved Sword attack against that creature.
A lean hobgoblin dropped into a low fighting stance, curved blade swept back mid-cut, ready to slip past a guard.
Hobgoblin Swordsman 1, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEFlanking Drill (signature). While the sparring-mate is adjacent to the same enemy as the swordsman, that enemy cannot benefit from cover against either of them.
Actions
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+2) piercing damage.
Reactions
Cover the Pivot. When the swordsman uses Cut and Pivot, the sparring-mate may shift 5 ft. to keep the flank, drawing the enemy's opportunity attack to itself.
A fellow fencing-school graduate who has crossed blades with the swordsman a thousand times and reads its every pivot.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Open beside an ally to land Martial Advantage, then Cut and Pivot to a flank so the next attacker can do the same. Riposte every whiff. Pair two swordsmen to gang one PC; pair with a captain to keep the bonus dice flowing.
Run it as a mobile flanker that dances around the front line to reach casters. Pivot keeps it out of opportunity range; Riposte punishes melee. Focus the softest target; pair it with controllers who pin PCs in place.
As an elite skirmisher add-on, it slips the front rank to harass the boss's chosen prey. Pivot and Riposte make it slippery and punishing. Never solo here; pair it with a flagship threat so the party can't simply corner it.
Put Hobgoblin Swordsman 1 on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Hobgoblin Swordsman 1?
Its native build is CR 2 (Tier 1): AC 14, 44 HP, +5 to hit. Use the Tier 2 (CR ~6) and Tier 3 (CR ~11) lines for higher-level parties.
Can Hobgoblin Swordsman 1 be a companion or ally?
Yes. A trained duelist makes a fine recruited blade or bodyguard; use the Sparring-Mate, Bound profile, or run the full swordsman as an allied skirmisher.
How is it different from Hobgoblin Swordsman 2?
Same fencing school and role; this one is the low-stance aggressor built around Cut and Pivot flanking, while its counterpart is the upright disciplined duelist.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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