Hobgoblin Swordsman 2
Hobgoblin Swordsman 2 — The Encounter
Upright master of the guard, blade planted, hand raised in challenge · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Hobgoblin Swordsman 2
Where the low-stance skirmisher is loosed to break a line, this swordsman is the one who teaches the breaking. A master of the cohort's fencing-school, it fights upright and unhurried, drawing a foe into a single-combat where its guard is nearly impenetrable and its riposte certain. It carries the heavier blade now, the two-handed cut earned by rank, and it issues challenges in the old dueling tongue, baiting champions away from their fellows. Such masters serve as the cohort's officers of the blade, walking the drill-yard with a critic's eye and the dueling-ground with a killer's. To accept its challenge is to be locked into a fight you have already lost the spacing of; to refuse is to be cut down from behind while it holds your eye. The legion respects nothing it cannot beat in a fair fight, and the masters make sure it rarely has to.
Run Hobgoblin Swordsman 2 in Sixty Seconds
- Challenge first. Use Challenging Shout to give one PC disadvantage on attacking anyone but the swordsman, peeling them off the squishies.
- Plant for three. If it doesn't move it swings the greatsword three times; standing still is the threat.
- It's hard to crack. Master's Guard (+2 vs the first hit each turn) plus Parry (+3 reaction) eat burst damage.
- Kill-priority. It duels the party's best melee combatant and holds them in place.
- Three ways to run it: a duelist captain over a squad, a frontline officer beside swordsmen, or an elite champion stalling for a bigger boss.
Hobgoblin Swordsman 2
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil
CR 3 · 700 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.
Master's Guard. Signature. The swordsman adds +2 to its AC against the first melee attack made against it on each creature's turn, reading the strike before it lands.
Actions
Multiattack. The swordsman makes two Greatsword attacks, or three if it has not moved this turn.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6+3) slashing damage.
Challenging Shout (Recharge 5-6). The swordsman calls out one creature it can see within 30 ft. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom save or have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than the swordsman until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Parry (Reaction). When hit by a melee attack, the swordsman adds 3 to its AC against that attack, potentially turning the hit into a miss.
A composed hobgoblin master in ornate scale, a heavy blade point-down at its side, one hand lifted in a duelist's challenge.
Hobgoblin Swordsman 2, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEWatch and Learn (signature). When the swordsman lands a critical hit or kills a creature, the blade-student gains advantage on its next attack roll, mirroring the master's form.
Actions
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage.
Reactions
Cover the Master. When the swordsman is hit, the student steps in to take 1d6 of the damage instead.
A promising young duelist who carries the master's spare blade and studies every parry like scripture.
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 with Challenging Shout to isolate the party's hardest hitter, then stand and take three Greatsword swings. Master's Guard and Parry make it tanky in a duel. Pair it with a swordsman or two so Martial Advantage and flanks stay live.
Run it as a frontline officer that picks a duel and refuses to lose it. Shout to peel a defender off the casters, then grind. Parry and Master's Guard frustrate burst damage; pair it with archers who punish the isolated foe.
As an elite champion add-on, it duels the party tank to a standstill while the real boss works. Shout to keep that PC locked on it. Never field it solo; it is a holding action, not a finisher.
Put Hobgoblin Swordsman 2 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 2?
Its native build is CR 3 (Tier 1): AC 15, 52 HP, +5 to hit, save DC 12. Use the Tier 2 (CR ~6) and Tier 3 (CR ~11) lines to scale it up.
Can Hobgoblin Swordsman 2 be a companion or ally?
Yes. A blade-master makes an excellent allied officer or weapons-tutor; use the Blade-Student, Bound profile, or run the full swordsman as a recruited champion.
How is it different from Hobgoblin Swordsman 1?
Same fencing school; this is the upright master built around dueling, Challenging Shout, and a near-unhittable guard, while its counterpart is the low-stance flanking skirmisher.
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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