Goblin 1
Goblin 1 — The Encounter
Sallow spear-thief of the warren-mounds · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Goblin 1
Of the goblin-folk the old bestiaries write with contempt and unease in equal measure, for they breed in the spoil-heaps and hill-warrens where no honest road runs. This one is a spear-thief of the mound-camps: scarcely the height of a child, green-grey of hide, with the pointed ears and jaundiced eyes of its kind. It owns nothing it did not steal, and the studded skirt about its hips was cut from a dead man's jerkin. Alone, a goblin is a coward and a liar that will sell its own brood for a crust. In a pack it becomes something worse, for cowardice shared among forty knives is courage of a sort. They fight from the dark and the high ground, loose their casts and skitter back, and overwhelm by number what they dare not face by strength. Travelers are warned: where one such creature is seen at the wood's edge, a hundred more watch from the slope above.
Run Goblin 1 in Sixty Seconds
- Mob first. The goblin's whole game is Warren Coward: keep it within 10 ft. of an ally for advantage on melee and immunity to fear. A lone goblin is half a threat.
- Open from cover or high ground. Throw a spear, then bonus-action Hide or Snatch and Skitter back behind a wall. Make the party come to you on bad footing.
- Kill-priority is the squishy. Two spear attacks at advantage plus Snatch and Skitter let it dart in, stab the wizard, and slide out of melee range the same turn.
- When bloodied or last-standing, it breaks. The instant it's the only one left on its side it loses its bonuses and Dashes for cover, exactly as a real goblin would.
- Three ways to run it: as a numbers-swarm of identical spear-throwers; as harriers screening a bigger boss; or one as a turncoat companion (see Skritch) who fights for scraps and self-preservation.
Goblin 1
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINENimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Warren Coward. Signature. The goblin is craven when alone but vicious in a mob. While at least one other goblin or hostile creature is within 10 feet of it, the goblin has advantage on melee attack rolls and on saving throws against being frightened. The moment it is the last creature standing on its side, it loses these benefits and uses its next turn to Dash toward cover.
Actions
Multiattack. The goblin makes two spear attacks.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage, or 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Snatch and Skitter. As a bonus action immediately after hitting with a spear, the goblin may move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks from the creature it struck.
A wiry, sallow-skinned goblin in a patched leather skirt and studded apron, crouched low behind the long shaft of a chipped spear with the wary scowl of something that has survived by running first and biting later.
Goblin 1, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Instinct (signature). While Goblin 1 is within 10 feet of you, you may add 1d4 to one attack roll or saving throw each round, as the goblin harries and distracts your foe.
Actions
Stabbing Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.
Reactions
Skitter Clear. When a creature you can see ends its turn within 5 feet of Goblin 1, the goblin uses Nimble Escape to move up to 15 feet away without provoking opportunity attacks.
A turncoat warren-goblin who trades loyalty for table scraps and the promise of not being eaten, forever watching your back so it can watch its own.
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 from cover or high ground and let Warren Coward do the work: keep the goblins clumped so they all get advantage. Kill-priority is whoever they swarm, since two spears plus the mob bonus chews squishy PCs fast. Pair a pack of these with a single bigger threat (a hobgoblin captain or an ogre) so the party can't simply alpha-strike one foe.
Run it as an elite warren-veteran leading lesser goblins. Open with a spear cast, then bonus-action Snatch and Skitter behind a wall so the party must chase. Keep it in the mob for advantage and have it focus the lowest-AC striker; lean on the lair or minions rather than letting it stand alone.
At this tier it is a warren-tyrant, terrifying only with its swarm around it. Open by sending fodder forward, then hit-and-run with Snatch and Skitter to stay screened. Focus isolated PCs and never fight in the open; pair it with a bigger threat or a full lair of goblins so its mob-dependent kit stays online.
Put Goblin 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 Goblin 1?
Its home build is CR 2 (450 XP): AC 14, 38 HP, two spear attacks at +4, save DC 13. That's a slightly hardened warren-veteran rather than the baseline rabble, tuned as a Tier 1 add-on. Tier 2 and Tier 3 statlines are provided to drop it into higher-level swarms without rewriting its kit.
Can Goblin 1 be a companion or ally?
Yes. Skritch, Bound is a turncoat goblin sidekick (AC 13, 22 HP) who grants Pack Instinct, a 1d4 boost while it skulks at your side, plus a spear poke and a Skitter Clear reaction to bolt from danger. It is loyal only as long as you keep it fed and uneaten.
How do I keep a single goblin from being a pushover?
Never run it alone. Its power comes entirely from Warren Coward and hit-and-run, so give it at least one nearby ally for the advantage, fight it from cover or elevation, and let it use Snatch and Skitter to strike and retreat. Isolated and surrounded, it is meant to break and run, so make the party earn that isolation.
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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