Hobgoblin 3
Hobgoblin 3 — The Encounter
Twin-Axe Brute of the Goblin Camp · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Hobgoblin 3
Folk who study the goblin-kin set the hobgoblin apart from its smaller cousins: taller, broader, and bred to war by tribes that prize discipline above cunning. This one is a camp enforcer, a twin-axe brute who keeps the warren's drudges in line by example and by terror. It does not raid for trinkets alone; it drills the lesser goblins into ragged ranks, teaches them to hold a shieldwall, and butchers any who break and run. The pair of axes are its pride, each blade balanced for the throw as readily as the chop, so that no quarry escapes by retreat. Where a common goblin flees the moment the tide turns, a hobgoblin of this stripe stands its ground beside its kin, fed on the grim certainty that cowardice earns a worse death than any enemy can offer. Hunters who have cleared such camps warn that one of these brutes is worth a dozen of the chattering rabble it commands.
Run Hobgoblin 3 in Sixty Seconds
- It's a brute, not a boss. Run this hobgoblin as muscle beside goblins or a flagship leader — it has no legendary actions and a 4-PC party will out-act it solo.
- Open by isolating. Charge the softest target and spend both Hand Axe attacks on it; if it drops, Twin-Axe Frenzy hands you a free third swing.
- Keep it in the pack. Martial Discipline means it can't be frightened while an ally is within 30 ft. — never let it get separated from its kin.
- Punish melee. Cleaving Riposte lets it counter any adjacent attacker who misses, so PCs pay for whiffing in its face.
- When bloodied, it doesn't flee — it digs in beside allies, kill-priority the enemy healer or caster, and trades blows to the end.
Hobgoblin 3
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEMartial Discipline. The hobgoblin has advantage on saving throws against being frightened. While at least one ally is within 30 feet of it and that ally isn't incapacitated, the hobgoblin can't be frightened.
Twin-Axe Frenzy. Signature. When the hobgoblin reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, it can immediately make one Hand Axe attack as part of the same action.
Actions
Multiattack. The hobgoblin makes two Hand Axe attacks.
Hand Axe. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+3) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it can't take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Cleaving Riposte. When a creature within 5 feet of the hobgoblin misses it with a melee attack, the hobgoblin can use its reaction to make one Hand Axe attack against that creature.
A barrel-chested hobgoblin grins through filed teeth, a notched hand axe spinning in each fist as it stamps forward across the bloodied gravel of the goblin camp.
Hobgoblin 3, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Drill (signature). While Hobgoblin 3 is within 30 feet of you and conscious, you have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that is within 5 feet of one of your allies.
Actions
Hand Axe. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage.
Reactions
Shoulder Guard. When you are hit by a melee attack while Hobgoblin 3 is within 5 feet of you, it can use its reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack roll.
A scarred warrior who swore loyalty after you spared its warren, Hobgoblin 3 fights at your flank with the same brutal economy it once used against you.
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 by closing on a lightly-armored PC and spending both axe attacks on it to trigger Twin-Axe Frenzy if it drops. Hold position beside its goblin minions so Martial Discipline keeps it unflinching. Kill-priority is the squishiest spellcaster; pair it with a goblin mob or a bigger camp boss as the muscle.
Run several of these as a disciplined axe-line in front of a flagship leader. Each opens on the nearest threat and uses Cleaving Riposte to punish whoever steps in to melee them. Focus the healer, and keep at least one brute adjacent to its lord so neither can be frightened off.
Deploy as elite bodyguards in a warlord's lair, never alone. Have them screen the real boss, riposte every miss, and chain Twin-Axe Frenzy through downed PCs. Kill-priority remains the party's controller; pair the pack with a larger threat so the action economy actually bites.
Put Hobgoblin 3 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 3?
Its home statline is CR 2 (450 XP), a Tier 1 challenge for a party of levels 1-4. The card also includes scaled Tier 2 and Tier 3 columns so you can field it as an elite axe-line warrior against levels 5-10 or 11-15 without rebuilding it.
Can Hobgoblin 3 be a companion or ally?
Yes. Use the companion block for Snarltooth, Bound — a defeated warrior who swears loyalty and fights at a PC's flank, granting pack-drill advantage near allies and shielding its master from melee hits.
Should I run this hobgoblin as a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions or lair, so a full party will overwhelm it alone. Field it as a frontline enforcer beside a goblin mob or as a bodyguard for a larger warlord — its Martial Discipline and Cleaving Riposte shine in numbers.
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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