Hobgoblin 5
Hobgoblin 5 — The Encounter
Scarred reaver of the goblin war-camp, blade always rising · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Hobgoblin 5
The reavers of the war-camp are the goblinoid kind grown disciplined: bigger, harder, and bred to obey the horn. Where common goblins scatter, the reaver holds the line, and where it holds the line it kills in pairs, for its art is the art of the gang. One distracts; one steps in; the falchion finds the gap between shield and helm. They wrap old wounds and wear them like medals, and a reaver that has bled does not falter but quickens, drawn to the smell of a faltering foe. Captured banners, notched blades, and the teeth of better warriors hang from their belts as proof of rank. They speak little in battle, trusting the camp-horn and the discipline of the muster, and they fear nothing so much as being seen to break in front of their own. To rout a reaver, you must first take the warband around it.
Run Hobgoblin 5 in Sixty Seconds
- Never alone. The reaver's whole kit is Martial Advantage (+7) when an ally stands within 5 feet of its target, so always run it with at least one buddy.
- Open by closing. Lunge into melee next to an existing attacker, then swing twice; the extra 2d6 nearly doubles its damage.
- Kill-priority: casters. It ignores the front-line tank to reach soft back-line targets, using Ready Step to follow kiting PCs.
- When bloodied, frenzy. At half HP it attacks with advantage but is hit with advantage too, so let it trade blows aggressively instead of retreating.
- Three ways to run it: as a paired flanking duo, as a war-camp squad behind a goblin boss, or as elite guards in a lair, never as a standalone boss.
Hobgoblin 5
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEMartial Advantage. Once per turn, the reaver deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that target is within 5 feet of an ally of the reaver that isn't incapacitated.
Blooded Frenzy. Signature. While the reaver has half its hit points or fewer, it has advantage on melee attack rolls, but attack rolls against it also have advantage. A reaver who scents weakness does not retreat.
Actions
Multiattack. The reaver makes two falchion attacks.
Falchion. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+3) slashing damage.
Hurled Javelin. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Ready Step (Reaction). When a creature the reaver can see ends its move within 5 feet of an ally, the reaver moves up to half its speed toward that creature without provoking opportunity attacks, setting up flanking for Martial Advantage.
A barrel-chested goblinoid in cinched leather and chain, crouched mid-lunge with a wicked curved falchion already swinging. War-paint streaks its scarred brow and one foot is bound in dirty wraps from an old wound it has long since stopped feeling.
Hobgoblin 5, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Tactics (signature). Hobgoblin 5 has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of the creature and isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage, and a Medium or smaller target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Hamstring (Reaction). When an enemy within 5 feet tries to move away, Hobgoblin 5 snaps at its legs; the target's speed is halved until the end of its turn.
A lean war-hound the reaver feeds from its own ration, scarred and silent until the falchion rises.
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 the softest PC and stacking next to an ally so Martial Advantage lands for +7. Kill-priority is the back-line caster; use Ready Step to keep a flanking buddy adjacent. When bloodied it gains Blooded Frenzy advantage, so trade blows hard while it lasts and pair two or three reavers with a goblin boss rather than running it alone.
Run a squad: each reaver wants an ally within 5 feet of its target so every hit carries Martial Advantage. Focus fire one PC down before spreading damage, and use Ready Step to swap flanks as the party kites. Pair with a hobgoblin captain or warlord whose presence justifies these upgraded numbers.
These are an elite guard detail, not a solo threat; deploy three to five inside a lair or muster line. Concentrate attacks to drop a single target per round, exploit Blooded Frenzy as a damage spike, and chain Ready Step to keep flanks locked. Always field them alongside a bigger flagship boss who supplies the real action economy.
Put Hobgoblin 5 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 5?
Its home tier is CR 2 (450 XP), a Tier 1 challenge tuned for level 1-4 parties: AC 14, 45 HP, +5 to hit, and roughly 16 damage a round when an ally sets up its Martial Advantage. Scaled stat blocks for Tier 2 and Tier 3 are provided if you need it to keep pace with higher-level groups.
Can Hobgoblin 5 be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a disciplined goblinoid soldier it reads naturally as a hired blade, war-camp enforcer, or grudging ally, and it comes with a bound war-hound, Camp-Cur, for a ready-made pair. Its Martial Advantage rewards fighting beside the party, so it slots in best as a flanking partner rather than a lone bodyguard.
Is this hobgoblin a solo boss?
No. It is a martial add-on with no legendary actions and no boss-grade reaction kit, so a four-PC party will out-act it on its own. Field it in pairs or squads alongside a larger flagship threat, such as a goblin warlord or captain, where its flanking damage shines.
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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