lanky frames with minimal body fat, as though they've
been stretched out dramatically on a rack. They have trouble floating in
water, but are stronger than they look.
2
reddish skin and dark flesh, due to the high amount of oxygen their blood and tissues hold.
3
abnormally bulging traps, lats, and guts from the natural steroids they produce.
4
a digitigrade posture, with their feet clenched and hardened into proto-hooves.
5
an aversion to scars and blemishes, seeing them as
indicating failure of one's skill or armour, and so cake on makeup to
cover them up - and this has become a desirable aesthetic of its own.
6
keratinous growths on their ears that extend them into
long, horn-like protrusions - it is polite to brush one's ear-horn aside
to allow social superiors to pass by, a sort of salute.
D6
The hobgoblins fight
1
atop mounts with bows or spears - in formal duels
against each other, the loser forfeits the middle and index finger they
use to nock arrows.
2
in dense, heavily-armoured infantry formations supported by light cavalry.
3
according to a strict code of honour - though if the
other side violates this code, even unknowingly, then the hobgoblins
will escalate to ruthless total war.
4
generally with the aim of capturing slaves without
maiming them too badly, which can limit their effectiveness in pitched
battle, and has given rise to specialized tactics and weaponry.
5
from vehicles somewhere between chariots and war wagons.
6
with absolute and brittle chains of command, tending to fall apart when officers are taken out.
D6
These hobgoblins worship
1
their great enemies, for pushing them to rise and
evolve - they seek to devour these enemies to spare them the indignity
of the crows and worms, and to make pilgrimage-shrines from their bones.
2
a pantheon of deified emperors. Devotees heat coins stamped with these emperors' faces and use these as brands on their skin.
3
the spirits of arms and armour - honing their souls in life to be reborn in the purity of steel.
4
a militant messiah prophesied to lead them to dominance over the whole world.
5
Necessity itself, as the master-force which enslaves all things.
6
in a syncretic smattering of hero-cults, mystical warrior-societies, and chaoskampf philosophies.
D6
These hobgoblins domesticate
1
zorbos, taking advantage of these creatures' tremendous shock-absorption to launch them out of catapults at foes.
2
geladas, training them for dumb labour and gambling on their fights.
3
gorbels, finding their rubbery flesh delicious and
their floating bodies to be a bright amusement, particularly when
adorned with chimes and streamers.
4
a breed of aurochs they use as mounts, wearing the
beasts' horns on their helms to display their strength and potency, and
making outrageously-smelly cheese from their milk.
5
rocs, using them as troop transports for elite squads, and in parades for victorious generals.
6
ankhegs, using them to dig out battlefield
fortifications, eating their eggs, and making perfume from their wax.
Ankheg-driver is one of the most dangerous professions in their society,
giving rise to many idioms.
D6
A standard ration these hobgoblins carry
1
is is smoked larvae, often eaten mashed and fried.
2
is tooth-polishingly gritty ash-cakes.
3
is rice-cakes similar to mochi, mixed with whole dried and powdered fish.
4
is sour strips of fruit-leather.
5
is eggs that have been boiled in sauce then cured.
6
is links of black pudding.
D6
These hobgoblins live
1
in what are essentially those Al-Qaeda mountain fortresses except real.
2
in a grassy steppe they've riven with trenches, and
public works like aqueducts and sewers they've built up from those
trenches, feuding with the centaurs, nomads, and so on they share the
steppe with.
3
in a limestone-ridden landscape of karst and cenotes.
The region is a labyrinth of razor-sharp stone, sudden pitfalls, and
underground canals for quick repositioning.
4
in a desert basin, surviving off taxes, tariffs, and tribute.
5
as a caste of warrior-aristocrats ruling over a cluster of non-hob satrapies.
6
on an artificial archipelago of scuttled warships, dikes, and buried reefs.
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