The Goblin Lair is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

This adventure was originally designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5e, using the Greyhawk Campain setting. Both of which are owned by Wizards of the Coast.

I did not use any of the Wizard Campaign settings in this. The game was meant to be played in a custom sandbox so I simply created new village and location names based on those. 

Summary

Your group could simply be travelling from one location to another, the village is along the way and offers a lovely inn with warm beds and delicious beers. Food is optional.

Alternatively, the group could have heard there are problems in the region and been trailing along a series of smoking farms and merchant caravans that have been attacked. The stories are all the same; Goblins.

The region is in danger and security is absent due to issues in the north. The military in the region is spread thin, local militias are without military support, and the danger is growing. Communities are growing isolated and paranoid, in some cases strangers are eyed and threatened, and other times they are refused service. In the case of Osban village, the group will be met with a sad smile and tired eyes.

The topic on all tongues is the taking of Sister Bethany, the local Priestess.

Time

Time is an abstraction in this adventure. You can set the time and distance between locations to what you need it to be. If your group is moving quickly between scenes feel free to add a day or even more between encounters. Keep in mind that goblins are lazy creatures that would like to be closer than farther. They want to only be a few hours from intended targets and usually will move on once they have dried up the region or have created too much heat to stay.

Osban Village

The group should enter from the West (left) side of the map. The inn is several minutes to the East (right) side of the map (Not displayed on the village map).

Osban is a small farming community, maybe 50 persons, a few minutes east of a major road. There are signs of violence everywhere. On the ground are dark blood splatters. Every building shows damage from fire and arrows in the walls. The raid happened two days ago and killed three people. The young priestess that lives in the region was also taken by the raiders.

The village is still reeling from the raid. It happened late at night. The goblins killed several dogs (and a few roosters) and caught the village utterly by surprise.

Notable Residence:

  • Franz Berger – A large balding fellow with a narrow, hard, build, a messy beard and a left shoulder wound that constantly weeps. He is the community blacksmith and Reeve. He has a wife and two children.
  • Iris Schober – is the town herbalist. She is an older human, thin to the point of looking like she is starving but filled with busy energy. She has run out of resources to heal and has not had the time to get more.
  • Dexsia Ma (Dex) – retired soldier. In her late 40’s this is a no-nonsense retired Seargent from the kingdom army. She is originally from this area and returned here several months ago to help manage her family farm. When the Rangers got removed from the region she started up a small militia. She is a lean strong woman with several scars on her face from years of practice and war. She will not leave the village but can offer some ideas on the location of the goblins. She does not know the location of the cave but has seen the goblins moving in that area. Dex is solid-looking, with short dark hair, pale skin with a golden hue, and strong and fast (Level 4 fighter).
  • Lukas Posch – a young boy (12) that knows where the cave is, but keeps getting shushed by his elders.
    • Lukas knows about the Orgre’s cave – he can direct the party there.
    • If you are lacking time, he can direct the party to the Goblin Hideout.
    • The boy will look for the group once they are away from the adults and tell them about the ogre den and the direction he thinks the Goblins are in.

Irongrip Inn

Clean and inviting, the inn shows some damage from the previous night’s adventures. This roomy inn is owned by two sisters, Meridtiih and Tazzy Irongrip. There are only a handful of clients at the moment due to the raid, most are working around the villages or on their farms. The bar has a decent collection of ales, beers and some whiskies. While their menu is limited they do produce good food.

Menu:

  • Comfortable meal (5sp)
    • Sheppards Pie with veg and cheese.
    • Beef or Chicken Stew with chees and bread.
    • Knight Cakes (stew in a crust – comes with 4 per plate)
  • Ale/Beer (They have a collection of Human/Dwar/Gnome/Halflings)
    • Gallon (2sp)
    • Mug (4cp)
  • Wine
    • Pitcher Average (2sp)
    • Pitcher Good (2gp)
    • Pitcher Exceptional (5gp)

There is a second floor with:

  • three single rooms (5sp each/Night),
  • two double rooms (1gp each/Night) and
  • a large suite (2gp/Night).

Notable Folk:

  • Meredith Irongrip (half-elf) is the older sister, in her mid-40s. She is pretty and seems to carry herself with grace and elegance not common in the region. She has excellent manners and speaks well, and in several languages, even elvish. Her clothing style seems to be influenced by gypsies and tribals; bright colours with small sums of wealth are worn. She tends to work the bar.
  • Tazzy Irongrip is in her late 20s to early 30s. She is slight and fast on her feet. She looks nothing like Meredith but is just as pretty. Tazzy likes to gamble and drink with the locals. She is strong and tough, often being the bouncer of the inn. Many of the locals have learned not to test her.
  • Skerwulf Bullbutcher is a soldier that works for the local lord. He is here to keep an eye on things. He knows just as well as the locals that his presence here is a token effort. He is polite and talkative. He tells people he is off duty but he keeps his eyes open.

The Ogre’s Cave

If you are running out of time, skip this encounter or cut it short and show the carnage.

This cave is close to the village and has been the home to an old ogre for some years. He learned his lesson a few years ago when he, arrogantly, started to torment the locals. At the time the Rangers gave him a sound thrashing and he took the lesson to heart. He rarely seeks the locals unless he accidentally stumbles across them. The rangers, seeing greater dangers to deal with, kept an eye on him and let him be. The ogre got lucky that the rangers were short-handed and had larger issues to deal with.

If the group finds the ogre’s cave they will see that a battle took place not long ago. A dead orc at the entrance, and blood sprays the walls and floor. Once they move in the sound of arguing, in orcish, can be heard.

The orcs are upset that the leader of the goblins did not warn them just how tough the ogre was, they also will state that Goblin’s let the Orcs run in and weaken the ogre, while they waited and when ready joined the fight.

  • The Goblins and Orcs will fight like this for a few minutes.
  • If the group waits long enough the goblins will kill the last of the orcs
    • The goblins will kill all the orcs (2 wounded and one at full health).
    • It is when they come out into the main chamber to kill an orc that they notice the party.
  • Have it so one of the Orcs does survive and tell the adventurers exactly where the Goblin’s hideout is. He will die shortly after that.

The Hideout Overview

Situated in a clever location, while it looks like an old mine, it was, in fact, a ranger depo before they were pulled out of the region due to unrest in the north. Over the last few years, the occasional trapper has used the depo till the goblins moved in. The depo is perfect as it is surprisingly central, with several chambers to organize and store goods and a freshwater source.

The goblins are celebrating a successful raid which provided them with a wide selection of goods and a large sum of alcoholic beverages.

Average Goblin personal Treasure: Roll for each

  • 1d4 gp
  • 2d6 sp
  • 3d10 cp
  • Feel free to add any nicknacks that could be in the rooms or items you feel the group may like or need.

The Hideout.

  1. The Entrance. A rough cutout of stone offers some modest protection from the passerby. The group will have to find the entrance (Perception DC: 15 or Survival: DC 15), to find it.
    1. Alternatively, the group could follow the terrible singing of drunken goblins.
  2. Four goblins sit and guard the hideout entrance. The cave is hidden enough that people don’t stumble upon it, so the goblins are not expecting anyone.
    1. Alternatively: If A was selected above, they sing, cheer and may be surprised by the group.
  3. Prison. There are two guards playing cards, they have been told to protect the prisoner at all cost, or they will be put in the dinner pot. They will fight dirty.
    1. Sister Bethany is a priestess of Ilmater. She is dedicated to healing all creatures, although there is some discretion about who the Priests can heal. She was captured and forced to heal the Goblins. She has resisted more than a few times and has suffered for her stubbornness. Otherwise, she is well-fed, although she suspects they are feeling her human meat. Still, she is a (non-preaching) vegetarian. She will do her best to heal any characters that are wounded.
  4. Freshwater: Even the goblins know this is an important room. The Goblin Boss forbids the other goblins from hanging out here, knowing they will get up to mischief.
  5. Sleeping Area: The sleeping area for the goblins from area 3, guarding the Priestess.
  6. Primary Cave Channel. Currently empty but gives access to all areas of the complex.
  7. Stolen goods! There is a varied mix of common items here. Nothing especially of value, but there are several fresh rations, 60 arrows, a dozen spears, and so on. There is nothing magical and no real wealth.
  8. Bosses Office: A few goblins are sleeping here, the Goblin Boss is playing dice with a couple of his favourites. There is roughly 74 cp on the table.
    1. Boss Treasure: In a small pile of boxes and a few pots are 2000 cp, 1300 sp, 70 gp, a brass Warhammer set with a single jet (25 gp), a linen choker trimmed with squirrel fur (25 gp), a petrified frog set with a rosette of rhodochrosite (25 gp), a silver chime set with amethyst (25 gp), an earthenware ewer painted with mythical creatures (25 gp), Potion of Fire Breath (uncommon, dmg 187), twenty javelins bound with rope (10 gp, 40 lb)