Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist

A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist

Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist by Creighton Broadhurst is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

Hobgoblins of the Mailed FistThe supplement is available as a 23-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $2.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one is an ad, four the front matter and Contents and half the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one intended for print and high-end devices, one intended for low-end and mobile.

Reading Stat Blocks is a standard page for the publisher explaining how to use these.

Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist starts by explaining that they operate as mercenaries and have three heavily fortified hill forts. They do not trouble local kingdoms, instead raiding other humanoids and are not regarded as an active threat. Several kingdoms pay the hobgoblins a yearly stipend to raid the other humanoids.

It then looks at their ecology & society, staring with their society in general, appearance, names, arcane magic and religion, followed by a look at their hill fort lairs and their combat and tactics. Sidebars look at using the hobgoblins in your own campaign, the forces in one of the hobgoblins’ battles, which are their war bands, and the Black Wings, the airborne element.

New Feats has seven new feats, six definitely battle related and the last for magic.

New Spells has three new spells, each of which creates a trench.

New Magic Items has three new combat-oriented items.

Stat Blocks, Allies & Encounters starts with various encounters. It explains that, unlike with many humanoids, encounters with the Mailed Fist do not inevitably end in combat and many encounters will depend on the goals and alignment of the employer; the hobgoblins have no interest in pointless, and unprofitable, combats. Several encounters are listed and a sidebar has Black Wing encounter groups.

Tribal Personalities has nine descriptions of different hobgoblins.

Warriors of the Mailed Fist has four stat blocks, two for warriors, two for archers. Each type has a sidebar on them, as do the rest following.

Black Wing Riders has stat blocks for three of these.

Specialists of the Mailed Fist has stat blocks for a war chanter, battle cleric, battle marshal and war leader.

Black Wing of Asgiroth has ecology, society, combat, tactics and lore for these giant bats, as well as a brief overview, as well as stats for the beast masters and two Black Wings.

Designing Additional Tribal Members has instructions for creating stats for these.

Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist in Review

The PDF is well bookmarked with everything except sidebars linked. The Contents is brief but is hyperlinked. Navigation is very good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of error. There are a number of pieces of black and white stock art. Presentation is decent.

This is a different kind of humanoid tribe, something that is normally a common foe of characters. In the case of the Mailed Fist, though the tribe might be a foe, if they have been hired to work for an enemy, they may also be an ally. or even someone the characters themselves want to hire. This mercenary nature of the tribe means that they are perhaps closer to Lawful Neutral now than Lawful Evil. The characters can therefore end up with some unexpected allies on their own side. The individuals of the tribe aren’t given much detail, but there are stat blocks for plenty of different types of members. Hobgoblins of the Mailed Fist can be found by clicking here.


Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.