This is not a big deal at all, but: stop using goblins. Specifically, if you are running  a game for brand new players, and they are entering their first ever combat, the 5th Edition goblin statblock, particularly the bonus-action-hide, is very bad at exemplifying the game’s fundamental rules. And today, I’m going to prove it.

The Goblin Ambush Example

We’ll use this example: your first ever combat in D&D was probably against goblins. It was probably THESE goblins, who waylaid a cart on the road to Phandalin. The players rock up on a cart, they see two dead horses up the road. There’s an embankment alongside the road, so the side bits are elevated and there are trees up top. And these four Goblin Warriors are hiding in the forest.

When you played this fight, I bet two goblins stayed back and pelted the party with arrows, then two others with shields ran forward and engaged the party’s frontline fighters. And I bet the action kind of split evenly across the battlefield, so each goblin paired off with a different hero so everybody got an opportunity to learn the basics of combat.

And I’m talking BASIC basics, things like:

• You learned the names of the dice, though you might still mix up your D8 and D10.
• You learned how initiative works and you moved your little guy around on a grid.
• You figured out maybe half the actions you can do on your turn.
• You learned what an opportunity attack and reaction is.
• And you might think you learned what a Bonus Action is, but you’re probably wrong.

Now, I’m going to say something brave and controversial, and it’s going to piss you off. That’s not the correct way to run goblins, because if you run goblins correctly, you hear the phrase “bonus-action-hide” a LOT.

How To Run Goblins Correctly

Here’s what I mean: there’s a videogame best-practice concept which is a GREAT little heuristic for D&D strategy called “push your buttons.” If you are pushing your buttons, you are using your abilities, and you’re probably making progress. So when you ask yourself, “Am I running these goblins correctly?” Well, are you pushing your buttons?

Because there are THREE buttons on the Goblin statblock, and none of these buttons are, “Split up and fight each player 1-on-1 in melee combat.”

1. As bonus action, we can Disengage.
2. Or also as bonus action, we can Hide.
3. And in the 2024 edition, every time we attack with Advantage, we deal and extra d4 damage.

So to play a goblin correctly, you should push those buttons at every opportunity, and every turn should look like one of these two options:

1. When you’re not in danger, you try to attack in a way which has Advantage, then you move toward cover and attempt to Hide with a Bonus Action.
2. When you are in danger, you Disengage as a Bonus Action, then move and use you Action to Dash toward cover.

Testing Goblin Strategies

But this is just THEORY at this point, so we need to test this strategy and verify its efficacy. I ran this Goblin Ambush encounter TWICE, once with a party of 2014 pregens, and again with 2024 pregens, and the results were surprising.

This was five level 1 players versus four Goblin Warriors. The goblins have 10 hit points, and they flee when three goblins have been killed.

• The 2014 party won on Round 7, suffering 105 damage.
• The 2024 party won on Round 5, suffering 50 damage. 

Here’s the first observation I want to make: yes, the players won, but the goblins did really well and out-performed the players’ damage output even though they were outnumbered.

The second observation is: to win this battle and overcome the frustrating bonus-action-hide mechanic, my players had to reach for some strategies and rules which I don’t think should be a priority for newbies to learn in their first combat —  this is the only reason why I think goblins, who are designed to use the bonus-action-hide mechanic, are not a good first-time player encounter.

For example, optimal player strategy against the bonus-action-hide is:

• When the goblins are hidden, ranged characters hunker behind the cart and Ready an action to shoot them when they pop out.
• But if a goblin fails their stealth roll, ranged characters should shoot them, then drop prone to impose disadvantage on ranged attacks against themselves.
• Meanwhile, tanks should charge into the bushes, grapple the goblins, and drag them into the open.

My Recommendations

Now: I’m not advocating for you to run your D&D session like some sweaty try-hard. I ran these goblins in a manner I would consider anti-social. But when I observe the shape of the goblin statblock, acknowledging the strategy the statblock wants to employ and the game mechanics it touches — yeesh, leave that bonus-action-hide lesson until the players are more comfortable with the basics first.

So my recommendation is: find a more appropriate stat-block. For an introductory fight, I actually like the structure of all the enemies pairing off against a player, but you should find a stat-block that incentivizes that strategy.

Imagine this ability:

Prideful: Melee attacks made against targets deal and extra D4 (2) damage if none of your allies are within 5ft of the target.

Or maybe look at kobolds instead! Kobolds have the Pack Tactics feature, which gives them advantage, and advantage is worth learning about in your first combat encounter.

But if you insist on using goblins anyway, check out this free PDF called Better Goblins. It takes away the bonus-action-hide and replaces it with a cover bonus. There are ten mundane goblin variants, and ten psionic goblin variants, and the PDF is free. You get this for free by joining my newsletter: start-a-quest.com. Enter your email address, then check your inbox and spam for a confirmation email. Then this Better Goblins PDF is all yours.