Quote from: RoninTake a big humanoid monster like a hill giant or ogre or something. Then strap 6-10 (depending on the size of the creature) large buckets that goblins ride in and shoot crossbows from.

This is great fun if it comes in worse and worse incarnations: at first, it's crossbows and an ogre; later, it's small ballista on a stone giant, and things get really hairy when they have a small army on a garugantua.

Ooooh ... on the whole "attack at night, and the adventurers won't have any sleep" ... I thought "Oh right ... like squirrels!"

But what if they were really like that?  Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.

It's not that the goblin did try to kill him.  But it could have.

To me, at least, that's somehow a little scarier.  The notion that a (potentially) dangerous creature just moseys on through, clips from of your iron rations, mosey's on out.

It's like a guy told me, one of his friends pilots the planes that carry advertising messages over miami beaches.  Guy says that from the air you can see that there are sharks of one kind and another ... well ... all over the place.  They're part of the local eco-sphere.  People just don't notice.

Dunno if that's actually true, but the idea of it was damn creepy.

Quote from: TonyLBBut what if they were really like that?  Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.

It's not that the goblin did try to kill him.  But it could have.

Excellent!

Or if the goblin wants your blanket?  Or snuggles up next to you?  Or a pack of 60 nasties just want a drink of water at the river, and could care less that they're ambling through your camp?  Mmm.

okay, with the ideas posted on this page, i now have to take notes on all the cool shit i want goblins to be in my games!  so much goodness!  

(hannibal)
i love it when the board comes together!
(/hannibal)

Well, since it's d20 you could give them lightsabers and have them talk like Yoda.

Y'know really, he does look a lot like a goblin...

Quote from: TonyLBOoooh ... on the whole "attack at night, and the adventurers won't have any sleep" ... I thought "Oh right ... like squirrels!"

But what if they were really like that?  Like, an adventurer wakes up one evening and finds a goblin rooting through his pack.

It's not that the goblin did try to kill him.  But it could have.

To me, at least, that's somehow a little scarier. The notion that a (potentially) dangerous creature just moseys on through, clips from of your iron rations, mosey's on out.

It's like a guy told me, one of his friends pilots the planes that carry advertising messages over miami beaches.  Guy says that from the air you can see that there are sharks of one kind and another ... well ... all over the place.  They're part of the local eco-sphere.  People just don't notice.

Dunno if that's actually true, but the idea of it was damn creepy.

I totally agree.  Scary to me is a matter of creating a feeling of suspence.  Military superiority is not as scarey as something unknown or unfathomable (alien).  When you can't predict it, that's scarey.

I imagine the scene where the Character wakes up...

"Thorgar wakes up in the middle of the night.  There's a fog around him.  He thinks he heard something but he feels like going back to sleep.  He notices as he's dozing that a shadow is moving nearby, rocking back and forth which he didn't see before."  

"I look at it and try to see what it is."

"It's a dark shape.  Wait... you see the gleam of two green eyes ... they are staring at you."

To me that's a scarey situation.  The unknown.

I agree the unknown is scary. Thats why I like when something is more than it appears. Not unlike some of the other things I have posted in this thread.

Give them character levels.






What?

Serious, goblins are already scary.  You just need to do them right.  And there's been some great suggestions on this thread

Hide them in the shadows with a held action (run away when shot at). But when the PCs get into trouble, THAT's when the 2d4 goblins show up. They loot the corpses, slay the wounded and pick-pocket whilst the fight is in progress.

Outside the dungeon, they can act as raiders so long as you give them an impregnable fortress.