Hobgoblin Deceiver

Hobgoblin Deceiver (CR 10)

Lawful Evil - Medium - Fey

Lore:	Know (Nature)
20		35
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

19

Perception:
29	+19
Passive	Active

Ambush:

8+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Darkvision 60 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.

Defense

AC

29

Man Def

28

Monster Health
210	105	16
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+12
Refl:	+7
Will:	+9

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+16

Man Off

+16

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Cleaving Sword +16 (2d8+10/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Uncanny Feint

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Cleaving Sword +16 (2d8+10/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: Uncanny Feint

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Bladed Bolas +16 (3d8+13/19-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)
  plus: Uncanny Feint, and Reflex save vs DC 20 or be Entangled

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

17

STR

17

DEX

20

CON

14

INT

14

WIS

11

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 16
• Knowledge (Local): 14
• Knowledge (Nobility): 14
• Perception: 19
• All other skills: 11 (no ranks)

Languages: Awnsheghlien, Common

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)

Special Abilities

Uncanny Feint (Ex) Swift Action

Hobgoblins can bend and move in a fluidly repulsive, unnatural way, which makes predicting when and where they are going to attack exceedingly difficult. As a result of this unnatural pliability, as a swift action, the Hobgoblin can use Bluff to Feint in combat, causing its opponent to be flat-footed against that hobgoblin's attacks until the beginning of the hobgoblin's next turn. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the target's base attack bonus + the target's Wisdom modifier. If the target is trained in Sense Motive, the DC is instead equal to 10 + the target's Sense Motive bonus, if higher. Uncanny Feint does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Pommel Smash (Ex) Swift Action

As a swift action, a Deceiver may roll to hit an adjacent foe with the pommel of their sword. This is resolved as a melee touch attack at 1d20 + 20 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die). If they succeed, they inflict 2d8+10 points of bludgeoning (physical, common) damage, and victim gains the Secured condition until the start of the Hobgoblin's next turn, or until the victim is able to shrug it off. Note that a Hobgoblin Deceiver may not use Pommel Smash and Uncanny Feint in the same round, unless it reduces either its move action or its standard action (or both!) to additional swift actions.

Hobgoblin Deceiver

Hobgoblins are the cruelest and most common of the Low Fey. Although technically Outsiders, they live on the Prime material in large numbers, their enclaves generally isolated. By the measures of more 'normal' races, the Hobgoblins, like all fey, are quite insane. Their motives and reasoning are just-so-subtly...off.

For example. Hobgoblins are quite formidable beings. If they formed armies and marched on their neighbors, they could establish nations and empires easily enough. But they do not. They don't care about such things, being content to live in small towns and thorps, a few dozen here, a few hundred there.... That is all that they are interested in. Hobgoblins are far more interested in their byzantine social lives and the torment of their slaves than they are about worrying over living space, to be honest.

Hobgoblin Deceivers are an example of what a 'normal' hobgoblin is like...if there can be anything normal about a Fey-spawned monstrosity.

Deceivers are clever, sly things, interested in tricks and traps and cruel pranks of all sorts. Their social life and their status is all they truly care about, that and having 'fun' at the expense of those weaker than themselves. Deceivers are respectable Hobgoblins, even though they seem to have no useful skills or add any worth to their community. They do, however, own many slaves, although they usually keep those slaves tucked out of harms way. It wouldn't do to mess up the torments they've planned for them with somebody else's cruelty.

Deceivers tend to be quite active outside the community, for Hobgoblins, and they can often be seen working for other monstrous races, for cash, for fame, for ideas of cruel pranks to play, for access to victims, for many twisted reasons.

Combat Tactics

Hobgoblin Deceivers are as cruel and cold as all other Hobgoblins. Hobgoblins want to catch you as a slave, not kill you, and as a result they will use their Bladed Bolas early in a battle to tie up their foes and then wade in with Pommel Smash and Cleaving Sword.

If they cannot over run a battle quickly with a wave of Bola entangles, they will fight cautiously, backing away with five foot steps when possible to force foes to close in and suffer attacks of opportunity. The hobgoblin closest to the enemy will fight defensively, and strive to make foes move past them to easier targets and thus gain many attacks of opportunity.

Agile foes will be hit with Uncanny Feint and attacked first, in an effort to thin the numbers of their enemies, and heavily armored foes will be left for last if possible. If there is a heavily armored foe, one Deceiver will engage them and fight defensively, with Uncanny Feint and Pommel Smash, while the rest of the Hobgoblins attack softer opponents.

If the battle goes badly for them, Deceivers will steadily back away with five foot steps, seeking to inflict enough damage with opportunity attacks and Pommel Smashes to force a withdrawal. Hobgoblins are disciplined sorts: If they cannot force a break in the fighting to withdraw in an orderly fashion, they will fight to the death, drawing out the battle as long as possible to inflict the most damage they can before their end.

Out of Combat

Hobgoblin Deceivers are popular with other monsters. They are inventive, fun, full of gossip, and can make torturing a prisoner into a whole afternoon of fun. As muscle for the weak they tend to be reliable and durable thugs. As hired help for the mighty, they are useful to have around and much, much more capable of following and interpreting complex orders than an ogre, or heaven forfend, a hill giant. It is not unusual to find a few hobgoblins as advisors, trainers, and general useful hands, even as butlers.

You can imagine the horrible sorts of fiends who would hire a hobgoblin as their butler...but they turn out to be remarkably good at that sort of thing!

Rewards

XP: 9,600

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 6,875 gp.

Weight: 100 lbs.     Volume: 4 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)