a dozen

goblins and orcs

by philip reed
As a gamemaster, you’ve no doubt already made use of As with many of the entries in the A Dozen . . . series,
both goblins and orcs many, many times in your game A Dozen Goblins and Orcs exists for one reason: To
sessions. These ubiquitous humanoid monsters are the inspire you, the GM, either when planning for a game
go-to monsters for many of us (I know I’m guilty of drag- session or when you find that the players have strayed
ging them out quite frequently in all sorts of RPG plan- from your carefully-crafted adventure.
ning), and that means we can never have enough new
ideas for how to use the beasts in an adventure. NOTE: As roleplaying has branched from its origin point
over the last few decades, everyone has developed
Within these pages are a dozen different goblin and orc their own look and feel for these classic monsters. From
encounters. These encounter ideas should prove useful terrifying to bumbling and kinda silly, both goblins and
if goblins and orcs are as common in your world as they orcs can fill as many different roles as any “human” or PC
are in most fantasy campaigns. race. The best suggestion I can make is that you treat
goblins and orcs as best fits your personal tastes.

A Dozen Goblins and Orcs © 2020 Philip Reed, all rights reserved.
Artwork by fantasy-stockart.com, used under license.
a dozen goblins and orcs • page 1
 anatomy 1
of a 2
creature
1. The orc or goblin’s classification.

2. Each creature includes a single illustration.

3. An opening block of text that may be used

3
as read aloud text when introducing the
creature to the player characters..

4. The creatue/event description, that is

freeform and very open to interpretation.
My goal with each and every creature de-
scribed within these pages is to provide
you, the GM, with an idea that you can ex-
4
pand to suit your campaign.

NOTE: Goblin vs goblinoid. The two are inter-

changeable; something that is a goblin is – for
the purposes of this text – also identied as
goblinoid or a goblinoid.

using the creatures

The dozen orc and goblin descriptions that follow are When sitting down to craft an encounter, regardless if it
each more an encounter idea than they are a detailed is inspired by one of these pages or an idea of your own,
non-player character. At times, the orcs and goblins you will need tools to both inspire you and to record
have been named, but the most important part of each your planned encounter. The various PDFs in the A Doz-
is the story ideas that the gamemaster should take as en . . . series are, I hope, the tools that inspire you. As to
inspiration when preparing an encounter to throw at those tools to help in recording your planned encoun-
the players. ter, you may use a notebook, index cards, a computer
file, or anything that works best for your needs.
As with all of the entries in the A Dozen . . . series, the
pages of this PDF exist for one reason: to spark the If you’re in search of somewhere to record your encoun-
gamemaster’s imagination and to give the GM just ter ideas when designing a dungeon, I’d like to direct
enough of an idea to make it something new and dif- you to one of my own books: the Dungeon Crafter’s
ferent during the session. The last thing I would ever Sketch Book is a collection of blank graph pages that
want to do is force a GM to follow anything exactly as I also includes several random tables to give you ideas.
have written it. Please always take my ideas and change The book is available in two editions – hexes and squares
them to fit your needs. – and in PDF and print-on-demand. Please check it out!
a dozen goblins and orcs • page 2
orc scout
You encounter the orc far from its companions as you and the creature are both walk-
ing through the desert. It stops and waits for you, waving a friendly greeting as you
close the distance. “It is dangerous to travel these wastelands alone,” the orc says.
“Would you mind if I join you in the trek across the desert?”

“I am Gulm Noradd, scout and warrior of Clan Noradd. My Within hours of the group of orcs returning to their vil-
people are dying, falling prey to the magical sickness of lage, Mage Rot had infected the majority of the orcs. The
Mage Rot, and I now journey to Fort Dragonteeth to bring sickness weakens those affected by its magic, reducing
back a cure before the arcane illness kills my tribe. I do not all statistics by roughly half and stripping them of the
wish to fight. I only desire to safely traverse this desert and ability to do much more than moan, cry, and suffer in
return swiftly to my people with the cure that will save extreme agony.
them all.”
Gulm Naradd was away from the village when the sick-
If pressed, Noradd explains that his people were sub- ness swept through it, and on his return he managed to
jected to the sickness after they opened a sealed dun- learn of the plague without falling to its magical power.
geon chamber. The orcs failed to heed the warning that He now races to Fort Dragonteeth to buy healing po-
was inscribed on the door that they smashed open, tions that will eradicate the sickness and restore the
and within moments the magical sickness had infected health of his people. Will the adventurers help him in
those orc explorers who were there. his mission, or will they see him only as another orc?

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 3

goblinoid assassin

You’re certain that something has been following you for the last few hours, a crea-
ture unknown sticking to the shadows and hiding behind the rocks and cavernous
twists and turns of the labyrinth. Working as a team, you and your fellow adventurers
manage to outwit your stalker and catch a glimpse of the goblinoid before it hides.

Armed with a hand crossbow, several daggers, and car- “The master demands your death, scum, and Geets will do
rying a few healing potions, you and your companions all that he can to please the master.”
gain the initaive on a creature calling itself Geets Stord
when exploring the dungeon. The goblin is insane, having been left alone in the sub-
terranean world for so long that it no longer knows
“Hired to murder you I have been,” the goblin proclaims what the upper world looks like. The player characters
when pressured. “Murder you I will,” the beast screams as aren’t even the target of the assassin; Geets Stord failed
it struggles to escape. The goblin is fast and dangerous, in his mission several years ago and has since then
clearly having been through terrible events in the past; trailed any who enter the dungeon. Stord has killed a
you notice that it has a prosthetic leg under its robes handful of adventurers over the years, each time certain
and the thing is capable of moving quickly and silently. that these are the ones he has been tasked with mur-
Whatever you and your friends do, you must not allow dering. If the party uses magic to search the monster’s
Stord to escape or the goblin will find a way to perform mind, they find only that the goblin was brainwashed a
its assignment and kill each member of the party. The decade ago and spells cast long ago have erased what
goblin is alone and will do anything it can to escape. memories the beast may have once had.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 4

goblinoid brute
Your night of rest is interrupted when a large, angry beast rushes from the woods and
attacks. It’s a goblinoid of some sort, but not one that you or your companions recog-
nize. Almost as if a goblin were bred with a giant. Whatever it is, it may be slow and
stupid, but it is obviously strong and a threat that must be handled.

The goblinoid brute stands over ten-feet tall and is If the adventurers encounter a goblinoid brute on its
a screaming, snarling monster of a beast with an ex- own, the creature will seem shy and nervous, too scared
tremely low intelligence. The brute is manipulated by of strangers to react with anything but fear. If the party
pure goblins who teach the brute from an early age that of heroes shows the beast kindness and treats it well,
it is a lesser form of creature that exists only to serve and they may be able to convince the monster to trust them.
protect those true goblins who are better than it.
A goblinoid brute on its own has likely been abandoned
A goblinoid brute is a figher more skilled with fists, by its family of goblins. The nasty little beasts enjoy tak-
clubs, and makeshift weapons than it is any form of ing a brute that has disappointed them into the forest
crafted weapon. Brutes wear little or no armor and they and leaving it to die without them. Goblins are cruel,
have been trained to fight until they collapse; the brute twisted monsters.
wants nothing more than kindness from those goblins
it has lived with its entire life and will do anything to The goblinoid brute will never fit in with society, though
earn pleasant words and encouragement. such beasts can be cared for and nurtured by those
gentle and patient enough to help an abandoned
A goblinoid brute is rarely alone, often part of a larger brute. The brute’s memory and intelligence are limited,
group of goblins that are on a raid or otherwise plan- though, and the beast may forget its friends and com-
ning to kill someone. The brute follows the others with- panions if it is separated from them by more than a few
out question, attacking when told to attack. weeks of time.
a dozen goblins and orcs • page 5
orc warrior
The orc spots you at the same time that you see it, but you haven’t chance for more
than a shout of warning before the creature runs toward you and the others. Axes
swinging wildly, the orc attacks without even taking a second to ask itself whether or
not it is skilled enough to take on an experienced group of heroes.

Towering and threatening, the orc warrior is afraid of Unlike some other orcs, who may be willing to talk and
nothing and will put everything it has into killing the negotiate with the heroes, the orc warrior is driven to
party of adventurers when it encounters them. The orc kill all who it meets and the monsters will rarely engage
is part of a larger force and there’s a chance that the in conversation. If the group does manage to convince
sounds of battle will attract other orcs to the fight. If the the warrior to talk, it will be grumpy and mean, and the
PCs do not defeat the monster within 2d3+1 rounds, slightest offense will push the orc to drop all of its resis-
another 3d6 orcs join in the fight. tance to its desire to kill everyone in the group.

An orc warrior is taller, stronger, and more dangerous Those who study the culture and history of orcs say that
than the typical orc the party may have confronted in warriors are a special bloodline of the orc race. Their an-
the past. These monsters wear heavy armor and strike cestor, the great orc king Ushnar Olodagh, was cursed
out with the twin axes that they carry, each one of which and always in a bloodthirsty rage to the point he some-
would be a two-handed weapon for your average hu- times killed other orcs if no suitable opponents were
man or dwarven warrior. The orc keeps the blades of the nearby. That rage courses through the blood of the orc
axes sharpened and ready at all times, and a small num- warriors that live today, and they are proud to continue
ber of the monsters use magic axes in battle. the battle of Olodagh to all they meet to this day.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 6

goblin delver

As you search the dungeon for treasures, you come across a fellow adventurer – a
goblin - who is digging in a small chamber. The goblin turns to you and raises a finger
to its lips, the look in its eyes causing you to halt in your tracks. “You’ll wake it,” the
goblin says to you. It points to a dark shape in the distant corner and then returns to
digging the hole for what purpose you do not know.
The goblin introduces himself as Glob Blozz and says The goblin motions again to the corner where the party
that he is a dungeoneer, an adventurer who has ded- can see a sleeping creature made of stone. Those who
icated his life to exploring the tombs, labyrinths, and possess knowledge of monsters and elemental beasts
subterranean lairs of the known and unknown world. recognize the sleeping monster as a xorn, a powerful
Blozz is experienced, having visited a few dozen differ- monster that can move swiftly through solid earth and
ent dungeons in his many years as a delver. stone. The planar monsters are an uncommon sight,
and it is unknown what could have brought it to this
“The thing is asleep, but it takes only one wrong move to particular dungeon.
bring disaster down on us all,” Blozz says as he continues
digging into the rocky soil of the passageway. The gob- The monster will, of course, awaken long before the
lin treasure hunter has followed leads to this spot and is goblin manages to recover the treasure chest. He will
certain that a chest of gold is buried several feet below yell for the heroes to fight off the monster, insisting that
the surface. “You help me get this out, and deal with that he has almost reached the chest. Blozz is a liar, though,
thing if it wakes,” the goblin says, “and I’ll share the riches and the instant he grasps the chest he will do his best to
with you. Even split for us all.” escape and abandon the adventurers.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 7

orc cavalryman
“Death to you and your kin!” The creature’s shout is your first sign that the day is about
to get interesting. A charging warboar, with orc rider, approaches fast and you have
only seconds to prepare for the monster’s assault.
A skilled and experienced fighter, Wrug Farfu has spent When traveling across the plains, the group accidentally
years with his warboar, Grunt. The pair share an arcane comes to close to an orc encampment which leads the
bond, a connection that allows them to communicate orcs to send out their cavalrymen. The 1d4+2 orcs – all
through telepathy which makes the pair far more dan- on warboars – are led by Farfu, who screams orders at
gerous than the usual orc cavalryman. those beneath his command while doing all he can to
slaughter the interlopers.
This magic bond exists for one reason: Farfu’s earrings
have been joined to Grunt’s mind through sorcery, and Farfu and his orcish underlings have no interest in tak-
for as long as the orc wears the earrings, the two know ing captives; they wish only to kill those who would
each others every thought. This makes them effective in dare to approach the orc camp without permission.
battle, allowing the two to operate as one.
If the party defeats Farfu and his group, the orc’s ear-
In game terms, the link grants Farfu bonuses to attack rings may be claimed by one of the PCs. The earrings
and defense when mounted, as the warboar moves detect as magical, but uncovering the power of the ear-
quickly to adapt to the orc’s every thought. rings will require research and careful study of the item.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 8

goblin catapult

On the road far from town, you come across a group of goblins who are trying to push
a catapult out of a hole of thick, nasty mud. The beasts are so wrapped up in their task
that they fail to notice you or your friends, which gives all of you time to carefully study
the situation and to act as you feel best fits your needs.

The goblins, 3d3+1 in number, are clearly not strong The goblins are armed with short swords, daggers,
enough to easily move the catapult on their own. Ob- slings and stones, and wearing leather and padded ar-
servant adventurers will notice the thick straps dan- mor. The creatures are goblin soldiers with some expe-
gling from the front of the war machine, each broken rience in battle, but they are not the most-skilled or the
and useless. Once, perhaps recently, these straps clearly bravest of fighters. If one of their number is killed, the
connected to a beast of some sort that was no doubt other goblins will seek to escape.
pulling the catapult.
Non-Combat Encounter
How the goblins respond will depend entirely on how A group of heroes who attempts talking, rather than
the party engages with the situation. fighting, will find that the goblins are receptive to trad-
ing information. The group is hauling the catapult to a
Combat Encounter nearby town to trade it for food and medicine for their
If they choose to attack the goblins, the heroes gain the people. Their home, a goblin village a few days’ ride
surprise and may each attack once before the action away, has been stricken by illness and the goblins wish
shifts to standard combat rounds. only to help their people.
a dozen goblins and orcs • page 9
orc archer
An arrow strikes the tree directly in front of you, followed by a second that almost rips
through your skull, the narrow miss whistling in your ears. You drop to the ground,
grabbing your weapon and scanning the tree line for any sign of the source of the
attack. In the distance, you spot the orc as it draws a third arrow from its quiver.

“You won’t escape,” the orc screams at you as it fires a If the group tries to talk with the orc, they learn that its
third arrow. “You’ve terrorized us long enough, and I’m name is Zugarod Ortguth and the creature thinks that
going to show the others that you are no match for us. We they are from Castle Clawshank, a nearby fortress that
will put an end to your abusive ways and free ourselves grew from the rocky soil overnight several months ago.
from the evil hold you have on us!” The orc’s yells as it keeps firing suggest that the castle
appeared magically and that those within the castle
The orc continues screaming as it fires arrow after ar- have been forcing the orc and its people to work in the
row, the beast constantly talking about how it will do all mines beneath the castle.
that it can to free the orcs from some unknown power.
Can the party convince the orc that they are wanderers
If the party chooses to fight, the orc will be easily slaugh- and not from the castle? And if they do convince the
tered since it has no companions. Searching the body orc, will the adventurers investigate the situation and
they find bow and arrows, a few bits of jewelry, and a seek to free the orcs from whatever masters rule this
letter demanding the orc go to Castle Clawshank. strange, magical fortress from another world?

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 10

goblinoid terror
The monster rises from its haunches from the cavern floor and screams, tossing a
half-eaten head to the side as it grabs its spear. The beast is a goblinoid of some sorts,
though you do not recognize it . . . and there’s no time to chat with your companions
and compare notes as the terror lashes out with the spear.

The goblinoid terror is unnatural, created by the dark Goblin warlocks who control such terrors use them as
magic of goblin warlocks who force their victim to guards, ordering the monsters to stand watch and pre-
submit to the will of a cosmic power of unimaginable vent any intruders from entering the warlock’s domain.
power. The goblin warlock who creates a goblinoid If the party encounters a goblinoid terror, they can be
terror gains complete and total mastery of the wicked, certain that a goblin warlock is close by.
strange monster that must obey every mental com-
mand of their new master. What the cosmic horror that In battle, the terror is unwilling to back down. Even if the
executes the transformation of the victim gains is un- creature’s limbs are hacked from its body, it will thrash
known, though some sages speculate that the strange, and lash out, trying with every ounce of strength that
otherworldy power wants only to inflict as much suffer- remains to attack the intruders who threaten its master.
ing on the universe as possible. If this is true, the trans-
formation of a victim – which can be goblin, human, The transformation cannot be undone by anything
elf, or any intelligent race – into a goblinoid terror must short of the will of a god or goddess. It is better to kill a
bring the cosmic being great joy. terror and release it from misery than to let it live.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 11

goblin slasher
Its sword dripping with blood as it turns to face you, the monster kicks the body of
the slain elf out of its way and raises its sword in a threatening gesture. It is a goblin
of some kind, yes, but one that is taller and looks far more aggressive than those you
have encountered before.

Goblin wizards and sorcerers manipulate the unborn The goblin slasher, in addiiton to being faster and stron-
creature when it is in its mother’s womb, using their ger than most goblins, also possesses an intelligence
twisted spells and rituals to transform the soon-to-be greater than all but the most powerful of goblin spell-
goblin into something taller, stronger, and more dan- casters. The monsters use this intelligence in battle;
gerous than the typical goblin fighter or warrior. From slashers make excellent tacticians and are sometimes
birth, the goblin slasher is trained by the tribe’s best ordered to lead others of their tribe into battle.
warriors and those that survive the training grow to be
as tall as elves, as sturdy as dwarves, and as dangerous A very small number of goblin slashers – maybe one in
as the most violent of orcs and ogres. every hundred or so – reject their tribe and choose to
live the life of an adventurer. Such slashers have a hard
Sages estimate that only one in every hundred or so at- time fighting off their training and conditioning, easily
tempts by the goblins to bring a slasher into existence falling into a battle rage when provoked. Slashers who
succeeds. All of the failures – either when the pre-birth have left their tribe find it hard to fit in anywhere, mov-
rituals go wrong or the beast dies in training – are ing from city to city in search of a better life. Eventually,
a small price to pay, the goblins say, to allow the few such creatures often return to their life of evil, frustrated
slashers that do exist to join the tribe. that the world never accepted and welcomed them.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 12

orc shocksword
You and your companions are traveling across the land, your minds on your destina-
tion and daydreams consuming your thoughts when you encounter a band of orcs.
The monsters are transporting chests, a handful of them drawing a small cart and
under the command of one larger, taller orc.

Hoknuk Bog has dedicated his life to commanding There are 2d6+2 orc warriors under the shocksword’s
squads of orc warriors in battle. As a shocksword, Bog command, each one of which was trained by Bog and
spent years of his life as a gladiator, working the arenas loyal to their commander. Bog orders two of them to stay
of the above and below ground cities that allow the bar- with the cart, and leads the others to intercept and attack
baric and violent gladitorial sport to exist within their the PCs who, he believes, are after the tribe’s riches.
boundaries. Only the most evil and cruel of city states al-
low gladitorial arenas these days, and Bog is recognized Can the party convince the orcs that they have no inter-
as a champion in many of them. est in the chests and that the encounter was purely acci-
dental, or will they be forced to fight the orcs? If they do
The adventurers accidentally encounter Bog and his engage the orcs in battle, Bog is the equal of any three
troops when they are on a transport assignment, moving orc warriors and carries a magical two-handed sword
the orc tribe’s meager treasures to a new hiding place as – that he is strong enough to use with one hand – that
far from the towns and villages of man as they can man- grants him a +2 to attack and damage rolls. His shield
age. Though the encounter may be an accident, Bog sees is also magical, acting as a healing device that instantly
it as a threat and reacts instantly. heals him by 1d4 points every round he is in battle.
a dozen goblins and orcs • page 13
mutated goblinoid
The monstrosity before you is a warped, grotesque beast unlike anything you have
ever seen before. The creature turns to you, sorrowful eyes staring at you, unblinking
and piercing. It opens its mouth, showing yellowed and jagged teeth, no sound escap-
ing its lips as it tries to speak.

This strange, twisted monstrosity was created during a The planar gate is a well in the center of a large chamber
planar accident several years ago when seven different in the dungeon. The well, clearly crafted and not natu-
goblins were melded into one as they tried to activate ral, is filled with a black, thick liquid that is harmless to
a magic portal in the dungeon. The goblins, unskilled in touch, but anyone foolish enough to drink the strange
the ways of magic and planar gates, were unfortunate- liquid will grow very sick.
ly smashed together into the walking, breathing thing
that now lives in the dungeon and cannot escape. The portal connects this world to a demiplane where
the black liquid covers the majority of the flat, unusual
The beast has little intelligence, unable to do much world. Small islands – each only a few square miles in
more than sleep, eat, and wander the passages of the size – dot the landscape which itself is no more than a
dungeon where it is trapped. hundred or so square miles in size. The demiplane is cir-
cular in shape, with all of the edges touching the infinite
The planar energies that created the thing prevent it depth of space.
from leaving; the mutated goblinoid feels itself growing
weaker and weaker every step it takes from the gate. It The mutated goblinoid is a danger only because it is an
now stays as close to the planar gate as it can, traveling unintelligent monster that attacks anything it considers
away from the portal only to find food. If the PCs en- to be either a threat or food. The party will have to de-
counter the beast, the gate cannot be far away. stroy the monster if it spots them.

a dozen goblins and orcs • page 14