The PCs are faced
with crossing a 10-foot deep trench on two planks. The planks are 6
inches wide and 5 feet apart. The trench is 50 feet long and 15 feet
wide. Two hobgoblins with shortspears wait below.
Walking across the
plank requires a successful Balance check (DC 15). Characters attempting
to balance must move at half speed. Failure means the character cannot
move for 1 round. Failure by 5 or more means the character falls.
If a PC spends more
than 1 round on the planks, the hobgoblins below get agitated and start
banging on the planks with their spears. This increases the required
Balance check to DC 20.
Strong and skilled
jumpers could try to leap the trench with a running start. Characters
who jump and fall short must succeed at a Balance check (DC 20) to land
on a plank and keep moving. A PC who weighs more than 200 pounds who
leaps onto a plank breaks it and falls into the trench, taking 1d6 points
of damage.
If the PCs try to
go around the trench, they must go through the wall of hobgoblins, who
are waiting and watching the proceedings.
Creatures:
The two Fang Warband hobgoblins await the PCs in the trench.
Fang Warband
Members (2): Male hobgoblin Ftr1; CR 1; Medium-size humanoid (goblinoid);
HD 1d10+1; hp 6; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 16 (touch 11, flat-footed 15);
Atk +2 melee (1d8+1/x3, shortspear or 1d6+1, club); SQ Darkvision 60
ft.; AL LE; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 13, Dex 13, Con 13, Int
10, Wis 12, Cha 10.
Skills and Feats:
Climb +0, Jump +0, Listen +3, Move Silently +0, Spot +3; Alertness,
Dodge.
Possessions:
Chainmail, shortspear.
Tactics:
Assuming the entrenched hobgoblins aren't bumping the planks with their
spears, both have readied partial attack actions to attack any PC who
falls in. Once they knock a target unconscious, they stop attacking
and wait for the next target to fall (or jump) in.
D&D Home
What is D&D?
Training
Grounds is a short adventure for four 5th-level characters. The
adventure is set in a long field in the homelands of a hobgoblin army.
Training Grounds requires very little adjustment for higher-level
characters. If PCs are above 10th level, adjust by adding levels to
the hobgoblin opponents.
