There needs to be another box set adventure dedicated to all of the things on the Sword Coast Map that didn’t make it into Lost Mine of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak. There’s just so much cool stuff WotC left of the cutting room floor.

For instance, the Lostafinga hobgoblin tribe who inhabit Southkrypt Garden and Kryptgarden Forest.

These hobgoblins from the Southside of the of the Sword Mountains are so much more formidable than their Cragmaw cousins to the north.

Named for their custom of removing the wee finger of the left hand of their kills, Lostafings goblins mummify the fingers and fashion a necklace out of them. It looks like a kill-counter, but it has more to do with their belief that, by taking the finger, they are enslaving the soul of a fallen foe.

So, if a hobgoblin wearing a necklace of little smokies crammed around his neck takes an interest in you, then you best go don your armor, Ser.

Where the Cragmaw tribe are more of a rabble, Lostafingas organize by ranks. There’s a leadership structure within each unit of 22 hobgoblins. And they have discipline, grimly fighting to the last.

Putting Cragmaws and Lostafingas side by side in a comparison is like putting a mixture of Moria and Barad-dûr orcs beside Saruman’s Fighting Uruk Hai. If you don’t like Uruks as bad guys, I don’t know if we can be friends.

Canonically, Lostafingas inhabit two adventuring sites around Kryptgarden Forest: Southkrypt Garden at the northern edge of the wood, and Uncle’s Keep at the southern end. If you’re into converting 2nd Edition adventures to 5th Edition, the Lostafinga tribe appears in two adventures:

• “The Inheritance” is an adventure at Uncle’s Keep in Dungeon Magazine no. 26
• “Children of the Night” takes place at Southkrypt Garden in Dragon Magazine no. 236.

I’m not sure if you can buy .pdf files of these anymore, but I was able to leaf through both on the Internet Archive. They’re totally worth a look for some inspiration.

Or you can find a way to homebrew them into your own adventure!

I’ve been having fun sharing my random D&D thoughts over at Bluesky. If you’re interested in following, I’m at @ticklecorn.bsky.social. I’ll follow back.

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