I’ve never been a fan of the Goblin Trail encounters in Chapter 1: Goblin Arrows. They feel like incomplete encounters or, dare I say, lazy game design.

Yeah yeah. The game was designed with new Dungeon Masters and players in mind, so why not introduce both parties to the Wisdom (Perception) mechanic by tossing a couple of obstacles in the way? That makes sense. But when the most exciting outcome for either trap is that a character might fall down a 10 foot hole or get hoisted into the air by a snare? Farting noises.

I say that, but I’m not a fan of just tossing elements of the game away needlessly – which is why I like the Goblin Trail better as a nighttime wilderness encounter.

There’s an opportunity to use everything goblins are good at in a nighttime wilderness encounter that bakes the Goblin Trail into it.

Proficiency in Stealth: the goblin’s proficiency in Dexterity (Stealth) should allow them to lay traps outside of the characters encampment at night. Using their proficiency to maneuver at the far edges of the party’s location, they should be able to lay traps and move about without being noticed.

Darkvision: being able to see your target clearly on a moonlit night provides ideal conditions for an opportunity to lure the party away from their encampment, disguising it as an ambush. Especially against foes without darkvision.

Nimble Escape: the goblins can make use of their Nimble Escape trait to harry the unsuspecting party by loosing arrows from their shortbows from 80 feet away, then moving and hiding for each subsequent round that follows as the characters attempt to close the gap. Again, this would be especially advantageous against foes without darkvision.

Note: be sure to know which characters in the party have darkvision, and which do not in order for the goblins to be able to enjoy their tactical advantages.

The purpose of this particular nighttime wilderness encounter is two-fold:

• To lure members of the party into the pit and snare traps by positioning themselves between the characters and the traps that have been laid out for the party at the edge of their camp – without exposing the goblins to better armed and armored enemies.
• To lure the party away from their camp in order to accomplish their true objective – which is to allow the other goblins laying in wait at the other end of the camp to rush in and steal the party’s gear and animals (if any accompany the party) from the unattended campsite.

Once the attacking goblins have lured the party away from their camp and into their trap(s), they quickly lose interest in the encounter and melt into the wilderness with their mission accomplished. Combat shouldn’t commence more than 5 rounds after the party rushes out to meet the ambushers. Afterall, they’re not as large or strong as their hobgoblin cousins, nor as martially adept. As such, goblins just want to get their hands on the party’s stuff and then get out.

As for the characters, it’s an opportunity for them to return to their ransacked camp and learn that combat counters are not always a race to 0 hit points. And, that monsters can use tactics to achieve their aims, too.

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