Dungeon Day 187 to 260 - Continues

  For those who joined the hobgoblin camp, their final reward would be a bow, crossbow, or some sort of magical bauble augmenting range combat. Dan also thought of adding other weapons that could be used at range, like kunai, shuriken, or even blowpipes, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea just yet.

  The reason why the rewards for the hobgoblin camp were related to range combat was because that was part of what would make them unique. Not that the other two camps wouldn’t have some range minions, but just that the hobgoblins would specialize in it much more. Dan wanted to mimic the hobgoblins of the green skin army who used longbows and swords as dual martials.

  It was also a perfect combination since hobgoblins were natural martial adepts. At least the hobgoblins he had gotten were, they weren’t the strongest or toughest like orcs and certainly didn’t have the numbers like goblins, but instead, their natural attitude focused on being well-rounded fighters, almost like humans.

  Even if they were well-rounded weapon wielders, Dan also planned to give them magic casters, but with a different focus than the casters from the other two camps would have. This would also show in the final reward since the range of weapons he planned to give was limited in variety. And Dan hoped that some magical items of the support variety would compensate for the fact not all adventurers would have a use for a magical bow or crossbow.

  Moving on from possible rewards, Dan began creating the commander of the hobgoblins after having explored the abilities of their species.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Humanoid Statblock ??

  Rank: Mid D Rank.

  Name: Grank.

  Type: Humanoid - Hobgoblin.

  Choice: Hobgoblin Commander.

  Size: Medium.

  Hierarchy: Boss.

  Arcane Mana: 2000/2000.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 1000/1000.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Innate Abilities: 8.

  Dark Vision. Steady Mind. Well Rounded. Prideful. Natural Fighter. Presences. Hobgoblin Leader. Mana Storage.

  Proficiencies: 9.

  Light Armor. Long Sword. Long Bow. Veteran. Ambitious. Basic Tactics. Body Enhancement. Evocation. Abjuration.

  Spells: 4.

  Body Enhancement - General and Agility. Sub Body Enhancement - Enhanced Vision. Control Elements.

  Techniques: 10.

  Power Shot. Split Shot. Arrow Rain. Piercing Shot. Arcane Net. Wind Step. Like the Wind. Wind Slash. Piercing Blade. Wind Blade.

  Respawn Timer: Conditional.

  Respawn Cost: 120 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 241 Mana.

  ??

  When Dan said the hobgoblins were well-rounded, he meant it. It was literally one of their abilities. The Well Rounded ability truly made them into creatures who did not favor a certain path and could follow any pursuit, knowing they would have at least some semblance of success with it. Of course, more often than not, and due to their Natural Fighter ability, they regularly took a combat-focused path.

  That particular ability gave hobgoblins a certain knack for almost any type of weapon, making it so they could become jacks of all weapons yet masters of none, at least if they so wished. In reality, hobgoblins tended to stick with a fighting style and hone that to the absolute maximum.

  However, in the case of the hobgoblins Dan had gained, their particular fighting style involved two different weapon types. The two weapons were the longbow and the long sword, as indicated by the commander's proficiencies.

  Dan had liked the idea of units that could easily switch from melee and range, and he hoped that the hobgoblins would stand out via their power sets.

  Powersets he had made to make sure that the commander and sub-commanders of the same martial disciplines were used to the best possible capacity. The abilities themselves weren’t overly complicated and were there to reinforce range combat while allowing the hobgoblin to make distance with something like Arcane Net and Wind Step.

  Though the sub-commanders wouldn’t have all of the commander's abilities, they would share some. Something like Wind Blade was meant to give an extra oomph to all attacks, while Piercing Blade was rather obvious. Honestly, Dan was really leaning to the range side of combat for hobgoblins in order to distinguish them further from the more melee-oriented orcs.

  Not like he needed to do too much since hobgoblins had already placed themselves apart from their green-skinned cousins with one singular ability.

  Steady Mind.

  This ability allowed hobgoblins to keep themselves focused and aware without letting themselves get caught in their emotions too much. It highly contradicted the orcs, who, as established, were an angry bunch.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  To be fair to the orcs, the hobgoblins weren’t perfect either due to their Prideful nature. After all, being so good at weaponry also made them rather prideful, which could often lead to hobgoblins overestimating themselves. All in all, Dan wanted the hobgoblins to be a much more strategic camp with fighters that would help adventurers get new experiences from fighting humanoids who could easily switch up in combat.

  Dan didn’t plan to do anything too different for the commander's appearance. Hobgoblins were generally a bit above average in height compared to humans, with their commander following suit. Their builds also varied, but usually stayed in the general aspect of mixing between a lengthy elf and an average human. Only rarely did they become incredibly bulky and muscular. As for armor, Dan planned to fit them with leather armor, with the commanders having an extra bit of quality and even some enchantments. Overall, Dan wanted the hobgoblins to feel like much more of a cohesive military force who were adequately trained in the art of war.

  Like with the orcs, Dan was going to make two different types of sub-commanders. The first was a copy of the commander, more or less, except weaker and with fewer or slightly different abilities.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Humanoid Statblock ??

  Rank: Mid D Rank.

  Name: Orbek.

  Type: Humanoid - Hobgoblin.

  Choice: Hobgoblin Sub-Commander.

  Size: Medium.

  Hierarchy: Mini-Boss.

  Arcane Mana: 500/500.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 250/250.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Innate Abilities: 6.

  Dark Vision. Steady Mind. Well Rounded. Prideful. Natural Fighter. Presences.

  Proficiencies: 7.

  Light Armor. Long Sword. Long Bow. Experienced. Body Enhancement. Evocation. Abjuration.

  Spells: 2.

  Body Enhancement - General and Agility.

  Techniques: 8.

  Power Shot. Split Shot. Arrow Rain. Piercing Shot. Arcane Net. Enhanced Mobility. Piercing Blade. Wind Blade.

  Respawn Timer: Conditional.

  Respawn Cost: 73 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 146 Mana.

  ??

  The sub-commander was much less mobile and generally had fewer options for combat. However, it was a great way to show what the commander was capable of, which, as Dan thought about it, was rather pointless. So far, he hadn’t planned for the commanders to fight at all outside of the final battle. And even then, they wouldn’t do much before they merged for the final fight. The idea of not having people appreciate his work ruffled Dan slightly because he wanted to show off his creations, and he would need to think of ways to add some commander battles to the event. Still, that was for later, so having completed the basic commander, Dan went to create the more magically oriented sub-commander.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Humanoid Statblock ??

  Rank: Mid D Rank.

  Name: Jatek.

  Type: Humanoid - Hobgoblin.

  Choice: Hobgoblin Sub-Commander.

  Size: Medium.

  Hierarchy: Mini-Boss.

  Arcane Mana: 500/500.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 250/250.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Innate Abilities: 6.

  Dark Vision. Steady Mind. Well Rounded. Prideful. Natural Fighter. Presences.

  Proficiencies: 8.

  Light Armor. Long Sword. Experienced. Body Enhancement. Evocation. Abjuration. Restoration.

  Spells: 8.

  Body Enhancement - General. Shield. Barrier. Healing Beam. Mass Heal. Cleansing Beam. Mass Cleanse. Mass Elemental Weapon Enhancement.

  Techniques: 0.

  Respawn Timer: Conditional.

  Respawn Cost: 54 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 109 Mana.

  ??

  The orc casters performed the role of support for their camp but in a different manner than the hobgoblin casters would. Where the orcs had some buffs, debuffs, offensive, and scouting capabilities, Dan made the hobgoblin casters fully support characters.

  Was the move favorable for the orcs? No, it wasn’t. If anything, Dan felt it balanced out things some. See, the orcs had a mental deficiency problem, so Dan had given their casters those support abilities. However, hobgoblins were generally more intelligent, and so as not to detract from the other two camps, Dan did not want them to have too many offensive capabilities since their martial sub-commanders and eventual minions would already be dangerous.

  As such, he had decided to make the hobgoblin camp casters more oriented to the healing arts. An ability orcs lacked but somewhat made up for with their vitality. Some might think that Dan was stupid because he was already pre-planning patrol paths and all of that, making any camp differences rather pointless, but the Green Skin Territory was more than just a simple battleground.

  So far, the rest of the dungeon had been done with mostly bestial monsters in mind. However, when it came to monsters who were supposed to be more sapient, Dan wanted the area to have a different feel. Unlike his beasts or monstrosities, who were supposed to act like monsters, even if they were intelligent, Dan wanted the green skins to sell Dan's story. He could have programmed some npc behavior into them, but hadn’t done so. They still had some npc aspects, like the villagers, and were prone to ignore certain things, but would still believe their setting was realistic.

  All green skins would walk around, even on patrols, as if their scenario was real. Dan wanted them to act like they were real creatures and not just some creations who would cease to exist only to be remade. Sure, they were set into paths and other parameters, Dan would have, but they would still get orders from their commanders to acquire those parameters. Effectively, Dan had given their commanders and sub-commanders the knowledge to give certain orders and assign certain patrols. And they would dish out orders to their soldiers and assign patrol routes or watch duties as if they all truly worked in a small military compound.

  The entire process differed from most beast and monster actions in his dungeon because those mostly worked in the background since adventurers needed to believe they were part of the wilds. However, when adventurers looked at the village, the druids, or the green skins, and eventually the kobolds, Dan wanted them to have the experience of seeing things work like they would in the real world. Even if it was just for a little while, Dan wanted them to forget that they were in a dungeon and immerse themselves in his creation.

  To that end, all the different things Dan had done to separate each camp would add to the sense of realism as the adventurers interacted with the different green skins. Adventurers would see orc casters helping with scouting, hobgoblins healing the wounded, and all other sorts of things. After all, not every patrol would get wiped out in an encounter, causing them to retreat after defeating their enemies or simply fending off some poorly trained adventurers.

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