For the rest of the humanoid species I’ve looked at, the champs / subchiefs / chiefs have a set HP greater than average for their HD. However, for hobgoblins, the champs have 2 HD and 9 HP (exactly expectation on 2d8), the subchieftains have 3HD and 13 HP (less than the 13.5 expected on 3d8), and the chieftains have 21 HP on 5HD (less than the 22.5 expected on 5d8). By comparison, goblin leaders beat expectation by 2-3 points, gnolls by about 2 points, bugbears by 4-6, kobolds by anywhere from 0.5 to 3.5, lizardmen by 1-3, and so forth. Was this weakness of hobgoblin leaders intentional, in error, or just a holdover from previous versions? (I ask because I’m trying to reverse-engineer a formula for beastman leader HP above expectation)
It was largely legacy from earlier editions. I rationalized the leader demographics in a few places (so that there would be similar “tiers” for each beastman type), but I did not fully rationalize it, so some oddities do show up.
If there’s ever an ACKS 2nd Edition we could fix these things.
Ancient Hobgoblin Proverb: “Those who can’t do, lead.”
Just to put it out there; one day in the future if you’re ‘done’ with ACKS, I’d totally throw down for a “Rules ACKSlopedia” with everything from Core, PC, D@W, Lairs, Auran Campaign, assorted forum wisdom, and whatever else might come before then.
How awesome would that be! Huge book, though. It would make DCC look small.