Editing Hobgoblin (section)

=Hobgoblins vs Orcs=
If you google something like "[[Dungeons and Dragons]] Hobgoblin", you'll get a lot of results where people are asking what the real difference is between Hobgoblins and [[Orc]]s. Aren't they just the same thing with a different name and drawn slightly differently and carrying different weapons? Well, not exactly.

The short but not especially helpful answer is, to quote the Daily Bestiary blog: "Orcs may have hordes, but Hobgoblins have ''armies''."

The longer and more expositional answer is that way back at the dawn of Dungeons and Dragons, [[Gary Gygax]] wanted to have a distinct monster with distinct stats at every early Challenge Rating (1-7). This distinction has been grandfathered in all the way down to [[Pathfinder]] and 5th Edition, though the exact differences in stats has changed over the years, and it's usually combined with the flavor portrayal - [[Orc]]s being the tribal savages, Hobgoblins being the well-organized and relentless force. [[Rule Zero]], of course, means you can choose to use both creatures, only one, or neither, as you feel like. If your campaign is likely to travel long distances and visit vastly different regions, it can be useful to have two creatures that fill a similar niche and yet are distinct in certain ways from each other. In addition, publishers sometimes give Hobgoblins the more exotic weapons, armor, and tactics, with [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] portraying hobgoblins with an almost "oriental" cast ([[samurai]] armor for the 1e version, Mongolian clothes for the 2e), which is something that [[Pathfinder]] preserved.

For those of you who follow Tolkien, the traits of the [[Lord of the Rings]] [[Orc]]s were actually split between Dungeons and Dragons' [[Orc]]s and Hobgoblins. D&D Orcs are reminiscent of the cave-dwelling ambushers Bilbo met in the Misty Mountains or the hordes that Sauron used to attack Gondor, while D&D Hobgoblins are more like Saruman's Uruk-hai.

Perhaps to try and reinforce the split, unlike [[orc]]s, hobgoblins are usually not suggested to be capable of interbreeding with other races... at least, not since [[thoul]]s stopped being a thing. Then the [[Kingdoms of Kalamar]] setting for 3rd edition decided to just say "fuck it" to that noise, introducing the Sil-karg, or [[Half-Hobgoblin]], to go alongside the [[Half-Orc]].