Goblinoid IPA

The joys of Dwarven Stout are well known, but Goblinoid IPA has its followers as well. It's a bit harder to find, as Dwarves brew Stout by natural instinct, whereas to force Goblins to create their brew in any quantity requires a powerful leader to unite them. Nevertheless, the occaisonal stash of hapily fermenting Goblin IPA has been enough for discerning adventurers to develop a taste for this rare treat. Just don't ask what ingredient gives it that distinctive citrus tang.

Google Maps Readability

41 Latitude has an elegant discussion of Google Maps and why it sets the bar for readability. Short form: Google Maps uses a range of subtle techniques to improve the readbility of their maps.

Fear and Loathing

It's not necessarily wise to accept an invitation to a goblin night club. Then again, if you get an invitation like that, how can you not accept?

Bad Neighbors

An old feud between monstrous neighbors creates an opportunity for a band of mercenary adventurers

An ill-tempered Ogre whose violent demeanor masks an insightful intellect

A family of goblins, stubborn and set in their ways

A doubting cleric, uttering platitudes whose veracity he doubts

A young warrior unacquainted with the world eager to make his name and fortune

The Goblin Back Door

There’s always a back door… This little dungeon trick revolves around an ancient stone throne with a secret catch that causes the entire seat to spin, placing the occupant in a natural cave behind the throne room. There’s just one catch–the cave has become the den of a pack of fierce wolves.

There are a lot of ways your players could encounter a room like this. As part of a greater dungeon, it could provide an escape route for a hated nemesis NPC. If the NPC isn’t ready to handle the wolves, however, the escape could easily be one-way. Going the other way, the presence of an ornate throne in an apparently natural cave could be a party’s way into the dungeon proper.

I used a similar room in a megadungeon adventure using the Moldvay Basic rules a couple of years ago. A pack of starving wolves found their way into the dungeon, but couldn’t find their way out, making a surprising encounter for a party of PC (and, given the deadliness of wolves in that edition, the death of more than one adventurer [sorry, Ben]).

Oh yeah! Also, the original encounter was inspired by a room in Stefan Poag's epic Mines of Khunmar megadungeon!