The Goblins of Grim Hollow

There have always been Goblins in Grim Hollow. And they have always been a problem for the locals. The Grim
Hollow Clan grows, causes trouble, and is then chased from the area by the local militia, only to return some time
later. It’s been the same cycle for decades. That is until recently. Something has changed. This time the Goblins put up
a fierce defense and many locals were wounded. And so the towns have turned to Adventurers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS What is The AOG?
2 It started 40ish years ago. I still remember the day my
SETUP INFORMATION
cousin brought out this thin blue book with a white
ACT 1: Town Meeting 3 sketched dragon on its cover and a pile of strange dice.
ACT 2: Grim Hollow 4 He told eight year old me that we were going to play a
5 game where I could be anything I wanted (as long as it
ACT 3: The Goblin Hole was an elf, dwarf, human, or halfling). I immediately
ACT 4: Nilbog 6 developed that love of bringing people along on journey
7 after journey, and through all the moments and four
CLOSING
decades of playing, the trip has never lost its wonder.
OTHER LINKS 8 Now, my son and I run Amplus Ordo Games as
LORE AND MORE 9 armchair content creators who donate our work to the
MAPS 10 hobby at large. We host a Patreon which runs like a
D&D Magazine, posting mostly Maps and Full
Adventures. We do dabble into other areas like stories,
ADVENTURE MECHANICS and thoughts on the game. My son helps write our “Year
Target Party: 4 Level 2 Adventures One” series which are adventures designed for entry
Difficulty: Standard level DMs and players, and we use that content to run
Expected Playtime: 3 Hours the after school Jr High Group.
Tone: Monster Elimination Any donations are used to fund an afterschool TTRPG
Club, our own hobbies, and of course pizza. If you would
like to make some requests or support the work you can
STYLE “Quick Shot” check us out at AOG. The site has over 2 year’s worth of
A Quick Shot is designed to give the GM an outline of work and there are no paywalls. 50+ Adventures,
what is going on inside of the adventure. It is mostly just Hundreds of maps, and a lot of support content.
ideas. The Story is fleshed out, and likely includes basic On the purely Social Media side. We’re active on Reddit
Location and NPC descriptions, but is far more Subs and our Discord, where we host games, fulfill
conceptual regarding things like encounters, rewards, requests for our supporters, and a smidge of
and hazards. The Quick Shot gives all the basics most commission work. I coach many of our subscribers
GMs require to lead a fantastic game. regularly on DMing and fantasy cartography.
PLAYING A.O.G. ADVENTURES Contact us
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easily imported into any system of your choosing. I also
write and do a lot of things in my own style. There is a
simple breakdown of these things at the end, and this
link leads to an Appendices of notes and my thoughts on
mechanics to help GMs and Players understand what I
may mean by certain phrases and ideas, as well as
helpful links to our own source materials.

The Goblins of Grim Hollow, January 2024 1

 ADVENTURE BRIEFING it. Take advantage of this and attempt to build a strong
feeling of “Did we bit of more than we can chew?”
Story Flow Locations
There have always been Goblins in Grim Hollow. And Forest Village
they have always been a problem for the locals. The There isn’t much need for an elaborate location for this
Grim Hollow Clan grows, causes trouble, and is then adventure. A large village or small town will do nicely. It
chased from the area by the local militia, only to return should be just big enough to have basic shops and
some time later. It’s been the same cycle for decades. maybe one kind of “specialty” business.
That is until recently. Something has changed. This
time the Goblins put up a fierce defense and many NPCs
locals were wounded. And so the towns have turned to Mayor Figure
Adventurers. They have turned to you. The adventure we will need a town leader. Call them
The players witness a town meeting out in the square. whatever you want - Mayor, Magister, Elder, Etc… The
The local villagers are angry. The Goblins are becoming leader should be worried about the situation, but more
a real problem. There are a lot of threats lobbed at the worried about how the locals are dealing with it. They’re
elders and magistrates. THey want something done and concerned about the Goblins, but even more concerned
they want it done now. The players are called upon to with their position and keeping the status-quo.
take up this challenge and put an end to the threat. They
will be well compensated. However, once they’re neck Town Rabble Rouser
deep in goblins they’re going to find out the problem is a Another figure you may want to consider is the
bit more complicated. individual who started the protest. An angry farmer or a
There is a Nilbog in charge of the clan now, and as local merchant would do nicely. Maybe someone who
anyone who has dealt with one of these creatures wants to be the next Mayor.
knows, the Nilbog does not die easily. They’ll have to Militia Captain
corner it, capture it, and take it someplace else. Why? Seeing as how the Militia has attempted already to deal
Well, because every time it dies, the spirit possessing it with the problem, and it didn’t go so well. The players
simply leaps into another nearby Goblin. The only way may want to find them and get some information about
to end it is to remove it from the area, and hopefully end the Goblins before heading out.
it with no other Goblins in the area.
Game Opening and Hooks OPENING CUT-SCENE
This adventure shouldn’t be difficult to get the players
into. They’re low level and usually don’t get too far off Scene Title
books this early in a campaign.
Just Arriving to Town: The players are traveling and The Goblins dance around the fire,
arrive to town just as the Town Meeting starts up. screeching, and howling with madness
Road Ambush: The players are attacked on the road
and glee. A charring humanoid corpse
by a Goblin ambush. They’ll certainly want to deal cooks over the flames. They won a battle,
with the problem afterward. took captives, and are eating man flesh!
Their shaman comes forward and shakes
Job Board: The locals have put up fliers for the job to a skull full of small stones. The others
deal withe the goblins and for the Town Meeting. immediately quiet. “Magubliet’s Chosen
has led us to victory!” The Goblins cheer
Using Monster Minions again. She lets them have a moment and
I highly recommend using Minions in this adventure. then shakes the skull. A small vicious
Minions are nearly identical to their normal looking Goblin steps forward, a
counterparts, except for one important distinction. They predatory smile on its lips. The Shaman
have only 1 hp, and maybe a lower AC, which makes steps aside and the others cower in
them easy to eliminate but still dangerous. This reverence. “Grim Hollow prepare
mechanic was introduced in 4E D&D, and used to add a yourselves. I am yours and you are mine.
great number of enemy combatants to the field. Given to us by our god! And soon all will
know our wrath!” He raises a bloody
Tier of Play sword above his head and the Goblins
burst into a frenzy tearing into the
The adventure is designed for level two adventurers. It cooking meat and even into one another.
is obviously Goblin centered and the players will know There is madness here, even for goblins,
this very early on, and they will likely not think much of and the Chose loves every moment of it.

2 The Goblins of Grim Hollow, January 2024

ACT 1 The environment becomes the perfect place for a Goblin
ambush, and you should carry one out here. You’re The
Town Meeting players won’t want the Goblins knowing that they are
coming, so an ambush creates a panic point for them.
A local farmer came to town complaining about the Do their enemies already know? Or was this a chance Ther
caver
Grim Hollow Goblins raiding livestock from his farm, encounter and they must eliminate the threat to keep anim
and has gathered a crowd. This is not the first raid things quiet? They’ll ask all these questions during ador
recently. In fact the Goblins are a long running problem, combat. It creates a lot of opportunity for you as a DM to tresp
one that the towns in the area usually deal with, but work them over. them
something has been different this time. The raids have air, a
become really frequent, and been far more organized EVENT: Goblin Ambush
than those of the past. And the people are very upset.
The local Militia members have been unsuccessful in Goblins aren’t complicated. They like to be sneaky and they
dislodging the Goblins. So the towns call upon the run once they’ve lost the upper hand. Now, I recommend
Adventurers to help them deal with the threat. using Goblin Minions (1hp low AC and damage monsters) to
You’ll need a “Mayor” figure, and a couple of local add a lot of enemies to the field without upping the danger
farmers who have been attacked recently in the crowd. level too much. Also players love slicing through enemies.
The Militia Captain makes sense as well. The meeting is Description
on the verge of becoming a riot. This makes a great The only clue you have to the danger you find yourselves in is the
opening skill challenge or two. They can make checks to ominous lack of sound in the area. The arrows come zinging in
see things like… Emotions on the verge of boiling over. as the war cries rise up all around you. The Goblins have come.
A young man picks up a rock. Whispers in the crowd of
rushing the mayor. Picking up and the general anger of Combat Encounter
the people present. I reccomend 3 Goblins for each player. 1 Standard Goblin
A lot of different checks can cover these type of things. and 2 Minions.

The Mayor is also seeing this. Just before, or maybe just

after, things go poorly; they will make an effort to hire
the Adventurers to deal with the problem, and offer a ACT 3
substantial reward for doing so. They should get some
Healing Potions and at least 1 scroll of Lesser Fireball Goblin Hole
(Same size but does 2d6 Fire Damage) to help them
clear out any large Goblin Groups. Eventually they’ll find the Goblin’s cavern. The cavern is
a three chamber location with a small network of
ACT 2 passages. The goblins will use these passages to
subvert, flank, and flee from the Adventurers. Now
Grim Hollow depending on what they’ve already done, the Goblins
may or may not be ready for them. That detail will frame
Once they’ve accepted the job the local officials will a lot of how the rest of this goes. Either way there
point them in the direction of an area known as Grim should be guards and lookouts at the entrance of the
Hollow. This is a large valley deep in the forest that has cavern. They will also meet for the first time the Nilbog,
long been the home to the Grim Hollow Goblins. The who will mock and taunt them, claiming to have
trip there shouldn’t be overly difficult, I suggest even “ascended” to become The Chosen of Magubliet! Soon
having a river for them to follow right to Grim Hollow. I after, whether the players start it or the Goblins do, a
would place it far enough away that they’ll need to camp fight will break out. The Nilbog should be killed during
once during the trip. THis creates a great opportunity this confrontation, but it doesn’t mind. The nature of
for a Random Encounter with a forest creature. Maybe a this kind of creature is that it simply jumps to another
bear or some wolves. available Goblin in range.
Grim Hollow itself should reflect the residents. A dark
gnarled forest with large thickets and painful briar
patches. There should also be Goblin made border
markers and warning totems covered in blood, animal
skulls, and even some humanoid remains. The ground
is rocky and uneven bordering on it being Difficult
Terrain rules wise. There should be ample cover for
small creatures as well. Large fallen tree trunks and
tumbled boulders are common. There even may be
some old ruins or an abandoned homestead that could
be hiding dangers.
The Goblins of Grim Hollow, January 2024 3
 EVENT: Goblin Guards The gates are guarded by the ACT 4
Nilbog, some minions, and typical goblins, maybe even a
Goblin Captain. The players should be somewhat Nilbog
surrounded here, but near the mouth of the cavern so Now begins their chase through the tunnels. If they
they could retreat for some cover if they need to. missed it during the last fight, we will have to clue the
players in to what is actually happening. Perhaps they
EVENT: Goblin Guards catch it alone and have the Nilbog tell them as it kills
itself to jump again. Maybe another fight? Or maybe
The gates are guarded by a small force which should include some crude cave paintings detailing the story of the
the Nilbog. The players should be somewhat surrounded Grim Hollow Goblins somehow releasing the Nilbog
here, but near the mouth of the cavern so they could retreat from some sort of prison. A Jar, Box, Magic Lamp. Just
for some cover if they need to. about anything really. Once they’re aware of what’s
Description happening they’ll have to figure out how to best end the
problem. Eliminate every Goblin in the area? Or capture
As you approach the entrance, a small wicked looking Goblin
walks out of the darkness. “You’re tough, I’ll give you that. But the Nilbog and take it someplace it can’t cause
you are not welcome here. This is Grim Hollow territory. Turn problems? This is one of those player moments where
back or die. I won’t give you another chance.” they may come up with something really bonkers.
Whatever they decide they’re now headed toward the
Likely Player Actions final encounter.
Attack: Always the strongest possibility.
They will eventually find their way into the main
Talk it Out: The Nilbog is only interested in talking if the
chamber of the Grim Hollow Clan. The Nilbog should at
players are willing to uphold its claim to all of Grim Hollow
this point have possessed yet another Goblin. And it is
and nearby areas. It will also taunt the players.
Leave: I suppose it could happen… it wont. If they do the also becoming agitated with how things are going. So
Goblins will track them and ambush them at a good rather than possess a tougher goblin, let’s have it
opportunity and throw everything they have at them! This possess a Goblin Booyagh! A little one, Booyagh’s can
would replace the “end” fight. be really dangerous and our fairly fresh adventurers
won’t be ready for that. What I love about Booyagh’s is
Combat Encounter
that every time they cast a spell a Wild Magic surge
This shouldn’t be a hard fight. The Nilbog actually wants
them to kill it. That way it can jump into another Goblin and
happens. Which can be an absolute blast… literally.
freak them out. I would use maybe 4 Goblins and the Nilbog.
EVENT: Can We Talk?
Once here have the Nilbog offer them a “fair” fight. It and his
EVENT: Didn’t We Kill You? best warriors against the players. If the players win it
surrenders. The Nilbog has no intention of fighting fair. Once
Soon after entering the cavern they’ll encounter a much a fight starts all the Goblins will attack.
larger group of Goblins, many of whom are hiding out of
sight. Here they’ll meet the Nilbog again! It should make it Description
abundantly clear that it is the same entity. This fight should As you enter into the chamber you find goblins cowering in fear
be a bit tougher than the other fight. before you. The Chosen One stands up on a ledge flanked by
torches. “Wait! We will kill you, but not before many more of my
Description people die. I propose this instead. Our champions fight you to
You begin to get that feeling of being watched again. Rocks the death. If you win I will surrender.
skitter nearby. You know the Goblins are close and preparing to
attack. It is then you hear a whisper from the darkness. “I told Likely Player Actions
you I wouldn’t give you another chance to leave. But oh no you Kill Them All: This is what they almost certainly do.
had to go try and kill me. Now it’s my turn.” Negotiate: This could help them as the Goblin Champions
will all gather in the same spot and not be spread out.
Combat Encounter Turn the Tables: They may try and do a fake out. Agree and
While this isn’t the final encounter with the Nilbog and the then launch a “surprise” attack. Let them roll this out.
Goblins, this should be a tougher one. I would runs this in Combat Encounter
waves with a lot of minions. If you’re using the provided The encounter concept here is a large mob of enemies
maps you want this to ideally take place at the Wolf Pens and surging down on them. They should be surrounded by
let them loose during the fight as well. minions with both ranged and melee attacks. The Nilbog will
During this fight the Nilbog should be killed and jump to use its magic without regard for the other goblins’ lives.
another Goblin still nearby. Have them “see” the Nilbog Hopefully they saved their scrolls.
Spirit actually do this. The newly possessed Nilbog will then Use as many minions as you need here.
flee the battlefield deeper into the cavern. You may have to As for the Champions: 1 Lesser Booyah (Nilbog), 2
do this more than once depending on initiative order. Bugbears, 1 Goblin Boss.

4 Adventure Name, Month 2024

CLOSING REWARDS
Once they’ve killed the Nilbog or captured the Nilbog’s Your players were promised a reward, now I don’t know
last host, they can head home. Now there area a few what you have planned, but I like non traditional
scenarios we should discuss. First let’s talk about rewards. Of course I give my players “gold” and
capture. I rarely hit my players with a random encounter “treasures” but I also like to toss in some things that
at the close of the adventure, but if I was going to this add some “local flavor” to the mix.
may be the spot. Why? Because if the players get into a In this case, since we’re dealing with farming villages, I
tussle while transporting a captive, that prisoner is think a cow, a small flock of sheep or a herd of chickens
likely going to attempt to escape. And that can lead to would do quite nicely. What will your players do with
more adventures and mayhem. If that Nilbog gets away such a mighty gift? Who knows but it always fun for you
(and it should) you can bet your bottom dollar that it will as the DM to watch them figure things like that out.
return later to cause them trouble. The same goes with And I would also probably give them something useful
our other option, they killed it. This wiley little creature as well. They’re probably pretty interested in those
surely had a back up host waiting somewhere nearby, Lesser Fireball scrolls. Which aren’t produced locally,
which means no matter how they resolved the fight, this but maybe they get a voucher to go get more? Or maybe
is far from over. And that, my friends, is a wonderful a locally made cart or vardo to have the new cow pull?
thing. For now though, no matter how they ended it, They’ll love that!Its like having their own camper!
they get to go home and collect the promised reward.
That’s it for this Adventure! See you next time!

The End

THANKS FOR PLAYING

I do want to take one last moment to sincerely thank you for playing an AOG Adventure. It means a lot to me as a
creator. If you enjoyed it please leave me some comments on wherever you found this adventure. You can support
more content like this by subscribing to our Patreon. AMPLUS ORDO GAMES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To the Long History of Open Gaming that allows our adventures to be written system neutral.
The folks at WotC, Paizo, Kobold Press, and others publishing with Creative Commons and Open Licenses.
Original story written by Amplus Ordo Games
All Maps and Handouts were done by Designers at AOG using Inkarnate
PDF Formatting done using The Homebrewery
Adventure Name, Month 2024 5
 MAPS,LORE, AND MORE
Notes, Lore, Stories, Handouts, Maps, & Statblocks
D&D is a complicated dance of information and imagination. I've often found a lot of
trouble seeing someone else's vision in what they have written. Having put out dozens
of adventures now, we at the AOG have figured out that what we see isn't always what
you see. And while that is absolutely wonderful when it spawns creativity... it is
absolutely tragic when it breeds confusion.

We understand that we have a specific and sometimes unique way of presenting

infgormation, and so we've included the following items to help clear up some of that
confusion.

You probably won't find sections like these in our "Year One" or "Quick Shot"
Adventures, as those are designed to flow without a lot of extra information. But
when it comes to our Bigger Releases we'll typically include quite a bit of extra
information to bring some clarity to our thinking, to further expand on our vision,
and hopefully add fuel to your own.

I think that's about all you need to know about this section.

And as always Thank You for playing with us!

6 Adventure Name, Month 2024

Grim Hollow Forest
NOTES
It’s a forest…

Adventure Name, Month 2024 7

 Grim Hollow Forest: Cavern Entrance
NOTES
It’s a forest… BUT there is a small ravine with a cavern at one end of it. This is the entrance to the Goblins’ lair.

8 Adventure Name, Month 2024

Grim Hollow Cavern: Entrance
1. Entrance 3. Stagnant Pools
The Entrance is adorned with bones and totems This lower area floods during rains. It might be
warning those who trespass to stay away. Guards can interesting to have it raining when the players arrive. A
hide just around the corner to spy on and ambush those flash flood could be a great hazard.
who dare approach. 4. The Wolf Pens
2. Guard Room The Goblins keep some wolves in the pen here, which
The entrance Guards camp here in this little side sits higher than the rest of this area. The Goblins love
chamber. They don’t keep much in the way of loot but feeding living creatures to the wolves for sport. They
there would be some supplies. will also release the wolves if they cavern is invaded.
The release mechanism is off to the side.
Adventure Name, Month 2024 9
 Grim Hollow Cavern: Deep Caves
1. The Prison Pit 4. Common Quarters
Goblin’s Keep their captives here, the pit is 40’ deep. A The Goblin rabble sleeps in this little community
watchtower keeps an eye on the prisoners below. 5. The Central Fire
2. Storage Room This larger area serves as a gathering space
The Goblins keeps some basic supplies and goods 6. The Captains’ Tunnel
tucked away here. The strongest members of the Grim Hollow Clan are
3. Storage Room allowed to live in this side tunnel
The Goblins keeps some basic supplies and goods 6. The Chief’s Ledge
tucked away here. There shouldn’t be much of value. The Goblin Chief and Shaman live up here above the
4. Common Quarters rest of the clan. The Chief keeps the Clan’s Treasures in
The Goblin rabble sleeps in this little community their tent.
10 Adventure Name, Month 2024
PLAYING AN AOG ADVENTURE: THE BASICS
Homebrewed World
First off, almost all my adventures are set in my Homebrew World of Taalist, particularly the Continent of Krenshad.
Which the majority of has a very Gothic Art and Renaissance Period cultural feel to it. With some Greek and Middle
Eastern Culture from various time periods thrown in there for flavor. That said… Almost all of my Adventures can be
easily ported into your location of choice. If you would like to play in Taalist my Campaign Guide (All 150+ Pages of it)
can be accessed on our Discord.
The Lay Out
I divide my adventures into “Acts”. An Act doesn’t necessarily reflect an amount of time, but more of an important
series of events or locations. Some Acts may take 5 minutes, some 5 hours. Why? I dunno, ask the players who over
complicate simple matters and simplify the overly complex.
Skill Check DCs
I don’t spend a lot of time defining DCs as I play with a bit wider scale of success and failures. What does that mean?
For reference the DC scale in 5E looks like this…. Very Easy DC 5, Easy DC 10, Medium DC 15, Hard DC 20, Very
Hard DC 25, Nearly Impossible DC 30. When I list a DC, I will tell you it is Hard. But Hard for one party may be easy
for another so I leave the actual number value up to you. I also play with a “Success but with Consequences” mentality.
That means if they get close they still accomplish their goal, but there is a “but” to that success. An Example? Hard
Stealth DC is 20, they roll an 18, I tell them “You sneak past the guard you see, but the guard you didn’t see heard
something and is headed your way.” I think it adds more to the story that way.
Search Checks
I often reference Search Checks. What is a Search Check? When the players want to “search” something or for
something I let them use either Investigation or Perception. I know that isn’t RAW but it just makes things so much
easier. I got real tired of explaining to players who have been playing with me for years the difference between the
two… just let them look for stuff!
Treasure Sizes
Every game is different. So I do not usually list out treasures. Instead I use the following terms to assign value not size
to the treasure Petty, Small, Medium, Large, Huge. Often I will use a combination of them. You can decide how best to
fulfill that for your party.
Identify Rules
I use a different style of Identify. Items in my world have a Knowledge DC on them (Arcana, Religion, History, and
Nature). I allow the player to use an appropriate Check on an item to identify it. The Identify Spell adds a +10 to this. It
can be upcast for additional +5 bonuses. Depending on the score of the Check I give them different information. Some
information is extremely hard to obtain, for example Curses are well hidden behind DCs that are at least DC 30, often
much higher.
Opening Cutscene
I like to start my games with an Opening Cutscene which is read before anything else happens. These are usually
really vague bits of information that give a glimpse into something that will maybe happen later, happened before the
adventure, or is story adjacent to it. I have found these to be great tools to set the mood and create a little mystery.
Setting, Background Info, and Hooks
These portions can be used as you see fit. Each one is a little different, so it is hard for me to say how best to use them.
Some will play better if you can get them into the hands of the players before the game. Others may have better
influence when read just after the Cutscene. Some are really only relevant to moments in the story. But as in all things
you do what is best for your game! That is always the way to go.
Skill Challenges
I use the idea of Skill Challenges a lot. What is that? It is an event in the game that isn’t quite an encounter and it isn’t
a simple skill check. It is a problem they solve with their whole skill set. Typically they must get three successes before
three failures in order to succeed in a skill check. The thing about a Skill challenge is they’re are vague on purpose to
allow players to be creative in solving a problem. An example may help here.
DM says “Your Boat is taking on water. What would you like to do?”
Player 1 responds with “I use my carpentry tools to fix the hole” and they make a Tool Check. But they roll a 2 so
they fail. Too much water.
Player 2 says “ wants to row harder with the crew to get us toward shore faster” They make an Athletics Check and
roll an 18. So that is a success.
Player 3 “I use Destroy Water to get water out” OK, well it only destroys 10 gallons so it isn’t super helpful, but the
momentary reprieve allows a little drywork to happen and allow player 1 to reroll.