Phandelver and Below brought us an assortment of great new monsters. These monsters are touched by the Far Realm, including Psionic Goblins. You get two flavors, a Psi Goblin Commander, and Psi Goblin Brawler.
Psi Goblin Brawler…
Psi goblin brawlers come with the Nimble Escape you would normally expect from a goblin. Instead of a goblin’s usual weaponry though, they rely on unarmed strikes. The attacks deal bludgeoning and psychic damage. This is huge for a CR 2 creature, letting it bypass some of the resistance a barbarian has to damage. It can also attempt to prone creatures as a bonus action. This is a nasty combination with its multiattack. As a final insult to the players, the goblins have a trait similar to death burst. They have the opportunity to inflict psychic damage on creatures within 5 feet of them when they die.
…And the Boss
In the end, the psi goblin boss explodes the as the brawler, but a few d4 bigger. It replaces the unarmed strikes with a psychic blade attack that is melee or ranged up to 60 feet. It can do that three times for its multiattack. It also has a few bits and bobs of spellcasting, with telekinesis as the real standout here. It can also do it’s own version of an illithid’s mind blast. It creates a spherical area of effect that deals psychic damage with the potential to stun. The boss also has a reaction that allows it to buff the AC of itself or it’s allies as a reaction.
These two stat blocks are written to work together. The Psi goblin boss can both project his allies and set up enemies for them by stunning or using telekinesis on them. The brawlers can prone enemies, helping keep them away from the boss. I’ve run them in combat a couple of times now, and both were rough battles for the players. Good stuff.
Here’s some more about Phandelver and Below.
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