The goblin knifethrower — keep away from the walls!An an experiment, after designing this in 4e, I tried to replicate it in 3.5.

Another small experiment with “Exception based design”. I wanted to come up with an interesting low level monster with an amusing “gimmick” — this one being that it’s capable of rebounding knives off walls to stab you in the back. It’s interesting because, tactically, it’s often good to be against a wall — fewer directions to defend against — and a knifethrower or two in the back lines makes this a more complex decision.

Some design notes: The damage is on the low end, because, dude, it’s a goblin with a little knife. The +2d6 when it gets to use its trick — which should be often if the DM has set up the encounter properly — ought to make up for it. Close to melee range, and the poor thing is toast. I adjusted a lot of the attributes downwards from the presumed default, again because — dude, it’s a goblin. (Of course, this didn’t affect attack, damage, or armor class, which are determined by level/role) It should also be noted that while it has two immediate reaction powers, it can use only one per combat round — a knifethrower who retrieves his dagger is a great target, since he can’t shift. (And a knifethrower with no knives left is pretty helpless…). I also reduced its melee attack to reflect its lower strength and the fact it’s just not a close in combatant.

Note that when it’s using its Rebounding Dagger ability — which is not a special attack, just a modifier to its basic ranged attack — it has a +13 to hit, due to gaining Combat Advantage.

Goblin Knifethrower