Well, I can't tell about others but I mean... I know that a border is right there. So I position myself on the opposite side of the edge, they mostly won't even try the shove. And a simple solution. Don't go full group combat, Separate companions, position them first. Then start the combat, use the hiding outside of combat companions to kill the ones that can be more dangerous to use it on you. I know it seems complicated, but is easier than it sounds once you start doing it more often.
This looks very theoric... But the entire map is build arround verticality. You always have to go higher not to have disadvantage and a lot of area does not have a side you can't be pushed from (blighted village roofs + next to the mill, gate of the goblins camp, outside the goblins camp, gnolls boss, giths, ...)
On top of that everyone does not play ranged characters so you just have to go where your ennemies are... you know, usually higher on edges...
About your repetitive strategy no, thank you.
I'm usually playing with fighter and melee classes. I don't want to ambush every ennemies. Combats are ridiculously easy if you ambush them all the time and it's so boring to deal with the chain and the turn based mode to position your companions.
The AI really hates moving through surfaces effects, so grease or web or what have you can slow down approaches. Flaming sphere cannot be pushed or manipulated in any way by the AI, so that can also do something. And of course it's reasonably hard to push a character with proficiency in athletics and 20+ strength from a potion. There's also hiding and potion of invisibility. Mage hand is mostly useless, but it's still a "creature", it takes up space, and it costs an action to kill it.
Oh yeah, all this to avoid a too powerfull bonus action. Unrealistic suggestions to prevent being shove.
But yes, it is very strong and what really takes it over the top is just how far people will fly. Reduce it to a default of 2-3 meters horizontal distance regardless of fall distance and suddenly it's a whole different thing.
I'd say 1-2 meters rather than 2-3 but anyway... agree with reducing the distance.
But it would be better if it was an action too.
The whole thing with surface prep and whatnot isn't merely to protect against shoves, but it also does that. But mainly it is a question of protecting space. In my observation, the main tactical concept one has to look for above all else is high ground, and finding a good high ground position is such a huge advantage that it should not be surrendered easily. That means keeping enemy swarmers from infiltrating your position and forcing primarily ranged characters into melee or forcing them to waste their action on disengaging and retreating.
As for specific encounters, I cannot comment on all of them, but the blighted village rooftops strike me as a very easy place to avoid getting pushed, assuming you take the side entrace to the left of the main entrance. Then climb onto the roof of that building, exploit that the gobbo archer and priest on that roof are looking the wrong way and sneak up on them, then shove the priest down and fight the archer in melee. Or shove that archer too. Any hostiles will now only come from one direction and their shoves, if any, will send backwards on the roof rather than down to the ground.
The mill fight is difficult, absolutely. Too many enemies to keep things under control. But if I decide to take that fight (and being a bit of a murder hobo when it comes to gobbos, I generally want to), I would park most of my party far away on distant rooftops, and then use a character with jump or good stealth or very good AC or cunning action dash to initiate the fight. And then I would run away, find a nice dark spot, and hide. Then reposition and hide. And then I would pull the whole mob closer with a mage hand on the ground, then start killing whatever is convenient. Yes, I absolutely would exploit shoot and hide "cheese" here (and maybe move that nice barrel at the entrance to the village), in order to even the odds. Fighting straight up, there's just too much coming your way.
The gobbo camp exterior has a number of places where I reckon that the fight is doable from. Right next to the weakened wall is one spot. But notice that right next to the sleeping bugbears, there's an elevated grassy area. That's another nice place where you have great control over the direction of enemies and can make it very hard for them to reach easy-to-shove characters. And if you follow that grassy area, you will reach a climbdown to an elevated grassy section that connects to the wall, with a ladder down to approximately where Crusher is standing. This grassy bit is another awesome place to fight the whole camp from. Even better if you prep a bit by switching off all torches below and drop a grease bottle. Maybe drop one on the wall section also.
The gnoll boss can be an absolute PITA, but it can be approached from a direction where shoves don't send you flying downwards. You can circle around the encounter rather than approach from below, if that makes sense, and there are some small elevated sections where I can't imagine that it is likely to get a good angle to shove you anywhere. That said, I have not actually done this fight too many times yet, so there is probably some exploitable environment factors that I'm overlooking.
The giths, well, it feels to me as if the AI is really just looking for enough room to misty step, and if you're a couple of meters from the edge then it misty steps behind you and shoves. GG. But if you leave 2-3 meters of room then, in my limited observation, then AI will happily teleport up right next to the edge and then take it from there. And then it's your turn and you can shove or thunderwave or thunder arrow or push attack. This is one fight where I would happily cede ground to ensure the direction that the giths can approach from.
