Hey all. I'm running a kobold encounter for a lower level party, (5 lvl3s) and was wondering if there are any good ideas.
For context. A kobold party is hunting a dragon. Because of the dragons shapshifting and affinity for you know, walking, they've had to travel the surface for a long ways. Currently, they have made it to a temple close by the where the dragon actually is, but the don't know that. The kobolds are looting the temple, and have been for about 3 or so days, so not super long.
I do have a decent amount put into it, acid traps, escape routes, chokepoints, the likes. But I was curious if anyone had any neat ideas that I may not have thought of for a traveling kobold party without the time to make a den.
Also, any unique ideas for rp, stuff like what the kobolds would be thinking or saying, would be much appreciated.
The Dragon is actually unrelated to the encounter, this is gonna be a foreshadowing sort of encounter. And yeah, pack tactics is big. Only engage if you outnumber them 10 to 1
Is the fight going to happen in daylight? Because ... if I was a kobold, and I had to fight in daylight - and I had a caster capable of casting Darkness - I'd do that. Negates the kobolds disadvantage from sunlight, gives the PC's disadvantage. It would give the kobolds disadvantage too, only that's cancelled by Pack Tactics. So that would be a huge advantage.
When playing kobolds, if you do it wrong, the kobolds tend to win. So that's something to be wary of: Play them well, but if you combine high numbers with well-played tactics, you may end up with a TPK.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Hey all. I'm running a kobold encounter for a lower level party, (5 lvl3s) and was wondering if there are any good ideas.
For context. A kobold party is hunting a dragon. Because of the dragons shapshifting and affinity for you know, walking, they've had to travel the surface for a long ways. Currently, they have made it to a temple close by the where the dragon actually is, but the don't know that. The kobolds are looting the temple, and have been for about 3 or so days, so not super long.
I do have a decent amount put into it, acid traps, escape routes, chokepoints, the likes. But I was curious if anyone had any neat ideas that I may not have thought of for a traveling kobold party without the time to make a den.
Also, any unique ideas for rp, stuff like what the kobolds would be thinking or saying, would be much appreciated.
Looting a temple... that sounds ideal for things like setting up statues to knock them over on the party, ropes & ladders to climb up & down from the rafters. Maybe rigging the a big bell or chandeliers or something to fall down on people. Not so much acid traps or tunnels.
Depending on your map/playstyle, you could set up a very fun / wacky encounter where the kobolds shoot at the party from a chandelier but if any of the party members climb / teleport up there they use ropes to swing across to a different chandelier and cause the original one to fall down.
Other options could be bags of spiders they collected from the attic of the temple rigged to dump on people, or some pit traps filled with sharpened bones.
The kobolds should know what type of dragon they were hunting and have at least a potion of resistance. It doesn't matter that they will never see the dragon, it makes for a better story. More realism. Touches like that make the game.
Also note that the other posters gave good advice. Kobolds can kill a party if the party plays stupidly. Sunlight is a big deal for them. Things falling on players is a good idea.
Note kobolds are lawful as well as evil. People tend to downgrade that option. I like the idea of the kobolds arguing, but to really up your game, they should be arguing like lawyers, not children.
"He is a worshiper of Kord and according to the third rule of Cooking the Faithful, we have to marinate him in his own holy water, if we have it available, and we clearly do."
I mean, alignments aren’t really something you can apply species-wide like that, and there’s a broad spectrum to the personalities covered by a given type. Even if this group tends towards Lawful, they might just as easily be arguing in terms of personal position or trying to get someone of a decision making rank to take their side.
I mean, alignments aren’t really something you can apply species-wide like that, and there’s a broad spectrum to the personalities covered by a given type. Even if this group tends towards Lawful, they might just as easily be arguing in terms of personal position or trying to get someone of a decision making rank to take their side.
If you are going to stereotypee kobolds as eating pilgrims, do it right and stereotype them as lawful evil, not the stupid-evil so typically used for monsters.
Thanks everyone for the advice. Mog Dracov, thank you for idea to add some more specifications around hunting said dragon, and you actually made me realise I hadn't really thought about how a party of kobolds travelled the surface with supplies enough to get this far, so now they have a pack of Rothe.
Agile Mind, the idea for thinking hadn't really crossed me, but now I have a small group of kobolds making a sort of battering ram to break down a door. Overcomplicated, but also a competition, so rationality comes second when your buddy has a cooler method. And just to appease the funny kobolds not knowing human tools, I have a group of kobolds reading human poetry and laughing at it together. And a snitch to sell them out, for fun.
And the idea of Kobolds not being sniveling idiots actually was a part of things. Rather than like, Goblins fleeing for their life kobolds are more collectivist. So they only start to cower when their group might lose, not them. Opens things up for sacrificial kobolds and a more cohesive cooperation.
Finally, yeah, kobolds are tough, and the level is pretty close and thus risky. I've made it so failure is directly tied to if the party fails, and Ive had the big traps be more cinematic with weaknesses. Plus, it will be day, so fleeing is super easy.
Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey all. I'm running a kobold encounter for a lower level party, (5 lvl3s) and was wondering if there are any good ideas.
For context. A kobold party is hunting a dragon. Because of the dragons shapshifting and affinity for you know, walking, they've had to travel the surface for a long ways. Currently, they have made it to a temple close by the where the dragon actually is, but the don't know that. The kobolds are looting the temple, and have been for about 3 or so days, so not super long.
I do have a decent amount put into it, acid traps, escape routes, chokepoints, the likes. But I was curious if anyone had any neat ideas that I may not have thought of for a traveling kobold party without the time to make a den.
Also, any unique ideas for rp, stuff like what the kobolds would be thinking or saying, would be much appreciated.
Kobolds have pact tactics. They should be using it.
Do they know what kind of dragon it is? They should know the weaknesses of it and take advantage of it.
The Dragon is actually unrelated to the encounter, this is gonna be a foreshadowing sort of encounter. And yeah, pack tactics is big. Only engage if you outnumber them 10 to 1
Is the fight going to happen in daylight? Because ... if I was a kobold, and I had to fight in daylight - and I had a caster capable of casting Darkness - I'd do that. Negates the kobolds disadvantage from sunlight, gives the PC's disadvantage. It would give the kobolds disadvantage too, only that's cancelled by Pack Tactics. So that would be a huge advantage.
When playing kobolds, if you do it wrong, the kobolds tend to win. So that's something to be wary of: Play them well, but if you combine high numbers with well-played tactics, you may end up with a TPK.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Looting a temple... that sounds ideal for things like setting up statues to knock them over on the party, ropes & ladders to climb up & down from the rafters. Maybe rigging the a big bell or chandeliers or something to fall down on people. Not so much acid traps or tunnels.
Depending on your map/playstyle, you could set up a very fun / wacky encounter where the kobolds shoot at the party from a chandelier but if any of the party members climb / teleport up there they use ropes to swing across to a different chandelier and cause the original one to fall down.
Other options could be bags of spiders they collected from the attic of the temple rigged to dump on people, or some pit traps filled with sharpened bones.
The kobolds should know what type of dragon they were hunting and have at least a potion of resistance. It doesn't matter that they will never see the dragon, it makes for a better story. More realism. Touches like that make the game.
Also note that the other posters gave good advice. Kobolds can kill a party if the party plays stupidly. Sunlight is a big deal for them. Things falling on players is a good idea.
For RP options you could have something like:
Note kobolds are lawful as well as evil. People tend to downgrade that option. I like the idea of the kobolds arguing, but to really up your game, they should be arguing like lawyers, not children.
"He is a worshiper of Kord and according to the third rule of Cooking the Faithful, we have to marinate him in his own holy water, if we have it available, and we clearly do."
I mean, alignments aren’t really something you can apply species-wide like that, and there’s a broad spectrum to the personalities covered by a given type. Even if this group tends towards Lawful, they might just as easily be arguing in terms of personal position or trying to get someone of a decision making rank to take their side.
If you are going to stereotypee kobolds as eating pilgrims, do it right and stereotype them as lawful evil, not the stupid-evil so typically used for monsters.
Thanks everyone for the advice. Mog Dracov, thank you for idea to add some more specifications around hunting said dragon, and you actually made me realise I hadn't really thought about how a party of kobolds travelled the surface with supplies enough to get this far, so now they have a pack of Rothe.
Agile Mind, the idea for thinking hadn't really crossed me, but now I have a small group of kobolds making a sort of battering ram to break down a door. Overcomplicated, but also a competition, so rationality comes second when your buddy has a cooler method. And just to appease the funny kobolds not knowing human tools, I have a group of kobolds reading human poetry and laughing at it together. And a snitch to sell them out, for fun.
And the idea of Kobolds not being sniveling idiots actually was a part of things. Rather than like, Goblins fleeing for their life kobolds are more collectivist. So they only start to cower when their group might lose, not them. Opens things up for sacrificial kobolds and a more cohesive cooperation.
Finally, yeah, kobolds are tough, and the level is pretty close and thus risky. I've made it so failure is directly tied to if the party fails, and Ive had the big traps be more cinematic with weaknesses. Plus, it will be day, so fleeing is super easy.
Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.