Greetings,
I'm currently GMing the Kingmaker AP and my players are up against a kobold kingdom. The kobolds are led by a cleric of Asmodeus and I'm trying to use them as lawful, intelligent, resourceful but individually weak enemies, in contrast to a troll threat that's also happening at the same time. The kobolds are playing the long game and don't count on the trolls winning so they really have no incentive to kill the players. They'd rather capture and release them in exchange for major diplomatic concessions and/or a king's ransom.
My 3 players are currently 4th level. The players are veterans and the characters are seriously OP for their level : a bow-using ranger DPR machine, a frontline high AC cleric and a grappling monk able to pin and tie up just about anything. CR 6 encounters are trivial and they recently won a CR 8-9ish encounter by the skin of their teeth.
So I'd like to brainstorm ideas for tough but fair encounters against military-style kobolds, with bonus points for non-lethal capture options. CR would be around 6-8. Given the relatively low level and individually weak military kobold theme, I'd rather work with team tactics and specialised individuals. I'm not too keen on blunt-force options like spamming high-level scrolls (Deep Slumber...).
My thoughts so far :
- I really like the Elite Kobolds (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/unique-monsters/cr-1/black-claw-elite-ko bold-warrior-4/) : versatile, reasonable AC/HP/base attack, poison. Using teamwork 3-5 of these guys have a reasonable chance to ruin someone's day. They might be truly scary if I replaced their feats with teamwork feats like, say, Outflank and Precise Strike. Maybe also swap a warrior level for a rogue level for that sweet sneak attack ?
- The various kobolds from the Kobold King are nice, but a bit bland maybe.
- Sorcerers : at 5th level they start having nasty spells, and a reasonable amount of them. Sleep and magic missile are staples.
- for capture options I was looking at Nets, but I'm not sure it would be that effective unless spammed in unreasonable numbers. Maybe include 1-2 anyway for psychological warfare? Variation on the theme : "grenadiers" with things like Tanglefoot bags, etc.
- a duo of Sap-using rogues with Sap Adept, Sap Master and Distracting attack.
- Troll allies are also a possibility, if only to lure the monk into focusing on tying them up.
Thank you for any input !