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So I'm sitting on OpenRPG and writing, when a few of my players get online and start chatting. I'm running a persistent world, and one of them has had their first character get captured by a mini-BBEG in a 2nd-3rd level adventure. So he has rolled up a monk and decided he wanted to go on a short adventure with a few of the others. So we got a barbarian, a monk, and an archer of sorts.
So I didn't have anything planned, so I let them decide what they wanted to tackle, out of a list. Wilderness, kobolds, orcs, exploration, etc. One of them, who only knew kobolds from 4E said "Kobolds! We'll hunt the kobolds!"
Anyone here feel compelled to grin/facepalm/snicker just a little bit?
NOTICE: Let me go ahead and note that my players and everyone in this persistent world begins with an exceptionally good bonus to their starting hit points, 'cause we don't play around. We're playing Pathfinder and you get double your starting HD before applying con, so wizards get 12 + Con, Rogues 16 + Con, Fighters 20 + Con, and Barbarians 24 + Con. Keep this in mind.
So my buddy Felix - who was sitting out - said "Hah, you're all gonna die.", and when the leader of the little raid (the 4E guy) asked why, my buddy Felix noted that the kobolds are terrifying little guys, and said he would watch.
So the adventure was soon underway. A coal mine which had dug into some kobold tunnels and had miners go missing. Simple and sweet. The mine owner, Mr. Sigfried Vandercleft mentioned that they hadn't dared explore the tunnels they dug into after the men went missing, but they found tracks. Offering a thousand silver pieces (100 gp) to whomever could go inside and make certain the kobolds were driven away, the party was off.
Man they weren't getting paid enough...
So they make it a little ways into the tunnels, and it's cramped and pitch dark. The ceiling's only 6ft high off the floor, and the walls around barely spaced enough to walk through in some places. They're entering into the kobold lair to hunt these kobolds. So they find an odd trap (which was fairly obvious) which was a bunch of thick wire cords attached to pitons in the walls creating a lattice-work of 4-5 inch wide square holes. The trap wasn't damaging in the least, but made movement in a pain in the butt (unless you were small then you had to make balance checks to navigate through the holes without falling down or getting entangled). Essentially, it would be fun if the kobolds ended up chasing them through room 1.
So they've seen no kobolds after coming through the trap, laughing at the trap's lack of effectiveness. They come to two tunnels and take the right tunnel. One of them has a bull's eye lantern and spots four kobolds about 50ft down a narrow 5ft wide tunnel, taking cover behind an overturned barrel which was about as tall/wide as a dwarf. Each of them were wielding little crossbows. So the barbarian who's the first to see them breaks into a charge!
Mistake #2 (The first was going into a kobold den)
The barbarian makes it about 20 feet from the kobolds and the floor collapses out from under her. Sneaky little buggers. So not only does she take 2d6 points of falling damage, but she then has to make a reflex save to avoid this barrel (they're pushing) on its way down the pit. So then the barrel hits the bottom of the pit and bursts open, filling the pit with oil. Kobold #4 tosses a flask of oil + fire. Barbarian BBQ!
So the hallway fills with smoke and the barbarian begins climbing out of the pit as fast as she can WHILE ON FIRE, and slips and slides a couple times due to a bit of dice troubles. So then the party's archer fires at the kobolds and misses, so they all scurry into little tunnels they have to crawl into (a halfling or gnome could fit in them too, but...), escaping the party. So they have to rescue the Barbarian who's climbing out of a 20ft pit WHILE ON FIRE, narrowly managing to douse her at 2 HP (remember that thing about the HP?).
So they abandon going down tunnel #1, and the barbarian says she cannot go on without some rest. So the monk who took no damage decides he's going to explore the left path, while the archer looks after the barbarian in room #1. So the monk gets shot out from at one of those little holes in the walls the kobolds were moving through, and deftly dodges the bolt, and feels pretty confident, and keeps going. SWOOSH!
So he finds pit trap #2 and takes 10 points of falling damage, and fails the acrobatics check to lessen it on the way down. So he stands up, realizes a sense of deja vu, and then dodges the barrel on the way down. Splatter! and of course, here comes the fire. VOOSH!
So is slammed by like 6 fire damage, and he leaps to the walls and starts scrambling up. He has to clear 20ft in 1 round, and he's moving at 1/2 his speed, and that's with a -5 penalty to move faster. So he biffs his first check out of 2, and so he burns an Action Point* to try again, and manages to roll amazingly on both, but then at the top of the pit he is burned for more damage, dropping him to 0 Hp. Realizing trying to douse himself would drop him to -1, and not dousing himself was going to continue his fire damage, he runs down the hallway as fast as he can calling his friends for help and makes it to within their LoS as he succumbs to the -1 HP followed by more fire damage. He is rescued with a waterskin and dragged out to safety.
"Maybe we should try goblins next time." he remarks.
Final Tally: Two CR 1 pit traps. 4 CR 1/4 Kobolds. Two barrels of expendable oil in a 10ft radius (part of the kobolds' NPC gear, filed under expendables).
The players did get a good bit of experience for causing the kobolds to flee the first encounter, and for surviving traps.
Action Point*: My group uses Action Points. Every PC has one at 1st level, and gains an additional action point every 5 levels (5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th). By burning an action point, you get another action (standard, move, or swift) and refill every 8 hours. I've been using these pre-4E release, for those that are curious. I never liked the Eberron/UA action points 'cause they didn't really make anything more action-y. They just added a random bonus, whereas action points let you preform combos and other rule-defying tricks.
EDIT: The party's barbarian, while at the bottom of the pit, linked us to this fine image as an example of what was going through her mind at the bottom of the pit.
Yay!
My current 3.5 group had a similar experience in his first adventure.
They fled from the dungeon three times before finish (and of course, each time the kobolds re-organized and was HARDER.
*maniacal laughter*
Whats OpenRPG? Is it like a virtual tabletop?
Yes it is. It's a program for running RPGs online. The program is written in python and wxpython, and I've been using it for years. It can be found here: OpenRPG.com. I use the 1.7.1 version, updated to 1.8.0 through the auto-updater and I find very few bugs with it. I know a lot of people use the traipse version.
Here's a link to a guy giving an example of OpenRPG: Guy Showing OpenRPG Traipse.
But yes...KOBOLDS!!
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Whats OpenRPG? Is it like a virtual tabletop?Yes it is. It's a program for running RPGs online. The program is written in python and wxpython, and I've been using it for years. It can be found here: OpenRPG.com. I use the 1.7.1 version, updated to 1.8.0 through the auto-updater and I find very few bugs with it. I know a lot of people use the traipse version.
Here's a link to a guy giving an example of OpenRPG: Guy Showing OpenRPG Traipse.
But yes...KOBOLDS!!
Thanks for the links! And yes! Kobolds Rock! My players just ran afoul of some on the Kingmaker AP last session. I had a player with a similar view of them as your 4E player. His opinion changed quickly. LOL!
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I think kobold is a pretty cool guy. eh sets traps and doesn't afraid of anything.
Kobolds are awesomeness. One of my dream campaigns is to either ally with a bunch of kobolds or play with kobolds in a resistance movement-themed campaign. Medieval or modern fantasy.
...and now kobolds sound French in my head. Specifically like Jean Reno....
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Slight Kingmaker Spoilers
............................
I am running the Kingmaker AP, and the little Kobold that is rescued from a Mite lair (Mik Mek)followed the PCs after they left. I made him a Rogue 1 (Kobold Hero! He claims), he has taken to the Cavalier, emulating him, and is now a Rogue 2,Cav 2 (Order of the Dragon ), and he now rides the Thylacine that was stuck in the pit. He is the party's fave NPC, though he is now actually the Captain of the Town Guard in their fledgling town, so he doesn't get to adventure as much. When th Cav gets Leadership, I will let him 'retire' from that position, to be a proper Cohort.
Yep, Kobolds are pretty fun...
-Uriel
PS:He named his sword Strawberry...
After a 14-year hiatus, I'm returning my group to the Dragon Mountain campaign I ran in college, updated to Pathfinder. For those of you who don't know about this one, it is a 2E boxed set for high level adventurers where the primary antagonists are kobolds (written by Colin McComb)
I left the characters on a cliffhanger years ago on the final level, and had endured a year's worth of these kinds of tricks and tactics. By the end, they had been stabbed, shot, imprisoned, tortured, and maimed, but had finally managed to scrabble together enough equipment to make a series of raids on one of the kobold fortresses, and the dragon Infryana had even made an appearance. But, with my final semester of college getting tough, I had to abandon the game before they finished, and it has lain dormant all this time.
Players are going to update their original characters to PFRPG and I'll do some storyline trickery to get them back in a position to basically give it another try with their characters 20 years older, after the mountain has left and is again returning. Can't wait!
In preparation, I've been doing some minis conversions, which I posted here.
Fun stuff, and a great read, too. Used boxed sets are cheap!
Kobolds and traps go hand in hand. I would be so sad to see a GM who plays kobolds as suicidal warriors running headfirst into their enemies melee range. A sad panda I would be.
Kobold encounters are far more fun using traps to their tactical advantage, or using their size to their advantage, and using cover to their advantage, and using numbers to their advantage, and using their advantages to their advantage. ^.^
For example...
The party's barbarian saw the kobolds with ranged weapons standing behind a barrel at the end of a 50ft charge-able hallway. The most logical conclusion for a warrior is "Get into melee and don't let them use the weapons, I can charge 60ft and they're 50ft, so I'll charge!"
However, the logical conclusion also takes you right into the 20ft pit trap between you and them. So the kobolds are forcing you to fight on their terms. Either you deal with their 19 armor class (15 + 4 cover) while they shoot at you with little crossbows in a ranged battle, or you fall in a hole and get BBQed before they flee.
Kobolds are small, so building their lairs where bigger enemies have trouble moving around or have to go through trap-infested areas is to their convenience. In the adventure mentioned in the OP, the kobolds are traveling through little network tunnels around the dungeon. Halflings and gnomes can totally use those tunnels, but the bigger folk have to deal with pitfalls, low ceilings, and the like.
In fact, kobolds can comfortably move through areas suitable for small creatures. Their enemies may be forced to squeeze through; making them prime targets for those pesky kobolds.
Kobolds benefit a lot by using a few alchemical items now and then too. A flask of acid (10 gp) is within the NPC wealth by level 1st level nonheroic consumables, and a group of kobolds bombing people with acid flasks is amazingly effective - especially if they're tripped up by something else at the time. Hint: kobold nets are just big enough to entangle medium size foes!
Spells like enlarge person are nearly useless when dealing with kobolds because what is normally a great tactical advantage just gets you a 1-way trip to squeeze-ville, making you a sitting duck inside that narrow corridor.
Sure, they're weak, their meek, and they'll sock you in the cheek! They're KOBOLDS!
Kobolds r mah favorite :)
Mr. Fishy runs kolbolds like raptors from Jurassic Park. "Clever girl."
"You spot a small scaly humanoid about 40' down the tunnel. It looks at you and erps. Erp, erp..." If the party is smart they proceed very carefully.
One distacts you while the tribe surrounds you. Then there are the traps and pets[rust monsters, dire rats, monsterous vermin].
Kolbold are one of Mr. Fishy's favorites. Goblins are fun too.
Mmmmmm kolbolds. Chalk full of kolboldty goodness.
I'm working on a sect of barbarian berserker kobolds who revere an unnamed god of draconic fury.
And the players are in the Underdark.
I pity someone, not sure who.
My players were confident that these kobolds were no threat at all and weren't worried about traps.
It's good they kept on decent terms with the tribe, as they soon discovered the kobolds had tamed some bulettes for heavy duty tunnelling.
My lvl 3-4 group (3.5 ruleset, UA stuff, high stats), 5 PCs in total, once met a kobold war patrol (They weren't enemies at the moment, they had a common foe actually, the derro). 7 scaly terrors.
3 of them immediately started firing their little crossbowses (lvl 2 rangers Rapid Reloading, Rapid Shooting, PCs were't favoured enemies tough) While the other three proceeded to see if they can dig the PCs out of their cover by climbing above them (lvl 2 dungeoneer variant scouts (= climb speed)). When the PC charged the Kobolds in their cover after going throught a hailstorm of bolts they found out that there way one particular Kobold who didn't avoid them (lvl 2 green dragon shaman geared for high AC). The kobolds suddenly started pouring acid damage...
Since then the players know that proper response to "Yip! Yip! Who's there? Friend or foe?" isn't "Charge!"
We once ran into kobolds at level 1 or 2. Mixed party of mostly dwarves and gnomes and halflings (a fighter or two, a cleric, and 2 wizards); I was the lone human rogue.
The set up was a pretty basic dungeon, 10 foot corridors with 30 foot square rooms. We came across some kobolds in a room with a bunch of bunkbeds. I got critted with a small crossbow, so I was down to 1 hit point in the 1st round of combat.
I was the lucky one.
Somehow, most of the rest of the party got bogged down in the room, and kept taking 1d4 or 1d6 each round until they passed out. My rogue ran out of the room, then sneaked back in, wait a round, then sneak attack and run out of the room, rinse, repeat. So I was only attacking every other round.
Eventually, they got me and I passed out.
Eventually, the only one left standing was one of the wizard's weasel familiars, who had a bite of 1d2-4 or something nuts like that. And killed. every. single. kobold.
And this wasn't a dire weasel. A regular vanilla wizards familiar weasel.
<---- Is currently playing a Kobold Barbarian and LOVING it. He's out to prove the superiority of the Kobold race by showing up everybody. And, damage-wise, he CAN.
Oh, he's also the party's HP tank. We're at about 500 damage and we just hit level 6.
In our party, the feral kobold battle sorcerer (red dragon bloodline, currently on a quest to change it to gold dragon) is our party tank.
(The rest of the party is my chaos gnome brass dragon shaman (Sherlock Holmes build) and a catfolk archer ranger.)
Also, kobolds are crazy mean when it comes to alchemical items. The standard NPC gear for a typical kobold suggests 40 gp worth of consumables. Now you tell me how scary this is...
Warrior NPC Class (+1 to hit)
Small Size (+1 to hit, AC, +4 Stealth)
+2 Racial Bonus to Dexterity (+1 to ranged, +1 AC, +1 stealth)
Point Blank Shot (+1 hit, +1 damage, within 30 ft).
Choice of Weapons?
Light Crossbow (35 gp) at +4 within 30ft, 1d6+1 piercing damage.
Acid flask at +4-touch to hit, 1d6+1 acid damage.
Now you take these CR 1/4 kobolds, and they ambush->acid bomb some poor fool.
4 attacks at +4 touch is 4d6+4 acid damage. A 1st level tank (+6 chainmail, +2 shield, +1 Dex) is likely sitting at AC 10 vs 4d6+4.
EDIT: Oh yeah, don't forget the 4 points of splash damage to everyone around the target.
A long time ago, in a shared campaign, there was a ruined city not far from the main setting city that was repeatedly raided for loot/monster killing/etc.
One of the primary races living in those ruins were kobolds.
One day, five kobolds with class levels decided to start raiding the PC's native city, sneaking in and stealing things from shops and all. It seemed only fair, after all. They kept getting away thanks to clever plans - having the sorcerer cast reduce person to slide down sewer pipes, setting up cunning traps that would delay the adventurers long enough to get away. They were a long-term menace that were often fought, sometimes defeated, but never killed.
Then the kobolds approached the PCs for help. Apparently, there was a dragon that was trying to take over their kinsman, and their 'master' had told them to ask for help.
So they went to meet with the master, figuring that an evil dragon controlling a tribe of kobolds was worse than the kobolds on their own. But aren't most kobolds fond of dragons? Normally, but the 'master' wasn't.
That's when they discovered that in a race that has a tendency to produce sorcerers occasionally, eventually /one/ of them will become a lich.
There's one thing that bothers me a lot about kobolds.
It's the traps.
Not only the traps, it's the CR of the traps.
I know it's fun to have a lair filled to the brim with traps, counter-traps, traps within traps and all of that stuff that makes up those famous kobold horror stories we've all heard.
But how much of a CR does all of that add up to? Is it really 'party-appropriate?'. If not, and the party gets out alive, are you willing to give the level 3-5 party experience for some CR 15 total of traps?
There's one thing that bothers me a lot about kobolds.
It's the traps.
Not only the traps, it's the CR of the traps.
I know it's fun to have a lair filled to the brim with traps, counter-traps, traps within traps and all of that stuff that makes up those famous kobold horror stories we've all heard.
But how much of a CR does all of that add up to? Is it really 'party-appropriate?'. If not, and the party gets out alive, are you willing to give the level 3-5 party experience for some CR 15 total of traps?
I keep my games party appropriate. I use traps, if sparingly, and the party does earn full experience for them as appropriate. If traps are in every nook and cranny of the dungeon, then it will most likely result in everyone's death, or the game will slow to a crawl as the party tries to search every 10ft space thoroughly as they're moving along.
Instead, take the example of the barbarian in my previous post. She saw the kobolds and charged. There was a single trap pit trap which she charged right into, giving the 4 kobolds a serious advantage, as now there is a big 10ft wide hole in the floor, and kobolds with ranged weapons with a barrel. Suddenly, the encounter is terrifying, and likely would have resulted in a very dead barbarian if not for the double 1st HD house rule.
The actual dungeon in question actually had about 6 traps (pit x3, axe x2, poison darts x1), and about 16 kobolds spread through the dungeon (4 sets of CR 1). That's 10 CR 1 encounters through the entire dungeon, or about 1,000 XP per party member.
It actually ended up being more than that in the long run, because it took multiple adventures to clear through the dungeon (because they had to keep retreating, and regrouping), which resulted in several of the traps being manually reset or added again.
I love kobolds, too. They will always have a soft spot in my heart. One of my players jokingly agreed to play a kobold rogue PC in a 3.0 game I ran. It was truly a memorable character. That was about the time John Wu movies were quite popular. If you can picture a kobold with a hand crossbow leaping through the air and shooting someone in the head in slow-mo (ala John Wu) then you can get a sense of the fun we had with this PC.
I also ran a clan of kobold ninjas in a Ruins of Undermountain campaign. The PC's assumed that the cute kobolds dressed in black pajamas were fairly harmless since the PC's were around 5 or 6 at the time. Boy were they wrong! After a couple of skirmishes with the kobold ninjas, the PC's hurriedly made their way out of the area. Good times.
More recently, I ran my Pathfinder group through the Kobold King encounters (slightly modified). I don't think I did the kobolds justice, but there were still some memorable encounters that will have the PC's look before they leap if/when they meet up with more kobolds in the future. /salute!