Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pallysftwbaby Sep 18, 2010 1:37:11	So I made a kobold paladin enemy for my players to eventually encounter and possibly fight.  Given the common perception of kobolds as weak and cowardly, they will probably underestimate this guy.  For that reason, I thought of giving him a special type of trigger attack: one that triggers off words the players say in-character. If a character says something along the lines of "It's just a kobold," then the attack will trigger.  I'll probably have it as a -2 penalty to all defenses (save ends), and it will target Will.  This attack can be triggered any number of times in a round, as long as the PC says the wrong words. Has anyone ever tried this type of mechanic?  If so, how did it work?  Do people think this is fair or imbalanced?  Originally I had intended for it to be humourous, but I thought that maybe it could work as a mechanic.  Of course, the phrase shouldn't be one that the PC's will say too often, but one that may be said in each specific situation, and the penalty should be relatively small.
#2 rampant Sep 18, 2010 3:22:53	Instead of trying to hang a mechanic on a PC doing something you'd expect based upon observation and previous experience, give the monster the ability to designate a PC or two as being especially hated, and give them some sort of offensive boost against said characters like a +2 on attacks.  I mean he's a pally right? Well then let him "mark" someone as an ability and get special boosts against them. That way the monster has an ability used for picking on specific people that piss him off, without relying on a PC to do what you want them to.
#3 alitain Sep 18, 2010 13:27:42	Well all you're basically doing is just attacking when someone says something.  Not exactly a stretch or anything.  Now the only problem I see is that you're basically having it trigger every time when the key phrase is uttered.  That's giving the kobold the potential for several attacks per round, if the players say it.  Of course I understand you want it something that wont happen often.  Just pointing out the potential, even if it doesn't do damage. As for the -2, I would say make sure it doesn't stack, that would be unfair. Lastly, all in all i think a better thing would be to not try and make some mechanic for this.  You're wanting a kobold to attack when he's insulted.  Instead of trying to make some mechanic which probably wont work, or maybe only once, why not just have him attack when he's insulted or something derogatory is said.  Just don't make it so mechanical.  That way you can balance out how much he's attacking if the group just constantly insults him. The other thing is if the players catch on, they can use it to their advantage by causing the kobold to attack them, provoking OA, Marking abilities, etc.
#4 pallysftwbaby Sep 20, 2010 18:24:17	If the multiple attacks seems overpowered, I can reduce it to once per round.  As for the penalty, it probably wouldn't stack, but if I had to give it a category, it would be an underestimation penalty, as the character is thinking the kobold is not much of a challenge.  I guess I'll start it as something small, with just once per round and only -2, and I'll see how it works from there. I don't intend for it to alter the course of the battle drastically, but mainly to discourage underestimation of seemingly weak enemies.