Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ekluag May 04, 2009 15:21:42	Alright, I'm new to D&D and so is my group, although some have played before. The campaign that I want to use involves kobolds. Basically, I think the first part is going to be a dungeon crawl, combining elements from the first part in DD, the sample encounter in DMG, and the kobold encounter in Keep on Shadowfell. What I'm going to do is to make it a dragon worshiping cult of kobolds (now that's not a cliche at all), who believe that dragons are the supreme being and are helping them to conquer territory. When they kill the high priest, he will probably have a hook to a greater portion of the cult, but i am focusing on the crawl right now. My party is a eladrin rouge, tiefling warlock, eladrin wizard, human shaman (the healer), 2 dragonborn fighters (twins, but what do I know?), and an elf ranger. Basically, I need suggestions and ideas to fill the dungeon. Plot tips are also appreciated, I am new after all. Thanks in advance.
#2 AbdulAlhazred May 05, 2009 20:19:30	Well, I would start by making some basic decisions about the area the player characters are starting in. If you are using the Nentir Vale then you already have pretty much what you need. Otherwise you may want to have a different theme, like desert, jungle, port city, etc. Or some much more fantastic sort of place. Whatever it is you can outline it with a view towards whatever type of adventures you would like to run later on. If the PCs like pirates and spy missions, then make it a big port city, etc. As far as kobolds themselves go. I think I might start with the Kobold Hall adventure. Maybe at the end the dragon has some sort of message on him that explains he is a scout for a larger force that is gathering to move into the area. Or a kobold might be captured and convinced to give out similar information. Just kobolds and say drakes and other dragon-themed monsters with a boss thrown in there once in a while can get them up a few levels. Perhaps they actually go off and fight some other types of monsters, undead infesting the old graveyard, wererats in the sewers, whatever, but every so often they run into a kobold. After a while it could turn out these kobold messengers are going around to the other various groups of monsters and trying to assemble a real army for their masters. It can go from there.
#3 monkeydm May 05, 2009 20:55:16	I think kobolds are a great start, but the downside I see with a long-term kobold campaign is kobolds themselves aren't all that powerful or intelligent. Once the PCs are 3rd or 4th level kobolds themselves probably won't be that interesting. I'd put a dragon, or a number of dragons, behind a long-term campaign which the kobolds are just a symptom of at first. Why is there a wyrmling in kobold hall? Obviously dragons have been breeding. The long-term story can be a dragon migration - perhaps there is a distant land heavily populated and the younger dragons are being driven out and are looking for new nesting grounds / treasure hordes, etc. Or some cataclysm or powerful rival race of creatures could be driving dragons from their remote habitat. The kobolds can serve to give clues to this rather than to act as its author - perhaps their observations and divinations as dragon cultists have heralded that a great invasion is coming, and in their battles with the PC's they can say as much. "You may have defeated me, but soon you will all serve as meat for my master's teeth" etc. This can also inform kobold strategy. If a dragon migration is coming, they may choose more often than not to retreat from tough battles and bide their time rather than fight to the death - except in cases like KH where they're protecting a young dragon or similar. You could describe a vivid scene where dozens of terrifying (but relatively young) dragons sweep across the sky as the PCs are outdoors, to the jubilant celebration of emerging tribes of kobolds. At first most of these dragons might fly past, with just one settling down around here to cause problems... but more will be coming. As the PCs will gain power kobolds could continue to be meddlesome complications without being the primary enemy.