My PCs have hit level 4 and after next session will be level 5. THey have roolled stats so they are a bit more powerful than the default array bu they have not taken the best feats as such. The sword and board Paladin for example is wandering around with the lucky feat and heavy armor mastery feat.
The last session we played was a few weeks ago and I was more or less winging it throwing in various plot hooks for them to maybe follow up in future sessions. They ended up in a small town called Sandport and theyheard rumors of an old abanded mine nearby. They got there and found some old Thyatian (think Roman) ruins and sallied forth intot he mine for gold and glory. They also discovered some engineering skills as someone had made a dam on a creek and diverted water underground presumably into the old mine.
The "mine" was a fake full of traps although I did leave a dead body in themine with a stated that the mine was a trap. This was after the PCs got fired, boliled, electrocuted and infected along the way. Last nights session they went into the real mine. I had been lazy over the previous weeks feeding my Europa Unversalis IV addicion instead of D&D so I borrowed a few of the maps fromm HotDQ (Dragon Eggs and the dungeon under a castle) and turned them into a Kobold lair. The PCs did comment the mine was a bit odd at least for a mine (oops).
Anyway they had copious amounts of healin so I went a bit nuts with some of the things. The 1st encojnter was with a device I call "the mincer". If you have seen the movie Labyrinth with the Goblins using that wheeled device with the bladses it is more or less that. Rather than get out of the way they chose to engage it from the front. 4d8 slashing damage DC 13 dexterity save for half. The Paladin suggested they get out of the way but got ignored. AD&D probably would have moved as HP are a bit to preciopus to throw away and it was more or less immune to damage from the front anyway. It was powered by 4 Kobolds behind the a large spinning metal disk with sythe blades on it.
After deathtrap dungeon the PCs were expecting another trap infested hell hole but I let up on the traps as they were searching everything. The best traps I find are when the PCs stop looking for them. They even brought 10' poles this time, they learned that lesson from the Tomb of Horrors which we played last year using 5E rules. The guard rooms from HotDQ generally had 16 Kobolds in them and I tweaked some of the existing traps in the dungeon. They cleared out level 1 last night and found the way down to level 2. Turns out they are runnig low on hit points, healing and spells despite having the healer feat a bard and multiclass Druid/life cleric goodberry abuse option.
So kobold swarms are actually quite useful in 5E and by level 4/5 around 16-20 of the little sods tend to be inconvenient. Last year I used 40 of them vs level 8 PCs which is a bit easier due to things like fireball coming online. They even fireballed the party on the theory the fireball would hurt less than the incoming attacks. That theory may not have been accurate though. Giving them fire pots, grenades, exploding barrels of oil/gunpowder also helps. Having the Kobolds engage the PCs with ranged attacks behind a pit trap is also funny espicially if that pit trap is filled with spikes or oil that can be lit,
Some of the older AD&D modules and BECMI modules seem to be able to be run with very minimal conversion with things like traps needing the most work. The key thing is to add 2-3 levels to level of the adventure as 5E monsters are scary relative to AD&D ones with the suggested levels. 20 Kobolds in the Caves of Chaos is a TPK waiting to happen in 5E for level 1 and 2 PCs. For a 4 or 5 person party of level 3 or 4 in 5E its not to bad off a fight. Hobgoblins for level 2 PCs in B5 Horror on the Hill is also a TPK in progress, level 4 not so much. Those old adventures were also designed with 6-8 players as well, modern adventures are more for 4 or 5 PCs.
Zardnaar wrote:
Love the Labyrinth reference but never really liked Kobolds personally.
But I guess you need something that Goblins can pick on.
Kobolts are awesome, especially if they are organized and you combine them with lots of nasty traps. My players have learned to fear Kobolts.
In my pirate campaign, I should probably introduce kobolt pirates at some point. I wonder what a kobolt trap at sea would look like? Maybe I could have like a bunch of kobolts in drag, disguised on a ship that is smoking. When the players approach to help the disguised kobolts, divingbells and submerged vessels could come to the surface all around them, and their ship is ensnared. Then all hell breaks loose. Flaming oil is thrown into the water, their ship is bombarded with smoke bombs so they can't see a thing. Their rudder gets disabled by kobolt divers. If they try to board a kobolt ship, it turns out to have a trapped top deck. It could have trapdoors that drop the players into the bottom deck, which could be filled with spikes, or nasty beasts.
Oh, I so want to do this now.
I never really pursued it far but I had a short adventure with kobolds in the beginning of 4E.
My posited origin for kobolds was as a servitor race for dragons created by the Empire of Arkhosia in the campaign world WotC never actually finished for Nerath, etc. I assumed that they were essentially the equivalent of teenage girls with Justin Bieber with regards to dragons. Their tag line was "we serve!" and they were parading around with a fake dragon for a while, which scared the PCs suitably. The kobold's idea of a good life's work was to serve (and possibly die for) a dragon. The PCs also found cages and cages in the kobold lair: Kobold females turned out to be chicken hens with the eggs altered by alchemy! Had the campaign continued they'd have met up with a real dragon.
In a later campaign, I used kobolds again with lots of vermin. Bombs of vermin swarms, for instance, and lots of pet giant rats. The kobold leaders were wererats and there were plenty of minions to go around.
Imaculata wrote:
Kobolds are very underrated. in my worlds they are a highly organized race, living by strict caste system. Fanaticism is strong among the lower caste, but higher caste are smarter. high breeding rate churns out massive numbers of lower caste Kobolds who get pushed out until they can buy their way back in. this is why kobolds are disposable mooks, they are lower caste laborers having to prove their worth with no support. sometimes they end up stuck or choose not to go back, however they live more meager lives that PCs are familiar with.
most dungeons are trapped by kobold day laborers contracted for the job.
kobold city states, they are skilled, organized, & devious devotees to Dragon Patrons, or the devotees to Kurtamulak[?] the trickster god who liberated them from draconic rule. those kobolds make draconic hybrids with lesser drakes and are powerful sorcerors and a mercantile power.
a kobold den is often a temporary labor camp. Kobold green slime farms! slime grenades!
also had idea for kobold death maze arena, a spectator sport with 'volunteers' dungeon crawling while viewed by a crowd [ glass ceiling, or magic]. the treasure is real and players keep it. however subtle enchantment allows tracking for returning champions. kobold teams work on traps, winners get better lives.
sucks to be lower caste, caught between a dragon and an adventurer!
in my caves of chaos playtest the passages were filled with materials scavenged or foraged, such as baskets of dried leaves. this gave rise to the theory of the 'dry leaf festival' joke at the table. however they were simply a part of a primitive alarm system [also good for detecting invisible]. also they had bone and wodd 'chimes' strung from the ceiling like beaded curtains leaving 3' of room from floor. in the main room they had a number of projects going, making glass 'gems', painting copper pieces gold, making rope/twine, wood working, and metalworking with scavenged weapons and armor all for trapmaking. this was a clue to my gamers that there was more going on. was going to introduce them to Dragonspire a kobold city, but group fell apart.
play kobolds smart! no kobold wants to run at you naked with a dagger!
Kobolds are very underrated. in my worlds they are a highly organized race, living by strict caste system. Fanaticism is strong among the lower caste, but higher caste are smarter. high breeding rate churns out massive numbers of lower caste Kobolds who get pushed out until they can buy their way back in. this is why kobolds are disposable mooks, they are lower caste laborers having to prove their worth with no support.
Pretty Orwellian, when you think of it from their shoes.
yep, but work quota's keep them occupied! wait....that sounds familiar