Bohemian Ear-Spork
First Post
D&D. Typical sort of setting, lacking the "high magic" feel of Eberron. A black dragon rules a large city, and the surrounding territory, with the aid of a vast army of kobolds. Said kobolds aren't all that tough, but they're smart, well trained, and know how to work as a unit.
And of course, there's a lot of them....
So what I'm thinking is this, for a typical patrol:
The bulk of the unit is made up of first level warriors, armed with a light crossbow, longspear, and shortsword. Typically, they will take cover (if possible) and concentrate crossbow fire on a single target, as directed by the unit's leader. In melee, they break into three groups of four (along with the rest of the unit), with half of each group using the spears and the other half swords.
The unit is led by a third level fighter, typical feats to be determined. Weapon Focus, most likely.
Second in command is a 3rd level sorcerer. First action is always to use Dancing Lights to create a ring of red-colored flames about 50 ft. above the caster's head. Any other kobolds seeing this will immediately converge on this point to offer support. Following this, the sorcerer will use whatever offensive spells that he possesses to support the units' attacks.
Finally, we've got a 2nd level Dragon Shaman to provide support. He'll fight along side the rest of the unit, but will use his auras as necessary: Senses while patrolling, Power when attacking, and Vigor when things get ugly.
Perfect this isn't. Nor is it meant to be -- the Dancing Lights S.O.S., for example, is something that the PCs can, and almost certainly will, exploit. But even so, I want these guys to be reasonably effective, and scary, opposition for a bunch of 4th level players.
Any tactics to suggest? Or avoid? Keep in mind that the kobolds will not be sitting in their lair building traps; they're going to be on the city streets, actively patrolling and looking for trouble-makers.
And of course, there's a lot of them....
So what I'm thinking is this, for a typical patrol:
The bulk of the unit is made up of first level warriors, armed with a light crossbow, longspear, and shortsword. Typically, they will take cover (if possible) and concentrate crossbow fire on a single target, as directed by the unit's leader. In melee, they break into three groups of four (along with the rest of the unit), with half of each group using the spears and the other half swords.
The unit is led by a third level fighter, typical feats to be determined. Weapon Focus, most likely.
Second in command is a 3rd level sorcerer. First action is always to use Dancing Lights to create a ring of red-colored flames about 50 ft. above the caster's head. Any other kobolds seeing this will immediately converge on this point to offer support. Following this, the sorcerer will use whatever offensive spells that he possesses to support the units' attacks.
Finally, we've got a 2nd level Dragon Shaman to provide support. He'll fight along side the rest of the unit, but will use his auras as necessary: Senses while patrolling, Power when attacking, and Vigor when things get ugly.
Perfect this isn't. Nor is it meant to be -- the Dancing Lights S.O.S., for example, is something that the PCs can, and almost certainly will, exploit. But even so, I want these guys to be reasonably effective, and scary, opposition for a bunch of 4th level players.
Any tactics to suggest? Or avoid? Keep in mind that the kobolds will not be sitting in their lair building traps; they're going to be on the city streets, actively patrolling and looking for trouble-makers.