D&D 4E Dragon Mountain (4e conversion - complete!)

Yeah, everyone commented on how old school it feels, and there was lots of laughter.

One running gag I have going are kobold propaganda posters: "Eat the donkeys!" "Kill the wizard first!" I'm using these as a setup for the temple encounter which I'm going to design a puzzle-trap for...with a solution based on matching kobold propaganda to the right pictograms. And then later on they can encounter chief Harlichak, who I'm making into the propaganda artist responsible for all these kobold slogans.

A few behind-the-scenes notes, and prep notes for next game...

Last session, Zolar the Mage rolled a 1 on a Thievery check using Mage hand to disarm some poison gas thunderstone orbs from hanging adventurer corpses...this resulted in a bunch of orbs being triggered simultaneously and a loud 'boom'. I decided this boom increased the stage of Weight of Hundred Eyes from stage 0 to stage 1 (so now all kobolds have first strike like the rogue). And, more generally, it's time to up the threat level a bit.

As the group enters the Bell-Chasm District, lookout kobold slingers are going to (a) attempt to break further poison gas thunderstone orbs as the PCs pass/deal with the hanging corpses, and (b) sound a warning bell. If the warning bell is sounded, Dragonstrike Force kobold commandos will arrive to briefly flank the PCs during their encounter with Crusher's Kobolds. I used the original module and my random encounter tables as a guideline here... probably crossing the chasm I will require some kind of group check as part of the ongoing exploration skill challenge.

wow awesome thanks for the link

It's feasible next session (tomorrow!) the party could get to the Temple, so I'd like to finish that encounter design up.

Imagine a pulp adventure scene with waves of kobolds assaulting the PCs as they attempt to retrieve something/someone from an altar. Then add kobold nastiness: ramps slicked with oil that are lit on fire, plus magically locked doors. And for extra measure add: Kurtulmak's divine power amplifying the oil fire so it can't be extinguished by normal means.

My last element is a puzzle-trap which the PCs can use to extinguish the oil fire and unlock the doors (of course, they may circumvent this thru ingenuity). That's what I am having trouble designing.

My first thought was since its a temple, the kobold wyrmpriests have appropriated some kind of old dwarven stone calendar wheel that moves (akin to that spinning wheel codes from the old Pool of Radiance crpg). Except the dwarven runes were rubbed out and replaced by kobold maxims and pictograms that would need to be matched up, possibly in the right order, to prove ones "kobold-ness" in the eyes of Kurtulmak.

Something like 5 maxims written in Draconic on a large wheel:
"Eat the donkeys"
"Kill the wizard first"
"Poison the rations"
"Scare off the hirelings"
"Seal the entrance"

Then on another smaller wheel, pictograms that relate to each maxim. They can't be too obvious, however. Any suggestions?

Then I'd affix the smaller wheel on top of the larger wheel with a pushpin so it can be spun.

How's that sound?

Friday night we had another game session, a little more combat heavy than I would have liked but everyone said they had fun. Log is overe here: http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/banner-marches/adventure-log/session-6, and below.

[sblock]It was a massive chamber, with a ceiling some 40 feet high, stalactites casting long shadows in the party’s torch light. This was as far as Kirito’s ill-fated expedition had penetrated into Dragon Mountain. There were stories of these kobolds, Clan Humanbane, who had raided human settlements in the mountains for decades under the leadership of an albino kobold called Crusher. One day, so the story goes, Crusher was kidnapped and tortured by a party of adventurers, however he escaped and now harbors a burning hatred for humankind.

Despite being on guard, the PCs (now reunited after their sphere of annihilation mishap) were caught in an ambush by kobold slingers who targeted the thunderstone poison orbs affixed to the hanging corpses. Between Zolar and Lily’s thundering and freezing magic, they made short work of the slingers. Fanning out, the PCs found a wooden bridge (after Zolar was nearly decapitated by a set of steel jaws), and came up with a clever plan to bypass any traps: Zolar would cast thunderwave on the paladin Ardell and slide him across the bridge so that his full body weight couldn’t trigger any potential traps on the bridge. It worked splendidly, until Ardell realized he was standing in a puddle of oil on the other side. A shout of “Bree-Yark!” echoed from the shadows and dozens of kobolds began attacking the party, starting with a volley of flaming sling shots at the oil puddle. Later, Raphael would run across the bridge, leading to several alchemical flasks built into the bridge breaking and the entire bridge going up in flames.

A furious battle ensued on three fronts: (1) the mass of kobolds and slingers, who Miri, Zolar, Raphael, Ardell, Tristan, and Lily faced courageously, (2) kobolds riding giant bats and wielding slings who attacked Miri and Zolar, trying to haul them away or drop hornet’s nests on them, and (3) a band of kobold kidnappers equipped with paralyzing poison which attacked Kirito as he took the long way around. After a bunch of fighting, the albino chief Crusher appeared on the rooftop of an old dwarven building and his scraggly voice echoed throughout the chamber: “The one called Kirito bring to me. The rest kill. Summon the gorgon!” With that, Crusher kicked the corpse of one of Kirito’s former adventuring companions to the ground with a burning arrow tacking a note to the chest.

A loud charging sound came from deeper in the Bell-Chasm District, and a gorgon charged Raphael, knocking him backward, but Raphael rallied with Ardell and Miri to make short work of the gorgon. Meanwhile, Lily unleashed arcane fury on Crusher, turning him into a bat then back into a kobold, before Crusher bitterly slinked away into the darkness, calling his clan to retreat.

Two side quests of happened around this time: Kirito came upon a blackened rune-engraved dwarven skull which seemed to be watching him in a supernaturally unnerving way. Miri summoned shades of her tribe, one of whom advised her that the messenger Vao’es was on a lower level held captive but alive.

The PCs had won the day…for now. But the bells had been rung, alerting all kobolds in the vicinity to the presence of intruders in the Mountain.[/sblock]

There were some 50 kobolds in this combat, and, despite me adding a gorgon to the encounter, I noticed that my party of 7's ability to kill kobolds thru multi-targeting is high enough to make the usual tricks (waves of minions, spacing them apart) not matter much.

Someone joked at the end of this session that "We did more damage to each other thru friendly fire than the kobolds did to us!"

This was one of the few standup fights where the kobolds attacked en masse, and as DM I didn't care for it as much, though I think the players just enjoyed getting to whack a ton of kobolds. The barbarian also mentioned that she liked that there was a *real* monster with HP to fight in this combat, and not just minions (I put the gorgon in for her and the paladin, who are at a slight disadvantage against minions).

Here are my notes for this Friday's game. As you can see, I'm modifying the adventure to suit my players...

Bell-Chasm District: Signs of intense fighting ages ago when kobolds defeated dwarves, many kobold memorials and scorches from combat spells. Distant moans of slaves. Tapestries of either a 2-headed red dragon or 2 intertwined red dragons, and Lily's vision of dragon (Lily's quest). Giant bats flitting overhead curious of PCs' light.

Taern's corpse is rigged with monster bait (giant bats) which will trigger in 3 rounds (close blast 2; +14 vs. Reflex) unless disarmed (DC 23). How does Kirito deal with Taern and Lucas' corpses? (Kirito's quest)

Among slaves is dead drow of Bregan d'Aerthe with signet ring glowing with Drow rune for "traitor in our midst" and a tattered journal. (Raphael's quest)

Crusher gathers 36 kobold reinforcements from stairs down and gives rousing speech about kobolds falling to the cavalier Anduvar (ventriloquism while hiding DC 30)(Ardell's quest), an intimidation check/trick/RP can get up to half to flee downstairs (where they're wiped out by Clan Blood thru fire spells & javelins). Crusher only enters combat if he can get combat advantage.

Kobold commandos of Dragonstrike Force sneak (DC 24) up on PCs' rear during fighting to attack for one round before slipping back into tiny passages.

Temple: Miri's tribal totem is on the altar being corrupted (Miri's quest). Crude tapestries of Kurtulmak, a kobold demi-god. In Galatak's home are strange incomplete magic scrolls that seem to be a kobold's limits understanding of a more complicated ritual for creating a dracolich (Tristan's quest). If the PCs parlay with Galatak he may attempt to fool half of them into the main temple where he intends to sacrifice them to Kurtulmak, while getting the other half to help "secure the clan's borders" so the PCs can have a "safe resting spot."

*Kobold "Zreep" who Zolar charmed to retrieve universal solvent shows up at comic moment.

Just ran our latest session, and it was a lot of fun! Two players couldn't make it, so I had the remaining five do a rescue mission...

[sblock=Session #7]
Session #7

A rescue mission, a captive kobold, and an unusually punishing trap

February 09, 2013 00:41

Wiping kobold blood from their blades and examining the vast chamber, the party realized Zolar and Miri were missing. It seemed they had been abducted by kobolds! Pressing deeper into the chambers of the old Bell-Chasm District, the PCs found signs of the ancient conflict between dwarves and kobolds. Just when Tristan, astride his trusty worg Vitejie, spotted banners marked with a dual red dragon(s), one of the corpses which the PCs recovered last session began emitting dark sweet-smelling smoke tat attracted the giant bats. Kirito moved swiftly to extinguish the smoke and was soon swooped by several bats, one of which carried him across the cavern. Raphael, on the other hand, moved as far from the smoking corpse as he could get, running into another kobold ambush (surprise, surprise). As the party clashed with Crusher’s second wave of minions, Kirito was dropped into close combat with Crusher and several minions…too bad for Crusher as Kirito became a whirlwind of death. Likewise, when Tristan was surrounded, he laid waste to scores of kobolds, and Lily eliminated a half-dozen kobolds with a casual wave of her (icy) hand. As Raphael hunted down fleeing kobolds, he triggered a net trap…but undaunted cut himself free, enduring the seventy foot fall.

Kirito and Tristan took down Crusher, chief of clan Humanbane, but spared his life as they pumped him for information. It was hard to tell which hurt Crusher most: getting pummeled, losing most of his minions, or Kirito not recognizing his “legendary” name. Ardell learned that the founder of his order had journeyed into the Mountain and killed scores of kobolds, ultimately going on to die facing the dragon Infyrana. Crusher turned over his magic treasure to the PCs, who saw through his pitifully opaque attempts to lead them into traps or turn them against each other, and explained that Clan Blood had abducted Zolar & Miri. It was clear Crusher had no love of clan Blood’s sorcerous chief Galatak, and he agreed to disarm the trap leading down into the Temple so the PCs could assault clan Blood.

Descending stairs lined with banners of intertwined red dragons (or possibly a two-headed red dragon), the PCs followed Crusher down stairs, skipping stairs in a pattern of 2, then 3, 2, 3, and so on. As they passed statues of dwarven ancestors, the PCs watched Crusher carefully as he stuffed rags in the mouths of dwarven oil spigots hidden inbetween the statues. At the bottom of the stairs, Lily noted that one of the banners was woven with an onyx for a dragon eye – an onyx that was actually a scrying focus (which the PCs had Crusher cut down). For a brief moment in her mind’s eye Lily was face-to-face with a dark red scaled dragon of great age, and could feel the dragon watching.

Coming to thick wooden double doors, the party had Crusher check for traps then open the door…unfortunately Crusher did not detect the falling stone block trap which “crushed” him. The irony proved Raphael’s segue to intimidate the kobolds within the Temple, and while chief Galatak shared a laugh, he soon ordered the PCs killed. The room was shaped like an ellipse with four ramps leading to the base of an altar approachable only by steep stairs, and lying by the altar were two bodies wrapped in canvas. Carved into the altar was a statue of the kobold demi-god Kurtulmak, and a malign energy filled the temple. It began with what seemed like a normal fight, however soon the PCs realized that the idol was absorbing their heroic potential (i.e. their encounter and daily powers) to empower its own nefarious fire magic. Strangely, chief Galatak ordered two kobolds to “get Crusher” before engaging the PCs. Right when it seemed like they had Galatak, he teleported away and the surviving kobolds fled the temple as stone doors slid into place. A single slanted hole had been bored thru each door so that the kobolds utside could pour oil in. This was soon followed by the activated idol igniting the oil, creating a smoky grease fire – a fire which was fueled by the wicked magic of Kurtulmak. (and drained a ton of healing surges from the party thru smoke inhalation and dark magic)

Kirito escaped the temple with his chime of opening, but the stone door shut behind him so the rest of his companions had to find a way out while Kirito squared off with kobolds (with help from the trusty worg Vitejie). Raphael rescued Zolar & Miri, carrying them to safety and reviving the drugged Zolar to secure the mage’s help in battering down the northern stone wall. Ardell began battering down the stone door with Raphael, but later helped Tristan in destroying the idol of Kurtulmak. Tristan and Lily put their minds together to solve the codex puzzle which held within it the ability to end the magic fueling the fire…despite a setback they found the proper combination thru a mix of skill & luck. This allowed Lily to blast a path of cold thru the fire to the northern stone door, and allowed Tristan & Ardell to take down the idol. At last the party broke thru the stone door… only to find that the stone block which had “killed” Crusher was hollow! Apparently, Crusher either had escaped or been taken captive by clan Blood!

Raphael ended the session with the right spirit: “I’m going to kill that kobold chief!!”
[/sblock]

A quick note: During play I modified the kobold chiefs to have about 38 HP rather than them being minions to give them a bit more survivability during hit-and-run scenarios. The 38 HP is pretty close to the HP of a 1st or 2nd level kobold so it "feels" about right, even if it breaks the monster design rules.

Quickleaf said:

A quick note: During play I modified the kobold chiefs to have about 38 HP rather than them being minions to give them a bit more survivability during hit-and-run scenarios. The 38 HP is pretty close to the HP of a 1st or 2nd level kobold so it "feels" about right, even if it breaks the monster design rules.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I guess if you want to keep them minions and still have survivability you could do it by giving them some kind of "sacrifice minion" power whereby if they take a deadly hit and there's another kobold minion within a few squares of shifting distance, they swap places and the other kobold gets it in the neck instead.

It'd be easy enough to limit the amount to X per encounter, or maybe only have it apply to a certain type of "bodyguard" minions who effectively become extra lives for the Chief.

[MENTION=57383]Cleon[/MENTION]
Actually I've already given most of the chiefs these 2 interrupts: 'sly dodge' (swap places with a minion when targeted by melee/ranged) and 'narrow escape' (shift 3 when targeted by close/area). So the HP are on top of that!

I do like your idea of bodyguard minions, albeit uncharacteristic traits for a kobold to have!