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

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] Mechanics-wise that does sound easier to handle at the table.

I'm still wondering whether or not I should represent "many beady red malevolent kobold eyes peering at you from the darkness" with any mechanics at all?

My initial thinking was to give the narrative suspense/dread a mechanical presence, provide the DM guidelines for how much the kobolds learn about the PCs, and create more urgency in combat. Now I'm not sure whether it adds anything to write it like a hazard/trap...

 

[pemerton]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION], I like the idea of it, because it gives the players a chance to use Stealth, obscuring fogs etc to get a benefit; which seems to fit with the dungeon-crawl vibe.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION], I like the idea of it, because it gives the players a chance to use Stealth, obscuring fogs etc to get a benefit; which seems to fit with the dungeon-crawl vibe.

Yeah...ok here's a first shot at this:

Weight of Hundred Eyes
Level 12 Warder

Beady red faintly glowing kobold eyes peer at you from the darkness, a supernatural malevolence behind their gaze weighing down upon you.

Hazard/Trigger: When PCs enter the area, the hazard begins.

Initiative: end of the round
Target: All non-kobolds in the encounter area
Attack: +15 vs. Will (gaze)
Hit: Until the hazard is resolved, the target grants combat advantage and takes a -2 penalty to defenses against traps and -2 Perception to notice traps.

Effect: Each round the power of the eyes is not countered (see below), the kobolds gather reconnaissance on the PCs and the next kobold encounter they face gains one of these benefits:
* +4 Stealth checks for ambush
* +4 initiative
* Combat advantage during first round and all kobolds deal double damage with combat advantage
* Apply "kobold thieves" or "kobold kidnappers" template to 4-8 kobolds

Countermeasures:
* Defeating all kobolds in the current encounter
* Being immune to a gaze attack means that PC cannot be targeted by the attack
* Bright light or radiance attacks used against the hazard prevents its effect/attack that round
* Area spells cast on the hazard prevent its effect/attack that round
* Intimidate (hard DC) prevents the hazard from attacking that round, but doesn't revent it's effect
* Stealth (individual, medium DC) prevents the hazard from attacking that PC
* Stealth (group, hard DC) avoids the hazard altogether
* Obscuring magic and effects likewise can bypass the hazard entirely

 

[Quickleaf]

The Kobolds

As I'm finishing up the many kobold stat blocks used throughout the conversion, I realized I didn't have any Kobold Commandos (who I see as the navy seals / special forces of the kobold world)...

Here are the kobolds that I've finished so far:

Kobold horde (9 solo Skirmisher), swarm with disarm and grab attack, inflict lasting injuries
Kobold (9 minion Skirmisher), mob tactics
Kobold archer (9 minion artillery), combined fire
Kobold piker (9 minion soldier), readied/reach attacks
Kobold slinger (9 minion artillery), special sling pots
Kobold trapper (9 minion Skirmisher), set traps
Kobold dragonshield (10 minion soldier), mob tactics and mark
Kobold wyrmpriest (11 minion controller), casters
Kobold chief (13 minion varying roles), evade attacks very well
Kurakan, Kobold King (14 minion lurker)
Nahal, Kobold Wizard (14 minion controller)

So the Kobold Commando I'm thinking will be a level 10 minion lurker with bonus damage when they have combat advantage, and can throw Molotov cocktails.

 

[Manbearcat]

Might want to give the Kobold Commandos a rider on their Basic Attacks that let them shift 3 squares and hide if they have any cover/concealment.

As far as the Weight of Hundred Eyes go, it looks good but the overhead/handling time is still large (plus the statblock inflation). It may be just fine for you and your table however. If I was handling it, I would probably just give the trap attack the Rattling Keyword and have it induce Combat Advantage. As far as the Kobold side, I would just give them bonus damage (probably 2d6) with Combat Advantage. That is a net - 2 to PC attacks, + 2 to Kobold attacks and + 2d6 damage. Potent, thematically relevant and minimal overhead.

 

[pemerton]

I like the general tone of Weight of 100 Eyes - I'm sure there is mecanical smoothing possible, and the other thing I would think about is how to communicate it to your players - you want them to be drawing the connection between the hazard and subsequent consequences, so they can properly take it into account in future dealings with kobolds!

 

[Quickleaf]

Might want to give the Kobold Commandos a rider on their Basic Attacks that let them shift 3 squares and hide if they have any cover/concealment.

Nice. Will do.

As far as the Weight of Hundred Eyes go, it looks good but the
overhead/handling time is still large (plus the statblock inflation). It may be just fine for you and your table however. If I was handling it, I would probably just give the trap attack the Rattling Keyword and have it induce Combat Advantage. As far as the Kobold side, I would just give them bonus damage (probably 2d6) with Combat Advantage. That is a net - 2 to PC attacks, + 2 to Kobold attacks and + 2d6 damage. Potent, thematically relevant and minimal overhead.

Yes, I agree there's too much happening there and it could be hard to track. My idea was some sort of mounting threat, I.e. the *weight* of this supernatural meanness pressing down, which is why I started with the "1 round, 2 rounds.." thing.

I like the general tone of Weight of 100 Eyes - I'm sure there is mecanical smoothing possible, and the other thing I would think about is how to communicate it to your players - you want them to be drawing the connection between the hazard and subsequent consequences, so they can properly take it into account in future dealings with kobolds!

Hmm, maybe convey to a player whose PC is trained in Arcana that there is malevolent draconic magic behind the kobold eyes, and it's not just flavor?

And then have kobold scout reporting at start of the next encounter or have kobolds taunting "kobold sees all!"

 

[Randomthoughts]

Finally found time to respond to the OP. Awesome conversion, Quickleaf!

Yeah...ok here's a first shot at this:

Weight of Hundred Eyes
Level 12 Warder

Beady red faintly glowing kobold eyes peer at you from the darkness, a supernatural malevolence behind their gaze weighing down upon you.

My initial reaction when you first posted this hazard (a few posts ago) was to use the condition/disease track. Here, this is seen as a single hazard (which is fine if you want it this way), but it could be more dramatic if it was a "continuous" type of hazard as the PCs explore Dragon Mountain. Now, the PCs should have a way to counter (or move the disease track the other way). But by using the disease track, the PCs may eventually succumb to it.

Anyway, I've been reading this OP with a lot of interest. One question I have, on a different topic: What is your approach on rituals for this adventure? The PCs are a high enough level where they should have access to rituals and would have the resources to use them regularly (I would think).

Great work in any case! I hope your players appreciate all the work you're doing.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6681248]Randomthoughts[/MENTION]
Thanks

"Eyes" as disease track: You know, I really wanted to have several diseases/disease-like-things floating around Dragon Mountain - so far there's gangrene, rot grub infestation, and silverlust sickness. When I decide whether something should be a hazard or a disease I first think about then concept, then about possible countermeasures.

With the "eyes", all the countermeasures seemed to point toward hazard more than disease/curse. There is a cool idea called "Horizon" over on the At-Will blog (http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/2010/09/dont-rest-here-menace-and-the-horizon/) and an example of its application over here (http://stormindacastle.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/the-gray-languor/). It's sort of a hybrid disease track + skill challenge intended to model a hazardous or hostile environment.

Rituals: I'm of two minds on rituals. For starters, I like them to see use in play and feel like there's enough working against that system in 4e that I wouldn't want to limit them. However, on the other hand, the original module did limit them within Dragon Mountain, it's part of the dragon Infyrana's story/strategy, and I want to be true to the module. I think my approach is going to be to leave it up to the DM.

There are two rules options I introduce in the conversion already: Morale Saves (borrowed from Dice of Doom blog) & Minion Criticals (if the group wishes, minions deal double damage on critical hits, and critical hits/single hits of 50+ damage against a minion automatically down an extra minion).

So I may do something like: "DM's Option: Limited teleportation & summoning: No creatures can use rituals to teleport into or within Dragon Mountain unless they are using a pre-existing teleportation circle. Teleportation powers, however, fjnction normally. Likewise, spells which summon creatures (eg. Summon Succubus) do not function within the mountain unless Infyrana allows them. These restrictions are due to interference caused by the planeshift foci."

 

[Quickleaf]

Looking over the conversion so far, it has a nice balance of easier "keyed" fights from the original module, as well as harder encounters most of which I made up. Most of the encounters are level 14 or 15, so a good challenge for an 11th or 12th level party.

Maybe an even split between "combat as war" and "combat as game".

I've decided to incorporate the "weight of hundred eyes" and "kobold commandos" into an encounter which sort of bridges those two paradigms. In the original module, Strike Force Zedd (renamed Dragonstrike Force) was meant to hound the PCs through various parts of the mountain. Since I'm getting rid of Hittel in my conversion, I decided Dragonstrike Force needed to be a nasty recurring enemy. So it's sort of a wandering encounter that can pop up when the PCs are exploring and vulnerable (say, suffering debilitating conditions, trying to rest, or having split up).

The signature of the encounter is the "weight of hundred eyes", so the players will come to associate red glowing eyes in the darkness with an impending encounter with kobolds of Dragonstrike Force. Since the kobold commandos deal double damage with combat advantage, the "weight of hundred eyes" is an excellent trap for them mechanically. It's also well suited thematically since Dragonstrike Force are supposed to be elite defenders of the mountain and have the dragon Infyrana's blessing.

The encounter composition is....

25 kobold commandos (10 minion lurker)
5 kobold trappers (9 minion skirmisher)
Weight of hundred eyes (12 warder/empowerer)
A trap of the DM's choice to suit situation