D&D 5E Grind fest is imminnent, how can I prevent it?

[dpkress2]

In my session last night the party was meant to have a final assault on a kobold lair. We have been fighting Kobolds for awhile so we are all kind of sick of it. My intent was to offer the party ways to defeat kobolds and their chief without kicking down the front door. They did take the bait of a "secret tunnel" and followed it to a room directly next to the chief's lair. They defeated 3/4 kobolds in the room but one got away to warn his buddies. Now what SHOULD happen of course is that the whole den of kobolds should come down on them in force and likely defeat the party. (There is a TON of Kobolds) But it's going to be a total grind-fest that nobody really wants, so I want to turn this into something MUCH more entertaining, challenging and worthy of defeating a minor boss. (Kobold chief). I am looking for ideas.

The kobold lair is much like the one in Volo's guide. The tunnels are 2-3' wide so only the party Halfling can fit safely. Medium creatures can squeeze, but the kobolds have rigged every bottleneck between the rooms to collapse if a medium creature attempts to do so.(No disarm) The kobolds rigged these so they could keep invades out OR even trap them in. The kobolds could very easily collapse the tunnel, trapping the party in their lair and slowly whittle them to death. But the party could have used those traps to block off reinforcements.

My kobolds are currently aligned with a group of orcs. The kobold installed a secret "Orc Tunnel" that went around back way to the chief's room. This tunnel is big enough for medium creatures and as I said the party discovered it. But the rest of the way in are the small collaspable tunnels.

I don't want them to sit a fight 20+ kobolds until they are dead. Maybe my prep was , maybe I didn't stress the need for a stealthy plan as good as I should have, but Grind-fest is imminent. I am trying to avoid this and also give them a great final fight for their current most hated enemy.

And this point the alertness level of the kobold den is vunknown, so I could go anyway with that. The chief knows, as well as anyone in the room with him but the rest of the complex could be unaware at my discretion. I also am not opposed to reworking the map for the sake of drama or prevent the slog. Any ideas?

 

[Warmaster Horus]

The kobolds could pull back and be ready to harass the PCs in force should they continue into the lair. Meanwhile they've called on their Orc buddies to back them up. A bunch of worg-riding orcs howling down the tunnels from multiple directions right after an irritant kobold ambush to soften up the PCs should be fun!

 

[iserith]

Kobolds start a several bonfires in the tunnels, leave the lair, and seal up the entrances. Challenge is finding a way out, hampered by the haze and smoke and maze-like lair full of dead ends and traps, all while avoiding poisoning and suffocation. The suffocation risk is basically a countdown timer that will set the tone and pace. Throw in some smoke mephits for some reason, too, to add some variety.

If the PCs make it out of the lair, the kobolds take this as a sign that they should give these bold adventurers a wide berth and disappear into the forest, hills, or whatever.

 

[Cyrinishad]

Kobolds start a several bonfires in the tunnels, leave the lair, and seal up the entrances. Challenge is finding a way out, hampered by the haze and smoke and maze-like lair full of dead ends and traps, all while avoiding poisoning and suffocation. The suffocation risk is basically a countdown timer that will set the tone and pace. Throw in some smoke mephits for some reason, too, to add some variety.

If the PCs make it out of the lair, the kobolds take this as a sign that they should give these bold adventurers a wide berth and disappear into the forest, hills, or whatever.

Yeah, a big +1 to this idea... Kobolds should not be confronting threats directly, that's just mass suicide for them, it's not logical. Barricade the PCs in and collapse the tunnels leading to the room they are in... then the Kobolds can find some new furniture, dig out a new room for whichever Kobold becomes the new Chief, and carry on with their little Kobold lives... Bye-Bye Foolish Adventurers...

OR at least that could be their plan until the PCs realize something is wrong when the Kobolds don't come rushing in to attack them... Then you can turn it into a chase scene where they're running through collapsing tunnels while trying not to drop the Loot... If the PCs get out they're cut-off from the Kobolds... the Kobolds can go back to their Kobold lives, and the PCs trudge back to town...

 

[Stalker0]

Two ideas:

1) Use the DMG mob rules. Instead of 20 kobolds, its a mob of 1.

2) The kobold chief invokes its dark god, sacrificing his fellows to gain unbridled power! Make the chief into a super boss with a lot fewer kobolds.

 

[cooperjer]

I like Iserith's idea. Some key components are that you need to make the PCs aware that the alarm has been raised and then give them a few options and a few rounds or minutes to work out a plan. My players would attempt to take leadership of the kobolds through intimidation after killing the leader. Of that doesn't come up, you could offer a way out by introducing a kobold who is looking to become an adventurer. This kobold could assist in leading the PCs out of the cave system for a price.

Sent from my VS988 using EN World mobile app

 

[hawkeyefan]

Have the kobolds trigger the traps to keep the PCs in one chamber. Then have the kobold chief decide to take these invaders on, and he rides into the cave on the back of some kind of cool beast.....maybe an ogre or a giant scorpion or something. Have him be supported by some kobold archers and maybe a kobold shaman. Have the chief be tougher than the standard kobold, and give him a suitable weapon that he can use to make attacks from the back of the mount.

Should be a more interesting fight, and you can have the remaining hordes of kobolds scatter once their leader is defeated, so you don't have to deal with the rest of the critters.

 

[Oofta]

Do a combination of things. Kobolds are trap makers, and also quite willing to sacrifice numbers to overcome their foes.

If you have Volo's Guide, take a look at the Inventor for ideas more than just collapsing tunnels and simple traps. A lair of kobolds that know invaders are there should use hit-and-run tactics but not be afraid of simply throwing mobs (using the mob template someone else mentioned) at times but then falling back and harassing them with green slime pots and thrown wasp nests. Don't allow them any rest or downtime, if they try to stop for a rest a small hole opens up and a PO'ed skunk is thrown in the room and so on.

First goal should be to kill the group (even if it means losses) if the group can't be killed then they should drive them out. Barring that they just run away to plot their revenge.

Of course you could always surprise the group with a level-appropriate dragon that they worship as (or were raising to be) a god.

 

[Quickleaf]

In my session last night the party was meant to have a final assault on a kobold lair. We have been fighting Kobolds for awhile so we are all kind of sick of it. My intent was to offer the party ways to defeat kobolds and their chief without kicking down the front door. They did take the bait of a "secret tunnel" and followed it to a room directly next to the chief's lair. They defeated 3/4 kobolds in the room but one got away to warn his buddies. Now what SHOULD happen of course is that the whole den of kobolds should come down on them in force and likely defeat the party. (There is a TON of Kobolds) But it's going to be a total grind-fest that nobody really wants, so I want to turn this into something MUCH more entertaining, challenging and worthy of defeating a minor boss. (Kobold chief). I am looking for ideas.

The kobold lair is much like the one in Volo's guide. The tunnels are 2-3' wide so only the party Halfling can fit safely. Medium creatures can squeeze, but the kobolds have rigged every bottleneck between the rooms to collapse if a medium creature attempts to do so.(No disarm) The kobolds rigged these so they could keep invades out OR even trap them in. The kobolds could very easily collapse the tunnel, trapping the party in their lair and slowly whittle them to death. But the party could have used those traps to block off reinforcements.

My kobolds are currently aligned with a group of orcs. The kobold installed a secret "Orc Tunnel" that went around back way to the chief's room. This tunnel is big enough for medium creatures and as I said the party discovered it. But the rest of the way in are the small collaspable tunnels.

I don't want them to sit a fight 20+ kobolds until they are dead. Maybe my prep was , maybe I didn't stress the need for a stealthy plan as good as I should have, but Grind-fest is imminent. I am trying to avoid this and also give them a great final fight for their current most hated enemy.

And this point the alertness level of the kobold den is vunknown, so I could go anyway with that. The chief knows, as well as anyone in the room with him but the rest of the complex could be unaware at my discretion. I also am not opposed to reworking the map for the sake of drama or prevent the slog. Any ideas?

First, I highly recommend you check out my Dragon Mountain conversion (in my sig); even though it was for 4th edition, many of the ideas could be readily adapted to 5e, such as the Kobold Horde monster/merged with skill challenge. Also check out my homebrew 5th edition stat blocks for variant kobolds (also in my sig).

More importantly, what is the PCs' goal? If it's "kill all monsters", well of course you're in for a "grind fest" (which isn't necessarily a bad thing if the combat is dynamic, fun, and keeps the players engaged). However, I think there's opportunity in your scenario for a more interesting party goal... What about "seal off the tunnels"? This would trap the kobolds underground and collapse at least some sections on them. Heck, the PCs could even try to frame the orcs for the sabotage, and break the kobold-orc alliance!

Alternately, if the showdown with the kobold chief is too built up already, role-play him like a damn kobold. "Brave and mighty adventurers... We submit! Take our treasure, but have mercy for we were forced by foul orcs to raid the surface world. The orcs have enslaved many of my tribe, and us meek kobolds stood little chance. But now, seeing your prowess, I think we could join forces and depose the orc chief together!" And then you have the option of the kobold chief (a) actually meaning it and betraying the orcs to save his skin, or (b) it all being a ruse...the treasure being cursed (I've had fun with a bag of devouring before)...the orcs sneaking in from another entrance...etc.

Another thing I've played with when running kobolds is that "kobold chief" is a revolving position, and often in times of strife (such as adventurer incursions), disputing groups within the tribe will make their own bid for chiefdom. So you could have the "kobold chief" they encounter be different than the "kobold chief" who has been antagonizing them (and since ran off with his bodyguards and heaps of treasure strapped to giant beetles); perhaps this new "kobold chief" is more willing to parlay.

Final thought: Combats with lots of weak monsters don't need to become a "grind fest." A bit of design work in advance and some creativity can make those kinds of fights quite engaging all the way through.

 

[dpkress2]

More importantly, what is the PCs' goal? If it's "kill all monsters", well of course you're in for a "grind fest" (which isn't necessarily a bad thing if the combat is dynamic, fun, and keeps the players engaged). However, I think there's opportunity in your scenario for a more interesting party goal... What about "seal off the tunnels"? This would trap the kobolds underground and collapse at least some sections on them. Heck, the PCs could even try to frame the orcs for the sabotage, and break the kobold-orc alliance! QUOTE]

I guess the goal is to destroy all the kobolds once in for all yes. Though I had it in my head that if the Players could sneak in and kill the chief the rest of the kobolds would pack up and leave, especially the "civilians." Honestly I was hoping that they would come up with something clever like your ideas above, but they did not. I'm not sure they will short of me suggesting it to them.

But you are right. Combat would not be all that bad if I can figure out a way to make it dynamic, fun, and engaging. I'm just struggle to think of a way to do that.