How could Kobolds defend their lair? Part 3 of game session posted.

[The Freak]

The backstory: I recently joined a high-level campaign. Unfortunately, I only got to play a few weeks before the DM said he was suffering with burnout, and said the campaign would have to take a break. I offered to DM in his place. Same characters, same level. That was a BAAAAD decision.

I tried to create challenging encounters for them, but they beat them easily. I created mysteries, but they went detect evil-kill the evils. I tried hitting them with NPCs five levels above them, but due to my lack of knowledge of high level tactics, they died.

After whacking down my encounters with impunity, I decided to “let them do what they will”. Debate followed this announcement, until they reached a decision to kill the kobolds living in the caves. Now, the players (no doubt thinking that this would be a cakewalk) decided to march right up to the front of the caves and step in.

That’s where we ended.

We use 3.0 rules.

So please, please help me teach these players a lesson about scouting, and not underestimating their enemies.

We use 3.0 rules.

The PCs are

Djora Kelrath- 10th level cleric of Pelor, and healing machine extraordinaire.

Neek Kib- 11th level rouge. (a.k.a. sneak attack machine.)

Hulk- 10th level half orc barbarian. Or, “I do 89 points. Is it dead?”

So what can I do to embaress this group? (I wouldn't be crushed if one died, either.)

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Ahh...yes again I get to say "Throw some Templates on them!"

Half-Illthid Kobolds?
Air Elemental Kobold Rogues?
Or...my favorite...
Winged Half-Illithid Fiendish Kobold Fighters

 

[Magius del Cotto]

There are a couple of tactics that come to mind:
1) Ambush, ambush, ambush. The roque would probably be able to see most of them coming, but if you get one off, you could potentially do some damage before the ambush is cut down.
2) Swarm Tactics. I don't care how high your AC is, if you have 50+ little, yelping things attacking you from all sides, then you're going to get hit at least once in a while. The +2 flanking bonus would be a big help, too.
3) Range and run: Have a few kobold fighters with missile weapons, or a kobold sorceror if you want to have real fun. Pepper the party with arrow after arrow after arrow (or magic missile, or whatever). The cleric'll run out of healing eventually, and you'll then be able to start doing attrition damage to them.
4) When they try to rest, attack. Don't let the party get a chance to recover unless they're willing to break and run back to the town (probably humiliated). Again, once the cleric's out of spells, it's only a matter of time before the party is forced to flee.
5) Don't bank it all on one huge battle. The kobolds can lose most of the battles, but still win the war. Keep in mind what I said above, and just whitle them down until they're forced to flee.

Um... That's about all I can think of right now. Might be more later. Probably not...
Magius out.

 

[Aeolius]

Kobolds are small, being the size of a halfling. I'd like to see a half-orc barbarian squeeze through a tunnel made especially for small creatures.

 

[Creamsteak]

This thread has some fantastic information on a very similar topic.

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

Two words: DRAGON MOUNTAIN!! If you can find this adventure laying around somewhere it is has some great ideas. Let me see if I can remember some of the things that made it so deadly...

oh, I guess some of these could be spoilers if you're actually playing this old 2e slugfest.

1) About 3/4 of the dungeon is empty, and the dungeon is HUGE (three, fold out, poster sized maps). 90% of the rooms in the dungeon are simply empty, so you get lulled into this "Yeah, I open another door" sense of security, which is, of course, not a good thing.

2) Ambush after Ambush. You'll be walking down a hallway, and all of a sudden kobolds will start firing crossbows from little slits on both sides of the hallway. There's so many fired in a round that it's almost guranteed to hit.

3) Trapped doors and treasure. There was this one section of the dungeon where doors were just randomly trapped so that bear traps fell on your head and snapped shut. Honestly, there were so many doors that we stopped looking for traps. Also, there were trapped scroll cases, cursed items, almost nothing you receieved was worth anything.

Basically, the point of the adventure is to annoy you. It doesn't sound like what you're looking for, but the thing that I learned from the adventure is that "Yes kobolds are easy to kill...when I can get my hands on them!" Hit and run tactics, executed by small opponents in a cramped dungeon are lethal. Especially if you can get the party separated.

Of course, the most dangerous part was the ancient red wyrm at the end, but that's beside the point

NCSUCodeMonkey

 

[Piratecat]

Heh, heh. This will be fun.

By the way, before we get to the kobolds - throw another mystery at them when they're all done with the kobold adventure. When the PCs detect evil and kill the evil, (a) the evil person has nothing to do with the mystery, and (b) he/she was the son/daughter of the local Lord or the most popular person in town. Since the group is so tough, just make most of the bad guys 1st lvl NPC classes, and let politics be the real villain!

As for the kobolds:

1. Too many templates are silly. Kill them with normal kobolds for extra embarrassment.

2. The caves are pitch black. Take advantage of that; darkvision ends at 60', and bending passages do a wonderful job of restricting vision. Remember that the rogue can't sneak attack in concealment, and darkness grants concealment! Alternatively, the kobolds might fight in smoke or mist with 5' worth of vision and 20% concealment, using their keen sense of smell to seek out targets.

3. Separate the party. A wall will roll down separating the first or last person in the group. Then that person gets swarmed.

4. Kobolds use poison; let's say they distill it out of the giant centipedes or carrion crawlers that they raise. When every arrow is poisoned, the group will quickly be taking strength damage and/or be paralyzed. Give them diseases for extra fun, by having every arrow dipped in excrement, too.

5. As Aeloius said, kobolds live in small tunnels. Medium creatures will get -2 to hit, minimum, and the barbarian can't swing that greataxe. If the kobolds have a captive carrion crawler that they brew poison from, they may have a tunnel with some holes in the top - just big enough for carrion crawler tentacles to squirm down and touch the people crawling below it.

6. Kobolds are reptilian, and may very well keep pet lightning lizards. These lizards may very well attack from behind in narrow passages.

7. The kobolds would likely have a largish passage that they lure invaders up. Then the kobolds duck out tiny holes (a squeeze even for them), while other kobolds collapse the entry to that tunnel. With the heroes bottled up, sending poisonous smoke through those small holes might be very effective.

 

[caelvar]

. Another good reference (if we`re talking 2e modules) might be Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, which uses lowly goblins to great effect against high level pc`s.My particular faves were the areas of disease-ridden & caltrop-filled matting & an oil-filled pit with goblins in murder-holes above, waiting to drop torches in when an invader fell in. The phrase "deep-fried paladin" still generates nostalgia & laughs in my group 5 years on!

 

[Mercule]

Two words: DRAGON MOUNTAIN!! If you can find this adventure laying around somewhere it is has some great ideas. Let me see if I can remember some of the things that made it so deadly...

Ugh. I remember that module. It is interesting in its own right, but it is hardly what I'd hold up as a "right way to use kobolds to take on a high level party". Maybe "a way to flex killer DM muscles", but nothing even remotely good DMing.

Why? Because the module doesn't actually rely on the kobolds to screw with the party. It uses a whole slew of special rules. Combat rules are changed. The mountain is made of special walls that block Divinations and Teleports and resist 90% of the effects of Stone Shape or Passwall. A large part of the design of Dragon Mountain is an exercise in petty DMing and breaking rules.

That said, there are a lot of cool ideas in the module as far as tactics go. The small passages. The traps. The swarms. The creative use of darkvision and how to screw with people who have to use lights.

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

Here are some tricks our DM threw at us (and a few of my own).

Lay lots of traps set for medium height creatures, but stuff small creatures can move right under (garotte metal band set at human neck height, swinging tree trunk traps that smash into the chest of humans, pit traps that are weight sensitive (so it would take a few kobolds to set it off, but one human or dwarf is heavy enough to). Remember, kobolds get bonuses to craft (trapmaking).

Aggrivate the PCs. have the kobolds jump out with crossbows and shoot at the PCs, then run away. When the PCs pursue, they move right over the grease patch, making them fall down. Also, if they decide to run across the grease and skid, set up a swinging tree trunk trap trigger halfway through.

Also remember, kobolds' favored class is sorcerer. Lots of first level spells can be used to take out people of that level. Silent Alarm alerts them to the PCs presense. Grease creates places for that group to fall down and get plugged with crossbow bolts. [/I]Obscuring Mist will hide them from the attackers. Ray of Enfeeblement will take that Barbarian down a notch or two.

Tiny vipers are nice familiars/pets for kobolds. Put a bunch of them together, and you've got a swarm. Swarms are nasty cause while that Barbarian does 84 points of damage, that doesn't affect the swarm at all (melee weapons are ineffective against swarms).

I hope that was useful.