Kobold Adept4 - Balanced CR1?

[Kalendraf]

So... CR 2 sounds good to me - someone in a lvl 2 party will win initiative and then can either kill him or maybe prepare to disrupt his spellcasting.

For the Adept4, I was debating which feats would help him most, and I figured Improved Init was likely to be chosen. After that, I was debating between Toughness and Combat Casting. The Improved Init w/ 16 dex is a +7 init bonus which could easily mean the adept goes before any party members. With a good roll and some botched saves, that could be pretty painful for even a 2nd level party.

CR 3 comparison:

Hell hound: hp 22; Init +5; AC 16; Atk +5 melee (1d8+1 plus 1d6 fire); breath weapon (10' cone every 2d4 rounds, 2d6 dmg, SV DC 13 for half); fire subtype; SV 5/5/4

Yep, tougher than the kobold. This critter can hold its own in melee as well, though its fire damage is a bit lower (7 vs. 10 avg) and the area seems to be smaller too.
The main difference here is the kobold's relative vulnerability. IMO, the hell hound's better hp and saves (and spd of 40' and Run feat) really help keeping it alive long enough to do some damage. Also, its breath can't be interrupted.

Good points. I'd actually considered the Hellhound as a comparison, though that was back when I was still examining the CR1 evaluation. Having run a fair number of hellhounds, I'd say their breath only gets scary when encountered in significant packs. Refreshing every 2d4 rounds essentially boils down to one opening volley and maybe a follow up a few rounds later if they manage to live that round. As you say, the movement, hp and saves are what make it a more well-rounded creature. In addition, the d8+1+d6 damage from the bite can be pretty potent if they manage to reach the lightly armored or unarmored characters.

By contrast, the Adept4 w/ burning hands & scorching ray is pretty much a 1-trick pony. He either deals a ton of damage in a hurry with his spells, or he doesn't. Given that the Hellhound is a CR3, I'd buy the argument that the Adept4 is only a CR2.

 

[Kalendraf]

Or he could drop the armor and cast Mage Armor instead, for yet another +1 AC...

By the Adept spell-list in the DMG or SRD, it does not appear that Adepts get Mage Armor:

1st Level: bless, burning hands, cause fear, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, endure elements, obscuring mist, protection from chaos, protection from evil, protection from good, protection from law, sleep.

Obviously, the DM could change these up for his/her campaign, but I was limiting myself to the basic Adept.

While I'm on the topic, most of the other spells seem less problematic as the level affects primarily duration or range of the others. So with regards to a single battle whether the enemy is 1st level vs. 4th level, it is probably not going to matter much unless subsequent fights occur immediately afterwards while "on the clock". Burning hands is unique here as it is the only damage-dealing Adept spell available at 1st level, and is the only one that sees dramatic increases based on caster level.

 

[Darkness]

Don't forget the +1 natural armor! That adept could also afford a +1 buckler for another +2 AC (still no AP), bringing his AC up to 19. Or he could drop the armor and cast Mage Armor instead, for yet another +1 AC...

Yeah, if he's CR 2+, he can get a +1 buckler.

Okay... AC 19 means a dwarf Ftr1 (as shown above) hits him on 13+ when charging. Or 11+ if the kobold is flat-footed.

What feats does he get? I recommend Improved Initiative and possibly Toughness.
His Concentration is +6 (7ranks-1Con). Combat Casting instead of Tougness is also an option, though.

Let's see - how would a fight between him and an 'iconic' 4-person party look...

Assuming average luck on both sides, one or two PCs will beat his initiative while the rest won't.

Assuming these PCs don't slay him outright (I'd give a Ftr slightly less than 50% odds to do so, see calculations above), he's alive and threatened by 1-2 PCs.
If it's only one PC, I'd recommend a 5' step and firing away. Still, if he fires, he probably won't hit more than one PC unless the encounter started at a very close range (PCs kicking in a dungeon door?).
If it's two PCs, a 5' step won't save him from both PCs in most cases. He doesn't really have a choice anyway, though.

Another thing: Against ranged weapons, he's toast - his spell has only 15' range... Rushing into range is generally suicidal for him considering the numbers of his enemies and his vulnerability to melee. Unless he has surprise, of course, but it's just as likely that he gets surprised. Unless, maybe, the PCs have no darkvision. (But if they send a Rog with Move Silently and darkvision ahead, the kobold dies screaming.)

All in all, he has a lot of vulnerabilities and one good attack, like the proverbial egg shell with a hammer.

He's also a type of monster that's much more effective against rookie players than veterans. If they bunch up, don't scout ahead and maybe don't have a well-balanced party, he can put them through a world of hurt. OTOH, if they have a halfling Rog scouting ahead (Moving Silently) while the others follow at a 15-20' distance, the poor kobold might as well kill himself now. 'course, if he isn't sneak attacked first, he still might even take out the Rogue if he's very lucky. But the odds aren't in his favor (and the Clr will heal the Rog anyway).

 

[Jolly Giant]

Another factor worth keeping in mind when dealing with kobolds is that they have speed 30; not many small humanoids have more than 20. Dodge and Mobility are feats to consider; and a kobold archer with the Run feat can give your PCs a nasty shock...

 

[dcollins]

Kobold warrior 4...

Just ran this through the combat simulator that I wrote (runs 10,000 simulated combats, works pretty well for brute monsters), against the standard NPC fighter in the DMG.

In melee, a F1 wins 28% of the time, F2 wins 70%. (CR 1.5?)
In ranged, a F2 wins 14%, a F3 wins 46%. (CR 3).

I guess that argues for CR 2 the way I'm seeing it.

 

[Darkness]

For the Adept4, I was debating which feats would help him most, and I figured Improved Init was likely to be chosen. After that, I was debating between Toughness and Combat Casting.

Great minds think alike.

The Improved Init w/ 16 dex is a +7 init bonus which could easily mean the adept goes before any party members.

Absolutely if he's lucky, but it's uncommon. If D&D was using 3d6 (or another kind of bell curve) for task resolution, his chances would be better. As it is, the d20 roll often matters more than the bonus (e.g., in this case). And if 4 people roll against 1 guy, chances are that at least one will beat him if he's not that much better. (And the party's Rogue probably has +8 init or so if he's an elf or halfling, with the other characters around +2.) Sure, if rolls really high, they won't beat him. If he rolls only above average, though, it's almost a given that someone goes before him (unless they all get low rolls, but that's an extreme case). In a party of 4, I estimate that on the average, 1-2 people will go before him (meaning 2-3 will not).

And I agree that hell hounds biting an arcane caster is nasty - around 9 damage vs. ca. 12 hp (at 3rd level, if unhurt and without racial Con bonus/penalty). Ouch...

By the Adept spell-list in the DMG or SRD, it does not appear that Adepts get Mage Armor:

Ah, good point. 'course, I didn't factor it in anyway, going more for the assumption that he's not totally maxed out...

While I'm on the topic, most of the other spells seem less problematic as the level affects primarily duration or range of the others.

Yeah. Burning hands is easily the most combat-effective spell he gets.

Another factor worth keeping in mind when dealing with kobolds is that they have speed 30; not many small humanoids have more than 20. Dodge and Mobility are feats to consider; and a kobold archer with the Run feat can give your PCs a nasty shock...

Hm. Dodge and Mobility are IMO not quite as useful for him than the above-mentioned feats, though they are certainly good too. An archer with run is nice, but only if cover isn't too far away. Otherwise, he will be shot. (Assuming he doesn't have lots of hp, of course.)

Just ran this through the combat simulator that I wrote (runs 10,000 simulated combats, works pretty well for brute monsters), against the standard NPC fighter in the DMG.

In melee, a F1 wins 28% of the time, F2 wins 70%. (CR 1.5?)
In ranged, a F2 wins 14%, a F3 wins 46%. (CR 3).

I guess that argues for CR 2 the way I'm seeing it.

Hey, cool! What race was the standard fighter, BTW? (And if human, what bonus feat did he take?)

 

[Jolly Giant]

An archer with run is nice, but only if cover isn't too far away. Otherwise, he will be shot. (Assuming he doesn't have lots of hp, of course.)

He probably wan't have THAT much hp, no... But he'll have a very decent AC and attack bonus.

 

[dcollins]

Hey, cool! What race was the standard fighter, BTW? (And if human, what bonus feat did he take?)

Ummm... none?

But assuming human and looking at the DMG (3.0 here) at 2nd level he'd have: Exotic Weapon (bastard sword), Weapon Focus (same), Improved Initiative, Power Attack. At 3rd he'd pick up Weapon Specialization (bastard sword)). That last wouldn't be a factor in the ranged resolution, and Power Attack wasn't utilized in the sim.

 

[Darkness]

Ummm... none?

I kinda suspected that. It's very, very easy to forget.

At 3rd he'd pick up Weapon Specialization (bastard sword)).

That'd be rather unusual. 'cause WS requires being a Ftr4.

 

[Kalendraf]

Just ran this through the combat simulator that I wrote (runs 10,000 simulated combats, works pretty well for brute monsters), against the standard NPC fighter in the DMG.

I've considered writing a D&D combat simulator before, but never got around to it. When I was learning C++, I wrote an arena-style game engine, but that was pre-3rd edition, and it was based on an entirely different rules system which is not in any way similar to 3e/3.5/d20.

Given that d20 rules only requires a few key stats (HP, BAB, weapon dmg, AC, init, etc) for the most basic form of 1-on-1 combat, it probably wouldn't take me too long to write my own simulator for this. If I ever find any free time, maybe I'll give it a shot.