Kobold Hall Help

[klofft]

Hey, everyone. Looking for some suggestions on how to handle the last encounter in Kobold Hall. Spoilers, etc., etc.

The party is presently in the 4th encounter and it's proving to be a challenge. I'm hoping they prevail, and if they do, they are likely going to be too spent to continue (2 or 3 of the 5 will be at 0 surges, though most dailies and some Action Points are still available at the moment).

So they may leave (I doubt they'll camp in the halls themselves). And, given the simplicity of the story, I'm OK with that. But what provisions could the dragon make once he discovered all his pet kobolds had been wiped out?

In a single day, could he reinforce the numbers in the hall? Do you think he could do that if the party was resting right outside the hall on the surface?
Would he perhaps just leave, thinking, "Oh well - that plan didn't work," leaving the PCs without a real end to the story?

Just looking for some ideas. Thanks.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=40326]klofft[/MENTION] I continue to be surprised by how many folks begin their 4e games with Kobold Hall!

At first glance the map of the white dragon's cave is one of those WTF dungeon spaces with no possible way for the dragon to come and go. When I visualize that space I see a frosty chasm extending up above, leading to the surface; while it would be a daunting climb for low-level adventurers, it amounts to only a flight & scramble for a dragon.

Anyhow, I've always seen white dragons as land sharks obeying overwhelming hunger/blood-lust urges. So Szartharrax could go after the PCs' donkeys or hirelings. Or perhaps the PCs return to town only to find Szartharrax just finishing up a retribution strike for the PCs assault on Kobold Hall. You could play up the guilt as the PCs go visit various parts of town to cash in their treasure. Some NPCs could comment "If only we had some more warriors like you when the dragon attacked poor Franz wouldn't have been eaten." Angry NPCs who connect the dots might blame the PCs for the dragon's attack.

As far as the kobolds I say if they haven't disbanded (or been eaten by the angry dragon for failing to earn their keep), then they do what kobolds do best. Make traps! Dragon #366 has a good article on making your own traps, and DMG has several level appropriate you could use.

I believe the old monster manual listed "Numbering Appearing 10-100" under the kobold entry. I guess there are like 2 dozen in Kobold Hall, so maybe the PCs only scratched the tip of the iceberg?

If you do re-establish Kobold Hall as a threat, give the players the sense of an evolving dungeon. Introduce an alternate entrance or present some entrance challenge (e.g. scaling into the mouth of white dragon's chasm). Maybe have a rival party of unscrupulous dragon-hunters or an incompetent group of "adventurers" involved. Make some new chambers, explaining them with secret doors or tight fissures PCs must squeeze through. Falling stone traps could block off certain passages forcing the PCs to go a different route. If you really want to throw them for a trip make a room filled with White Dragon Wyrmlings (from Draconomicon) - is Szartharrax breeding so young or are these wyrmlings its younger brood brothers/sisters?

If you're planning on running a module next, you could drop some hints in about Szartharrax's "allies" like the Iron Circle in Reavers of Harkenwold. Or better yet, you could explain Szartharrax's unusual appearance so near town as the result of being hedged out of its lair by the militaristic Iron Circle. Maybe they killed or captures the dragon's mother/father?

 

[klofft]

Great stuff, thanks!

If I may ask further, my particular concern is if the party leaves for a single extended rest and then returns right away. In about a day, what would the dragon do about his new situation?

 

[Quickleaf]

Great stuff, thanks!

If I may ask further, my particular concern is if the party leaves for a single extended rest and then returns right away. In about a day, what would the dragon do about his new situation?

It depends on where they camp and how far nearest settlement is. Also, do you want there to be a bunch more kobolds lurking in the depths of Kobold Hall and feel up to expanding that as an adventure site?

Assuming town is several hours ride away, that means they'll be gone for probably close to one day. I'd say the dragon scolds the remaining kobolds and intimidates them into regrouping and setting up traps...the dragon knows the PCs know about it and are probably after is treasure trove (not to mention its life).

So during that intervening 18-24 hours the dragon beats the PCs to town with overland flight and assaults the town. PCs see it vaguely through clouds flying back to Kobold Hall. Return to devastated town.

Dragon fortifies its lair with kobolds help. Nothing fancy like decoys and elaborate backup plans though, after all dragon is only intelligence 10.

I'd say another 30+ kobolds, maybe 1/2 of those minions and one of them an elite boss. Choose several lurkers and slingers to attack PCs with guerilla tactics when they trigger a trap.

Then trap the place to high heaven.

Rockslides
Set up a couple rockslides and have them also block off a passage - requiring 5 minutes to clear with group Strength check (moderate DC); if less than half succeed they lose 1 healing surge from exertion. During this time have lurkers/slingers take pot shots at PCs. Especially nasty might be to coat hall in grease before hand then light it on fire.

Cat & Mouse --> Spear Gauntlet
Have slingers pester PCs and keep falling back, eventually breaking into an all-out run after either taunting PCs, stealing something from them, or pretending to be afraid (or actually being afraid, hey kobolds). En route of course is a spear gauntlet trap or two. And for added measure have some lurkers lying in wait to ambush.

Sludge Pit
If I recall there was a sludge pit in Kobold Hall. Might be cool to have some kind of amphibious reptile hiding in there with some kind of kobold drake-master summoning out on second round of combat. A monster with a pull power would be best, like a leveled down roper or something.

Just a couple ideas.

 

[klofft]

Awesome! That's super helpful! Thanks!

 

[Quickleaf]

Awesome! That's super helpful! Thanks!

You're welcome I always thought KObold Hall was a miserable little adventure, so it's cool to see DMs prove that wrong.

Btw if you don't mind comic relief, Dragon #364 has a kobold ecology article with a "kobold victory chart", that would be an awesome inclusion.

 

[klofft]

I used that chart. Unfortunately, the kobolds only got to use it once and I rolled a 5.

The party wisely decided to not go down through the secret door without a rest first. They've decided for a "short, extended rest" (i.e., the minimum 6 hours) in the middle of the same day and re-entering the keep at night.

With only 6-8 hours, I don't think I'm going to have the dragon ravage Fallcrest. I'm thinking of having the dragon roar loud enough to be heard on the surface and then throwing a couple encounters of rabble kobolds that he scares up from the depths (especially since two slingers survived the first assault) before facing him. (I don't want to give too much easy experience away either though.)

This means, though, for better or worse, I'm "letting the PCs get away with it," in terms of an extended rest before the final encounter. My desire to have them succeed has no problem with this, but I want the fight to still be a challenge for them. Since I'm using the MV dragon rather than the MM dragon, I think that will still work.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=40326]klofft[/MENTION] Haha, great minds.

Yeah, sounds good. I'm assuming this is their first dragon fight so you probably don't want to go completely gonzo on them (or maybe you do!).

I had written something relevant to this.......found it!


WHITE DRAGON
“Brace yourselves – it’s coming! Expect no quarter!"

The white dragon is an engine of destruction, a cross between a shark and a bloodhound. It attacks with the unbridled fury of a winter storm, descending upon the adventurers from the mountain mists or pouncing upon them from a snow bank. Blood drives it mad, overriding any self preservation instinct, and savvy adventurers can exploit this incessant hunger to their advantage. Encountering a white dragon will have the adventurers grimly awaiting the beast’s onslaught and attempting to avoid spending healing surges or provoking opportunity attacks. Leaders will want to buff the party and weaker PCs will often have to escape the beast’s predations while suffering from being slowed. A foolhardy PC who jumps onto a flying white dragon’s back can expect the dragon to plummet to the earth and willfully take falling damage in the hopes of killing the PC, or to fly through some obstacle in an attempt to shake the PC off.

Avoid “Stun Lock”: Implacable Predator
No Action (1/round); When an enemy spends a healing surge, the dragon removes one condition affecting it (not dying, helpless, surprised, or unconscious).

Bite Attack: Taste for Blood
“When the white dragon makes an opportunity attack against a bloodied foe, it makes an additional bite attack against another enemy as a free action.”

“Predatory” Power: Hurtling Assault
Recharge when first bloodied; Standard Action; if flying descend up to its flight speed, if on ground shift (jump) half its speed through enemy squares; Target: all creatures in dragon’s space or adjacent to it; Attack: vs. Fortitude; Hit: 1d8+6 damage and knocked prone; Miss; half damage; Effect: pushed to any square adjacent to the dragon.

Replaced Resistance: Frost Flurry
When hit by a cold attack, the dragon unleashes a flurry of wind and snow, creating a close burst 1 zone which creatures must spend 3 squares of movement to enter and cannot shift within. Creatures within the zone are slowed until the start of its next turn. Dragon is unaffected.

Vulnerability: Hunger
A bloodied creature within 5 squares of the white dragon can lure it 2 squares as a minor action or 4 squares if they take two minor actions. Only one bloodied creature can do this per round.

 

[Unwise]

I used that chart. Unfortunately, the kobolds only got to use it once and I rolled a 5.

The party wisely decided to not go down through the secret door without a rest first. They've decided for a "short, extended rest" (i.e., the minimum 6 hours) in the middle of the same day and re-entering the keep at night.

With only 6-8 hours, I don't think I'm going to have the dragon ravage Fallcrest. I'm thinking of having the dragon roar loud enough to be heard on the surface and then throwing a couple encounters of rabble kobolds that he scares up from the depths (especially since two slingers survived the first assault) before facing him. (I don't want to give too much easy experience away either though.)

This means, though, for better or worse, I'm "letting the PCs get away with it," in terms of an extended rest before the final encounter. My desire to have them succeed has no problem with this, but I want the fight to still be a challenge for them. Since I'm using the MV dragon rather than the MM dragon, I think that will still work.

It looks like you have given this some thought and I think the ideas you have had would work well.

If it were me, I would likely have the dragon react with rage at the death of his minions and seek to take it out upon the local hamlet/farmsteads. The night might look something like this:
- the PCs camp
- dragon awakes, flies around in a rage trying to find them. Kobolds are out searching, but their at too few to have a good chance of finding them. A quick skill challenge (easy, but they don't know that) to camo their camp to avoid detection by the flying dragon. (Adds an element of danger and lets them know that resting is not free of consequences)
- The dragon loudly gathers its kobolds to it, it screams vengeance and declares it will wreak vengeance on the humans, saying they will be dead by dawn. A quick history/nature/streetwise tells them there is only 1/2 inhabited places within reach to get there and back by dawn.
- Before the dragon leaves, it sees to its defences first.
- This gives time for the heroes to decide if they:
A) Attack it before it leaves
B) Defend the hamlet, maybe ambushing it
C) Screw the villagers and plunder its horde while it is gone.

A) You give them 'half a full rest' they get a bunch of healing surges, and almost all abilities back. Like where they would be if they had done very well clearing the first half of the lair. The adventure runs much as you previously planned.

B) As above, but they now have some interesting skill challenges (Get to the village in time, rally the townsfolk/stop them panicking, set up an ambush to get a surprise round). If they do well at nature/endurance they might be as well rested as in (A) but if not htey will be lower in resources but might get help and a surprise round.

C) They easily clear out the remaining kobolds who pretty much flee before them. The problem is, the dragon has filled the corridor into his lair with a solid wall of ice, it will take hours to get through it. Can they get through in time? Probably, but they won't get away before the dragon hunts them down. This is an easier option, but they now have some villager blood on their hands.

 

[S'mon]

You're welcome I always thought KObold Hall was a miserable little adventure, so it's cool to see DMs prove that wrong.

I have to say, I hated it too and it was one of the factors that put me off running or playing 4e for more than a year after its release. It really plays up the whole linear, arbitrary, encounter-centric feel of 4e at its worst. None of the chambers feel like real places, they're like stages on a tv show assault-course game. One of them at the entrance to a kobold lair would add spice, taken together they're terrible.

Oddly, the 3 encounter adventures in 'Dungeon Delve' come over as far more plausible and thus engaging for me; the Coppernight Hold one is thematically identical to Kobold Hall but did not violate my SoD in the same way.

On-topic - my approach to PCs taking an extended rest would be to have the dragon come out to hunt them, but if they return to Fallcrest they're ok, the dragon is not nearly powerful enough to take on the town. If they return a day later, a few kobolds may have returned, but the main threat will be an alert dragon that will now likely ambush the PCs with kobold aid.

Edit: IOW I'd focus on making the dragon a big 'spike' encounter that can challenge the whole group even when fresh. I'd play it far more alert & lethal than if the PCs had surprised it in-lair on their first outing.