Kobold Skirmisher

[mhensley]

YAY!

Kobolds finally get the respect they deserve!

 

[Flynn]

Tieflings get +1 to attack rolls against bloodied foes.

But in practice this doesn't sound very hard to keep track of. The DM has its stats in front of his nose, including their bloodied level. "Kobolds 1 and 4 are bloodied. Your turn Darko McDevilpants."

Just mark the minis with a poker chip underneath or a glass bead next to them or something, and you'll be able to see the wounded you are creating as you wade through the battlefield... except that the monsters are just as powerful as you are.

Hasta,
Flynn

 

[FourthBear]

Kind of disappointing that its intelligence is 6. I know that he's a soldier and all, but the fact that he's incredibly dumb just kind of takes away part of the cleverness I'd grown to associate with kobolds.

My preferences also lie with clever, intelligent kobolds, but it's been clear to me for more than a decade now that the majority of D&D writers disagree with that. From novels to computer games to modules, kobolds are most frequently portrayed as yipping, savage dopes. Their stupidity is often used in such as comedy relief. Most stories I've read with Meepo and his clan aren't exactly exemplars of shrewd cunning or brilliant planning. The most popular kobold is likely Deekin from Neverwinter Nights and he's definitely dim.

So it seems they're just going with what most writers and players seem to gravitate to with kobolds. I"ll just have to house-rule in clever ones.

 

[davethegame]

Brilliant news - I was hoping that at least one monster would turn up so I could try running a 'mini 4e' game on Sunday night

We got a Dungeons of Dread booster for being press, which has 4e stats on the other side of the minis, and with the character sheets we grabbed were seriously considering playing tonight.

Only problem is, I only got one mini that is an appropriate challenge for a 1st level party. All the rest were much higher.

 

[Pinotage]

Yikes! That's one tough kobold. And if he's the bottom of the pile, then I don't want to see the top. Mind you, the pit fiend was kind of a wimp, so who knows.

Anywho, I'm speculating here, but do we know if that 100 XP is per character or just for the critter? If it's per monster, it means advancement per encounter might be way slower, as I can see those D&D XP characters taking quite a few rounds to bring him down. This might mean advancement in general is slower, taking more than the 13.333 encounters per level for 3e.

Pinotage

 

[JDJblatherings]

So Hit point bloat is certainly apparent. They could be "reworking" some monsters to surprise folks who got used the same-old same-old of earlier editions.
+6 to attack? That's a lot.
I guess we are getting numbers bloat across the board, but if everything is suppsoed to be more like mid level play does that mean toughies except for earth shakingly tough foes may only be +12 to hit and have about 100 hp?

+1 per ally thanks to mob attack...a good idea, the conan rpg uses somethign like that for all folks, I use a variant of that in my games.

 

[Emirikol]

Is the kobold tougher than the first level rogue?

jh

 

[Campbell]

Is the kobold tougher than the first level rogue?

jh

For most values of rogue, yes the kobold will have more hit points. A rogue needs a Constitution of 15 to match. Of course a rogue has far stronger offensive abilities and has healing reserves, but these buggers are still pretty tough compared to PCs especially when you look back at 3e's 4 hp wonder kids who could be outmatched in melee by a wizard.

 

[Derren]

From the way it's been described, traps are designed to be very much a part of combat in 4e. It's all part of the dynamic encounter model.

Yes, but normally those traps were set by the kobolds in the first place so it is unlikely that they trigger them. That means unless in exceptional cases like shifting a kobold into a trap this ability use useless.

 

[OakwoodDM]

Yes, but normally those traps were set by the kobolds in the first place so it is unlikely that they trigger them. That means unless in exceptional cases like shifting a kobold into a trap this ability use useless.

I imagine a lot, if not most, traps will be multi-target. Also, it seems there are numerous ways of shifting enemies about, judging by those DnD Experience characters.

Also, it fits in with the kobold flavour.