Konsequences - Kobold style

[Schmoe]

Strange. When I read your setup, my first thought was: "Kobolds can write? No way."

I guess it's all a matter of how you portray kobolds in your game, but in all my years of gaming I would never expect a random kobold to A) write Common, B) use human propaganda relevant to a particular culture against a group of characters.

Everything else seems hunkey dorey to me.

 

[JesterOC]

Strange. When I read your setup, my first thought was: "Kobolds can write? No way."

I guess it's all a matter of how you portray kobolds in your game, but in all my years of gaming I would never expect a random kobold to A) write Common, B) use human propaganda relevant to a particular culture against a group of characters.

Everything else seems hunkey dorey to me.

Yeah it seems odd that they would be able to convince a town to throw them out. To them the workings of a human village would be as foreign as the politics of a kobold lair. Can you imagine how your PC's would fair in trying to get a Kobold lair to kickout its most powerful warriors using psychological tactics.

Sorry but that just seems too farfetched.

JesterOC

 

[LostSoul]

They aren't able to deal with kobold minions effectively, let alone two that by inexplicable twist of fate are a cut above the average kobold.

Inexplicable twist of fate? No way - you have your reason for their power boost right there!

***

Two kobolds - the last two survivors of a bloody fight to the death - enter their warren. Bodies surround them, bodies burnt like the damned in Hell. Soldiers. Women. Hatchlings.

One of the kobolds falls to his knees and wails uncontrollably, horrible, torturous wails that echo down the cavern. It sends the vermin who had come to feast on this grusome banquet scurrying away.

The other kobold searches the charred remains and finds a twisted bone ring. He pries it off the body's ring finger. Burnt flesh sloughs off. He squeezes it in his scaled hand until it draws blood.

'I have entered the Endless Night, oh my Queen. You say "Forgive no wrong and let no slight go unpunished." I ask you for the power to right this wrong, to punish those who did this to me. I pay you with the only thing I have left in this world - my soul, and the souls of those who did this.'

***

Now - make up some new monsters that play off of that. 2 Level 5 Elites. They both have that ability that I created above.

One of them has something like this:
Wail of Despair (standard; recharge )
Close blast 3; +10 vs. Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).

Not Again (immediate reaction; when first bloodied; encounter)
The kobold's Wail of Despair recharges.

The other guy has some funky stuff, too.

 

[DogBackward]

Yeah it seems odd that they would be able to convince a town to throw them out. To them the workings of a human village would be as foreign as the politics of a kobold lair. Can you imagine how your PC's would fair in trying to get a Kobold lair to kickout its most powerful warriors using psychological tactics.

Sorry but that just seems too farfetched.

JesterOC

I didn't read it that way, actually. I saw it more as the fact that they were actually going to kill a bunch of babies, not that they were specifically trying to get them kicked out. I figured that'd just be an unintended side-effect.

I could be wrong of course, but that's what I figured when I first read the post.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This is the only part I'd handle differently. Why make the kobolds NPCs and not full-fledged "tougher monsters"? Statting out monsters as NPCs is a pain. They accumulate multiple power, running counter to the 4E design ethic of "give 'em 3 or 4 powers and leave it at that." If your kobolds manage to survive for a bit (and I hope they do) their NPC stats could get pretty cumbersome.

I am not sure how Morris plans to do this, but there are class templates and rules to create a class NPC that will make an NPC with class powers, but still easier to handle then a full-fledged PC.

 

[pemerton]

Lost Soul, that's good stuff.

 

[Terwox]

Man, yeah, I hate it when DM's write backstories like "My entire village was wiped out by monsters, and I alone escaped and plotted revenge and became a hero."

Yeah, that never happens in playing D&D. Ever. No human ever escaped a marauding orc horde and lived for vengeance.

What's wrong with kobolds following the same logic?

When I was reading, I understood it was all ok when I read the following line: "I've been known to make it very, very difficult to kill such recurring villains. When they do they've actually lept up and danced about it."

I'm not a big fan of recurring villains that keep getting away... however, I let it go when the DM has *actually had them killed in the past.*

It's a GOOD villain if years later, the players remember how much they hated the villain, and how great it felt to finally off the guy. Don't some of your favorite gaming moments revolve around FINALLY getting "that guy"?

Anyway, yeah. Monsters lived through an onslaught, and gained some levels because of it. Bad simulation, sure. Who cares. Should make for an interesting story.

And LostSoul's ideas are great.

 

[robertliguori]

Inexplicable twist of fate? No way - you have your reason for their power boost right there!

***

Two kobolds - the last two survivors of a bloody fight to the death - enter their warren. Bodies surround them, bodies burnt like the damned in Hell. Soldiers. Women. Hatchlings.

One of the kobolds falls to his knees and wails uncontrollably, horrible, torturous wails that echo down the cavern. It sends the vermin who had come to feast on this grusome banquet scurrying away.

The other kobold searches the charred remains and finds a twisted bone ring. He pries it off the body's ring finger. Burnt flesh sloughs off. He squeezes it in his scaled hand until it draws blood.

'I have entered the Endless Night, oh my Queen. You say "Forgive no wrong and let no slight go unpunished." I ask you for the power to right this wrong, to punish those who did this to me. I pay you with the only thing I have left in this world - my soul, and the souls of those who did this.'

***

Now - make up some new monsters that play off of that. 2 Level 5 Elites. They both have that ability that I created above.

One of them has something like this:
Wail of Despair (standard; recharge )
Close blast 3; +10 vs. Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).

Not Again (immediate reaction; when first bloodied; encounter)
The kobold's Wail of Despair recharges.

The other guy has some funky stuff, too.

Pointe the Firste: the quick and simple way for the village to end up realizing the error of its ways is for one of the PCs to sneak in under cover of darkness and pull the same stunt a few times (this time with authentic dragonfire). Fear as a weapon only works as long as your target doesn't respond, "Why, yes, you should fear us that much, and here's why. *murder*" and let anarchy happen.

Pointe the Seconde: Optionally, they may just decide to return to the fort, dig a firebreak, and burn down the surrrounding forest themselves, followed shortly by sacrificing the entire town to (insert chosen demon here) to gain Fire Resist as a contingency.

Look, if the rules of the universe state that horrible deeds of evil and slaughter can lead to power-ups, then you should expect the PCs to act accordingly.

Also, see similar statements about consequences being meaningless in a world without rules.

 

[Thanee]

Dragonborn are rare, but not unheard of, and the kobolds intend on using the human village's mistrust of the party's dragonborn to their advantage. The adventure starts with a baby impaled in the town square. The corpse will be burned in a manner similar to the kinds of burns the breath weapon will do. A note will be attached -- "42 eggs, 28 children - this is the first."

While this is certainly a "nice" start, it seems a bit arbitrary to me.

Do kobolds even know common? Can they write it?
How do they know of the village's mistrust of the dragonborn?

Bye
Thanee

 

[ruemere]

Michael,

turning two missing Kobolds into major threat to the settlement suddenly immediately spawns two issues:
- how come the settlement actually survived until now?
- how did two Kobold turn into terror capable of devising such strategies?

If you need to turn this situation against players, you would be better off with Kobolds making a pact with an evil mastermind instead of waving magic wand.

Also, if you turn those Kobolds into such a threat, the next time players get sent on a similar mission of extermination, they may not stop with killing kobold females and younglings. They may raze Kobold nest to the ground, impale kobold heads on spikes as a warning and probably kill several neutral members of other species nearby to leave a lasting warning.

Why would they do that?

Because by using two Kobolds to pull a Rambo on PCs, you send a clear message - guys, you were not thorough enough... and now look at consequences.

Also, the message of those two kobolds could be read like this: guys, don't bother helping villagers. They are ungrateful bunch who got by safely without you. So, better collect your gold and leave without looking back.

Regards,
Ruemere