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<blockquote data-quote="Charles Rampant" data-source="post: 6994219" data-attributes="member: 32659"><p>Oddly for a race with low Intelligence, the Kobolds have a theme of being clever at making traps and inventions. The <strong>Kobold Inventor</strong> is a weaponised version of this tendency, being a guy who tosses random crap into the combat throughout. He’s a lot of fun, and I think will be a popular guy for DMs everywhere. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.darkswordminiatures.com/shop/media/wysiwyg/DiTerlizzi/4622/4622_art_color.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Kobold Inventor has a really madcap picture. The fellow is laden down with so much random stuff that it is hard to see how he gets through any tunnels, and he also has one of the best Kobold pictures for seeing what their face looks like, with the lizard profile but dog nose. The Kobold himself has a clenched fist and a look of determination, but it might just be that he wants to sit down and is contemplating how much effort that will take. </p><p></p><p>The Kobolds don’t have access to advanced metallurgy or really good materials in general, so the Inventors are canny at creating wierd weapons from natural things like animals and slimes, as well as stuff stolen from other races. They might not last long - thanks to the crappy components, no doubt - but while they do they are ’surprisingly effective’. I think that you might get some mileage out of the idea of helping one of these guys get access to actually good components, especially if one of the characters in your group is a Kobold; that could then lead to the Inventor becoming a recurring quest-giver, who is forever asking for bizarre and improbable things for his next invention. </p><p></p><p>The Inventor has probably the most extreme disparity between CR and statblock size in the game, with over a whole column of text devoted to explaining all of the shenanigans that he can get up to. The majority of it looks about how you’d expect - <em>Pack Tactics</em> and <em>Sunlight Sensitivity</em>, plus the usual weapon options. However, the real meat here is the <em>Weapon Invention</em> rule, which is done out as a random roll like Beholders, a technique that I’m quite pleased with; it directs the DM to either pick or roll. I like that, since by numbering it the entry can save you time during the encounter - no need to read and scrutinise the entire entry every turn, just roll the dice and see what happens. </p><p></p><p>The individual options range from the simple - toss acid - to the bizarre - unleashing Skunks and Centipedes upon the enemy. A lot of them are liable to backfire upon the Inventor, which is exactly as it should be, and I think that many of them are definitely eye-catching. You’ll want to have some other stats on hand - you might have swarms of centipedes, rot grubs or wasps appear - but otherwise I think that most of these attack options are relatively easy to resolve. </p><p></p><p>So yeah, the Kobold Inventor. He’s fun, he’s low CR but likely to be sufficiently entertaining that you can toss him into a higher level encounter and still amuse your players, and he is likely to become the defining combat encounter for Kobolds in your campaign once he is used.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charles Rampant, post: 6994219, member: 32659"] Oddly for a race with low Intelligence, the Kobolds have a theme of being clever at making traps and inventions. The [b]Kobold Inventor[/b] is a weaponised version of this tendency, being a guy who tosses random crap into the combat throughout. He’s a lot of fun, and I think will be a popular guy for DMs everywhere. [img]http://www.darkswordminiatures.com/shop/media/wysiwyg/DiTerlizzi/4622/4622_art_color.jpg[/img] The Kobold Inventor has a really madcap picture. The fellow is laden down with so much random stuff that it is hard to see how he gets through any tunnels, and he also has one of the best Kobold pictures for seeing what their face looks like, with the lizard profile but dog nose. The Kobold himself has a clenched fist and a look of determination, but it might just be that he wants to sit down and is contemplating how much effort that will take. The Kobolds don’t have access to advanced metallurgy or really good materials in general, so the Inventors are canny at creating wierd weapons from natural things like animals and slimes, as well as stuff stolen from other races. They might not last long - thanks to the crappy components, no doubt - but while they do they are ’surprisingly effective’. I think that you might get some mileage out of the idea of helping one of these guys get access to actually good components, especially if one of the characters in your group is a Kobold; that could then lead to the Inventor becoming a recurring quest-giver, who is forever asking for bizarre and improbable things for his next invention. The Inventor has probably the most extreme disparity between CR and statblock size in the game, with over a whole column of text devoted to explaining all of the shenanigans that he can get up to. The majority of it looks about how you’d expect - [i]Pack Tactics[/i] and [i]Sunlight Sensitivity[/i], plus the usual weapon options. However, the real meat here is the [i]Weapon Invention[/i] rule, which is done out as a random roll like Beholders, a technique that I’m quite pleased with; it directs the DM to either pick or roll. I like that, since by numbering it the entry can save you time during the encounter - no need to read and scrutinise the entire entry every turn, just roll the dice and see what happens. The individual options range from the simple - toss acid - to the bizarre - unleashing Skunks and Centipedes upon the enemy. A lot of them are liable to backfire upon the Inventor, which is exactly as it should be, and I think that many of them are definitely eye-catching. You’ll want to have some other stats on hand - you might have swarms of centipedes, rot grubs or wasps appear - but otherwise I think that most of these attack options are relatively easy to resolve. So yeah, the Kobold Inventor. He’s fun, he’s low CR but likely to be sufficiently entertaining that you can toss him into a higher level encounter and still amuse your players, and he is likely to become the defining combat encounter for Kobolds in your campaign once he is used. [/QUOTE]
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