Pathfinder 1E Paizo, Kobolds, Aliens, and Saw

[Rechan]

One thing I rarely see actually done is that kobolds are supposed to be wicked little things. The 'steal babies out of their room and eat them' kind of wicked. THis could get co-opted into goblins.

Good points. Well, as of this point, I was thinking of grappling the party member with the lowest strength, dragging him / her down. But mechanics doesn't solve the gameplay issue, does it? Splitting up is a horror trope for a reason. But what is terrifying in a movie is boring in a game. You either make everyone wait while you resolve the combat, or you take that person out and they don't get to play until the issue is resolved.

That's actually one reason I suggested the garrot/noose. The kobold nooses someone and starts dragging them up, and then the party can scramble to try and pull him down (which chokes him more) or try to cut the rope.

Do you have a friend who can co-DM? Basically, when a PC is dragged into one of the holes, you tag your co-DM, he takes the player say, across the room and starts playing it out. If the PCs try to save him, you can call over if they succeed, but otherwise you're still playing as he's having his little combat.

Another option is to simply engage everyone in combat. You have one PC who's stuck in this hole, and you handle him vs. the kobolds, meanwhile you have them swarming the PCs down below.

Maybe one thing to do is to make sure the other people have something dramatic to do. Like when one person is trapped in an avalanche, the others get to dig frantically.

Yeah. For one of your "Traps that isn't sprung until you're in it", make a lobster trap. Have a dead end tunnel a kobold is at the end of, sniping or chucking alchemist fire, something. It's narrow so someone has to crawl one at a time. And when they are in the dead end, they realize the walls are just sharpened bones slanted towards the dead end - if they try to crawl back out, they're going to get sliced up. And while this guy is in there, the kobold is in the walls jabbing him. The PCs rush to help pull out the spikes, and here comes the kobolds on their rear.

Ooh. Yeah. Lights and darkness. Great point! Darkness is a big big deal when you're trying to scare folks, but D&D turns it into a nuisance. First, how can you turn off the lights, or turn down the lights, in those tunnels?

Darkness negates Light, turning it into shadow. So they could drop a darkness. Or simply perfect a cantrip that cancels light.

Well, one thing is you can limit how far light goes. Curving, claustrophobic tunnels. Make 'em small. The PCs scrabbling on hands and knees through bone-walled tunnels, with things skittering right by their ears. Then, three people back, Amy screams and goes through the floor.

Precisely - the tunnels are kobold sized.

 

[Carpe DM]

Amen to that. New names are fan-freaking-tastic. Or just refuse to use the bookname, just describe the creatures. My players two sessions ago ran from their lives from the horned, bullheaded creatures with hooves and red eyes. They were like "holy cow, demons, RUN!" And it was just a bunch of minotaurs. But you could see why they'd confuse the two if you think about it.

 

[Rechan]

Amen to that. New names are fan-freaking-tastic. Or just refuse to use the bookname, just describe the creatures. My players two sessions ago ran from their lives from the horned, bullheaded creatures with hooves and red eyes. They were like "holy cow, demons, RUN!" And it was just a bunch of minotaurs. But you could see why they'd confuse the two if you think about it.

I partially overcome this by just taking Monster Stats for X and slap it onto Appearance Y.

Dire Ape + Mimic's adhesive ability = brutish aberration with spongey flesh that your weapon gets stuck in. Owlbear + Poison bite = Snakeman (Large snake with arms). Phase Spider Stats + Dolgaunt appearance = Poison-tentacled ethereal abomination, visible through mirrors.

In the last session for my Wastes campaign, the I had the players roll fort saves. Those that failed started to vomit a lot. Then after they'd expelled about a gallon or two of the black/orange substance, the puddles attacked. I used ochre jelly stats, but didn't allude at all to what they were aside from oozes. One of the players said that was one of the most memorable fights they've ever had.

 

[Rechan]

I admit that I'm more the habit of making monsters as NPCs, like they were just dangerous and alien people. The medusa or hag power broker in charge of things, the minotaur you might find as a body guard or bartender in an outpost, the secret society of ghouls in the city, who think of themselves as high society, the ghost who doesn't realize he's dead.

In one of my games, the PCs actually have an imp who watches their business, and does recon for them. In the other campaign, my PCs are traveling up river in a boat manned entirely by kobolds - crazy, Apocalypse Now inspired crew heading into dangerous territory.

But I think my next campaign will have much more monstrous monsters of which we're talking about now.

 

[Davelozzi]

If you like Paizo's re-casting of classic monsters, keep your eye out for this upcoming product.

 

[Drowbane]

Other monsters that would benefit from this treatment?

Drow. Mindflayers. 99% of undead.

You're right, alot of D&D's monsters have gotten a bit stale.

 

[evildmguy]

What about the small headhunters from The Mummy Returns? When it was one of them, they screamed and ran. When it was a group, they were fearless.

Perhaps (blow) darts with a weak poison? They attack a lot and will a) eventually hit and b) eventually a character will fail a save. Not a lot of damage, but it wears the characters out.

If they are in their own lair, it should be really small caves. What is a crawling character considered? Prone? Lots of little side caves for them to run around and harass the intruders.

What if they lure a bigger monster into an area? Like a spider? Then, the spider webs could look like a place where they hide treasure, so "it has to be checked."

Attack as swarm? Maybe three or four attacking a medium sized creature, to give a bit of a bonus to hit or damage?

What if they don't care about a comrades dead body? Imagine a room with lots of kobold bodies tied to the walls. Only, not all of them are dead . . .

Give a leader type one level in barbarian, sorcerer or cleric and with a group and they would be scary as well. Sleep isn't just to be used on monsters!

A few coppers worth.

edg

 

[NarlethDrider]

Currently, for my AE game, I'm blowing off the dust from my sketchbook & oiling up my rusty drawing hand & drawing up new forms for monsters---some are similar to the "official" illos, some are my own---if you wanna illo for your critter(s), you can email me at NarlethDrider(at)aol(dot)com---you'll benefit from a pic for your critter & I'll get some practice

 

[Rechan]

If you like Paizo's re-casting of classic monsters, keep your eye out for this upcoming product.

MARCH?! I can't wait that long.

I hope it's just fluff, and not crunch, given that's what, three months before 4e?

 

[roguerouge]

One of the best adventure modules I ever ran featured a kobold dungeon where the big trap was to the entrance of the warrens. Huge blocks of stone and a water trap made it impossible to get out the way they came in.... The PCs soon learned that the kobolds weren't trapped with them; the PCs were trapped inside with the kobolds.

Cut the big'uns down to size. Size the tunnels so that the ceilings are their height, not humans' height. Impose penalties to movement and weapon use. (No two handed weapons, no slashing or bludgeoning weapons, unless you're size small.) Then they wouldn't let the party sleep, banging pots and pans, doing suicide raids on the party during their rest periods to prevent rememorizing spells...

You can't move, your favorite toys are taken away, and they're wearing you out. That's a memorable experience.