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View Full Version : [3.5] Kobold Caverns and Tunnels- Traps and Denzinens for a low level party.



Rising Phoenix
2010-02-16, 06:29 AM
Greetings all,

It's me again and this time I am building a Kobold cavern, tunnel crawl for a party of 6 second level PCs. The PCs are after the Kobolds because the little critters have stolen an important supply of slow melting ice. Vital for the nearby settlement that is in the midst of a heatwave.

Party Composition:

1 C. Cleric/1 Warlock LE Human
2 CG Human Bard
2 CG Halfling Sorceror
2 CN Beguiler Changeling
2 CN Human Gunslinger (a glass canon skill monkey. Deals 2d8+4 points of damage on a successful shot...11 HP)
2 N Rogue Human (Assassin type)

Campaign Specifics:

-Everything is allowed except Magic Incarnum, campaign specific material (can always be re-fluffed though) and Tome of Magic.
- Kythons are very common in this setting; having colonized the planet after falling down from one of its moons after it was destroyed by a meteorite. They devour everything, breed and evolve rapidly (ala Zerg from Starcraft) and every intelligent being knows of their immunities and resistances, including the Kobolds. They still use traps, but ones that rely on non elemental damage.
- Due to constant predation from the above, the Kobold colony is relatively small. I am thinking 50-80 individuals
- The Kobolds are governed/ worshipped by a wyrmling deep dragon (MoF) (have already statted the thing up, has lingering breath and improved initiative as its feats)
- I am using the online WotC material regarding Kobolds...


Ideas for other encounters thus far:

- A pit trap with a trapped Kython Broodling at the bottom... Thought of Oozes but party lv is too low...
- Dragonfire adept, Adepts (Clerics??) and Sorcerer Kobolds. I'd like to keep NPC magic users to a minimum though
- Tiny sized tunnels from which Kobold ('warriors') can fire under the effects of improved cover.
- The colony includes a master trapsmith and a master alchemist (Kegs of Alchemists fire for the PCs to blow up (with), YAY!)
- Perhaps a few Kobold Barbarians for laughs...(If they can be made a bit scary, all the better):smallamused:
-Rogues, obviously
- A kitchen containing a few chained up guards, that were originally escorting the ice, for the cooking pot.

Thanks in advance for

R.P.

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-02-16, 07:34 AM
Is this D&D 3.x or 4e?

I recommend that all (or most of) the tunnels are 4ft high, meaning medium creatures have to crouch, and suffer reduced movement and maximum Dex restrictions.

Rising Phoenix
2010-02-16, 04:43 PM
Is this D&D 3.x or 4e?

3.5. Apologies for not including it in the title earlier. forgot.


I recommend that all (or most of) the tunnels are 4ft high, meaning medium creatures have to crouch, and suffer reduced movement and maximum Dex restrictions.

Indeed I'll be doing this, but not for all. I'll be trying to get a Tucker's Kobold feel, without overdoing it and slaughtering the party.

Thanks

R.P.

Cyrion
2010-02-16, 05:15 PM
How about a cave with an ice floor and some archers? I've been in caves during a California summer that still had ice inside, even though they weren't that deep. Give a couple of the archers weapons about halfway between a bow and a ballista- it's got enough punch behind it that it can knock the players down and slide them backwards across the ice when they get. Keep your damage and rate of fire within reason and you could make it an encounter everyone has fun with.

mostlyharmful
2010-02-16, 05:33 PM
dead ends are always fun, especially when you've deactivated the traps on them until after the parties wandered into them. Dead falls in the dead ends usually results in dead adventurers....

low level casters also allow for low level illusion based ambushes, ambuscades and altered terrain shenanigens, give your guys a clear run through a resting party then have them round a courner, melt into the 'wall' and let the pursuing party run off a cliff.

trapped belongings left lying around in a fake dwelling chamber, every adventurer is a loot happy idiot, exploit that.

psychological warfare is also funny, have the kobolds traps sometimes be about weirding them out or being completely harmless, nothing says 'we're not scared of you' than being subjected to a practical joke trap.

Stompy
2010-02-16, 06:17 PM
I'm a partial fan of the sloped surface + grease (spell or alchemical trap) in a battle scene.

Rising Phoenix
2010-02-16, 11:22 PM
Cyrion, your idea is great but it is because it is hot that the Kobolds stole the ice. =) I'll probably lump it with Stormy's suggestion and use plain old cooking oil...:smallamused:

Mostly Harmful. You are indeed what your nickname suggests! lol

The illusion idea is especially tasteful and will be combined with the Kython trap...:smallamused:

I also like the trapped belonging/loot and will also be using it.

Thanks for the ideas so far and more are always welcome!

R.P.

Runestar
2010-02-17, 08:59 AM
Kobold warrior4 or adept4 are just cr1 each. I am sure you can do something constructive with them. What with races of dragon giving them SLAs and cool feats like dragonwrought.

Cyrion
2010-02-17, 09:52 AM
Cyrion, your idea is great but it is because it is hot that the Kobolds stole the ice. =) I'll probably lump it with Stormy's suggestion and use plain old cooking oil...:smallamused:



R.P.

That's why I specified that I've seen this in a hot climate. My take was that the kobolds could be stealing the ice simply to be malicious, not because they're personally too hot.

It was kind of odd coming in from a hot summer day, just a few feet below surface level, and having the floor being entirely ice.

Radar
2010-02-17, 03:14 PM
Falling from above stone doors or iron bars to separate party members - like ones here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgnlu-kpdOs) (around 5th minute), only without the plot-conveniet delayed descent. I was thinking about a Ref save to avoid being squished by the door (standard falling damage from the door). If barelly avoided there is a 50/50 chance to be on either side of the door. If save was made by 5 or more above the DC, then PC can choose the side.
It's a simple mechanism, that can be deadly, if combined with a well-timed ambush.

I'd recommend Kobold Quarterly. For example this article (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article4039.php). Or the whole Trapsmith section (examples: 1 (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article1682.php), 2 (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article2732.php), 3 (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article3157.php), 4 (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article3310.php)). Unfortunately, Kobold Quarterly lacks any sort of search engine, so one has to browse it the tedious way.