Kobolds

[Anxe]

My players is planning on attacking a Kobold camp. They're ninth level and I need lots of ideas to throw at them when they get there. I've already got a few, but my biggest problem is them flying in while invisible. I should describe the encounter though...

The Kobolds live on a plain with trees scattered around it, but no real forests. Yeah, that's actually all I've got so far...

I need help, please?

[Inyssius Tor]

Ah, I love kobold threads. Let's see...

Can you give me some background? Why is your party attacking them? How powerful, in terms of character levels, are these kobolds expected to be?

[Iku Rex]

Which DnD books do you have?

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Well, if they're planning on nuking from orbit, just have a network of tunnels underneath where most of the kobolds stay. Then, traps... everywhere. If you're feeling really mean, google search Tucker's Kobolds. :smallamused:

[lukelightning]

This one time, at kobold camp...

[Anxe]

None of the Kobolds should be over 9th level in power. The party is attacking them, because they hate Kobolds. It's not that hard to motivate my players... Oh! There is a Dragon nearby that the Kobolds worship.

I've got the MM 1-3, Monsters of Fauerun, Complete Divine, Arcane, Warrior, and Adventurer, Draconomicon, Savage Species, PHB, and DMG too.

[Inyssius Tor]

Kobolds are natural tunnel-dwellers; have you already determined that this camp is on the surface?

[Citizen Joe]

Get some dominated halflings as facemen and then have all the surface kobolds disguised as halflings. When the party arrives... "This is not the village you are looking for..."

EDIT: and then direct them to the "Real Kobold village" which is a dangerous trap filled gauntlet which dumps them into the dragon's feed pile.

[Saithis Bladewing]

To be any form of danger to a 9th level party, there's going to have to be hundreds of them, tons of traps, sorecerors, or any combination of what I've mentioned already.

It might help to make it an underground camp. Maybe they 'pitched camp' by tunneling down into a mound of earth, ala prairie dogs? A couple hundred kobolds could make a lot of progress in a day.

[Anxe]

I could do the tunnel thing. Most of the camp is supposed to be above ground though.

[Miraqariftsky]

Get some dominated halflings as facemen and then have all the surface kobolds disguised as halflings. When the party arrives... "This is not the village you are looking for..."

EDIT: and then direct them to the "Real Kobold village" which is a dangerous trap filled gauntlet which dumps them into the dragon's feed pile.

GAHAHAHA! Genius! Hmm, it might have a hole, though... What if some PCs have Scent, or what if they have someone who's maxed out in Detect Motive?

[Accersitus]

You could say that the camp is only the tip of the iceberg, and they have lot's of tunnels beneath (Possibly containing a dragon, or maybe a Sarruhk that gives them powers, only not quite as much as pun-pun)

[Inyssius Tor]

Where does the dragon live? Because, really, a wide-open plain is kind of a really stupid place for kobolds to live, even if they all lair underground.

[JellyPooga]

If you're worried about the party flying causing problems, simply respond in kind: With flying Kobolds! Nothing deterres intruders like a flight of Kobolds armed with crossbows.

Even if you don't want to have a bunch of high (6th+) level kobolds (that have the Improved Draconic Wings feat), you can give them Draconic Wings as their 1st level feat and have them launched by catapult :smallbiggrin: .

If you're worried about them being Invisible, simply have one member of every airborne patrol have access to the See Invisibility spell.

For more mundane methods, Traps. Traps, Traps, Traps, Traps, Traps. Pit Traps, Trip-Wires, Man-Traps (like a bear trap but designed for catching...well, men), Catapult Traps (making those adventurers that don't fly do so unwillingly), Custard-Pie Traps, Fake-Tree Traps (it looks like a real tree at first glance, especially in the dark, but when you trip the wire, it falls on you), Venus Fly Traps (of the giant variety)...the list goes on. Kobolds, if nothing else, like traps and being prepared for eventualities (which is why they normally live in caves and mines...it puts their small size to good use and they can control intruders a lot easier by funneling their movements with the aforementioned traps)

Just out of curiosity, why are these Kobolds living above ground in the open? I mean, it's not their usual habitat.

[Anxe]

The dragon lives a few miles away in a cave. I've already designed that place. One of my plans was that the Kobolds go rushing off to get Papa Dragon to defend them.

[Anxe]

Just out of curiosity, why are these Kobolds living above ground in the open? I mean, it's not their usual habitat.

It's their habitat now. Stupid people messing around with the environment of monsters. Good ideas for traps! Thanks.

[Miraqariftsky]

If you're worried about the party flying causing problems, simply respond in kind: With flying Kobolds! Nothing deterres intruders like a flight of Kobolds armed with crossbows.


Reminds me of something from Eberron's Dragonshards column. Y'all read of the article, "The Kobolds of Eberron"? There are winged kobolds there--- probably packing natural magic as well. Named "irsvern", if I remember aright.

[Yeril]

to make kobolds more of a challange vary them, stick in a group of Kobold rogues who try to flank and ambush the party, maybe a group of skilled warriors who are level 3, add in a few sorcerers, Kobolds -love- sorcerers.

For weapony I suggest Spears, Longspears, Crossbows and Picks (kobolds get Racial Profficiency Dire pick, one handed weapon 1d8 damage (1d6 with small) with a X4 multiplier)

Maybe a dragon? a weak one probaly a wyrmling or very young, I love the idea that a mighty dragon has gifted a tribe of kobolds with the sacred duty to guard a Dragon egg and care for it once it has hatched.

Also how about a half dragon kobold sorcerer as the leader? Kobolds have a Magimarchy meaning those who control the magic are the leaders, so A sorcerer whos Dragon heritiage is so rich they can breath fire then they are a natural leader for the kobolds

Don't forget traps and ambushes, Remember to play kobolds as smart as they are, they are very unlikley to charge in with swords drawn but more likley to stand out of reach and snipe with their crossbows before ducking back into cover.

The only time a well prepared group of kobolds should be within charging distance of a PC is when theres a heavily concealed 40ft drop between them.


And don't forget that a tribe isn't 100% warrior and sorcerer, there will be commoners too, ones who are elderly and infants, How would your PC's react to a hut with two scared kobolds holding spears to defend their those who cant defend themselves, Would they accept a surrender and spare the kobolds or would they slaughter the "Vermin"

[Inyssius Tor]

Still, plains? They're little more than an XP carpet there! They can't use their superior odds (like they could, were they in a forest); they can't do much mining (like they could, were they on a mountain); they can't really do much with traps (since they're sitting out in the open like that, they can really only effectively use pit-traps); they're dazzled in bright sunlight (and there's not much shade out there) and they don't exactly have high HP (er, fireball! Fireball! Fireball!).

[Saithis Bladewing]

You could also go for random traps just lying around the camp, maybe subtly marked by something the kobolds would know. Pit traps, nets, that sort of thing. Even just 'physical' alarms to alert the camp of their presence and give them a chance to prepare a defence.

You could even go so far as to give them things like alchemist's fire, acid and thunderstones to use. And have them run from anything even resembling close combat while the others pepper the foe with crossbows. Remember, it only takes 20 crossbow shots to statistically guarantee that at least one will hit. Given how many numbers the kobolds SHOULD have, this can only get better.

Of course, we don't know much about the party's composition, which doesn't help that much planning an encounter for them.

How many of them are there, and what classes/races?

[Wraithy]

first off REMEMBER: kobolds are MASTER trapmakers, make as many traps appear as often as possible! do not stop, even to breath!
i suggest making the camp empty, and all of the buildings filled with glyphs of warding and explosive runes.
try making it so that they fall into 40ft deep spike pits (preferably poisoned), from there, the pits are surrounded by kobolds using repeater crossbows.
make a few of the pits filled with unintelligent undead (unable to escape the pit also). remember to make one or two of the kobolds dragon wroat. make the gaps between the trees filled with razor wire (benefiting from improved invisibility). remember that kobolds sometimes use dire weasles for mounts, make a hidden force spring from the bushes.
by making the battle on open ground you have given the kobolds a disadvantage, kobolds hate open ground because most of the time their daylight sensetivity comes into play, there are very few places for ambushes, because the ground is flat, their enemy can easily engage in melee combat, which kobolds really hate. if you do make the kobolds engage in melee combat, ensure that they use reach weapons to keep them away from harm. try using a ration of AT LEAST 4 kobolds per party member, probably more because they are higher level. make the area filled with long grass to grant them concealment and litter the ground with caltrops in a specific patter which the kobolds can avoid easily, use rough terrain to make the gaps between ranged combat and melee larger. give some of the kobolds interesting prestieges like shadowdancer, hide in plain sight will give your players a headache.
the best thing you can possibly give your players is a narrow escape with their hitpoins barely in the tens. try making an homage to tuckers kobolds.

and remember that they hate melee

[Yeril]

Did I mention traps? the nearest to a celebrity in Kobold society is a good trapsmith. :smallamused:

[JellyPooga]

Reminds me of something from Eberron's Dragonshards column. Y'all read of the article, "The Kobolds of Eberron"? There are winged kobolds there--- probably packing natural magic as well. Named "irsvern", if I remember aright.

Personally I had Ride of the Valkyries playing in the background to a visual of around 50-100 flying (catapult-launched, so they're gliding really) kobolds, all armed with crossbows, delivering a sustained airborne barrage to the helpless land-locked adventurers as they wheel by in formation, in my mind...the fact that this tribe had so many winged members explained why they were living on the surface too...

[Saithis Bladewing]

make the area filled with long grass to grant them concealment and litter the ground with caltrops in a specific patter which the kobolds can avoid easily, use rough terrain to make the gaps between ranged combat and melee larger.

Amen to that. Caltrops sound very koboldy, I can't believe I forgot about them.

[Wraithy]

And don't forget that a tribe isn't 100% warrior and sorcerer, there will be commoners too, ones who are elderly and infants, How would your PC's react to a hut with two scared kobolds holding spears to defend their those who cant defend themselves, Would they accept a surrender and spare the kobolds or would they slaughter the "Vermin"

actually kobolds are banned from the commoner and aristocrat classes, they are experts, warriors, or player classes

[Saithis Bladewing]

actually kobolds are banned from the commoner and aristocrat classes, they are experts, warriors, or player classes

Since when? As far as I know, NO race is banned from ANY class.

[Wraithy]

Since when? As far as I know, NO race is banned from ANY class.

it says in races of the dragon, the ultimate book concerning kobolds.

[Inyssius Tor]

Races of the Dragon kobolds. They don't have any aristocracy, and everyone is held to the same standard of excellence.

On the other hand, yeah, that part of RotD smelled of over-idealization.

[Anxe]

Oh! Right! The party. We've got a:
A Feinting Ninja
A Batman wizard who summons monsters
A Warmage
And a Favored Soul

[Darrin]

It might help to make it an underground camp. Maybe they 'pitched camp' by tunneling down into a mound of earth, ala prairie dogs? A couple hundred kobolds could make a lot of progress in a day.

I concur with the underground idea. Kobolds are tunnel dwellers with a natural aptitude for trapmaking/trapsetting. They would never build a settlement out in the open without a serious good reason or widespread psychological trauma.

If there was such a settlement out in the open, I'd make the entire settlement an elaborate network of pit traps, rope snares, tripwires, collapsing walls, pressure plates, concealment/cover blinds, silent images, etc., on top of a much larger underground settlement, a network of caves with even more traps, snares, etc. The kobolds in the open settlement would be trained to draw an attacking force into the town square (using the Goad feat, maybe a wands of Suggestion/Rage), which suddenly collapses into a giant pit trap surrounded by kobold spearmen/archers.

As far as countering fly and invis... flying would nullify the pit traps, but chasing the kobolds into the tunnels brings them back into melee range. A few kobold clerics with Command: "Fall" might get lucky with a failed Will save. Otherwise, a level 6 kobold sorcerer could just use Dispel Magic.

For invisibility, Obscuring Mist is really easy to cast and helps even the playing field. Otherwise, Glitterdust+Glitterdust+more Glitterdust.

[Wraithy]

once again I must remind you of daylight sensetivity, unless you can controll the party to arrive at night; i reccomend putting a glamer on the camp which only dissapears at night, find some way to make the kobolds unaffected by daylight sensetivity, even if you have to give them special goggles for it.

[NullAshton]

once again I must remind you of daylight sensetivity, unless you can controll the party to arrive at night; i reccomend putting a glamer on the camp which only dissapears at night, find some way to make the kobolds unaffected by daylight sensetivity, even if you have to give them special goggles for it.

Races of the dragon has some special goggles negating light sensitivity.

[Inyssius Tor]

Darrin, your suggestions are excellent. One thing, though: why use a Cleric when an Adept will do? :smallwink: They get those spells too!

[Elana]

if the party is 9th level, I think it is quite fair to give the kobol a sorcer of 9th level as leader as well.

A nice Mirage Arcana spell can make parts of their village look different enough that the PCswill waste attacks against non existing structures.

Of course the kobolds will get out of sight once the attacks start, so the PCs will eventually have to go down to the ground and start searching the houses to continue their massacre.

Kobolds of course make heavily use of traps, especially if settled in such a vulnerable spot.

You can expect a few magical traps as well, like a symbol of sleep in a door entrance (the symbol is on the inside, so the PCs won't know about it's existance until they trigger it by entering the building)


(And don't pull your punches, people who wants to massacre a village for no good reason, deserve to be obliterated.)

[Citizen Joe]

Actually, regular smoke helps with detecting invisible people. It would even the grounds to the effect that everyone would have cover but no longer total cover. Combine itching toxins in the smoke that affect mammals and the party becomes slowly disabled. Another trick is to use nasty updrafts and wind currents around the camp. So if they fly in, they get blown right out. This could even be a natural effect, which explains why the kobolds chose that spot. Maybe its a natural volcanic vent or something. Add dire vultures to the mix that use the thermals for height and hunt by smell... suddenly the invisible flying thing becomes a hindrance, as you become a flying buffet.

[Saithis Bladewing]

it says in races of the dragon, the ultimate book concerning kobolds.

That shouldn't mean they should be BANNED from the class, just that (assuming they use Races of Dragons kobolds to begin with) their SOCIETY should ban the class. It doesn't mean that a kobold raised elsewhere wouldn't have access to the class. But this isn't the time nor place to argue that, I suppose.

They've got no heavy tanks then (the Warmage can do his part, but he's not exactly a heavyweight compared to what you could get). Whatever you do, don't rely entirely on ranged attacks, as those can be negated relatively easy if they've prepared as such. I agree that having the kobolds retreat constantly behind numerous layers of traps and dashing in and out of tunnels would be the most sure-fire way of giving you a hope of making it dangerous for them.

[Arbitrarity]

If wind blows flying PC's (With inertia of themselves, acceleration of fly) out, then it's probably blowing kobolds off the ground.

Partial downward acceleration: 20 ft/second for PC's, (assuming one move action used to go down), at 8x mass of kobolds. Does gravity accelerate at 40 ft/second? (to adjust for lesser surface area) No? Then kobolds are being blown away as PC's are. Badly. Way before, as a matter of fact.

Physics kill catgirls.

[Runolfr]

The dragon lives a few miles away in a cave. I've already designed that place. One of my plans was that the Kobolds go rushing off to get Papa Dragon to defend them.

Message spell, Whispering Wind, or something else that a Sorcerer kobold could cast to bring their protector on short notice. A dragon on the wing will not be a fun encounter for even flying party members (assuming the dragon itself is a suitable challenge for you L9 party members).

[Keld Denar]

Read some tactics used by the Vietcong during the later parts of the Vietnam War. Have a whole network of tunnels under the village where kobalds can escape to, only to pop up 3 rounds later to snipe from another location. Use tall grass to conceal kobald sniper squads, sharpened sticks smeared with animal feces (fort saves for EVERYONE!), poisonous snakes held in baskets for a nasty suprise to anyone who opens them, and any number of other hit-and-run dirty tactics.

Keep the whole event in combat rounds, keeping track of when the end of each round is. Plan out a timetable of kobald reactions. For example, 1 round after the general alarm is sounded, nearby kobalds grab missile weapons and form groups. 5 rounds after alarm, larger contingeny traps are armed, tripwires set, pit traps readied. Areas which were once friendly squares are now hostile. 10 rounds after alarm, flying and mounted divisions converge on adventurer location, buffed with bless, maybe prayer, and a couple potions (bull str, heroism). Maybe there are kobald wardrummers (bards) who bolster nearby kobalds from hidden places (say, inside of hollow trees). 20 rounds after alarm sounds, dragon shows up to protect his "chosen" people, breath weapon first, ask questions later.

Make sure you keep track of any buffs the PCs put up. If used during the initial assault, most rounds/level buffs will have worn off when el dragon shows up. If the warmage blows most of his spells taking out kobald snipers, he'll have less juice left over for the dragon. If the ninja separates from the party to do ninja stuff, have him get surrounded by small batalion of longspear wielding kobalds backed by a sorc with see invis and glitterdust. There are lots of things you can do, and it would be funny to see what happens to the players when they "kick-down-the-door" and get their butts handed to them in slings by a troupe of well prepared kobalds.

[Saithis Bladewing]

If wind blows flying PC's (With inertia of themselves, acceleration of fly) out, then it's probably blowing kobolds off the ground.

Partial downward acceleration: 20 ft/second for PC's, (assuming one move action used to go down), at 8x mass of kobolds. Does gravity accelerate at 40 ft/second? (to adjust for lesser surface area) No? Then kobolds are being blown away as PC's are. Badly. Way before, as a matter of fact.

Physics kill catgirls.

A wizard did it.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/SaithisBladewing/Sarda.jpg

[Citizen Joe]

Oooh... another idea. Use rotating blast doors within the tunnels to prevent fireballs from annihilating the whole colony. Press on one side and it spins easily so a kobold could get through with a free action. However, if force is applied to both sides of the pivot, it would give resistance, thus causing a fireball to blow back in the face of the caster. Also, make all the passages small sized, so that medium creatures are obstructed but not small.

Assume that the kobolds hunt much larger creatures in some manner, usually luring them into traps. With this assumption, you can start setting up traps with logical reasons for their existence. So a passage might be set up where walls swing up revealing a mass of reach weapons that dart out with surprise round. Note that invisibility might eliminate sneak attack damage. See also invisibility purge, it would go out a minimum of 25' radius and last at least 5 minutes. Grated drain tunnels beneath the main passages may be allow for a priest or someone with a wand to run through, purging the invisibility of the party just before the reach trap gets sprung.

You should give the party ONE clear chance to get away with a bloody nose, if they proceed you're looking at a TPK. At that point, start picking off the characters one at a time and strike at their weak spots. Tanks would get dumped into deep sewers to drown, casters would get stuck into smoke filled rooms so they choke, rogues get to face off against a pack of guard dogs... or better yet, oozes (no sneak attack)... pet gelatinous cube to strip away everything but metal... refining tool.

[Zim]

Kobolds are really savvy little buggers. Living on the plains as these ones do (?:smalleek: ?), they are expect airborne predators to come swooping in to carry off the odd kobold or livestock. I think that a little anti-aircraft fire is in order.

Tanglefoot bags and nets fired by special launchers could be nasty. Nets too! In this campaign I'm reading about, there's this ballistae that fires a barbed harpoon attached to a chain and a counterweight that drags flyers screaming into a chasm. This could be modified to fit the scenario (spring loaded reel to pull them to the ground by the harpoon). Ouch!

As for dealing with invisible attackers, it'd be reasonable to give some of the kobold spellcasters See Invisibility or Invisibilty Purge. Silence is also a real bummer for spellcasters, so a flying kobold with the spell on it could be directed (via Message or hand signals) to engage invisible targets.

Since kobolds are often allied with a powerful dragon (as is the case in your campaign), they could be responsible for the care of one of its young. The blindsense and breathweapon will be a big help for spotting hidden foes and dealing with flyers. I also recommend subbing one of its feats for Blindfight.

Just some random thoughts. But seriously, plains Kobolds? They're migrating, right?

PS Crikey! How many posts does it take to get promoted from Pixie?

[Citizen Joe]

If wind blows flying PC's (With inertia of themselves, acceleration of fly) out, then it's probably blowing kobolds off the ground.


Actually, most of those currents (see sailing) occur above 10 feet thus very clear of short kobolds. This would make it difficult for the dragon to directly attack within the area, but it could land and go in on foot.

[SpikeFightwicky]

If you're going to be giving any of the kobolds more than 1 CR (through PC classes), you can get an edge by replacing one level of PC class with 4 levels of NPC class. According to the MM, a Level 4 Warrior/Level 1 fighter is the same CR as a Level 2 fighter (CR 2), though the former has much better combat prowess. Same goes with adept levels and spellcasting (especially with cleric/druid/favored soul, which shares Wisdom as a spellcasting stat for Adept). That way you can get more bang from your kobold buck.

[Wraithy]

if you do go for levels of PC classes, I reccomend the scout. only strong kobolds though (10str), using shortbows. if they have shot on the run they become amazingly powerful, if you replace dodge with expiditious dodge (races of the wild), then whenever they move 40ft or more they gain +2 to AC. make them wear chain shirts, this combined with their dex bonus, their natural armour, their size, and the benefits from feats and skirmish, make these kobolds very difficult to his with an AC almost allways over 22. three or four of these kobolds should be a real pain to your adventurers, this can be made worse by giving them pre-poisoned arrows, nothing too nasty, just something to decrease their primary score a few points.

[mostlyharmful]

back in the dark ages here on earth an invader had to build up ten to one odds before assualting a defended fortification, your group may be several levels above the Kobold avarage but still. Walking into a village of the worlds best trapmakers and then crawling through their underground stronghold should really push them, on endurance not on any single attack. attrition of hp, spells and magic items against a hundred little ambushes should set them up, the dragon is almost too much. the CR of a kobold is for meeting one (never going to happen), unprepared (never going to happen), in an area it doesn't know (Nuh-uh) that is comfortable for medium sized PCs to move around in (HA!).

Just cause they can job'em one-on-one doesn't help if the little $*&%s! won't come out and play like good little chunks of xp.

[Dervag]

Actually, most of those currents (see sailing) occur above 10 feet thus very clear of short kobolds. This would make it difficult for the dragon to directly attack within the area, but it could land and go in on foot.Or, given how massive it is, blast right through a curtain of heavy winds that would send human fliers reeling through the skies.

[AslanCross]

Maybe the Kobold chieftain could be a sorcerer/Red Dragon Disciple. :D

[Elana]

I wonder about the size of the kobold camp.

Iw we assume 100 standard kobolds, 10 warriors of level 3, 2 warriors of level 6 and a sorcerer 9 as leader we have an ECL of 13, assuming they would be unprepared.

(For example a temporary camp for the day made by refugees who will continue their travel at nightfall.)

If you have more kobolds, or an actually settlement the ECL goes up so far that your PCs will end up as food.

(Greater invisibilty just don't last long enough to give them enough protection.)

When they finally flee, remember that a sling has a reach of 500' (sure at a -20 to attack, but a roll of 20 is still a hit, so with 100 kobolds you get at least 5 hits per round untill they managed toget more than 500 ' away)

[Ethdred]

Interesting situation. Bear in mind that this camp will probably be a very large area - especially as smart kobolds will spread out to negate area of effect spells.

Someone mentioned the old smeared stick pit trap - of course, in D&D we have access to much more interesting poisons than the Viet Cong did, so go to town with lots of different effects.

Flying into the camp may negate all your traps, but by the time the party have finished the fight, looted the place and are ready to leave, they will be walking out - that's when the pit traps come in to play! No reason the little guys can't get revenge from beyond the grave!

I liked the idea of having some 'defenceless' kobolds around to give a moral dimension to the fight. But also, how about having some captives/slaves in the camp - the party can't just carpet bomb the place as they have to rescue the innocents. (XP bonus for every one rescues, corresponding penalty for every one that dies)

Flying - how about having tanglefoot bags that are modified to be attached to a nearby tree - so if you are hit you are tangled and also can only fly in a circle (if at all). Obviously lots of missile weapons as others have said - be a bit imaginative with this, rather than just giving everyone crossbows. Use slings to launch thunderstones, alchemist's fire etc etc a decent range. Give them some flying allies (or flying kobolds!). Remember, at that level at least the head sorceror should have access to Fly to cast on some of his champions.

Give the sorcerors (and the UMDing thieves) lots of wands - esp glitterdust, obscuring mist (we can't see you but you can't see us!), summons (for flyers or those that can find the invisible), grease - but also direct damage like magic missile - despite what is said about it as a bad spell for PCs, given the caster heavy party, there has to be value in having a sniper disrupting the spells! And, of course, healing healing and a bit more healing. Nothing more annoying for PCs than putting the smack down on a big bad, only for him to escape and come back healed up. You could actually have the class level kobolds attacking in rotation, so one fresh group covers the retreat of another group as they go off to recover.

Dealing with invisibility - obviously glitterdust, but also bags of soot/chalk dust which fill an area and outline everyone in it. And, of course, you can use invisibility as well.

We all think of kobold casters as sorcerors, but how about chucking a couple of warlocks into the mix - you could get some interesting invocations and the UMD would add to the fun.

Silence spells are good, especially if cast onto a summoned critter (like a hawk) with instructions to stay out of melee

Assuming you are set on having the camp above ground (rather than just being a front for the tunnels), there will still be some undergroun element. There should be some hidden pits from whence kobolds spring out to be behind the party. Also, the huts/tents/whatever should be linked by tunnels, or at least have escape tunnels - with a few appropriate traps, probably more geared to delaying than damaging (though if you can do both...). And remember - there is no reason the kobolds would have wasted time digging these tunnels to be PC sized - they will be kobold sized, so all those medium sized people will have to squeeze their way through. In fact, they are likely to have deliberately built in bits that are a tight squeeze even for a kobold. And then left a way of unleashing a swarm or two on the fool who tries to squeeze through afterwards. And meanwhile, another load of kobolds have followed the PCs down the tunnel with longspears and such.

Give the kobolds some interesting allies as well - that's always fun, especially if the party have tooled up for the one enemy type (though with those spontaneous casters that's probably not so much of an issue)

As someone said, keep a track of buffs - if you make the camp big enough and tricky enough, even minute/level spells will start to wear off long before they have flushed out all the resistance.

Oh, this could be so much fun - enjoy and know that you will never hear the phrase 'they're only kobolds' again

[Ethdred]

When they finally flee, remember that a sling has a reach of 500' (sure at a -20 to attack, but a roll of 20 is still a hit, so with 100 kobolds you get at least 5 hits per round untill they managed toget more than 500 ' away)

Or have the slingers use splashing ammo (acid etc) so even when they miss they do some damage. OK, only 1 HP - but 100*1HP when you're already beaten up..... And that's every round, and they will take a long time to get away over that broken, trapped ground

[giblina]

Kobolds have the "light blindness" racial penalty. They're stunned for 1 round when moving from dark to lit conditions, and are dazzled after that (-1 hit penalty).

I can't understand why you'd have creatures like that living in the plains.

No... the best solution is to hope that your players ask why kobolds would be living on plains like that, because if they attack they'll find it's actually a permanent illusion by some vicious spellcaster (dragon or otherwise) and their lack of suspicion about such wierd behaviour for kobolds put them into a really lousy circumstance.

[Falrin]

Trees:

Disguised platforms with a few rogue archers on.
Better disguised platforms with reach weapon fighters on when somebody tries to get in.
A trapped rope/ladder to get in (sport missing, glued, greased, ...)
If the trees are big enough, a hole in them to get in the underground part.
When the fight starts, not much kobolds on the platform. The underground troops should start filling the hidden platforms as fast a possible through the holed tree.
Nets, Tanglefootbags, Alchemist fire and other easy throwing stuff.


Tunnels:

They are small. Even more, I give my kobolds the 'tiny-build' feature so they can get through very small gaps.
Tunnels = Pit trap. Fall down in a room, kobolds poke you from small, connected tunnels.
Fake big tunnel. Get a big, stone building on the edge of the camp. The PC's will investigate and find a tunnel with wooden pillars (mine-like) they can go through. When they reach point A they smell oil. Now collapse the entrance Building and get a fire going. Or just collapse the whole tunnel. Or send in a inhaled poison. Or keep em there to suffocate. Or flood it.
Play whack the mole. Lots of small gaps to pop up from & scout kobolds should do nicely.

Tactics:

A small magic item should be sufficient to warn the dragon the first round of combat.
Try to get the PC's in trapped places. A pit trap is no trouble, but when you fall and get swarmed with kobolds it is.
Hit & Run. Make lot of scouts, rogues and rangers. When fleeing get to a pre-set location filled with traps/ambushes.
Smokesticks, camouflage, hidden platforms & tunnels; do everything to keep unnoticed. A good start is provoking the PCs with some though, but fast kobolds who start running away. The rest of the camp should stay hidden while only shooting from the back. Shoot & Hide.
Scouts & hunters should form a first shield. Especially when the PCs are not carefully they should get spotted long before they reach the camp.