BlackOpal12
2008-05-14, 01:54 PM
So, I've volunteered to DM a relatively short (at least, at this point, I expect it to be short) role-reversal campaign. Namely, the PCs are all playing members of a kobold tribe, defending their warren against a normal sized party of "skilled adventurers."
The fluff is fairly mundane (well, mundane for D&D, at least) - they're kobolds, living in a warren that forms part of the outer layer of a mountain containing a young-ish dragon. They venerate the dragon, and, as expected, on good days, the dragon couldn't give two copper about them - on bad days, they're snack food. As it stands, though, their warren is the easiest route between the outside world and the dragon's lair - which means that all the would-be dragonslayers/princess-savers/horde-stealers tend to come knocking about the warren at inconvenient times. The party are 6 kobolds that, by virtue of surviving for a surprisingly long time, have learned some fairly neat tricks.
The crunch is likewise fairly straightforward - all PCs must be kobolds, ECL 5. Sources are basic core (PHB, DMG, MM1), with specific clearances given by me for other WOTC products (i.e., one of the players is using the Cloistered Cleric variant from UA). They've got character wealth by level, explained via "bits salvaged from prior adventures."
What I'm specifically looking for here are ideas about the actual adventuring party in question - the group is pretty light-hearted, although there's a lot of really twisted humor, as well. I'm trying to think of fun concepts for the invaders, who I peg as being a few levels higher, for the sake of their survival (I don't doubt my players' abilities to create a "Tucker's Kobolds" kind of situation, but they're not powergamers, so the game is more about flavor than maximum damage output).
Right now, I'm framing the group around the primary dungeon-crawler, conceptually, a Gnomish Were-Badger Ranger (Favored Enemy: Kobold, of course). I like this guy - not only does he reinforce the idea that all gnomes are horrible, horrible little monsters, but he might actually make for a real challenge... innate burrow speeds are really cruel in an underground warren :smallamused:
Anyone have other fun for adventurers that are playable, interesting, and just far enough from normal to be surprising?
The fluff is fairly mundane (well, mundane for D&D, at least) - they're kobolds, living in a warren that forms part of the outer layer of a mountain containing a young-ish dragon. They venerate the dragon, and, as expected, on good days, the dragon couldn't give two copper about them - on bad days, they're snack food. As it stands, though, their warren is the easiest route between the outside world and the dragon's lair - which means that all the would-be dragonslayers/princess-savers/horde-stealers tend to come knocking about the warren at inconvenient times. The party are 6 kobolds that, by virtue of surviving for a surprisingly long time, have learned some fairly neat tricks.
The crunch is likewise fairly straightforward - all PCs must be kobolds, ECL 5. Sources are basic core (PHB, DMG, MM1), with specific clearances given by me for other WOTC products (i.e., one of the players is using the Cloistered Cleric variant from UA). They've got character wealth by level, explained via "bits salvaged from prior adventures."
What I'm specifically looking for here are ideas about the actual adventuring party in question - the group is pretty light-hearted, although there's a lot of really twisted humor, as well. I'm trying to think of fun concepts for the invaders, who I peg as being a few levels higher, for the sake of their survival (I don't doubt my players' abilities to create a "Tucker's Kobolds" kind of situation, but they're not powergamers, so the game is more about flavor than maximum damage output).
Right now, I'm framing the group around the primary dungeon-crawler, conceptually, a Gnomish Were-Badger Ranger (Favored Enemy: Kobold, of course). I like this guy - not only does he reinforce the idea that all gnomes are horrible, horrible little monsters, but he might actually make for a real challenge... innate burrow speeds are really cruel in an underground warren :smallamused:
Anyone have other fun for adventurers that are playable, interesting, and just far enough from normal to be surprising?