"Kobolds will never take the fight to you, unless you're exactly 3 gnomes around a fire"No more... No less... 3 shalt be the number of the gnomes, and the number of the gnomes shall be 3
@@TrueLimeyhoney once 3(being the 3rd number be reached) then, lobbest though the holy kobold of death, at the gnome, who, being evil in their sight, shall snuff it
just imagine chasing some kobold runt through a mine shaft and suddenly getting caught head first into a snare, your body maintaining momentum and flooring you.
Imagine a tribe of Kobolds who's magic users all have the Mold Earth, Shape Water and Control Flames cantrips? Attacking them in their own lair would be near suicidal!
Ah... Kobolds. The first spellcaster I ever played was a Kobold Wizard named Briik. He got kicked out of his clan for being on a totally different page than everyne else, so he learned conjuration so he could have his own friends! RIP buddy...
@@defensivekobra3873 Sorcerers. Sorcerer kobolds are revered as having dragon's blood, but they're actually kinda common. A kobold wizard is an odd choice, especially if that particular kobold isn't summoning water and food for other kobolds as an adept.
I think the one thing that would trip this encounter up is if the party starts looking for traps, instead of blindly stumbling into all of them. For instance, a rouge or any character w/ high investigation can usually bypass almost all of these passive traps, so the only real threats would be the collapsing caverns. I think you made an incredibly balanced encounter that will punish a stupid party and will reward smart, careful play
I have a very small issue with how easy it is to find most traps. Anyone proficient with perception can pretty much passively spot all but masterwork traps. I guess, the way I'd see it, traps should be immune to passive perceptions.
@@Runesmith Have to agree with you, just because your passive perception says youd see it, im more of the mind that if you're not at least keeping an eye out for it ( ie, telling me that you're looking for anything weird ) you don't notice them. Id also not find it out of the realm of possibility that the kobolds make their traps look like part of their home.
That party had it coming, they didn't constantly check for traps, they didn't communicate well and they split the party immediately. Sounds accurate to me.
I feel like Glittergold totally calls himself an "Epic Prankster™" (he spells out the trademark) and says "Get pranked bro" whenever he does literally anything, accompanied with unironical dabbing.
Bro they’re just trying to live their lives and some group of adventurers just waltz into their home. I like how their first priority was to get the eggs out of there it really shows character
Additional notes: via squeezing rules, kobolds can fit into and move through spaces fit for Tiny creatures. They can also travel comfortably through tunnels designed for _Small_ creatures. They will use this.
Or if said Kobold is drunk and rolls a Nat 20 to stab you for 16 out of your 22 health when you tried to grab him because he was going the wrong way because a voice in your head told you to.
4:03 Here's a quick Kobold thought process: _"All the wealth I have is jewlery I wear_ _an intruder would assume I kept it in a footlocker like some kind of _*_idiot._* _I'm gonna make a footlocker, and then fill it with_ _uhhh-_ *_centipedes!"_*
@@secretname2670 I typed it out, which took a not insignifigant time investment, especially since I did it on mobile. Besides, I prefer for people to click on a timestamp knowing what it's for, rather than blindly fumbling about through the comments for that one specific one they want to chuckle about.
Guess it only takes as low as 8 INT to forget that living things die if stuck in one place without living necessities. Same for the crates at 6:04 filled with a bunch of now dead spiders and centipedes that were placed a year before adventurers finally stumbled upon the cave!
@@cgkase6210 I'll grant you that! How about a setup where scavengers come to excavate after recent failed adventures? Perhaps the scavengers tipped the party off in the first place knowing they would fail so they can swoop in and take the spoils.
@@SteveNeubauer Hmm... a setup of a band of scavengers excavating a warren as the kobolds try to reset and reexcavate... seems a lot like defending someone as they excavate, but it would provide some decent challenge to both sides... Especially since the kobolds can maybe dig faster than someone with a pickaxe and shovel. Also, any unused traps can ruin someone's day.
@@raymanx187 you are most welcome. I suggest a DC of 10-13 to smell the kerosene with over a 15 to tell it's coming from the support beams. Of course this trap only reallly works with torches or if someone is throwing fire magic around.
Really, the traps themselves count as "enemies" in this scenario, in terms of determining the difficulty. The traps usually only go off the one time, which makes them totally on par with a weak creature that can die in one hit.
The first computer game "Pool of Radiance" had a kobold lair that killed entire party (6 maxed characters levels 6-9) 9 times out of 10. Glad to see they still got it.
One time my DM had this NPC follow us around trying to lure us into a trap. When we caught up to him, it turned out to be 3 kobolds stacked on top of each other while wearing a large cloak.
The traps we use arent great but definitely are inconveniences such as starting fights and forceing u to go thru a crowd or slowing you by standing in the way of a door thats the only way to get to a part of the school
Kobolds That reminds me of Dwarven Fortress. Where if 90% is "generic" races and 10% or less races is stuff like kobolds, goblins and such, the age is called "Age of Fairy Tales" Now the developer of it tested it and his first age of fairy tales was elves, dwarves and like one kobold cave somewhere. He then said "Well I suppose it's gonna be a lot of fairy tails about stolen shit"
Now I want to have a Kobold lair with a room flooded ankle-deep in olive oil, with a single Kobold wearing a leather jacket and aviator shades, smoking a cigarette.
I've never been a fan of "Rocks fall, everyone dies" so I alqays make the ground cave in before a boulder rolls over the hole, so they are trapped until someone finds a way to either get them out or they die of starvation (or if im feeling especially gigaxian, a hungry rat swarm)
I don't understand why people hate goblins (the usual ones I don't feel safe around the hobgoblins and the bugbears seem like assholes tho some might be nice) and kobolts because they might smell but they are adorable and clever
Ive played a game called ddo and for what ive seen there, they would indeed be a very good asset as a friend. Also, they have a lot of potential to be a great danger and good warriors.
Hrrng, dungeon master. I'm trying to get back my +1 short sword from the kobolds, but I'm dummy thicc, and the clap of my ass cheeks keeps setting off spider traps
Yeah, i had my first tpk after watching that video. My players enjoyed it nevertheless Also it was a one session thing due to new players and not enough old players
Aww crap, now that someone said it, I definitely have to make a WW2 era D&D game with communist kobolds holding out Kurtgrad with a ton of traps and wave tactics.
Okay real talk If you dont want to write an entire one shot from scratch and want source material literally no one will get I HIGHLY suggest a 1977 animated film called "wizards". Magical critters stage a war after finding lost ww2 tech and propoganda
Never throw those little shits at an inexperienced party unless they have a Paladin with Cure Disease at the ready. Their low CR is a bold faced lie and I’ve seen almost a total party wipe triggered by a singe Kobold launching a pot full of the things at the packed together party.
Even better: Encounter were it starts with a bunch of goblins using the help action to distract the party, to help the bugbears in the trees when making their suprise javelin attacks
United forever in friendship and labor our mighty republic will ever endure. The Kobold people will live through the ages to all generations our tribes secure. Long, live our Kolbold motherland. Built, by the tribemen;s mighty hand. Long live our people united and free. Strong, in a labyrinth tried by fire. Long, may our crimson flag inspire. Shinning in glory for all to see.
Fun fact adventurers are the bad guys when going to exterminate the local kobolds, even when your gnomes just leave the area then problem solved. No save the yet born yappy scale bois!
PLEASE DO ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS LIKE THIS!!! Great visual representation of what can be done. I love it and need more. Anyone who knows of any 3.5e videos like this id GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!!!!!
This has to be my fav vid of yours I have seen so far. You mix lore with practical dungeon design and actually make it a real habitat that is being defended and not just a fun house of arbitrary traps. This is lovely. Moar! Thanks, comrade. XD
Mate when i saw "Kobolds" i immediately was thinking of Kobolds ate my baby, the greatest, funniest Pen and paper RPG to be played (as a GM, the players always die)
At the end I would just like to mention in the Forgotten Realms solar system there is a planet where the Communist Lizards are constantly fighting with the Democratic Aarakrocas while the dragons just chill and watch.
For me I replace the falling rock traps that instantly kill a partymember to trapping them inside and they gotta take a very long time trying to dig themselves out, usually not a fan of just "Oh I pull the rope" "Now you dead"
I love how simply being an inspired DM can make even the weakest of creatures a horrible threat its great! I feel like in general just being aware of lore makes everything i as a dm can throw at you more deadly ...
Something I do with my kobolds is that they take on the traits and color of the dragon they serve such as white kobold will act like a barbarian running into battle with the biggest weapon he can find or green kobold being a wizard using spells and poison same for metallic dragons with bronze kobolds acting like soldiers marching in unison so on and so on this gives kobolds more variety and clues what dragons are in the area.
would be neat to have a whole campaign where all of your players are kobolds and they have to help out their cave network. so they go on tiny adventures to find loot and come back to build up their nest.
I'm working on a composite character I'm calling "Kobold-tron". Its a small kobold hive mind that shares resources and a single class (but different subclasses)
This reminds me of a great chapter in Dave Hargrave's "Arduin Grimoire". Where there is a description of an encounter by an experienced party with "Tucker's Kobolds"! Which sent the party on a mad dash to "escape" to a DEEPER part of the dungeon to escape them! Great stuff. Love the channel!
I have been running D&D since I was in middle school, so around sixteen years. I have learned so much about dungeon design just from this kobold dungeon you made. Granted, I've never had a 'mentor' to learn from, but this feels like one of those big moments that is going to step my game up a lot. Thanks man! Love your videos.
I used your goblin strategy and took out a level 6 party of 6 with complete ease, the barbarian fell into every trap in the ambush and so did the monk. It was wonderful. I am excited to use your kobold strategy in the future, i did something similar in the past. I had a wounded kobold on a lighting bolt trap and if the party couldn't understand him or tried to move him without disarming the hidden trap, kaboom! they avoided it but it was still fun. Also had a room they put barrels of oil in and sealed the doors and blew everything in there up, luckily thanks to a very high perception check they found a hidden door and got out.
I feel like this *kinda* falls apart when the party doesn't immediately stop, huddle up, and throw out perception rolls every 5 steps the moment they run into the first trap. That and the splitting of the party. I have played in *no* games where the party would willingly split up for any reason. It is a very good showcase of what a Kobold colony would do to their home base, though!
And that's where the tunnels made for small creatures, full of murderholes come in. If you stop and huddle up, you become an easy target for the poison darts, poisoned crossbow bolts, and possibly even simple bombs the kobolds have made.
You'd be surprised how easy it is for a good DM to get a party to split up. Once you've been at it long enough, you don't even need to try at it all that hard, you play the personalities of the characters. A lot of parties are... very, very easy to split. Like, the problem for the DM is how to keep them from doing that. It's rare to run into a group that *adamantly* refuses to ever split the party in my experience, and I've been a Forever DM for over 30 years.
Me: chaotic good rogue Hey there kobold lets make a deal you do what i say and you get these shiny gems say no ill kill you - and that kids was how i got myself a little minion
You forgot that all of the hallways are 3 feet tall, forcing the adventurers to crawl as kobolts are stabbing them with long spears as they crawl down the tunnel.
This is a good setup for a oneshot, or if you're legit trying to kill your party, I prefer painful joke traps. Ex: I had my party hear a loud SMACK ( as a kobold banged two pieces of wood together) just before they rounded a corner in a dark cave, peering around it they see a ladder leading up to a trap door. Hoping to chase the kobold down, or up in this case, my rogue climbs up the ladder and opens the door.... Whereupon a very disgruntled skunk fell on his face. Jar full of bees over an ajar door. Etc etc.
Im currently playing a kobold barbarian who was adopted into a gnome samurai clan when he was a baby and thinks he is a gnome however he can't read Very well So when he decided to become a self tought samurai by reading in the library he skipped all the complicated Bushido books and only read the manga thinking they are just as good so now I have an anime kobold barbarian who thinks he is a gnome samurai and it is just the greatest.
Dude. All of my characters always want to play rogue. Some for different reasons but still. Edit: Also; rogues aren't always edgy. Two words my friend. Swashbuckler subclass. YOU CAN BE JACK SPARROW!!!
I don't think the party would appreciate a TPK to Kobolds. At least, my party would probably accuse me of TRYING to kill them and vote me out of the DM seat. That's where I disagree with my party. They all think that the DM should challenge the players without a real threat of death. Sure, death can happen, but they think that encounters should be designed with the party's nigh absolute success in mind. I think that the world should be built as difficult as the world would be, and if the party is foolish enough to go into a place under-levelled, they are simply asking to die. Encounters are as difficult as the enemies would actually be. I don't like nerfing an entire encounter because the party went somewhere too early. They ALSO think that the difficulty of encounters should be changed based on how much they have prepared; say they come up with a great plan, then the encounter should be left as is. If they decide to walk ass-backwards into a dragons lair at level 4, then I should nerf the dragon so they still succeed, despite their terrible planning and sheer stupidity in going into the Northreach Mountains at level 4, rather than level 20.
...this is a kobold den.this is quite literally the lowest of lows of places you could go in a adventuring party.dont try to pull the "too low level" shit
Any group of adventurers who are lazy enough to keep stumbling into traps THIS MANY TIMES to where their fighter is downed without starting to check carefully at some point, deserves to be crushed by a cave in XD
I get two messages here: 1) Hunting anything smaller than an ice giant you go full on Goblin Slayer mode. 2) You're a sadist intentionally torturing your players ;)
he probably turns out to be just some normal ass kobald who died due to starvation years and years ago, their skeleton still wherever the hell they were kept to rot
The first creature i killed in dnd ever was a kobold. It became a inside joke. The kobold name was Phile, *Phile the Misfortunit* he is destin to dye in every multiverce. As well he is connected to the othere selfs by dream. So he has nightmares of his death in diffrent uninerse. In the diffrent rralitys he can be a reagule kolbold to hero. I even made him a player character with scizophronia from his nightly terrors. Whay a way to remmember ur first kill I say lol
