Kobolds: Traps and Chambers

this video is sponsored by the Kickstarter campaign for Dungeon X tiles a set of modular dungeon tiles for all your dungeon delving needs I honestly wish that every tile set had larger spaces and actually held together when you moved it it's good for hiding parts of the dungeon until adventures round the bend and with simple textures it's really easy to paint or glue stuff to go check out the campaign but also watch my video you've seen goblins smack down a set of seasoned adventurers and how they lay down their sets of traps to serve different needs but kobolds are quite a bit different let's quickly analyze their culture to understand how and why they fight much like goblins kobolds know they're scrawny weaklings who can't win a one-on-one fight with a rat I mean neither can i but that's not the point the point is they're fully aware of their weaknesses which makes them more dangerous than any insecure high schooler as a result they compensate for physical weakness with clever traps and organized tactics but that's where their similarities end kobolds are sort of like borrowers they hide beneath towns and cities sneaking through the night and gathering up lost or broken goods to use down below but they're greedy little dragon bastards and go out of their way to snag some loose gold or no I don't know all your magic items they don't pick fights and run away from any scraps outside a home which keeps them safely under the radar but three little vices cause adventurers to delve down and storm the tiny Drake's homefront firstly they're tiny dragon thieves who want to gather a hoard they snag gold because it's shiny fancy gems cuz they're also shiny and Hot Wheels and all your left socks they grab magic items in hopes of using it to free their God Kurt because he was trapped by the gnome God Karl but garl this is their second vice being a racist they hate gnomes for what Karl did to Kurt and jump gnomes like a band of scrawny street thugs when given the chance the third reason an adventurer would want to fight kobolds is their draconic worship if an evil dragon is in the area you can bet your juicy ass that the kobolds served that dragon in case you didn't read the video or the thumbnail this video is about fighting kobolds so for one of the three reasons above or if you're in a weird campaign where kobolds are war mongers who drive around giant cave networks like machines of war you're taking the fight to them as a little side note kobolds will never take the fight to you unless you are exactly three gnomes around a campfire this is where we lay out our combat I'll detail why they have this layout and why they take certain actions during the whole shebang this isn't just a combat map this is their entire colony the top left quarter is two sleeping chambers lined thickly with sleeping mats the eggs are kept here warmed by a small fire to the top right is a mushroom farm and a deep ravine down below is a large chamber that's being mined for ores to the bottom left is a kiln and a crafting room and the throne room which is an altar to their God it's also where they keep all their treasure gauging the population based on the size of the sleeping chamber we'll say there are about 20 in this tribe which when facing kobolds matters very little for the little scaly bastards is as deadly as dealing with a hundred because each one builds traps and runs away with the populace and the map covered it's time for traps starting with the sleeping quarter let's think like kobolds the number one tool they use to their advantage is their height and their weight every trap is triggered either by someone being too tall too heavy or manually by a kobold the first thing we'll do is flood the deeper parts of tunnels with water or oil oil pools can be ignited muddy water can hide Cal trips and bear traps as well as Hungry clippers moving into the sleeping chambers we'll put a pair of net traps when triggered by a heavier creature these things pull the victims 60 feet up in a specially made shoot away from combat here's a quick kobold thought process all the wealth I have is jewelry 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 centipedes so we have a couple of those too lastly in these rooms we have entry trip wires set just above a kobolds head that triggers a volley of poison darts from the about facing wall kobolds are great with bugs and rats and most tribes have learned to extract poisons for traps or weapons moving over we have a rickety bridge over a hundred and twenty foot deep ravine placed here is the defender known as Dave a very stupid kobold stationed as a trap destined to die for his people and because no one really liked him all that much he's been given a bell and a ring of thunder wave with one charge if intruders enter he is to ring the bell to lead them cross the bridge that will break under heavier circumstances and beckon for the adventurers to follow then launch them into the ravine down some walkways will put weak pottery filled with spiders and deadly mold in the mushroom farm output nothing but a visible rope near a shut exit door kobolds like dwarves can tell how sturdy a stone is just by looking at it so their homes look shabby but it's on purpose anyway pulling this rope causes two things to happen first the stone it rests in breaks and the walls to the chamber cave inward as well as the cave itself second at the far end of the rope in a box on the surface reveals an embarrassing photo of Spongebob at the Christmas party down here we'll add a collapsing dead end and all the overlapping tunnels are riddled with murder holes for kobolds to attack from above or below put more spiders over here another oil basin and a pit trap for good measure guarding the entries of the mine is a lazy pair of giant rats I'll prep a giant rolling boulder from this dead end below and put some hanging crates full of spiders and centipedes for the last quarter will add some classic collapsing tunnels and another muddy puddle in the crafting room near the kiln boiling bubbles of oil and water soak in its heat ready to be spilled with the exhaust vent from the kiln being the closest thing to give away the tribe they laced this chamber with alarm bells and dig below the soft earth here to place toxic spikes finally in the throne room we put all the treasure a bulk of jewelry and magic items offered to their God and deadfall support beams blocking each and every entry a kobold can slide right under it a giant paladin cannot well that's about as clever as I can get but give him a few hours I'd rigged the place to blow and add some more nets after following the Party druid a team of adventurers looking to recover their stolen wand of fireball and plethora of gold roll up to the scene here's a quick breakdown of the four souls a level six elven druid a level 5 human fighter a level 5 gnomes sorcerer and a level 6 half-orc cleric pretty fair and diverse alright that took exactly twice the amount of time to explain than the Goblin bit did but in any case on to the encounter it begins after the druid tracks down their lair and enters via an uncovered escape tunnel cautiously entering bow ready he spots this totally not goblin focused on crafting with a magic message sent off to his bros he knocks an arrow and starts the surprise round an arrow flies and anyone levels 6 or higher should do more than 5 damage this so the Cobell dies the gnome follows up racing between the elfs legs and launching an acid splash the kiln worker barely avoids this kobold gets a chance to react at the top of round 1 making a note of the gnome before racing off to alert the tribe on the way he collapses his tunnel the human fighter holds his turn until the damn elf moves out of the doorway lucky for him the Druids turned drops and he pushes into the room to kill the last little boy piece of cake however this entry sets off the bells and alarms well who knows the fighter steps in and moves toward the only remaining tunnel passing under a few murder holes he gets bombarded by boiling oil and a set of arrows with a pained yell both the party and more kobolds are alerted to the issue at hand in the room ahead eggs are gathered and rushed toward the nearest escape holes the wizard is up and races past the fighter to I the next chamber as she passes under the murder holds a pair of flaming arrows target her and ignite the poor fighter in the next chamber he sees for kobolds racing out with baskets full of eggs amplified magic missiles fly into the room from his fingers downing two carriers and injuring another the survivors can in you their escape shouting racial slurs and making aware the gnomes location other kobolds race into the room with bows and Spears riddling the Wizards we have solid damage and then dashing back out the half-orc that you completely forgot about barely enters the scene and heals the fighter a bit infuriated and on fire the fighter storms into the next room accidentally triggering more traps firstly he trips the wire and earns more damage from poison needles not just for himself but also for our poor gnome then he steps into the net flying up 60 feet and igniting the rope the gnome pulling a spear out of her tiny chest steps into the room and waits for the cleric to follow also the druid kind of has to wait too because the orc is thick they both get taxed by the still active murder hole and finally group up they heal up and prep for the next round the fighter burning through the net then falls 60 feet and unconscious a pair of kobolds run back in target the gnome because they're still racist and then run away some good ol slow healing magic from the half-orc brings them back from the brink the half orcs luck runs out in this chamber as every other tunnel is much too small for their giant body dave's bell rings down the hall beckoning the party forward half mortalized our merry band lets the druid scout ahead and prep their actions to take out skittering kobolds the elf moves forward accidentally downing the gnome again with darts spotting dave and firing an arrow back at home base the party cautiously peers down silent halls devoid of kobolds for now the cleric spell slots run even lower as the gnome returns and the pair decided that the druid can handle themselves they duck under the tripwire and wade through some oil the druid is smart enough to cross the bridge as a lightweight snake making their way to the crossroads and reverting their form our beloved dunce twins reached some pots and everyone opens their presents at the same time a pair of brief fights and a couple of Conn saves leaves our fighter well under the weather and the lucky ass druid takes his first real nick of damage tracking the escape route the fighter sees footprints behind this door while the halfling gathers mushrooms for potion ingredients the final mistake leaves them both in a very heavy grave I got this rock after a 20-minute walk to the park because my car doesn't work anyway this perfectly timed boom of a structure caving in distracts the kobolds waiting above the druid long enough for him to pass by a murder hole unharmed after wading through some more oil and carefully passing more spider pots they enter the mine here we have three kobolds ready to drop some spiders and our rat friends dominating initiative the druid acts first and turns into a bear luckily for the druid bears scare the out of kobolds when you live in caves hiding from predators the one cave dwelling predator is a common fear he smashed the rat dead meets the kobold hole scaring the out of the other combatants those still alive run for their lives ending combat for our druid after scoping the scene he trades forms to continue his search at this point unbeknownst to the remaining adventurers there are no more kobolds in this lair our triumphant failure of an exterminator carefully enters the treasure room just barely avoiding the support beams gathering their lost treasures this hero walks back to oh wait no he's dead as a closing note I know this encounter works mostly based on probabilities or assumptions if you want to clone the encounter for your game just do it see how it turns out if you learned a thing about kobolds here's another one they all work together they're more organized than goblins and each one has a task to do aside from employing traps and pets working together makes you more of a threat which means communism is the one true way now you've really learned something [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Runesmith

Views: 653,832

Keywords: Dnd, dungeons and dragons, 5e, 5th edition, tutorial, tabletop, game, tabletop games, dice, role play, role playing, rpg, easy listening, meme, memes, trending, roleplay, series, guide, dungeon master, help, explanation, explained, asmr, universe, D&D universe, dnd universe, quick, fast, kobold, kobolds, dragon, drake, goblin, goblins, combat, cave, trap, traps, tribe

Id: J5MRc-nueYQ

Length: 13min 18sec (798 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 20 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/derelten]

Now is some quality kobolding

[u/NickMax30025]

This was hilarious