Talon Bracers vs a Dragonwrought Kobold (aka the Basilisk)

[cure]

I am trying to develop the scourge of the Falkovian east, the infamous kobold leader known as the Basilisk. I am operating on the thesis that he has cultivated much misinformation about himself and is in fact a sorcercer of significant and growing power rather than a hulking kobold with a steroid and growth hormone addiction.

Being a rare dragonwrought kobold, his type is in fact dragon and this has two interesting little quirks that I need to sort out.

The first is that he is immune to all magic targetting humanoids since that is not his type. Which brings us to the magical bracers that are issued to every Talon. They are designed to give the wearer considerable magical resistance and to oblige his/her utter obedience to Vlad. Into their making go the spells bestow curse and charm person. Now the Basilisk has a nice little collection of these bracers and the bones that go with them. And to my way of thinking, were he to try one on, he would (1) enjoy the magic resistance benefits, (2) would not become Vlad's willing servant or even unwilling servant since the charm person magic wouldn't work on him, (3) but might still suffer some ill effect tied up with the bestow curse. Thoughts?

Second, any thoughts on whether the spell Steal Size should be usable by a non-humanoid? The spell specifies that the target must be a humanoid. And it makes reference to Enlarge and Reduce which only are of consequence to humanoids. But it does not specify that the user must be humanoid. Thoughts?

Thanx.

[Jakob]

Hi cure,

My campaign is, sooner or later, going to move to Falkovnia (at least, my players will have to travel through the Falkenreich), and will have a meeting with the Basilisk. I tried to figure out who exactly the Basilisk was... My idea was pointing to a kobold rogue/fighter with the Draconic template (from Draconomicon).
I too have toyed about the "hulking kobold" rumor to be mere propaganda, both from the Spawn of the Lizards (a big kobold is much more frightening to the average Falkovnian soldier) and for the Falkovnian army ("We've been defeated by a small and crooked kobold" is a sure ticket for the "Impale the kid" merry-go-round).
That said...

The first is that he is immune to all magic targetting humanoids since that is not his type. Which brings us to the magical bracers that are issued to every Talon. They are designed to give the wearer considerable magical resistance and to oblige his/her utter obedience to Vlad. Into their making go the spells bestow curse and charm person. Now the Basilisk has a nice little collection of these bracers and the bones that go with them. And to my way of thinking, were he to try one on, he would (1) enjoy the magic resistance benefits, (2) would not become Vlad's willing servant or even unwilling servant since the charm person magic wouldn't work on him, (3) but might still suffer some ill effect tied up with the bestow curse. Thoughts?

Maybe the Basilisk ALREADY donned a set of bracers, and is now subject to a curse not unlike the one Vlad is suffering of: he cannot assemble a humanoid army that goes beyond the occasional raid on a military garrison or the quiet little hamlet, because of magic "filtering" through the bracer, making him "unwilling" to depose Drakov.
Just the first idea that came trough my mind.

That said, where can I find the dragonwrought template and the steal size spell?

[cure]

From "Races of the Dragon Designer Interview Interview by Bart Carroll and the Wizards of the Coast Community"

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dn ... 1a&pf=true

Dragonwrought Feat

Benefit: You are a dragon wrought kobold. Your type is dragon rather than humanoid, and you lose the dragonblood subtype. You retain all your other subtypes and your kobold racial traits. Your scales become tinted with a color that matches that of your draconic heritage. As a dragon, you are immune to magic sleep and paralysis effects. You have darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision. You gain a +2 racial bonus on the skill indicated for your draconic heritage on the table on page 103.

Steal Size is also from the Races of the Dragon.

Look throught the excerpts and web enhancements for great substitution classes for kobold rogues, rangers and fighters among other great stuff: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dn ... 1a&pf=true

[Jakob]

Hmmm... You know, I'm toying with creating the Basilisk's stats.
Give me some time.

Look throught the excerpts and web enhancements for great substitution classes for kobold rogues, rangers and fighters among other great stuff: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dn ... 1a&pf=true

I see you are a kobold lover like me.

[alhoon]

I see you are a kobold lover like me.

Do your girlfriends know you're into reptilian humanoids with scales?

IMC Kobolds are considered a normal demihuman race (goblins too). They are widespread throughout the Core and civilized selling their services as trapmakers. Especially in Darkon they usually work with Dwarves to create traps.

[Jakob]

Do your girlfriends know you're into reptilian humanoids with scales?

Meet my beloved.

IMC Kobolds are considered a normal demihuman race (goblins too). They are widespread throughout the Core and civilized selling their services as trapmakers. Especially in Darkon they usually work with Dwarves to create traps.

I see them as a "common" race (in Darkon and Falkovnia, at least), albeit one who despise humans and demihumans (much in a fantasy way)... But I admit the variation on the theme is much appreciated.
Did I ever tell you that my players, this Sunday, met in Viaki a pack of folkloric kobolds along with their "baron", a redcap?

[Jakob]

It seems questions and suggestions on individual campaigns are not well loved by the community.

Well, as I said, I was toying with making stats and background of the Basilisk. I was thinking about a swashbuckler/sorcerer or something along the line... But its stats would be subordinated to the background.

So, let's discuss about the Basilisk.

Yes, the Basilisk is one of my favourite NPCs of the setting.

[HuManBing]

Perhaps a particularly puny kobold with very weak physical stats, but a very strong set of mental stats to make up for it? The kobold would use hit-and-fade tactics, never giving Drakov the sort of open fight he wants.

The kobolds rarely lair at all in any one place, but if they absolutely had to, they use places that armored humans find impossible to get to. Inhospitable mountain ridges, deep caves with very low ceilings, even underground warren tunnels that the enemy can't access, are all possibilities.

Drakov's men have the advantage in polearms, horses, and armor. To stand any chance whatsoever, the kobolds would have to operate from forests and hills where horses can't go, polearms are too damn big, and armor slows you down more than it helps you.

If the kobolds can get their hands on some acid-producing creature (which probably wouldn't be difficult given the amount of time they spend in the fens and marshes) that would help even out the equipment discrepancy. Even masterwork armor won't last long in a protracted hail of acid bomb balloons thrown from slings.

How did the kobold leader get its name "The Basilisk"? Does it have any way of turning Flesh to Stone? Perhaps it can cast this spell? Or, more interestingly, perhaps it stumbled across a magical item with very limited charges and it was able to use this once or twice.

Now, the canny kobold knows the item's charges are coming to an end, so it must be very judicious about how it uses it. It would only ever try to use it if its own life were in danger.

Maybe there's one or two lizardmen involved somehow. Not many, just enough to strike fear into the Falkovnians who see them that "those puny lizards suddenly got some bigger friends!"

Or maybe even bigger friends! What if the kobolds tried to steal Ebb's eggs? Kobolds already like dragons, and if they could grab some of the dragon's eggs to hatch, then they have powerful allies further down the road. (Although they'd better keep looking over their shoulders to make sure Ebb doesn't fry them all.) Or perhaps the kobolds could bribe Ebb once in a while to help them out with particularly difficult missions - this could be as simple as casting a few spells for them from her spell book (which she apparently has, check out Gaz2) or as involved as actually joining them in a midnight assault on a major army camp.

If you don't like the spellcasting part of a dragon but like the idea of a brooding massive reptilian waiting to do large amounts of damage, consider putting a linnorm in the campaign. It can be younger or not quite fully matured, but having the kobolds run around fulfilling tasks for it could create a lot of foreshadowing of their secret weapon. Once the linnorm breaks out and starts trashing villages, Drakov's going to have to come up with some serious firepower to stop it - one that battle formations and battlefield discipline will only partially prevail against.

[Brandi]

Anyone here remember the story of Tucker's Kobolds?

[Jakob]

Hmmm... I was thinking about the "classic" basilisk, not the D&D one. I was thinking about the Basilisk to be able to kill on touch (casting an empowered poison, maybe?)

[cure]

My take:

The Basilisk is one of the most learned individuals in the Lands of the Mists when it comes to dragonlore and is certain to want to 'question' anyone with a possible scrap to offer. True to the reputation of kobolds, he is capable of great cruelty and in fact keeps a handful of human prisoners, mostly Talons, whom he blinds or otherwise cripples, or at very least beats into unconsciousness so that he can easily charm them before dispatching them to an unhappy end that probably involves the undoing of additional Talons.

He nurtures intentions of sweeping domination of lesser races but is unsure yet whether his path is to become the sorcerer general to the likes of Ebb or whether instead he is to rule in his own right. He is, however, careful to conceal his ambitions and indeed plays the part of the concerned, benevolent father of his people in his dealings with Gondegel and other resistance figures. He is in particular scrupulous about honouring his word with them, sticking always to the spirit of any agreement. He knows well that he needs time to marshel his resources and he has every intention for the next decade or two of dividing Falkovnia against itself rather than uniting it against him and his soldiers.

To this end he has ceased all raiding of the civilian population, which was typically very wasteful in any case, and now specialises in carefully orchestrated ambushes of small groups of Falkovian soldiers, or even Talons, travelling the road. Occasionally adventurers laden with magic auras also catch his extremely covertous eye. He hungers in particular for gold and scrolls to be used in his creation of wondrous items or to be added to his arsenal generally.

The very liberal use of alchemical fire together with an economical preset magical trap that blankets a wide area with a pair of slow fire spells and multiple sticky floor spells accounts in no small measure for the success that he is currently enjoying. Riders are lined up on narrow strenches of road surrounded by heavy undergrowth, pinned down, set alight with ranged attacks from concealment, then pounded with lightning bolts. Incidently killing mounts is not inconsistent with the plan as a slow moving Talon is not going to escape. Narrow passages are cut behind the sites of the ambushes which kobolds can squeeze through with ease but that are a further death trap for anyone so foolish as to offer pursuit in the rare event of flight.

The name he bears is actually a nickname earned at a relatively young age for his stare. In a contest of locked gazes it is never he who blinks. His rumoured size and strength is half exagerration by a Falkovian soldier or two who has been deliberately allowed to escape an ambush (to convey misleading information of the tactics back to his masters) and partly an apt description of his ranger lieutenant. In a battle, the Basilisk may be weilding powerful magic, but he does so typically from concealment and so is not known as being a sorcerer.

Basilisk Dragonwrought Paragon 3/Sorcerer 4
Type: Dragon (shadow dragon linage)
Height: 2’9”, Weight: 40 lb ((Upper limit for height, but gaunt, with greyish black scales)
Age 70’s (Very Old for a Kobold, equivalent of early Middle Age, as a Dragonwrought aging strengthens his mental abilities and doesn’t impair his physical abilities, belongs (probably) to Falkovnia’s false history)
HD 3d6+4d4
HP . . .
AC . . .
BAB . . .
Attack: Claw 1d3-1
Full-Attack: 2 Claws 1d3-1 & 1 -5 Bite 1d3-1
Special Qualities: Darkvision 120ft, Lowlight vision, No Light Sensitivity, Dragon Traits (Immunity to magic sleep effects, paralysis effects, and spells targeting humanoids generally), Kobold Traits (Slight Build), Tunnel Defence
Special Abilities: Spells, Spell-like ability
Saves: Will: +2 (Talon Bracers)
SR 12 (Talon Bracers)
S8, D12, C10+2, I 17, W9, Ch17+1
Feats: Dragonwrought, Craft Wondrous Item, Draconic Reservoir

Spell-like ability 3/day (Caster level 7th; Draconic Rite of Passage): mage armour

Caster level: 7th (Paragon adds +3 and Greater Draconic Rite of Passage adds +1 levels for purpose of spells known, spells per day, and caster level)

Spells known: (caster level 7th) 7 5 3 2
Acid Slash, Caltrops, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Launch Item, Message, Read Magic
Charm Person, Ghostly Tail, Slow Fire, Sticky Floor, ?
Alter Self, Baleful Transposition, Web, ?
Lighting bolt, ?

Possessions: ring of protection +1 2000 gp, talon bracers of draconic armour, chain of the long-toothed 8725 gp, circlet of draconic charisma 1400 gp, skullcap of disguise 1800 gp, robe of legerdemaincy 216 gp.

Talon bracers of draconic armour: Spell Resistance 12; +2 morale will save bonus, +4 sense motive competence bonus; +1 armour bonus for wearer of the dragon type; a wearer of the humanoid type falls under the curse of the item and becomes utterly loyal to Vlad Drakov; CL 12; CL 4 for the armour bonus; weighs 1 lb.

Chain of the long-toothed: chain of large teeth from assorted lizards; for a wearer of the dragon type affords protection from 101 hp of magic missiles, +1 luck and +1 resistance bonuses to saving throws, and a +2 enhancement bonus to constitution; CL 7.

Circlet of draconic charisma: +1 enhancement bonus to charisma for wear of the dragon type; CL 6.

Skullcap of disguise: an arcane spellcaster who succeeds a DC 5 charisma check gains continuous access as a free action to the spell disguise self; CL 1.

Robe of legerdemaincy: an arcane spell caster wearer who succeeds a DC 5 charisma check gains access as a standard action to the spells mage hand and prestidigitation a total of twice per day; otherwise a drab functional garment; CL 1.

Tactics:
-When in his own shape he often appear as, at least to the untrained, non-kobold eye, as another one of the armoured grunts.
-More often he assumes the form of shadow dragon wyrm, permitting him maximal security (+7 natural armour) and mobility (flight), while not hindering his spell casting.
-He has laid down permanent alarm traps on the road (trigger: alarm; setting off an alarm that warn him of movement when he is within 1 mile)
-To faciliate the use of his baleful transposition spell he keeps humans and/or animals about that have been beaten into unconsciousness.
-He will happily take a prisoner or three, but they are beaten into unconsciousness, charmed, pumped for all the information they know, and ultimately used as fodder or food or both.
-With the assistance of the steal size spell, which his ranger lieutenant knows, prisoners may be placed and kept in a chamber whose tunnel entrace is simply too narrrow for them to escape from

[Jakob]

Don't know... It's a bit too... Fantasy.
I mean, the only "canon" dragons in RL are Ebb and Gloom. What could there be to "know" about dragons in the Demiplane? How could he be a draconic paragon? His own convinction?

The main question is: what's his background? Was he BORN as dragonwrought, or his faith in dragons changed him? Why instead not have a sorcerer/fighter/dragon disciple? This way you keep the "dragontouched" idea but don't have to take in account a non-core source.

[cure]

One is born a dragonwrought, it is a random/special event attesting to the draconic heritage of the kobold species everywhere, which partly addresses the problem. So there is both a genetic and a collective racial memory.

The Basilisk is born different, savours and explorers that difference, believes it destines him to rule lessers, is fascinated by stories of Ebb, learns rumours of dragons in Sithicus' recent passed, meets or at very least makes contact with the dragon discipline who is there (according to canon), evidently knows all there is to be known of the (draconic) wyverns that overfly his corner of Falkovnia, and finally is an obsessive on the topic with time to burn.

As to fantasy, kobolds' favoured class is sorcerer and I don't see kobolds being any serious threat just on the bases of ambushing. The ambushes have to be part of some threat that is gathering strength and pace.

As to dragon disciplines, I hate that prestige class and find it less tenable than a rare genetic event within a context with limited but still sufficient resources to nurture the gifted child.

As to a fighter, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword, especially when your sword is half the length of your enemies' device.

Recall also that magic is the opposite of Drakov. He has resistance to it, his Talons are armed with bracers against it. Neither ever practice it. The Ministery of the Arcane is barely on the list of the great leader's priorities. So the threat, as we already have Gondegel, should come from this direction. And the Basilisk's build is about successfully attacking with magic a magic resistant enemy. (Slow fire spells (no resistance and no save) increase the potency of alchemical fire attacks, sticky floor spells (no resistance) and web spells (no resistance) knock down AC [but sadly not reflex saves], local tremor spells (cast by the priest) (no resistance) further pin and knock down the enemy, and the generally poor reflex saves and immobility once unmounted of the Talons are being targetted throughout, and finally, when beaten into unconsciousness, no will saves too.)

PS I am not saying that the Basilisk will succeed in his ambitions. Ebb would find him amusing at best. But why can't a kobold dream?

PPS Taking down five Talons at a time is something that a band of kobolds is going to struggle with, at best, in the absence of carefully chosen and optimised high level magic. (Note non-magical traps take forever to construct according to the rules and hence are simply not feasible outside of the kobold lair.) I could live with a straight sorcerer, but not a multiclassed fighter sorcerer. I did toy with a dragonblooded sorcerer however and that would have some merit, but frankly that is even more fantastic. I see the goal being to take down Talons (possessed of the cleave feat) without ever going toe to toe with them. The Basilisk wants to gather strength and resources, not have them bled off and cut down with each encounter. He has no love for his fellows, but deems not even the weakest among them as lives to be idly thrown away. He is parsimonious, without being afraid to invest in alchemy and magic.

[cure]

What do we actually know about the Basilisk from canon and what follows from that?

We basically know that Falkovnians believe him to be an extraordinarily large, strong and intelligent kobold leader. Equally, he is said to exercise significant influence over goblinkind and to have a strong working relationship with Gondegel and the resistance to Drakov generally.

Starting with Gondegel then, this is an intelligent man who has reformed himself and is fighting for the liberation of the Falkovnians. He is moreover chaotic good and leads a like-minded order. Not exactly an obvious ally for a bunch of monsters, little though they be, who hate humanity and love nothing more than torturing their prey before eating it. So either Gondegel is a fool (which he is not), or is playing a dangerous game that puts him back on a dark path (which is at least plausible but is not to my taste), or the kobolds are not, publicly at least, playing according to their type (which is my take on the matter).

As to the Falkovnians, I don't think that their beliefs are entirely wrong or entirely right. Given the nature and inherent weakness of kobolds, a kobold who is unusually large, strong, and intelligent is not only unlikely in the extreme but actually impossible. They do not advance in racial HD and thus do not acquire a larger size no matter how tough and grizziled. And even if you leave the Basilisk's size small, building a strong, mobile, tough, intelligent and charismatic individual on a 25 point buy, even with kobold racial substitution levels in fighter, is not possible. So which of the three characteristics is most important? Intelligence. For in a straight fight of size and strength Drakov or his minions win every time. Further, we should not assume that Drakov and his minions when on their home soil are incompetent. Quite the contrary. Drakov is competent, but is cursed to be otherwise, or at least have the results turn otherwise, the moment he strikes abroad. So the kobolds can only be winning through superior strategy and tactics which is ultimately intelligence not size or strength.

So we need intelligent kobolds or, more to the point, an intelligent (and charismatic) kobold leader who is playing against type publically at least, and seems like a not unreasonable ally of a chaotic good resistance. The typically cruel and domineering face of a kobold leader must be absent. But it most likely exists. So why put on a loving public face? To better resume raiding and torturing in a few years? No. Rather to seek a grander more evil end. Whatever that might be . . . .

If one doesn't want that end to be domination at the hands of a draconic kobold sorcerer who considers himself to be racially superior to both man and kobold what else is possible?

Maybe the kobolds are led by a druid. If the leader is lawful neutral, they ultimately just want to be left alone, but realise that their existence is menaced in the extreme so long as Drakov exists, whereas Gondegel has cleverly promised them peace. If the leader is neutral evil, they profess to want peace and have come to terms with Gondegel along these lines, but actually are determined to have Falkovnia tear itself apart the better to purge culture from nature. But I don't like the idea of a kobold druid. It seems so antithetical. Perhaps a caliban or even a human leader if not a lizardman.

A ranger with similar motives is more appealing but that brings us towards a more marshal figure which strikes me as wrong. Kobolds even in number fair badly against cleaves and mounted warriors with AC 21. The right way to go is not only ambushes, whereof a ranger is eminently capable, but ranged touch attacks, and no ranger is gifted in the production of alchemical fire or acid, although he might see to the procuring of either. At least a ranger - but not with kobold substitution levels - could cast the entanglement spell.

The basic fighter strikes me as having the wrong motives and the wrong tactics for taking on Drakov. A fighter is about individual prowess. About toe to toe. He is not about buffing forces. Ok, cast him in the mold of the great general. Still there is only so much you can do with kobolds. All the special attacks - trip, disarm, sunder, grapple - run smack into the disadvantages of kobold size and strength even when armed to perform them and even when aid another is used.

A priest has far less potential than a druid in a natural setting but is somewhat more promising than a fighter. But a religious war is hardly the most flexible and compromising of things. Give him the trickery domain and it becomes more plausible. Yet surely this is not all for the fun of deceiving Gondegel.

A rogue makes some sense, but again there is the matter of buffing one's forces. And what is a rogue trying to achieve by working with Gondegel rather than sticking a knife in his back forthwith?

A sorcerer as a lieutenant and advisor would work. But also would constitute a worrying threat to one's own power. I toyed with making a sorcerer the true intelligence behind the throne, but then I end up with two not one 6th or 7th level figure and some restraint seems in order. And I return to the question of To what end, why the unholy alliance?

[HuManBing]

sticky floor spells (no resistance) and web spells (no resistance) knock down reflex saves and increase the susceptibility to area effect spells,

You are free to house rule this as you like, but I have searched all throughout the PHB and DMG for anything to do with being Grappled and your Reflex save, and there is nothing on the subject. (For what it's worth, I was researching combat tactics using Azalin's spellbook, in the thread of that name.)

My house rule is if a caster is able to grapple an enemy with a magical effect, usually Black Tentacles, it will remove all Dex bonuses to Reflex saves. It is very similar to the official canon rules on AC and Grappling, which state that you lose your Dex bonuses to AC when Grappled. Some of my players think even that is too lenient and they would actually start assigning penalties to Reflex saves while grappled.