Warning: include_once(/home/ktolman/dndcorner.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/wp-atom.lib.php) [function.include-once]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/ktolman/dndcorner.com/wp-settings.php on line 425

Warning: include_once() [function.include]: Failed opening '/home/ktolman/dndcorner.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/optional_files/wp1.5_2.0/wp-atom.lib.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php:/usr/local/php5/lib/pear') in /home/ktolman/dndcorner.com/wp-settings.php on line 425
Dungeons and Dragons Thru The Ages: The First Battle « DnD Corner


  • Adgitize

  • Ajax CommentLuv Enabled 83e62acbb4ec56b5649a2419913254be
  • Game Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory
  • GameSites200

    Vote on the Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) Top 200
    Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) Top 200

Dungeons and Dragons Thru The Ages: The First Battle

Fluff/Inspiration

The party approaches an old keep.  There is a crumbling out wall.  The party has discovered footprints and a wily character among them has determined that kobolds are in the are.  The party is pretty sure the kobolds are guarding the small courtyard leading into the keep but aren’t 100% sure of their location.

Basic D&D
The party consists of 1 Elf, 1 Magic-User, 1 Halfling, and 1 Cleric.  The person playing the halfing is the noob, but you already guessed that.

The party stops and listens.  The elf makes the listen check and hears the kobolds moving.  They know where they are so the party moves in.  The DM rolls for a surprise round, the kobolds are surprised but he ignores the roll because quite frankly he wants the party to have some challenge.  They roll initiative.  Silently the DM curses because the party won initiative.  There are 4 kobolds.  The elf attacks and kills one.  The cleric attacks and kills one.  The Magic-User throws a magic missile and kills one.  The Halfling misses.  The remaining kobold fails his morale save.  The party loots and turns up 13 cp.  The party curses the magic user for wasting his magic missile, they go back to town to recover the lost spell.

1st/2nd edition AD&D
The party consists of 1 Elf Fighter/Magic User, 1 Dwarf Cleric, 1 Human Magic-User and 1 Half-Elf ranger.

The party stops and listens.  The elf makes the listen check and hears the kobolds.  The DM rolls for a surprise round but nobody is surprised.  Everyone rolls initiative.  The DM re-explains THAC0 to the half-elf.  The Half-Elf takes one out with a bow.  The DM re-explains THAC0 to the elf.  The elf takes one out with a bow.  The Magic User sits on his but not wanting to waste his only spell. The DM is about to re-explain THAC0 to the dwarf but he rolled a 2.  The kobolds hit the elf for four damage.  Next round the kobolds run and the dwarf gets one on the way out.  The party loots and finds 13 cp and a cursed sword which turns the dwarf into a fairy.

3.x edition
The party consists of a gnoll barbarian, githzeria monk, sun-elf wizard, and goblin rogue.

The monk makes a listen check and hears the kobolds.  The rogue sneaks out and scouts their exact location.  They get behind the gnoll who charges in with his guisarme.  In the surprise round the gnoll slaughters one, the monk kills another and the rogue kills a third.  The wizard offers sarcastic commentary and checks his email.  The party loots and finds 13 sp which they ignore.

4th edition.
The party consists of a tiefling warlock, a dragonborn fighter, a Halfling rogue and a half-elf ranger.

The half-elf makes a listen check and they figure out where the kobolds are.  The DM has them playing on full scale battle mat so they lay out their positions.  In the first round the ranger shoots but misses, the fighter charges but his attack also misses.  The Halfling has no ranged weapon but is scared to engage.  The warlock scores a hit and does some damage.  The kobolds proceed to severely damage the fighter while keeping out of his range.  By now the players have figured out that kobolds have more than 3 hp.  They keep it up for another 4 rounds until all of them have burned their daily powers and the fighter and rogue have both dropped.  The ranger managed to drop the last one.  The part loots and finds a potion of healing and 130 gp.  They decide that three strikers in the party wasn’t a good idea after all.  They decide to re-form the party.

If you like this post, share it!
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • De.lirio.us
  • feedmelinks
  • Technorati

Welcome to Dungeons and Dragons Corner.

You can find Character Sheets Here.

You can enjoy more of my work by subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Feel free to make a Paypal Donation to support Dungeons and Dragons Corner!

Did you like this post? Want More? Then subscribe to my RSS feed!

2 Responses

  1. Argent  •  September 8, 2009 @12:15 pm

    Yeah that sounds about right. Been there with every edition, swap ‘magic missile’ for ’sleep’ and thats more or less exactly how I remember it. I still remember the shock of that first fight against kobolds in 4e. Man that was scary!

  2. Greybunny  •  September 8, 2009 @4:59 pm

    I know these are tongue in cheek, but I had to post a little correction to the last one. While it’s reasonably accurate for a group of complete noobs on their very first encounter (as witnessed by the near TPK my group had on the first kobold fight in Keep on the Shadowfell just after release), it goes a little different if the DM at least knows what’s going on:

    The half-elf makes a Perception check (ahem) and they figure out where the kobolds are. In the first round the ranger shoots but misses, then remembers to add the weapon bonus to his roll and make his second roll for Twin Strike, killing one kobold and missing another. The fighter charges but his attack misses, so he uses Dragon Breath, killing two kobolds and injuring the one he charged. The Halfling gets razzed for being a noob because, c’mon, kobolds! Plus, what rogue in any edition doesn’t have 15 extra daggers hidden about his person? The warlock shakes his head in disgust, skirts the combat, curses a kobold and zaps it to death, then uses his pact boon to teleport behind the last one. By now the party has figured out that the remaining kobold is the only one with more than 1 hit point. It stabs the fighter, damaging him a bit, but then the Halfling gets over his herpetophobia and moves to flank with the fighter and the party destroys it in a single round. The fighter spends a healing surge once combat is over to get back up to full and the DM lets the rogue find a few copper on the bodies. The group decides that three strikes is pretty badass, but they should probably get some sort of healer. Maybe a warlord or a bard, since they’re still kind of bitter that CODzilla doesn’t work anymore.

Leave a Reply

Allowed tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>