Anonymous Caller DnD 3rd Edition I will slay thee with my +5 sword of dorkatude! But on a more serious note, (kinda) me and my friends have started a campaign, and I was wondering if the Faito people have any tips. Also, what is the point of Kobals (or however you spell those 3-foot tall lizard's names)? Here's a quote from my DM: "20 Kobals jump out from the forest and level their cross bows at your head, [clattering of dice] they all got below your AC, and missed, one of them trips you" Me: "I fall towards it" [clattering of dice] DM: "you kill it" OtherPlayers(3): we attack (ok, it took longer than that) DM: ok... 16 of them remain Me: I attack as many as i can of them. DM: you can only attack one per turn Me: ok, i attack the nearest [clatter of dice] DM: it is very, very dead. we killed all 20 of them without a scrach, 4 4th level charaters. Alucard Tepis My thoughts as a fellow RPG player...well, from the inside rather than the outside, but who's counting? I believe your are talking about Kobolds, and depending on who you ask, they are ork-kin, dog-like, or lizards. It doesn't really matter except that they are generally small, nasty buggers with attitude problems bigger than they are. I believe the fault here is not with the poor kobolds you slew but with your DM. It sounds like he is a bit of a "Monty Haul" (to use the oft used pun on the name of the host of Let's Make a Deal) campaigner. Obviously, he did not set up a group of opponents that you feel would be a fitting challenge to you. Sure, a bad guy can have an off day (bad dice rolls) and the heroes can hit a winning streak, but if you can dispatch your enemies with a 5:1 advantage without being harmed, something is seriously off. Kobolds, generally, are minor-threat minion-type creatures used to overwhelm or at least bog-down the heroes. Now if you can go through a company of them like a threshing machine, that is probably because your DM had them all be low-level and poorly equipped. A more realistic DM wanting to use Kobolds in the forest would have them act as the little bastards they are. The could set up an ambush in the forest (instead of leaping out at you and ruining the surprise), or attack after you have bedded down for the night. They could use poisoned bolts or daggers. They could be mostly low-level, but lead by a few higher-level commanders with better weapons and armor, or even have a greater threat (troll?) among them acting as their leader. Maybe even throw in a Kobold cleric or shaman to mix things up with your team's magical support (somebody's got to put the buggers back together every time they get into a fight). If you find this sort of thing boring, maybe you aught to sit down and talk it over with the DM and the other players. Hopefully, they will agree with you, but I would advise wording your complaint to the DM carefully. Maybe your friends like it, blasting through bad guys like they are playing Gauntlet? Maybe your DM is not mature enough to take constructed criticism if it sounds too much like a complaint? If you think what you are going through is annoying, wait until you get a DM with a, "Oh, well, if you don't think I was being tough enough, see if you can survive THIS!" chip on his shoulder. A good DM can keep the players worried about their survival without the PCs having to have a running tab for resurrections at the local temple. If the DM knows what he's doing, he won't have to resort to dropping dragon liches by the dozen on your heads, but rather use more reasonable villains more intelligently. Solid Snake Your DM obviously has no sense of tactical advantage, or battlefield tactics. A 4th level fighter would probably have 35 to 45 hit points, depending on constitution bonuses. A 4th level mage, only 12 to 17. A 4th level rogue, 18 to 25, usually. So the kobalds, if they were under my command, would have wasted you. Split the 20 into 3 groups of A5, B5, and C10. Alpha team would snipe from the forest without ever revealing themselves. Beta team would surprise you at night, while you sleep, if you sleep. Delta team would ambush you at a particularly opportune location, from atop a hill or a mysterious and large outcropping of stone in the middle of the forest, with support from alpha and beta as snipers. Target the mage, first, and the cleric second. Inflict morale damaging injuries to the mage, bring him down to 4 or so hit points without necessarily killing him, though killing him is okay. If the kobolds do 1d4+1 with crossbows, then it only takes alpha team one round of snipe tactics (give them a +2 for surprise and concealment, or so) to whittle down the mage. Then melt away. Then attack the cleric. Them melt away. If the kobolds ever lose a member, then stop the attacks for the day, and resume later, after restaffing. Give one of them poison darts. Then at night, repeat, only attacking for 2 or 3 rounds before fleeing. Then the next day, let the 10 surprise you. Use nets. Tripwires. Pits. You only need to incapacitate, so trapping the 4th level fighter in a pit for 3 rounds is all they need to deal with the cleric, rogue, or mage of the party. Then as the fighter gets back up, introduce 5 new kobolds of alpha team. Then the 5 new kobolds of beta team. Okay, so this may be a bit rough. I'm designing a scenario in which 4 4th level characters stand no chance against kobolds. But you get the idea. The DM has more available to his repetoire than just throwing them at you like lawn to a mower.