Kobold Lair

Thi is a more challenging encounter to develop. The kobold's serve the dragon within its lair. The dragon clearly has no real need for them, they only serve to bloat its ego. I suppose they also amuse the dragon, as well. As such, the kobold lair is a separate location from the lair, even though they are connected.

The dragon lair also has lair effects that impact the surrounding countryside. These can be felt in the mountains around the kobold lair. This complicates this area, encounter-wise. The kobold lair needs to be developed, the dragon lair needs to be developed, and the lair effects structured in some fashion to allow their easy use. Then, all three need to be balanced with and against each other. This is a complicated endeavor.

I'm not sure what the best method is. I think in real terms it will mean developing them one at a time, and refining each as others get going. That probably means several attempts at each of these with a final smoothing necessary in the end.

In terms of game play, my plan for the kobolds is to develop a busy maze of tunnels that will present challenges to players in terms of traps, dead ends, etc. My thought (with a party of 8th or higher level characters, kobolds aren't much challenge in a fight) is to have a warren of tunnels that the party needs to navigate stealthily. The intent to avoid combat, and thus to avoid alerting the entire clan and the dragon to the party's entrance.

The kobold lair is an entry point to the dragon lair that is relatively "unguarded." They can get to the dragon directly in its lair with an element of surprise by moving through the kobolds. This could allow them to get close, or even approach the dragon's lair when it is out, allowing them to set a defense to spring when it returns. A lot of this hinges on getting past the kobolds without raising much of an alarm.