Kobold Capers: Journey to the Crimson Lair is a whimsical adventure by the Action Economists for levels 5-8.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a free digital copy of this product.

This is the same team behind The Mechanical Mirage, another excellent adventure. There are some connections between the two; you can begin Kobold Capers immediately after, but you don’t need to have played it.

Content

At its core, this is essentially an escort mission. The players are contacted by a small tribe of Kobolds, who are looking for a dragon to serve – they travel along various locations and have several encounters with people, monsters, et cetera. There are 7 kobolds, each with their own personality and quirks, making them easier to relate to and make the players like (or dislike) them:

• Golda is the leader, a winged kobold who tries to keep everyone alive.
• Snek is an obsessive cartographer, and also appears in the Mechanical Mirage – here, he has found new friends.
• Teg is the technician and trapmaker, who enjoys overcomplicated plans.
• Zizz is Tek’s father and the previous leader, an old, cantankerous and slightly evil kobold who likes to reminisce about the “good” old days. Well, he’s more than just slightly evil, but he’s also pretty senile so it all kinda works out.
• Draconia a.k.a. The Winged Shadow a.k.a. Mihlu is a young kobold who desperately wants to become a dragon, so she wears fake wings on her back.
• Raz is the youngest kobold, who loves to collect cute (in his mind at least) pets – in that aspect, he is very similar to some players.
• Bolo the Wonderful is a bard – the greatest bard, and you should feel honored to meet her.

In general, they’re designed to be mostly cute and friendly, in order to get the players to like them. I can see how some groups would find them annoying though, so keep that in mind – if your players are more of a “kill things, take loot, move on” type (and I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here, nothing really wrong with that if everyone’s on the same page – I love a good dungeon crawl myself), maybe try a short introductory session to see if it’s a good fit.

As for the actual adventure, it is a series of encounters, each one focusing somewhat (but not fully) on a different kobold – letting each of them have their turn in the spotlight, though many times it’s because the players will have to rush to save them from their own decisions. However, depending on the route the players decide to take, you won’t see all of them – but you can always include all of them if the party is having fun. While fighting is always an option, many of the encounters are also social ones, where talking things out can smooth things over – or some knowledge and skill checks can give an alternative non-violent solution. However, failure often means that the kobold in question will probably not make it out alive.

And speaking of that, there is a “Kobold Happiness Meter” that you (as the GM) keep track of. Every time a kobold dies, or the players do something that the kobolds dislike, the happiness drops by 1 – and every time the players help, rescue, or do something the kobolds approve of, it increases by 1. This, besides affecting the overall behaviour of the tribe towards the players, is also quite important for the final encounter – if the kobolds dislike the players, they will most likely end up fighting them. Regardless, there are several different possible endings, depending on the party’s actions throughout – so there is a real impact to their choices.

Art & Layout

There’s some fantastic art here – besides the gorgeous front cover, there are portraits for each kobold, and several beautiful illustrations throughout the book, including some excellent maps where they are needed for combat encounters.

As for the layout, once again everything is beautifully set – there are roll tables, stat blocks, character “sheets”, and lots of descriptions, details, and boxed text that makes running this a breeze, as well as plenty of instructions on how to roleplay the kobolds – pretty important, as despite all the encounters this is primarily a social adventure, where the players interact with them.

Extras

There are separate files included for all the maps and handouts, as well as all the (did I mention amazing?) artwork of the kobolds – something I really appreciate. In addition, similar to their previous supplement The Mechanical Mirage, the team has included 3d-printable STL files of the final boss!

Final Thoughts

Kobold Capers: Journey to the Crimson Lair is a fantastic adventure that will keep your players engaged for a while – trying to keep these kobolds alive isn’t as easy as it might seem, but they quickly grow on you. Though if your players don’t play their cards right, they should be prepared for heartbreak – I’d hate to lose even a single one of them!

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