Think about that.

Of course, it kind of un-asks the question. If the campaign had lasted, however, I wanted them to go to war with a dwarf city. They would essentially be leading armies of goblins against the dwarven trenches. The mission objectives for most battle scenes would be to get their troops to storm opposing positions, at which point numbers would do the job.

Naturally, I would give the low-level dwarven fighters the advantages of higher ground, fortification, muskets, and cannons. The battles were going to be reminiscent of WWI, so fires would intersect to cut down almost any number of attackers. Even a 5th level ogre fighter has to be afraid of a fusillade of cannon fire.

So yes: if a critter is weak, give them a weapon that isn’t, and a good opportunity to use it. Back up your weak critters with good commanders or extra muscle. (Goblins aren’t scary, Goblins riding elephants are scary). Use obstacles to take away some of the party’s usual advantages. Then set everything on fire, as per Tucker’s classic.

the first time was by a gnome vampire and the second time was by an adventure party of 3 kobolts.

On both times, they didn’t take the treath serious until they started to get their asses kicked

so little npc’s can be fun, and you don’t have to be sneaky about them. pc’s will assume they can easily handle them anyway

Of course, the overhead that come with creating classed critters in 3.5 [especially spellcasters] makes me frequently regret the choice…

But there is a distinct reason why I, alongside so many other DMs, tend to bury the lesser creatures in a long-standing campaign. The enemies make the adventuring party, after all, and it’s a lot more fun to boast at the hearth about the dracolich you took down than the vile horde of kobolds. It’s a kind of measuring stick for how the players have progressed that the creatures they face have become more fantastical, larger, or even epic in scope. It also help quash being bored with fighting the same kinds of foes (gnome-jas again?)

By saying this, I am not running counter to the opinion that small races obsolete themselves at higher levels, or that they can’t be nasty opponents (for a vivid description, google ‘Tucker’s kobolds’), but in a game system like, say, Xth. Ed. D&D with vast numbers of creatures to draw from, it can be really hard to stick with just one nemesis race as a focal point. I myself would prefer to use them as a shake-up for the players, as a darned good henchman for The Evil Mastermind, or to throw something totally unexpected at the party (like the first time my players found out monsters can have levels in 3rd Edition D&D against a lowly kobold who vanquished half the party, mwahahahahaha).

That gives the PCs a chance to turn tail and run like the sissies they are.

:p

That’s actually kind of interesting, although poisoning and nearly killing my players in the first round of combat would probably drive them insane. Of course, without players who know what they’re doing, that could kill a story, but I’d like to think my group can handle it.

I was actually just trying to make the race one of my PCs belongs to have a more prominent role in the story arcs I’m designing for the future, and this article had a few fun suggestions.

Thank you, my esteemed colleague, I will get to writing at once.

Gnome Doom for you, dear sir!