Actual Play: Kobolds Art Exhibition zine by Evlyn Moreau

tl;dr: Kobolds Art Exhibition is a great piece that has dropped nicely into an ongoing campaign - low effort to spin up, great visuals, definitely check it out.

I am a long-standing fan of Le Chaudron Chromatique since the OSR first crossed my radar. This particular zine is from June 2018 and I was happy to have the opportunity to slot it into a running campaign. Note links in the article are broken, find a copy through the 'PDF versions' link under My Zines at the RHS of Chaudron Chromatic.

Back drop setting is the old family fortress of which the PCs are the 'new generation'. Above the ground is still working but the old works built into the hilly have been under seal since the current Dukes father died. The party has been down in these labyrinthine basements a few times, fighting off magi-vore ooze-like things.

As the zine is described "a tribe of kobolds who move from dungeon to dungeon in search of artworks to collect." This is a neat setup that can be refitted to any dungeon and was particularly fitting for my campaign of sealed depths that were forgotten, trapped and abandoned with art on the walls. It would be both more of a 'refresher' and I suspect harder on the Kobolds to drop into the traditional caverns full of predators.

Prepping the zine for inclusion was low effort. The format is 'walk through' - I suggest skim first to get a sense of all the parts, then dice up the version you will use yourself.

I rolled up a collection that had originated from a Sagacious Warlord and had ~ 3 weeks remaining before they re-painted the portal and the tribe had spotted an important piece! Next I diced up 11 artworks off the random list of d100, a few failed portal paintings and a pair of 'troubles and sidequests'. With all this on a page it all clicked into place.

First the players spotted the lights of the kobolds scouting the old section at night, then found their trail where they had inspected the closed sections. The first session encounter ended with them encountering one of the 'sidequests' which was a pair of runaways that they rescued from the magi-vores. The first session closed with the grant of invites to the exhibition to the party of rescuers.

Second session, the party descends into the depths, finds and tours the art gallery and are asked to help open up one of the old throne rooms where the kobolds had spotted the masterwork but were not yet able to access it. The players cracked the door and scouted the room, and did not trigger the guardians due to their family bloodlines. When the kobolds entered, the guardians woke (dog constructs) and the party fought a tough fight to make sure their 'guests' were not harmed by their own houses ancient defenses.

Upcoming sessions look to hang on whether or not they want to trade away the uncovered masterpiece and at what price...

If the measure of content is how much the party takes the NPCs to heart, then this 'zine is a hit. I liked it, the players have liked it, I would recommend you check it out for any campaign with an urban or planar component or where an interesting faction would be an addition. Note, while the kobolds themselves have a few tricks up their sleeves for combat, their nomadic nature means that unless you give them enough time and space to become Tuckers Kobolds they will get eaten by murder hobos.

For a second opinion see here: The Kobolds' Art Exhibition Review

Edited to add: actual play adventures continue here.