Kobold
THE PARTY HAD BEEN WAITING ALL AFTERNOON.
Their contact had kept them waiting for far too long.
Clearly, whoever had sent them the message was taking liberties with what "this afternoon" entailed.
Roshirk was reaching the end of his patience, the party fighter was taking the opportunity to order another round. This would not end well.
Before the knight could stop his friend however, he is interrupted by the chair opposite moving out on it's own power. Whatever mage was hiring them certainly enjoyed a dramatic entrance. Actually, that wouldn't explain the fact that the chair stopped a short distance after starting and started again.
At last, the the dark blue scaly head of a kobold stuck up from behind the table, out of breath and panting between words, "Why... do tables... have to be... so tall...?"
The Proud Children of Dragons
Kobolds are descended from dragons, a fact that they'll be sure that you know. Despite all reasons to do otherwise, dragons have, in fact, confirmed this.
What is not understood, is exactly how. Like dragons, they appear to be reptillian and have a love of "shinies", as they call it. However, where as dragons are enormous, magnificent and terrifying beasts, kobolds are desidedly not. Small, meek and craven.
The Unfortunate Runts of Dragons
Despite the racial delusions of grandeur that kobolds share, kobolds are perfectly aware of their shortcomings. They overcome their weaknesses with enginuity and greater numbers.
A fair fight to a kobold, is one with stacked odds. If a kobold is caught outnumbered, they will attempt to flee to their lair, where instead of fighting, their heavily boobytrapped abodes will hopefully take care of their assailents. Failing that, kobolds will swarm their opponents with superior numbers, and fight to their last... unless they run the risk of dying, in which case they flee.
Kobolds do not beg, their draconic pride will not abide by it... unless it lets them live.
Naturally Hierarchical
Kobolds embody two extremes. They are incredbily willfull yet exceptionally meek. Kobolds automatically do the bidding of the strongest individual they can find.
This is by default a dragon, though any large reptillian creature will suffice. Anyone who willingly acquieses to a kobold's request is automatically considered beneath them, and they will immediately treat them as their subordinate.
Having a kobold in your service is a mixed experience. While they are extremely obedient workers, they can at times be too obedient, taking figures of speech literally.
Collect them All
The most common color of kobold you'll find, is a red-scaled kobold. However, much like the dragons that they hail from, they come in a variety of colors. Your next instinct is that the behaviours of kobolds of one color relate to an associated dragon, this too is wrong.
Kobolds come in more colors than there are dragons. Yes, there's your standard red, green, blue, white, and black, but there's also word of rare gold and silver kobolds, though those might just be really shiny yellow and gray kobolds.
Kobold Names
Because kobolds identify so passionately with dragons, they strive to reinforce their connection through names that reflect their draconic heritage.
Kobold birth names are relatively short, usually consisting of two syllables, and are almost always faintly reminiscent of dragons’ names.
To further emulate their draconic brethren, kobolds change their names to longer and more complex forms as they reach important age milestones, perform spectacular acts, or attain notable achievements.
Kobolds rarely have surnames; most instead use clan names or honorifics to identify themselves. Those kobolds who do use surnames are most often reinforcing a claim to a hereditary throne or attempting to adhere to regional or cultural influences.
Names: Akkik, Blit, Darts, Grik, Jekkajak, Kallik, Keen,
Kirrok, Merlok, Nydhigg, Nik Nak, Ritz, Tibs, Tuk Tuk,
Vrent, Xekkig
Kobold Racial Traits
Your kobold character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. Kobolds reach adulthood at age 6 and can live up to 120 years but rarely do so.
Alignment. Kobolds are fundamentally selfish, making them evil, but their reliance on the strength of their group makes them trend toward law.
Size. Kobolds are about 3 feet tall and weigh between 25 and 35 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.
Fury of the Small. When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell and the creature's size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack or spell to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language usually sounds harsh to most other creatures, but when kobolds speak it, it's mostly consists of yipping sounds.
Subrace. There are four kinds of kobold, the skirmisher and trapper kobolds which are by far the most common, the spellscale kobolds whose connection to their ancient draconic ancestors is stronger than most and the dragonscale kobolds who express their draconic blood differently.
Skirmisher
Most kobolds rely on trickery and guile to survive on the surface when they have to acquire food from unsuspecting neighbours.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Tiny Sneakthief. You gain proficiency in the Stealth and Perception skills.
Spellscale
Some kobolds draw deeply from the draconic blood that flows within them. These kobolds are more prideful than usual due to the confirmation of the belief known to all kobolds, they are scions of dragons.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Cantrip. You know one Cantrip of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting abilily for it.
Dragonheart
Kobolds are considered weak and craven, Dragonhearts however baulk at such notions and guard their lairs to the last.
Draconic Resistance. You gain resistance to one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.
Dragon's Roar. As an action on your turn, let loose a terrifying roar. The resulting confusion grants your allies advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you until the end of your next turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Trapper
Many kobolds are masters of artifice, while they are most famously known for traps they are skilled in many crafts.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Trapper's Lore. Whenever you make an ability check related to the construction or detection of traps, you are considered proficient in that skill and add double your Proficiency Bonus to the check, instead of your normal Proficiency Bonus.
Crafty. You gain proficiency with the artisan's tools of your choice: alchemist's supplies, jeweler’s tools mason’s tools, smiths tools, or tinker’s tools.
| Race | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobold | 2'6" | +2d4 | 30 lbs. | x1 |
Credits
Designed by d'Artagnan on DMs Guild, /u/dArtagnanDnD on reddit, or dArtagnanDnD on patreon and dArtagnanDnD on Twitter.
- Made with "GM Binder".
- Made with reference and for use with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, created by Wizards of the Coast.
- Kobold Trickster, and Kobold Artisan, by Douglas Kim