Kobold
Kobold Ability Score Range
| Ability | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3 | 16 |
| Dexterity | 4 | 18 |
| Constitution | 4 | 15 |
| Intelligence | 3 | 17 |
| Wisdom | 3 | 18 |
| Charisma | 3 | 14 |
Ability Score Adjustments: The initial ability scores are modified by a -1 penalty to Strength and Constitution.
Hit Dice: Player character kobolds receive hit dice by class.
Alignment: Kobolds tend toward lawful evil. PC kobolds maybe of any alignment, though they are usually lawful neutral.
Natural Armor Class: 10
Allowed Classes: Fighter, Cleric, Shaman, Witch Doctor, Thief
Multiclass: Fighter/Shaman, Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Cleric, Cleric/Thief
(Witch Doctor can be substituted for Shaman)
Height & Weight: Humanoid Average Height & Weight table
Age: Humanoid Age Table
Kit Summary: Humanoid Character Kit Summary
Thieving Skill: Humanoid Thieving Skill Racial Adjusment table
Background: Kobolds are short humanoids, growing to a height of three feet. They have scaly hides of dark brown to rusty black, and smell awful to anything but another kobold. The eyes of a kobold glow bright red, and they have two small horns atop their dog-like heads.
Kobolds are masters of trickery, but they prefer tactics where they can apply overwhelming odds. They havea racial hatred of gnomes and are willing to attack these demihumans on sight. The only way they will go against humans and other demihumans is if they have superior numbers — at least two to one, more if they can manage it. They have learned to use swarming attacks, throwing themselves at opponents in large waves.
Most kobolds are a sadistic, cowardly lot. Their lairs and ambush sites are studded with concealed pit traps. They line the bottom of these pits with additional hazards, such as spikes or water traps, hoping to catch and incapacitate larger creatures with them.
Kobolds set up lairs in dark, damp underground locations and deep in overgrown forests. They are good miners, often settling in areas that show mining promise. These humanoids set out from their territories to forage for plants, hunt for meat, and to waylay humans and demihumans. They capture victims to use as food or to sell into slavery (if there is a market for such wares in the vicinity). Strangers are not trusted, and they have a particular hatred of brownies, pixies, sprites, and gnomes. Gnomes, especially, are shown no quarter, and kobolds will never eat them.
The conquest of land is the ultimate goal of all kobold tribes. They rejoice in stripping a land ofits resources, and they love to accumulate power. As they have a deep hatred of all other life, they find great delight in killing.
Languages: (non-native languages require a nonweapon proficiency slot be spent) Kobold, orc, goblin, common.
Role-Playing Suggestions: Kobolds strive to be taken seriously by the larger races. They hate jokes directed at their diminutive size and strength, and seek to makeup for their shortcomings through ferocity and tenacity. To other races, their language sounds like the yapping of small dogs, and few can take them seriously unless they are in large numbers.
Kobold PCs break the model of typical specimens of the race. There are those who reject the racial hatreds and savage practices of their fellows. Others discover the faith of a kinder god, and seek to learn and spread such faith to others. A few have no stomach for fighting and bloodshed, and these become rogues who go adventuring to escape the life they were born into.
Whatever the case, kobold PCs have a harder edge than other character types. They retain their dislike of short jokes, and they are often belligerent, wise-cracking, and pushy, as they must makeup for their small size in whatever way they can. Even the most pleasant of the race are a little mean-spirited.
Kobolds, especially kobold rogues, like to keep in practice with their skills of trickery, ambushing, and setting traps. Some few take to inventing, applying their cleverness and ingenuity to non-fatal mechanisms.
Special Advantages: Kobolds can see in the dark, up to 60 feet with their infravision. Unless kobold characters display special capabilities, intelligent and powerful opponents are likely to attack them last of all.
Special Disadvantages: Bright light hinders kobolds, making it difficult for them to see. When forced to fight in sunlit conditions or the equivalent, kobolds receive a -1 penalty to their attack rolls. Gnomes have a +1 bonus when attacking kobolds.
Monstrous Traits: Appearance, dog-like voices, bestial habits.
Superstitions: Fear of spellcasters, fear and hatred of larger races, hatred of gnomes.
Weapon Proficiencies: Club (spiked), hand axe, javelin, short sword, spear.
Suggested Nonweapon Proficiencies: Animal Noise, Animal Training (giant weasel), Animal Training (wild boar), Begging, Close-quarter Fighting, Danger Sense, Fast Talking, Gem Cutting, Hiding, Looting, Mining, Set Snares, Wild Fighting.
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