Kobolds
Every kobold knows that their slight frame belies true, mighty draconic power. They are ingenious crafters and devoted allies within their warrens, but those who trespass into their territory find them to be inspired skirmishers, especially when they have the backing of a draconic sorcerer or true dragon overlord. However, these reptilian opportunists prove happy to cooperate with other humanoids when it’s to their benefit, combining caution and cunning to make their fortunes in the wider world.
Kobolds are resourceful survivors whose snare-guarded warrens and opportunistic scavenging have cast them as villains to most other humanoids, with their draconic reverence lending them a reputation as mere minions and nuisances. Yet some kobolds have emerged from their secluded warrens seeking the relative safety of surface settlements, the lucrative prospects of the adventuring life, or validating awe from followers of their own.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Kobolds are small, bipedal reptilian humanoids. Most stand around 3 feet tall and weigh about 35 pounds. They have powerful jaws for creatures of their size and noticeable claws on their hands and feet. Often kobolds’ faces are curiously devoid of expression, as they favor showing their emotions by simply swishing their tails. Kobolds’ thick hides vary in color, and most have scales that match the hue of one of the varieties of chromatic dragons, with red scales being predominant. A few kobolds, however, have more exotic colors such as orange or yellow, which in some tribes raises or lowers an individual’s status in the eyes of his fellows.
Biological Traits
Dexterity
Draconic Exemplar
Kobolds draw minor powers from their draconic exemplar, a type of chromatic or metallic dragon they are descended from. This is reflected in their scale color and appearance, and dragons sometimes look more favorably upon those kobolds who resemble them.Genetics and Reproduction
Growth Rate & Stages
Kobolds lay hard-shelled eggs that incubate for a period between 45 and 60 days, after which they hatch using their distinctive cranial horn buds. Although only six to eight inches in height at birth, neonatal kobolds are able to quickly take care of themselves, often spending the first hour after birth eating the remains of their shells. Cannibalizing other clutchmates is not unheard of and is seen by some adults as a sign of strength. Hatchlings grow quite quickly and double in size every year until achieving their juvenile state at around three. They are considered to be full adults around age 10. Sexual dimorphism is very limited, with non-kobolds rarely able to tell the differences between the sexes. Most kobolds are quite short-lived, with a typical life-expectancy of around 30 years before typically dying through violent means. However, when their lives are not cut off early, they have also been known to live for quite a long time, with the oldest kobolds claiming their age to be 140.
Ecology and Habitats
Kobolds are omnivores and will eat almost anything their sharp teeth can chew and their strong digestive system can process. Like other reptilian creatures, kobolds have a slow metabolism, which means they require little food and drink to survive. This adds to their diligent work ethic, as they require few meal and water breaks, and increases their ability to survive in the nutrient-poor underground environment.
Kobolds remain fertile throughout their entire adult lives, with females able to produce an egg once every 20–25 days. Given ideal conditions, however, females can lay a clutch of up to six eggs, and require a coupling only once every six years in order to produce viable eggs. Kobold females become more fecund as they age: a 40-year-old female may be able to lay 50 to 60 eggs per year, while an 80-year-old female may lay up to 100 per year.
Occasionally, kobolds are born with stronger connections to chromatic Dragon than others of their kind. These kobolds are distinguished by the ability to use the breath weapon of the dragon type whose scale color they have.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Kobolds have an ingrained cautiousness that keeps them alive. They're secretive or subservient around powerful creatures to avoid becoming victims. This meekness fades once kobolds secure either a formidable patron (like a dragon) or a potent source of supernatural power (like an artifact or sorcerous leader). They often achieve an unshakable fervor and loyalty to their new cause or leader. However, kobolds are infamous for sensing a proverbial sinking ship, and once their source of power fails or seems doomed, their morale breaks swiftly.
Whether led by a dragon or not, kobolds almost always identify themselves with a type of dragon that serves as their spiritual exemplar. Their societies regularly adopt laws and cultural norms inspired by the exemplar's personality.
Kobolds typically live in hierarchical tribes isolated from each other and from other intelligent beings. When they encounter other societies, kobold bands often make a habit of stealing resources and livestock from their neighbors, earning them their reputation as thieves. Their possessiveness of their mineral resources also leads them to hostilities with other beings, as the kobolds view all minerals in their territory as theirs; when they discover others mining anywhere in their claimed lands, they view them as thieves and interlopers and respond violently. This holds true regardless of whether the other party settled the area before or after the kobolds did. When two kobold tribes come into conflict over resources, they typically engage in swift, violent clashes until one tribe's chieftain is slain, at which point the survivors are enslaved by the victorious tribe.
Kobold settlements are usually complex systems of heavily trapped tunnels and warrens surrounding an inner core consisting of the tribe's living spaces, larders, workshops, and mines. The tribe's eggs are kept until hatching in a hidden location, which is kept secret from most members of the tribe to ensure that they cannot reveal it if captured and interrogated. Elder laying females are likewise hidden in the deeper parts of a warren and fiercely protected, as many tribes depend on their ability to lay numerous eggs in a short span of time to maintain their numbers.
Kobolds often keep domesticated animals for a variety of purposes. Dire Weasels are kept as guard and hunting animals in a manner similar to how dogs are used by humans, while Daeodon are used as war animals and mounts. When moving underground, kobolds instead use Slurks and Giant Ant as mounts; giant ants are also used as pack animals, and as a source of poison for traps. Bats are trained to carry messages, which kobold tribes use to contact one another. On occasion, Bulettes are trained to assist mining and tunneling operations. Kobold myth holds that they were the first culture to domesticate and raise animals, which they foolishly taught to Humans.
Another group of kobolds, the forest kobolds, exists separately from the more well-known subterranean kobold cultures and instead inhabits deep forests. Forest kobolds are more barbaric than their kin, are rarely literate, and live predatory lives focused on hunting and eating any non-reptilian entity they encounter. Forest kobolds are typically green.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Kobolds often adventure in pursuit of the power, lore, and treasure that they feel befit their disproportionately large egos. When adventurers, militias, or careless tyrants shatter a kobold community, the survivors often latch onto new families, seeking emotional solace—and sometimes revenge. Typical kobold backgrounds include Artisan, Artist, Criminal, Hunter, Miner, Scout, Tinkerer, Bandit, Cultist, Scavenger, and Servant from this book. Kobolds excel as Bard, Ranger, Rogue, and Sorcerer, though they also often channel their ingenuity as Alchemist or Wizard.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Gradus
Kobolds are a small, craven, draconic race that dwells in places hidden from the sun, particularly subterranean caverns or densely wooded areas. Most commonly encountered in and around the nation of Andoran, the inherent cowardice of the kobolds has lent the schemers a bit of cleverness and ingenuity, especially when it comes to devising deadly traps. Despite the fact that kobolds believe they are, in fact, the most superior race on Gradus, they are commonly found in service to other, more powerful masters.Saskhij
- Kuparic- Venomized Kobolds of central Saskhij
- Sufryutt- Urbanized kobolds who are a common sight in cities.
Geiddnir
- Früvunüung- Kobolds of the frozen North.
- Hagelt- Jungle Kobolds of Geiddnir's southern coast.
- Kaltsal- Hearty Kobolds of central Geiddnir.
Mifob
- Hagug- Mining Kobolds from under the Ironforge Mountains.
Mariana
- Dankblade- a tribe of kobold wreckers who lure passing ships onto the rocks of their island, sacking them once their run aground and selling their crews to the slaver ships. The finest treasures obtained in these raids, however, are given to their patron dragon in an attempt to win its favor
Average Intelligence
Charisma
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Male Names: Draahzin, Eadoo, Ipmeerk, Jamada, Kib, Makroo, Olp, Yraalik, Zornesk.
Female Names: Adriaak, Harkail, Neeral, Ozula, Poro, Saassraa, Tarka.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Common Etiquette Rules
Kobolds readily knuckle under to superior force but rarely stop scheming to gain an edge over their oppressors. Most kobolds are lawful evil, though some, more concerned with procedure than their own personal advantage, become lawful neutral instead. Kobolds often pray to Asmodeus or other evil gods in hopes of bringing ruin to their foes or power to themselves. In addition to these deities, kobolds, supremely opportunistic, also sometimes worship nearby monsters as a way of placating them or earning their favor.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Kobold Communities take pride in their draconic connections. This manifests in Myths that connect them to Dragon predecessors. Kobold tribes often relocate to areas with a rumored dragon so as to offer their service to the potential patron.
Kobold lands are thoroughly scouted for Ambush sites, defensible nesting areas, and escape routes.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
All but the most iconoclastic kobolds have a natural respect for hierarchies and rules, and so kobolds are rarely chaotic. Kobold adventurers tend to be lawful neutral or neutral, relying on their ancestral social strategies for survival.
Organized religion feels natural for most kobolds, especially when a deity assumes a commanding or tyrannical disposition. Many gravitate toward Emperos' order or Litzull's artistic flair. More sinister communities uphold Asmodeus and other archdevils as common patrons. The dragon deities Phaas and Khaad are also common subjects of worship. Kobolds also often find themselves drawn to cults, particularly those with dragons or devils as figureheads.
Common Myths and Legends
Creation myths
The origins of the kobold race are told in countless ways by the many tribes scattered across Golarion. Most break down to one of these three stories.The Third Brood
This story claims that kobolds were made by the draconic god Phaas from the dying spirits of the chromatic and metallic dragons that his son Khaad had brought down. Their life essence had faded to only a little flame, and Phaas feared that it was not strong enough to save them from death if he brought them back in their true form. Instead, he reincarnated their spirits into smaller, kobold bodies.Tears of Khaad
This myth tells that kobolds were born from Khaad's tears of shame after he defeated his father Phaas in battle. These tears had many colors and as they hit the earth, each transformed into a differently colored kobold.The Firstborn
Perhaps the grandest of the creation myths, this story claims that when the kobolds were first created during the Age of Creation, they were parceled away deep beneath the earth. When Khaad went on his legendary orgy of destruction, the kobolds became curious and tunneled to the surface. When Khaad saw them, he transformed some of them into the first dragons. Those he left behind could not find their way back beneath the earth and have stayed near the surface ever sinceInterspecies Relations and Assumptions
Kobolds often seethe with hatred and jealousy, but their innate caution ensures that they only act on these impulses when they have the upper hand. If unable to safely indulge their urge to physically harm and degrade members of other races, they resort to careful insults and “practical jokes” instead. They consider both dwarves and elves to be deadly rivals. Kobolds fear the brute power of half-orcs and resent humans for the dominant status that race enjoys. They believe half-elves blend the best qualities of both parent races, which strikes kobolds as fundamentally unfair. Kobolds believe halflings, small in stature, make wonderful slaves and targets for kobold rage and practical jokes. When the gnomes first arrived in the mortal realm, kobolds saw them as perfect victims. This sparked waves of retaliation and reprisal that have echoed on down through the centuries and earned the kobolds’ permanent enmity.
Kobold
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
sapis draco cobalus
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments