Kobold

Kobolds are small dog-like reptilian humanoids with sneaky and sadistic tendencies. Kobolds are often dismissed as cowardly, foolish, and weak, but these little reptilian creatures actually have a strong social structure that stresses devotion to the tribe, are clever with their hands, and viciously work together in order to overcome their physical limitations. Kobolds are a mean and sadistic race delighting in murder and torture. An attitude more than likely brought on by being at the absolute bottom of the humanoid food chain.

Despite their cruelty and foul dispositions, Kobolds reputedly are skiled miners and traders amongst the dark markets below though no one would admit to such dealings so this mere speculation.

Physically weak, they are easy prey for competent predators in the dark and dangerous environs where they reside. This vulnerability underlies their cowardice and forces them to band together. Their superior numbers can win battles against powerful adversaries, but often with massive casualties on the kobold side. They will never willingly engage opponents without at least 2-to-1 odds in their favour, and often attempt to capture opponents alive to serve their psychotic ends, be sold into slavery, or kept as food.

Kobolds make up for their physical ineptitude with a cleverness for trap making and tunneling. Their lairs consist of low tunnels through which they move easily, but which make it difficult for larger humanoids to maneuver. Rather than face the claws, teeth, and blades of their enemies head-on, kobolds riddle their lairs with rock falls, nets, concealed pits, and other traps designed to eliminate or ensnare their foes before they get close.

These lairs are efficient and orderly places where the strong rule over the weak, whether by competence or cruelty. Kobold lairs have a chieftain and a champion serving as his personal bodyguard. More than half of all kobold lairs have several wild boars serving as guards, and some communities have been known to domesticate vermin such as giant bats as aerial mounts. They avoid areas of intense light.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Reptilian humanoids, standing between 2' and 3'4" tall, weighing 35 to 55 pounds, with scaled skin between reddish brown and black in color and burnt orange to red eyes. Their legs are sinewy and digitigrade. They have long, clawed fingers and a jaw like a crocodile. Small white or tan horns protrud from their head, and they have rat-like tails. They are often described as smelling of wet dog and stagnant water.

Genetics and Reproduction

As egg-laying creatures, the kobolds’ birth rate is higher than most other humanoid race. They mature quickly, and can live to be “great wyrms” more than a century old. Despite the abundant numbers of their young, many kobolds perish before they reach the end of their first decade. A pregnant female can lay her egg within two weeks. Kobold eggs are believed to require an incubation period of 2-4 months. But newly hatched kobolds have been observed to achieve the ability to walk within hours. Kobold young mature quickly and reach young adulthood in six years.

by Pathfinder: Archives of Nethys

Lifespan

Unknown

Average Height

2' -3'4"

Average Weight

35-55lbs