Kobold (3.5e Race)

This article is about the homebrew Kobold race. You may be looking for the SRD:Kobolds (Race).

Author: ThunderGod Cid (talk) Contributors: Jota Date Created: May 28, 2017 Status: Pretty much done. Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Kobold

“

You really, really don’t want to go into that cave, mate.

”

Kobolds come across as a somewhat divisive race. On one hand, they are frequently portrayed the world’s whipping boys. Every other race that they ever encounter routinely defeats, enslaves, and/or kills them. Their high rate of reproduction and the ease with which they are cowed by other races (frequently drow) in novelizations reinforce their image as weak, expendable fodder.

And then there are the nasty little buggers popularized by such parts of D&D lore as Tucker’s kobolds. They are descended (albeit distantly, as their ancestors would be quick to point out) from super-smart, all-powerful dragons, after all. It follows that they could pose a threat to even high-level, strong opponents under the right circumstances.

There’s no reason these two divergent suggestions cannot coexist.

Tucker’s kobolds and their brethren would be inherently defensive fighters, choosing conditions of battle that are favorable to them and taking advantage of terrain and range rather than risking massive defeat via open combat. Their lair would be an elaborate maze of tunnels, many of which are inaccessible to human-sized creatures. Opponents are funneled into a bottleneck riddled with traps, murder holes, arrow slits, etc., where the kobolds chip away at them with long spears, crossbow bolts, and fiery death. Clearing kobolds from such a position would be understandably difficult and costly.

All of this, of course, is the best case scenario for the kobold. As is the case with many highly reproductive races, though, population growth puts a strain on resources, forcing some to leave the safety of the fortified base. When this occurs, they are out of their element, becoming easy pickings for other creatures. And when these kobolds are enslaved and bred, their progeny are born into captivity and effectively domesticated. Forced to choose between the blades of their foes and those of their captors, it is little wonder that these kobolds behave altogether differently from those able to fight on their own terms.

Racial Traits

• -2 Strength
• Humanoid (Draconic)
• Small: As a Small creature, a Kobold gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –4 size penalty on special attack (bull rushes, grapples, overruns, and trips) checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but it uses smaller weapons than humans use, and its lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Kobold base land speed is 20 feet.
• Darkvision: A kobold can see in the dark up to 120 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a kobold can function just fine with no light at all.
• Dragonkin (Sp): A kobold may replicate the effects of the produce flame spell as a spell-like ability, with caster level equal to their character level. This ability is usable at will.
• Tread Lightly: Any kobold regardless of class can use the Search and Disable Device skills to locate and disarm traps, in the same manner as a rogue. Search and Disable Device are always considered class skills for the kobold, and the kobold gains a +2 racial bonus on checks made for these skills. Furthermore, the kobold can move unimpeded over ground-based traps—such as pressure plates, pit traps, etc.—without setting them off even if he is not aware of their presence.
• Automatic Languages: Draconic.
• Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Common, Dwarven, Infernal, Undercommon.
• Favored Class: Rogue. For games open to homebrew classes, it is highly recommended to use the Thief-Acrobat instead.
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

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