Kobolds

Kobolds are weak, craven, and seethe with a festering resentment for the rest of the world, especially members of races that seem stronger, smarter, or superior to them in any way. They proudly claim kinship to dragons, but beneath all the bluster, the comparison to their glorious cousins leaves kobolds with a profound sense of inadequacy. Though they are hardworking, clever, and blessed with a natural talent for mechanical devices and mining, they spend their days nursing grudges and hatreds instead of celebrating their own gifts. Kobold tactics specialize in traps and ambushes, but kobolds enjoy anything that allows them to harm others without putting themselves at risk. Often, they seek to capture rather than to kill, taking out their frustrations on the helpless victims they drag back to their claustrophobic lairs.

Physical Description: 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.

Society: Kobolds thrive in cramped quarters far from the light of the sun. Most live in vast warrens deep beneath the earth, but a few instead prefer to make their homes beneath tangles of overgrown trees and brush. Saving their malice for other races, most kobolds get along well with their own kind. While squabbles and feuds do occur, the elders who rule kobold communities tend to settle such conflicts swiftly. Kobolds delight in taking slaves, relishing the chance to torment and humiliate them. They are also cowardly and practical, and often end up bowing to more powerful beings. If these creatures are of another humanoid race, kobolds often scheme to free themselves from subjugation as soon as possible. If the overlord is a powerful draconic or monstrous creature, however, kobolds see no shame in submission, and often shower adoration on their new leader. This is especially true if the kobolds serve a true dragon, who they tend to worship outright.

Relations: 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.

Alignment and Religion: 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. In addition to these deities, kobolds, supremely opportunistic, also sometimes worship nearby monsters as a way of placating them or earning their favor.

Adventurers: Kobolds rarely leave their cozy warrens by their own choice. Most of those who set out on adventures are the last of their tribe, and such individuals often settle down again as soon as they find another kobold community willing to take them in. Kobolds who cannot rein in, or at least conceal, their spiteful and malicious natures have great difficulty surviving in the larger world.

Kobold Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, –4 Strength, –2 Constitution: Kobolds are fast but weak.
• Reptilian: Kobolds are humanoids with the reptilian subtype.
• Small: Kobolds are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on their combat maneuver checks and to Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
• Normal Speed: Kobolds have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Darkvision: Kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Armor: Kobolds have a +1 natural armor bonus.
• Crafty: Kobolds gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Perception, and Profession (miner) checks. Craft (traps) and Stealth are always class skills for a kobold.
• Weakness: Light sensitivity.
• Languages: Kobolds begin play speaking only Draconic. Kobolds with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Dwarven, Gnome, and Undercommon.

Alternate Racial Traits

The following racial traits may be selected instead of existing kobold racial traits. Consult your GM before selecting any of these new options.

Beast Bond: Some kobolds have a talent for training animals and beasts to help them both on and off the battlefield. Kobolds with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Handle Animal and Ride checks. Handle Animal and Ride are always class skills for them. This racial trait replaces crafty.

Dragon-Scaled: Some kobolds are hatched with scales of such vivid color that their connection to a particular sort of chromatic dragon seems undeniable. Whether this coloration is just a quirk of a stray egg or a trait shared by all the members of a tribe, these kobolds gain a resistance that makes them especially suited to work alongside dragons matching the color of the kobold’s scales. Black-scaled and green-scaled kobolds with this racial trait gain acid resistance 5. Blue-scaled kobolds with this racial trait gain electricity resistance 5. Red-scaled kobolds with this racial trait gain fire resistance 5. White-scaled kobolds with this racial trait gain cold resistance 5. This racial trait replaces the armor racial trait.

Gliding Wings: Some kobolds are born with wings that, while too weak for actual flying, do allow them to fall at a very slow and safe pace. A kobold with wings can use them to glide. It can make a DC 15 Fly check to fall safely from any height without taking falling damage, as if using feather fall. When falling safely, it may make an additional DC 15 Fly check to glide, moving 5 feet laterally for every 20 feet it falls. This racial trait replaces crafty.

Jester: Some kobolds swallow their pride and survive by groveling, placating, and amusing the powerful. Kobolds with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Perform checks. Diplomacy and Perform are always class skills for them. This racial trait replaces crafty.

Favored Class Options

The following options are available to all kobolds who have the listed favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the favored class reward.

Alchemist: Add +1/2 to the number of bombs per day the alchemist can create.

Bard: Treat the bard’s level as +1/2 level higher for the purpose of determining the effect of the fascinate bardic performance.

Cavalier: Add 5 feet (up to 15 feet maximum) to the cavalier’s mount’s speed when it uses the charge or withdraw action.

Cleric: Add +1 to channel energy damage dealt to creatures denied their Dexterity bonus to AC (whether or not the creature has a Dexterity bonus to AC).

Druid: Add +1/2 to the druid’s wild empathy bonus.

Fighter: Add +1/2 to damage rolls the fighter makes with weapon attacks against an opponent he is flanking or an opponent that is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC.

Gunslinger: Add +1/4 to the dodge bonus to AC granted by the nimble class feature (maximum +4).

Magus: Add a +1/2 bonus on concentration checks made to cast defensively.

Monk: Add +1/3 to the monk’s AC bonus class ability.

Oracle: Add +1/4 to the armor or natural armor bonus granted by oracle spells she casts on herself.

Ranger: Add +1/4 to the number of opponents the ranger may select when using hunter’s bond to grant a bonus to allies. All selected creatures must be of the same type.

Rogue: Add +1/2 to the rogue’s trap sense bonus to AC.

Sorcerer: Choose acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage. Add +1/2 point of the chosen energy damage to spells that deal the chosen energy damage cast by the sorcerer.

Summoner: Add +1/4 to the summoner’s shield ally bonus (maximum +2).

Witch: Add +5 feet to the distance at which her familiar grants the Alertness feat (maximum +20 feet).

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