Kobolds in 5e Dungeons & Dragons | Web DM

[@WebDM]

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[@boohbehr]

Jim! Pruitt! You're late.

[@sambro6657]

I have to say mad respect for you guys Jim and Pruitt the constant d and d or dice or rpg themed shirts every video you guys have one and I have to say good job guys legit and thank you for all the awesome content love the videos keep em coming.

[@OkamiG15]

Web DM so, did you have 2 scorpion toys around, or were they a special purchase for the video?

[@WebDM]

@gage oh we totally bought em! Found the sticks outside the studio.

[@Quandry1]

@@WebDM Kobolds blend surprisingly well with monks thanks to their dex bonus and their dice pools not having to work off strength. And the pack tactics makes all of the attacks monks can make much more likely to hit. It makes them surprisingly strong. But I personally give them a tinkering/engineering like racial ability that lets them deal with some of their traps and "creations" most of the time and give them back the 120' darkvision that other mostly "underground" races have.

[@greatwipeape4447]

"It is no exaggeration or hyperbole to say that, all evils of the world are endorsed and committed by gnomes." - SsethTzeentach

[@Melantrist]

Good ol' Arkanum :D

[@brosephnoonan223]

No truer words gave been spoken

[@jaredpatterson6215]

Ah, a man of culture as well

[@beastwarsFTW]

"Five curses and spite live in each gnome this truth can't be ignored" - Oxhorn

[@jacobbeaudoin5486]

Dnd race: exists Jim Davis: lemme tell you how all these bad bois are secretly Fey in my land between two rivers campaign

[@mortalLP]

I was thinking the same. Damn. Thing! XD

[@matthewneuendorf5763]

"They're Kobolds, they're evil... they've always sort of hated Gnomes..." Who hasn't always sort of hated Gnomes? I find that one of the most interesting bits of world-building (I think in Volo's) is that, in any city without a large Gnome population, Kobolds are beneficial symbiotes with the urban population, being invited in and protected in exchange for maintaining the undercroft and sewer systems. This suggests that any "inherent" evil even in the Forgotten Realms is more a product of Gnomish prejudice than actual racial predilection. I think Deekin of Neverwinter Nights fame did a lot to popularize Kobolds as a player race.

[@d.parasol]

my dm's regular fantasy homebrew features gnomes that are internationally recognized as coming from an obnoxious, racist, politically aggressive, slave-owning society that hoards technology

[@alexanderchippel]

@@d.parasol Gnomes are just the Brotherhood of Steel of the Forgotten Realms.

[@d.parasol]

@@alexanderchippel *checking words off list* obnoxious, racist, politically aggressive, hoards technology. yeah, i guess that's it, gnomes are the Brotherhood of Steel of the Forgotten Realms. *scratching head*

[@Jeromy1986]

Kobolds are meant to be very slight kleptomaniacs. They're basically Borrowers.

[@CyclopsWasRight]

Watch "MrRhex - What they don't tell you about Kobolds." He goes over the ancient events that lead to the hate between them.. *Spoiler* Glitergold killed Kurdlemack and the dragon god Ao, Oa?, made a martyr of him by giving him Godhood. The hate is taught to young Kobolds as the stories of old.

[@SDTCG]

Kobolds are my favorite. My players have become so obsessed with a Kobold NPC that I practically am running a DM PC. I have to make up reasons why they can't take him with them on adventures.

[@dorkseid5874]

Grovel, Cower, Beg I can't help thinking of the scene from Thor Ragnarok where Thor is carrying in a "visibly weak/injured" Loki, then hits the guards with Loki.

[@timandshannon03]

We're doing help, help.......

[@Klespyrian]

That is actually such a good example. Loki might not be grovelling, but his body is more literally used to give Thor advantage. Oh, and I will absolutely be using that.

[@MisterHPlays]

Especially with the Pack Tactics advantage. It also reminds me of old heel pro wrestlers like Ric Flair pretending to beg for mercy and backing into a corner, then suddenly hitting a low blow or poking the eyes.

[@koolaidserpent]

I had a kobold in my old 1st edition game that became a recurring villain. The players had killed his tribe, took him in as a mascot and abused him. Eventually he became a drake riding anti-paladin. It was silly, but by the end he was finally seen as a genuine threat.

[@koolaidserpent]

Karg the Destroyer

[@guidoinsunglasses6385]

Your intro skits are beginning to remind me of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I think it might be my favorite thing

[@WebDM]

That is the greatest of compliments, thank you

[@44tuck3r]

That is a really apt comparison

[@geoffdewitt6845]

I was surprised that kobolds don't get a bonus to Intelligence or at least proficiency with either miner's or tinker's tools.

[@Quandry1]

I personally switch out their cower feature with their own version of tinkering/engineering that they make their own more kobold themed items.

[@dicorockhimself]

@@Quandry1 that's a good idea I was thinking of traits to give sense in my world kolbolds have traits based the dragons so I will use this as a sugestion for one of them lol

[@44tuck3r]

Just take the whole rock gnome stat block and ditch the kobold shit mechanics.

[@jiiaga5017]

Our group just gives them a subrace based on the 3 Kobold types listed in Volos, with a +1 to a stat. So +1 CHA for the scale sorcerer, only a -1 STR penalty for the dragonshield, and +1 INT for the inventor.

[@jiiaga5017]

@@44tuck3r except their mechanics are fun and good.

[@1234kalmar]

In my DnD world, after the extinction of the Tolkienian Triad, (and most other traditional fantasy races) The last surviving dragon took pity on kobolds and culturally uplifted them. They are basically the elves of my setting: Had a civilization before any other, magically more advanced, and arrogant

[@ryansmith3383]

This is fucking brilliant and I want to steal it for my world.

[@Stefan-xt5sk]

That sounds like a really cool twist on DnD lore. Did you come up with it while creating the world originally or did it evolve through play as a result of different campaigns that take place in a continuous timeline?

[@TheJarric]

in pathfinder theres lizard race thats pretty much canon

[@NamelessKing1597]

In my world the Kobolds created the warforged to protect themselves from their Dragonborn and Genasi Neighbors.

[@tzarofwind9095]

2 weeks ago, my party arrived in a kobold tribe's domain to petition an audience with their green dragon master. We couldn't run d&d this past weekend because people were out of town, and that had me sort of disappointed. But low and behold, if we would have ran the session last week I would have missed out on the help this video gives. Talk about good timing guys!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

One of my favorite characters is a kobold! Kob “the Bold” - Wild Magic Sorcerer

[@Darknight4434]

This is genious

[@BobWorldBuilder]

@@Darknight4434 Thank you! I felt pretty clever when I came up with that, haha

[@JoshuaMeehan]

Oh boy a mastermind kobold played as bugs bunny. Watch out for that portable hole!

[@monicavix6036]

You see a small, black kobold leaning against the wall munching on a chicken leg. "What's up, doc?" they say before shooting you with a light crossbow bolt.

[@ameliafeyparsons4816]

I ran a one-shot recently where everyone played kobolds who were part of a tribe that worshipped a Shadow Dragon who they called Mom. They were in charge of guarding her nest so when her eggs went missing they were tasked with recovering it. The culprits were a tribe of Kobolds who weren't led by a dragon and were jealous so they eggnapped the protagonist tribe's dragon eggs in hopes of raising there own to lead them. Also, I have a character ready to go that is a Kobold Druid who was raised by Forest Gnomes and has ABSOLUTELY no idea she is actually a Kobold. She thinks she is a gnome too.

[@EpherosAldor]

Both of these are just spectacular!! I love the story concept of the eggnapping, so full of potential for a large one-shot?? Like several sessions but not an actual campaign.

[@theprinceofawesomeness]

Small critique but how Kobolds work around dragons the shadow dragon could just command them in to uniting tribes

[@crystaltydemagic]

I love that this came out, I made a Kobold that was kicked out for being to brave, became a Beastmaster Ranger with a wolf for a Westmarches game. Master Pack tactics.

[@Yuiopdude]

I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned. Kobalds are one of the few that make the original beast master ranger work. Wolves are big enough to ride, so so long as you're on your wolf, advantage to attack. Direct sunlight? Wolf attacks instead.

[@crystaltydemagic]

@@Yuiopdude works for range and melee. Riding wolf gives Wolf Advantage and cancels out your sunlight sensitivity into normal hits (×2 attacks dual wielding) for melee or if ranged you can really pick any animal. I switch back and forth depending on the sitch.

[@Yuiopdude]

@@crystaltydemagic honestly, the same tactic can be used as a sorcerer ooor wizard with their familiar. Or the feat "magic initiate" or "ritual caster" to get find familiar to do the same. But as the familiar it's autonomous, and the rangers pet isn't as much (in base), it's just such a perfect fit.

[@jenkothered]

Oh yes! I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about these guys. I'm currently playing three kobolds stacked on top of each other disguised as a dragonborn in a trenchcoat

[@WebDM]

Niiiiice

[@oysterstu4822]

I need more tumor moss. T-tumah moss? Tumor moss. ... ? Tumor moss

[@1Ring42]

I play a raven queen warlock and my go to strategy is have the sentinel raven hover over whoever Nox is attacking.

[@lokuzt]

Is one of their hands a broom?

[@jenkothered]

@@lokuzt no but they have worked at a business factory

[@TetrisPhantom]

The first rule of Kobold Fight Club is "Yip Yip!"

[@joshuarichardson6529]

There's a reason people don't talk about Kobold Fight Club. We, there's a reason the losers never talk about about Kobold Fight Club. And since it's a felony, it's probably the same reason the winners never talk about Kobold Fight Club as well.

[@Jeromy1986]

Are the Kobold Inventors like little Pokémon trainers? 😁

[@an8strengthkobold360]

Yes, yes it is.

[@tonyk7000]

In the campaign setting that I've made, Kobolds run the mail and small parcel delivery services. Which is sort of a problem because they don't have boats, so they'll just seal themselves in barrels are ride the waves between islands. Nobody is really sure how it works considering how many of them die on the way, but it's super efficient because of how tenacious they are and hardly any mail gets lost.

[@silverd20]

"If we all just talked then the evil creatures wouldn't seem so evil!" Oh yeah the mindflayers and drow would love that XD

[@barrybend7189]

Within reason those are exceptions.

[@jonathanbabcock9177]

Also vampires, trolls, any hungry dragon, mimics I'm starting to realize DND is a dangerous world.

[@FlamingAomeba]

jonathan babcock Well, some Mimics can be talked to and even reasoned with, but they’re all out for food at the end of the day.

[@DrevosSoul]

@@jonathanbabcock9177 well vampire COULD be okay but thats how the DM shows the vampire like do they have to kill for blood or just drink some and the victim lives on without worry

[@Em3.14re]

Well, the drow live in a very oppressive society in which priestesses of Lolth dominate, then drow matrons and house heads, daughters, then male drow, and then slaves (though house plays a significant role as well). The drow are essentially indoctrinated into their own awful lifestyle and threatened with Lolth’s wrath, akin to cults and religions and fear of hell, etc. If drow were removed from that environment, why wouldn’t they be good or neutral creatures?

[@isg2015]

I feel so bad for Kobolds... Especially after our party murdered a whole bunch of them and then found out after that they had recently left the cult we were tracking and were completely innocent...

[@giraffedragon6110]

That whole society thing got me thinking that “Yeah Kobolds live up to 120 human years it’s just... they’re accident prone and die easily”

[@malogranatum4914]

Me, playing a kobold cleric who one time rolled a 3 on climbing a chain, thus almost falling to their death in an infinite pit only for their foot to get tangled up at the end of the chain, before asking the halfling barbarian to pull them up: Ha, mood :)

[@minnion2871]

Plot twist, they are secretly building up their numbers in the under-dark not attracting attention from the other races that live down there.... They're also the reason diamonds are so rare as they've been pretty effectively hoarding all the worlds diamonds and using them to resurrect their fallen.

[@maromania7]

It's like how raccoons can easily live 20 years...but usually live 2-3, because they're clever enough to get into a lot of trouble but not quite clever enough to get back out.

[@johndobson2674]

I ran a Kobold Bard once, backstory was exactly the rejected from the tribe, and was caught trying to steal from a human bard when she accidentally struck the strings on hit lyre, she was super fascinated by the thing, he woke up to her having taken the instrument and just plucking at the stings. He took her under his wing as a student and they traveled together until she had developed her skills to the point she struck out on her own. Playing that bard was easily my favorite character I've ever played.

[@SpidermanandhisAmazingFriends]

In my world Kobolds are highly respected. Their domains always wreath dragon territory (chromatic and metallic) and they work closely with Dragon born. They are the life blood of dragon based society. My favorite Kobold concept, is if you are walking through their territory and you can actually FIT, you are surrounded by traps. Edit: Also there are metallic and chromatic Kobolds.

[@2000TalesRolePlaying]

Don’t forget that Xanathars Guide made Thieves Tools into trap making

[@theprinceofawesomeness]

Wait what. That was a thing. (Don't own the books). I am curently playing a Kobold Rogue

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

The Grovel ability is great once you rename it "Quick! Shoot him in the back while no one is looking!"

[@RatTimes12]

I haven't liked Kobolds since they almost killed a character first session in Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Doesn't matter how weak something is if there's 20 of them

[@danieldosso2455]

Action Economy is king

[@willmendoza8498]

@@danieldosso2455 20+ years ago my first character died to a kobold slinger that I never even saw, before I even walked into my first dungeon. I was hooked on D&D ever since...

[@AdamC169]

counterpoint: fireball

[@RatTimes12]

@@AdamC169 counter counter point: level 1 monk : (

[@davecam4863]

Fireball only works if they are nicely formed in a 20 ft square. Most Kobolds aren't going to square up and fight a party of well equipped adventurers, they're going to dive into holes, shoot them with poison arrows and drop mean traps on them.

[@LeoxandarMagnus]

The conversation about the cowering gave me a great character idea: Drunken master Kobold monk.

[@SaylorTaylor]

Prior to watching this I made a drunken master kobold monk, who works as a courier for a one shot coming up, I'm liking the character so much I think I'm going to transition him into my campaign. I also gave him the feat alert. The main ideas to play him so that externally he looks like your stereotypical very little fish in a very big pond Kobold, but internally he's very aware and very in control of the situation.

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

In my homebrew setting, I just made Kobolds the eternal enemies of the Skaven, so most major cities have Skaven trying to tunnel up and infiltrate them from the underdark, but find a clan of Kobolds running the sewers who go full-on Tucker's Kobolds on the rat bastards, fighting tooth and claw for every inch. I absolutely adore that shit.

[@BigTr33]

Have always loved Kobolds as trap masters and using Tucker's Kobolds level of tactics.

[@killianduggan8730]

A Kobold Battlesmith Artificer who builds his own mechanical dragon to charge into battle atop for permanent advantage. You can use all your infusions to power it up too and make it like a real dragon with winged boots, circlet of blasting etc... (If your DM allows it to attune)

[@Neverfate]

I love kobolds because they're the ultimate team-players in these later editions. My 1 kobold rogue wanted to bring wealth and glory back his tribe, so he joined up with an adventuring party that formed to take out a dragon that was trying to muscle in on the local lands.

[@zacharyroy332]

Kobold is one of my favorite races! I hope to be doing you proud Jim, I have a Kobold necromancer in the AL. Mastery of magic and the undead is Yip Yip's goal!

[@EYEOFATE3800]

That's it. I'm playing a Kobold Paladin under the influence of Bahamut destined to defeat evil.

[@cassandragidney7682]

I have a character that is a silvery colored Kobold who basically has Thrall (from Warcraft)'s background. Some humans found him while they were raiding a Kobold next for monsters for their Gladiator ring. They decided to raise him as a "Hero" as a joke. He has a couple levels of fighter and figures out how to be a rogue (swashbuckler). When he discovered that his Masters were slave owners who forced people to fight, he broke out, released the slaves and ran. They named him Blepk, Bahamut's Little Emissary, the Platinum Kobold.

[@cassandragidney7682]

His personality is driven by the joke they made of his life. He desires to be the hero they always told him he was. (Also, because he's a swashbuckler with his racial trait he literally always has advantage on every hit. ;p)

[@cassandragidney7682]

Sorry, just reread the Swashbuckler ability. I dont have advantage when there are no allies near me or the enemy I'm fighting but I still get sneak at damage. But I do have advantage in literally every other circumstance.

[@willmendoza8498]

That's exactly the character I'm playing in my current campaign. He's an absolute blast.

[@Matt-md5yt]

I had a concept of a Kobold apprentice to a DragonBorn Paladin of Bahamut. great minds

[@GerudoDragon74]

My favorite kobold pc was Rinth, his cave got destroyed when adventurers attacked the dragon living in it, he ran, got lost in the woods, and got picked up by a priest of Erathis. Eventually he brought the remains of his tribe out of the caves and built a home for them in the nearby swamps, using the teachings of Erathis instead of Tiamat.

[@atwas]

Kobold Gang! Kobold Gang! I love my Vengeance Paladin Kobold to bits

[@EYEOFATE3800]

I also made an Npc Vengeance Paladin Kobold who worships Bahamut and is rivals with Bane's champion who is a Conquest Paladin Human. Battle of the titans.

[@zoecarr6139]

Awtas!!!! I love you!!! Korellian is amazing

[@atwas]

@@zoecarr6139 !!! The last place I expected to be recognized! I'm glad you enjoy them!

[@francesmitchell455]

when I think about kobolds Deekin from neverwinter nights is a great example of how a kobold adventurer would behave naïve and timid but very loyal

[@antoninedelchev6076]

Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom!

[@jamesbrowne8017]

That intro is gold

[@shivanzombie262]

I've been playing a Kobold Storm Sorcerer since level 3 and Trox is up to level 7. I have never had as much fun as I've had with a 3' tall 25 lbs lizard that gets angry and throws lightning bolts.

[@TVlord5]

That's me with my Halfling Draconic Sorcerer. Nothing like showing up out of nowhere, dropping a fireball, and teleporting away

[@danielcreamer9669]

In my campaign kobolds represent the skilled labor so they have formed a multinational union which has lodges all around the world. Kind of figured with the strong clan bonds they might be more resistant to having their labor exploited. Character concept ive been sitting on for a while is a drunken master monk kobold.

[@egirlSkeletor]

I had a kobold divination wizard (who was gifted with that knowledge by a dragon with a strange sense of humor) who was sent out into the world in a fallout 1 style quest to save their tribe. He was an absolute BLAST to play. my second favorite kobold PC was when I was running Tomb of Annihilation. A player had a kobold artificer who was making magic items to reclaim his place as an elder dragon that he KNEW he was.

[@kevinsmith9013]

Lol, Kobolds as rock hopping asteroid prospect miners like the belters from the expanse...

[@martinhennigan1113]

My group's first ever 5th edition encounter was a Kobold and he got away. Later after we rotated DMs the former DM made that Kobold as their player character. That was three years ago and he is now a level 17 Kobold Rogue/Fighter and he is a formidable Dragon Slayer who frees Kobolds from their tyrannical Dragon masters.

[@theshadedofinnsmouth6243]

I'm digging my kobold fiend patron warlock. He holds his hands up to his face when he casts his blasting magic so he can pretend to be a dragon.

[@TheJedineo99]

Great minds think alike. Lol

[@LemanRussVanquisher]

Kobolds in my setting are Lawful Neutral and live in societies with a King, like even if there are 2 Kobolds one of them is a king, and the only duties of the king are to proactively do things that are "good for kobolds" and not do or eliminate things that are "Bad for kobolds" this has been pretty great because it really opens up opportunities for my plays to do some early/mid game negotiations as opposed to just monster extermination.

[@AnimeNPC.]

I have a kobold character named Took "The Taker". His weapons include snakes in a bag, Flees in a can, beehive bombs lol.

[@PandorasFolly]

Kobold Force Five! A Oneshot I played in. Myself and 4 other players all kobolds tasked with recon and destruction of a pirate outpost that was threatening our asteroid homes. Entire thing was a flip on heros invading the dungeon. Such a blast

[@WebDM]

Sounds like fun!

[@PandorasFolly]

@@WebDM holy crap was it! Very tounge in cheek, complete with color coordinated Sentai Helmets. Same guy came up with one of my favorite homebrew campaign worlds, "Navy of The Witch King." 200 years ago the BBEG won conquering the fractured nations of man, drove the elves to another plane, and exterminated the dwarves turning their corpses into eternal Smiths. Frankly life is pretty good. Political campaign, players were naval crew and officers in the Witch Kings fast growing navy. His goal is the conquest of the Goodly Southern continent and he will need a powerful navy to cross the great equatorial seas.

[@acousticnoisemachine]

I love the kobold's racial ability. I played a megalomaniacal kobold who mistakenly believed that he was in charge of the party. I loved shouting "Protect me, minions!" when using their ability.

[@ahh6670]

I made an encounter where Kobolds overran a gnomish village and got their hands on some nifty gadgets. The ‘boss’ kobold was wearing full plate (which he was far from proficient with) and wielded a vorpal blowgun. Basically a vorpal sword, but instead of chopping someone’s head off on a nat. 20, their head just explodes.

[@LeonNFG]

I recently started playing as a kobold barbarian, an angry little fellow with his shield and rapier. It's not about the strenght, it's all about the rage!

[@matthewjennings7645]

Loving the Drakewarden Ranger for Kobold! Perfect fit thematically for their reason for adventure in serving the young dragon as well as mechanics to have a consistent ally for pack tactics and Blindfighting fighting style to circumvent sunlight sensitivity.

[@matthewcourtney8239]

One of my favorite kobold characters I’ve ever written was inspired by the “Goblin Lord” from Goblin Slayer. But my favorite part was I had a green dragon get very drunk and wonder into the layer of his kobold minions and this led to a fertilized egg that hatched into a kobold half dragon that the rest of the tribe highly revered and led to a bunch of kobold’s under his lead but at the end of the day he is still a drunk mistake of a dragon

[@RamblingSkull]

Kobolds in Kobold Press’ Midgard campaign setting are similar to the alternate versions described here.

[@theshadow5251]

I love Midgard's dragon nation!(cant remember it off the top my head but I'm totally stealing it)

[@RamblingSkull]

A_Wannabe_Merlin the Mahroti, I believe. They are pretty cool, though I’ve been wanting to swap them with Slaan-esque lizardmen from Warhammer fantasy.

[@shikatsu]

A Kobold battle master should be honestly terrifying in the theory or at least RP wise.

[@knightghaleon]

I’ve tried the Kobold artificer who had wooden wings boots of flying. He basically was dressed like a Dragonborne Sorcerer Hero that he met. He idolized that character but wasn’t great with magic but was good with crafting.

[@DMRaptorJesus]

The 3e book Song and Silence (the rogue and bard class book) had a great system for trap making, also had a list of all the poisons in D&D which was handy.

[@TheJedineo99]

The great thing about Kobold pack tactics advantage is that it negates the sunlight sensitivity disadvantage. So straight combat rolls even in daylight most of the time.

[@Tacitusreborn]

Kobold Deep Stalker Ranger(revised). Little, scaley powerhouse. In an underdark campaign... forget about it. Ridiculously good.

[@redpandaluver8561]

The Kobold is my favourite race in and. I absolutely LOVE them, they are just so small and adorable. With their 'Grovel, Cower, and Beg' ability I usually just have my kobold droop his ears over his eyes and begin to whine. This was particularly useful for an encounter I had early on in this campaign where I was a Kobold Druid. A giant snake had constricted me so I couldn't do anything anyway, so I just used that ability. It was allowed my allies to get some excellent hits off on it while it was distracted by the tiny thing that it had just captured becoming even smaller.

[@wrathhunter]

Currently playing a Blue spotted Kobold Bard, my favorite move is major illusion to make it look like i turn into a giant blue dragon, probably the most fun i’ve had in D&D since i started playing

[@Vespuchian]

I really like Kobolds, they're a nice way to throw in a benign 'monstrous race' for local flavour. I like the mention in Volo's Guide of Kobold tribes working out deals with towns and cities to run the garbage and sewer system in a symbiotic relationship where Kobolds get everything they need from the cast-offs from the surface while improving sanitation and drainage (I think it also mentions more than half of towns have a colony and don't even know it). You can wrap that into common custom where townspeople leave gifts for the Kobolds who clean the streets at night.

[@joshuarichardson6529]

That's what I did. Sewers are filled with tasty meats that humans don't want, yummy yummy rats, mmmmm. They don't quite understand why coins are so valuable, but as humans and dragons horde these things, they must be good for something. Ideally, they would accept as payment tasty bits like chicken bones and pig entrails, as much as they can carry. They don't especially like humans, but as human society expands, there become more safe places for kobolds to live. I gave them a +10 bonus to save against food poisoning, to reflect that they're willing to eat things most other races wouldn't even touch.

[@Vespuchian]

@Joshua Richardson It was all fun and games until some joker taught the kobolds under Waterdeep about unions and “collective bargaining”. I’ve had some funny run-ins with kobolds that revolved around their extreme reuse-recycling policies: one time I was part of a party who had to find a missing person and thanks to previous encounters had developed a couple of contacts with the local kobold clan. Since the person went missing in their territory we just asked if they’d seen her. Sure enough, we’re lead to the hatchery, where the injured (but very much alive) woman could be found sleeping soundly under a pile of baby kobolds. “So... you’re using her as a space heater?” “Waste not!”

[@ericsnyder4592]

Xanthar's Guide to Everything gave rules for Trap Making under Thieves Tools. It still requires some homebrew to broaden.

[@BlackLotus30]

There is only one Kobold god, his name is Deekins and he likes to sell you stuff on a street corner of Neverwinter. :P

[@antoninedelchev6076]

You're selling him short. He once fought Mephistopheles on the streets of Waterdeep.

[@shadowhunter1429]

What about Spurt?

[@racekitty]

Something I like to do with my kobolds that they take on the appearance and aspects of what ever dragon they serve example a white kobold will be a barbarian while a green kobold will be like a evil wizard same thing for metallic dragons a bronze kobold will act like a soldier while a gold kobold acts like a wise sage(even if they aren't) it gives kobolds variety and clues about what dragons are nearby.

[@HoboBrute]

Tucker's kobold cemented kobold as my single favorite low level in DnD. Anything with a good enough intelligence stat and tends to fight in large groups should be treated as a nightmare to defeat

[@ckfairbanks]

Loved this take on Kobolds. It actually got me super interested in playing the race, and last night I rolled my first Kobold character for a new campaign. I was originally gonna go with a Oath of Vengeance Paladin, who was hell bent on seeking retribution from the gnomes, but ended up going with a Forge Domain Cleric. I think the kobold history, lore, and deities will play really well into the backstory and character development. I liked your take on Grovel, Cower, and Beg too. The way I took it, and that I'm going to play my character, is that Kobolds are very aware of the realms' misguided perception of them. So they use it to their advantage, exploiting their enemies' perception of their race by playing into the meek cowardly creature trope in order to gain advantage in a fight.

[@NANA-zz8hb]

Honestly I love grovel and beg. I used it against a dragon(how koblods worship as gods). as everyone draw's their weapons to attack my kobold drops to he's knees, offers up every thing he has of value and pledges loyalty to the dragon while begging for his life(IE spam grovel and beg). after the dragon is dead he just picks up his stuff then gets up like nothing is happened.

[@pwnyboy9714]

Had a GoldScaled Kobold who was imprisoned by his red scaled brothers. Taught himself how to be a Monk by conceptualizng his body (and ki) as a giant interconnected pully system. Busted out and basically becane the Vegeta of our D&D world. Lol

[@andrewthemaroon8608]

I just wish the grovel was a deception check for the exact reason Pruit explained. You're screaming and begging but secretly using theri confidence against them. A smart attacker would be looking for these faints and not every attacker is smart enough to immediately catch it

[@PenDragonx]

I made kobolds the ferengi in charge of massive globe spanning merchant guilds

[@Willothemask]

That is fucking BRILLIANT

[@worldwar1flyingace645]

Brilliant!

[@hamstsorkxxor]

YOINK! Sorry, I mean, may I borrow that?

[@jacopobertolotti5025]

Goblins already fill that role for me.

[@samuelsilbory6672]

In my setting the civilized Kobolds dwell in a fortress city. Also known as the City of Locks, City of Traps...

[@vadaritis]

Betty Crock is one of my characters that i love. She is a cursed green dragon molded into a kobold. So she acts like a sweet old lady but is evil af. As a conjuror wizard she summons demons and devils she keeps in line through fear but call them nephews and nieces. Cracks everyone at the table up.

[@michaelmrozek7206]

If you’re ever heard of how humans can “ pack bond with anything” thags basically my kobolds. They adopt anything or anyone who helps the tribe and is kind to them

[@loginyoass3771]

I paid a tribe to build a statue if me left, came back and they were worshiping my statue we later got an abandoned castle in the mountains I moved them across the map to live safe mine and trap the fuck out of our castle while we adventure

[@ComicSams48]

Okay, so, kobolds that are really intelligent Cubones (skulls of dead mothers and bone weapons) but what we perceive as their incessant wailing and crying is some sort of meditation to hold their rage off until they go crazy and stab you dozens of times in 30 seconds, before resuming their regularly developed lives. They cry and wail all while pushing carts of baubles to sell, or while maintaining sewers or whatever they do.

[@Enderdragon91]

It's good to see you talk about Kobalds! My favorite Kobald is Tarask of Oath Iron from the Unexpectables. Zito even inspired a kobald only mini-campaign within our group, and it was glorious

[@sluggardly]

I think a good alternate feature for the kobold might be something similar to the lizardfolk weapon crafting ability, just with being able to create a simple trap from scrounged materials during a short rest. Maybe give it a few types of trap, the way that rock gnomes have their gadget types.

[@combsmsb]

I love that idea

[@UnhallowedEssence]

going for the elemental spirits idea, I kinda picture Kobolds as being small dirt elementals with fox skulls and glowing blue flames for eyes, just to make the spiritual side of the species kinda get pushed into the limelight

[@TVlord5]

Omg you gave it to me. The Kobolds are the ultimate servitor race to the point that they will literally change their appearance through their rapid breeding to whatever shape best suits their masters. Their natural form is the dog/lizard weird mishmash of all sorts of creatures but with a love of digging and burrowing. Some of them become more mammalian to seem more relatable to the warm-blooded majority of the world, some bred themselves towards looking like the dragons they worshipped. But of course they have free will and so things can get a little chaotic and grumpy but when they don't have a master to serve they just kind of...dig...and that's it. No real goal other than just survival.

[@thegustbag]

Fun fact: I have a friend who lives in another city and we decided to make kobold brothers at our respective tables, whose tribe has been slain and their quest is to look for each other. Funnier fact? I play an Arcane Trickster rogue and he plays an Artificer at his game (not sure which archetype).

[@A_N1ne]

I'm currently playing a Kobold barbarian named Thud, and so far it's been one of my favorite characters I've played

[@kevinuhart4970]

Strangely enough, your episode on city building had me planning a nice place in the mountains. You had made the comments about settling on what makes this place unique. I'm still mulling things over, but one of the fun facts about this city is that Kobolds have a structured messenger service. Granted, they are still treated a bit untrustworthy, but they are really good at what they do. And what they do is play the ears and eyes of the Thieves' Guild.... shhhhh...

[@hal_aetus]

I'm new to rpg's (playing a Pathfinder campaign) and I have a kobold companion. I've been researching a bit and found this discussion useful. Thanks!

[@StevoM08]

RIP Spurt. Gone too soon. Curse your cruelty Mercer!

[@timothyheimbach3260]

11 days!

[@roboraygun]

Glad you guys got the audio issue fixed! I’ve been trying to make an idea of a kobold PC character work so I’m excited to see what you guys have to say about them! :) (My current idea is of a Kobold Artificer (or Wizard reskinned as an inventor if UA isn’t allowed) who comes from a family of trap makers, but doesn’t want to make lethal things so he leaves. But of course all the things he makes are lethal bc that’s all he knows how to make... so like a pet dragon with a fire bolt flamethrower and such) Also also, I love that you bring up quest for glory all the time! I grew up playing them too and no one around me remembers them! So many nostalgic memories!

[@DetectiveBarricade]

My group and I played a kobold one-shot. I had a lot of fun with my Swashbuckler kobold PC - attack a creature, move away without worrying about OA, then hide as a bonus action.

[@WebDM]

Fun!

[@MonkeyJedi99]

In a long-ago campaign I was running in Rolemaster, A player's bard had charmed spared and "tamed" a kobold out of a group that had ambushed them. I gave the kobold a simplified character sheet and the player named him 'Spot'. - Spot was a good scout and backstabber, and could pick locks and avoid traps, skills the party was sorely lacking. Spot also had a penchant for keeping young chickens in his backpack to eat life when he was not fed. He also turned the room in the players' keep he was given into a chicken ranch that positively STANK, but kept his backpack stocked with "pretty chickies" for him to devour head-first. - One adventure, the bard got in way over his head on a scout into an orc complex and was eviscerated and "heading for the light" until Spot stuffed the contents of the bard's herb bag, and a bunch of plants Spot had been harvesting in mimic of the bard, into the bard's viscera and stuffed his guts back in. My roll was AMAAAZZZZIIINGGG and the bard was dragged back from the edge of death, while also gaining massive scarring and serious sepsis from having raw medicinal herbs, chicken blood, pine needles and kobold saliva jammed into his body. - Spot got magical armor after that and eventually left the party when he found a new tribe of kobolds to rule, as Spot the Great.

[@gelbadayah.sneach579]

12:08 I made a kobold barbarian (ancestral guardian) named Biscuits when toying with the idea of a dexterity-focused barbarian. Later I made Biscuits as a monk under the way of the drunken master. Both incarnations were right along those lines: a rage-filled little spitfire who was just done with being picked on. 15:41 OMG! Quest for Glory is one of my all-time favorite PC games!

[@idpolisdumbreallydumb1365]

Next up, golems (not necessarily restricted to 5e) :)? Or Psionics?

[@WebDM]

Thanks for the suggestion!!

[@red99Baron]

I *love* that y'all are revisiting old material!

[@WebDM]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@MauroDraco]

Kobolds, lone or not, make excelente monks, Pruitt! They are very discipline oriented, extremely lawful at that, and Yoda like. Think about it. ;)

[@robertgriffin8661]

In the 5e Monster Manual it says of Kobolds: "They mature quickly and can live to be 'great wyrms' more than a century old." What does this mean? Is it whatever you want it to be, or does it imply they can sort of evolve into a greater, more powerful draconic entity? Fluff question: how would you use this in a campaign?

[@corpralcobra420]

I fucking LOVE kobolds! My favorite race, so much to work with there.

[@cynzix]

Me too! Actually, the Elven ranger that I'm playing now had a thing for Kobolds, and can't harm them because she finds them unbelievably cute.

[@AfroChef]

You mentioning Daves Kobold makes me miss that campiagn. There was so much blood and honestly the ending was satisfying

[@docartemis2878]

So, I once played a Kobold scout for Curse of Strahd, Kukbi Diss had gotten sticky fingers and knicked a trinket from the dragon her tribe served. She then realized her mistake and fled as far and fast as she could.

[@malogranatum4914]

I’m currently playing a kobold grave cleric of Anubis (now druid multiclass) as my first ever character build. They were found as an egg in a destroyed kobold warren near an oasis that a group of nomads/rangers/desert guides was checking up on. One of these rangers/guides then brought the egg to her girlfriend, a healer/priestess of Isis, who then raised the kobold hatchling primarily within the temple complex where she worked. As such, while my kobold was never raised around other kobolds, they still grew up with this sense of community and the importance of group cohesion, which I try to play up (I was hoping that making them be adopted will help free up my roleplaying to allow my own natural reactions without having to think too hard about how a kobold raised by kobolds would react). That said, with them being adopted, I’ve also been playing with the idea that maybe they want to know exactly what happened to their tribe, and we’re currently in a place in our campaign where they could very easily find that information. The question is if finding that information is going to cause a paradigmatic shift in their understanding of their history or not.

[@stevemorris3746]

A Kobold beast master ranger might be fun. you can pick the flying variant for added mobility. Use a short bow and have a big beasty for your animal companion. Focus on setting traps and ambushes. Maybe pick up feats like skulker and sharp shooter. Your down time can be spent making traps and messing with your arrows as well as possible poison making.

[@LexFrank-Arcaneium]

i was just brainstorming about kobolds in my new world last night. i want some sort of god that guards the veil between life and death that has been corrupted to judge the dead by wealth rather than by heart. now she's greedy (thus why diamonds are needed to raise the dead), and she's represented by a dragon. i'm treating kobolds as her servants, teleporting around to steal gold and items for her, like treasure goblins from diablo 3. it's was wonky waking up to this notification when i was just thinking about it before bedding down. great video! thanks, web dm :))

[@AGrumpyPanda]

For some added funky flavour, make at least one high-ranking psychopomp (the entities that do the actual escorting of the dead to the afterlife) really, REALLY displeased with this turn of events, to the point that the players get the occasional free ride out of the afterlife if they help out every so often with its various plans to restore her to her original form.

[@LexFrank-Arcaneium]

@@AGrumpyPanda whoa good idea! that would make a really cool npc and allow for some fun quests that can show the players what happened. my evil plan i coming together...

[@WisdomThumbs]

In my homebrew setting, kobolds were befriended early on by the dragonborn. But many still exist who live in isolated tribes. Thankfully for them, the “Saurians/Scales” are growing to dominate the world. In the only oneshot I’ve ever run, dragonborn were dominant within the Walls of the World. It was a bronze age oneshot, and a kobold led an infiltration party of them (along with human slave slingers). They were paying cyclopes to raid the area around their hideout.

[@giraffedragon6110]

I remember I had an idea for an arcane trickster rouge and the way I would describe him say casting fire ball was taking the bat guano and sulfur, slap it together, he would then slide his tongue between both hands, rear his head back and just SPIT out the fireball.

[@Danmarinja]

Kobolds and Goblins are basically the same, except for one small difference Kobolds are so much cuter

[@lgngrbr588]

I think the college of creation bard UA works really well with the description of their tribes. Especially if you play into the idea of them being leftover earth spirits. Their magic could come from tribal songs about their creation, and life on the plane of earth.

[@TwoKnowingRavens]

Loving these new breakdowns on creatures/peoples! Keep it up! Many channels do this, but nobody does it like the boys at WebDM

[@WebDM]

Thank you Craig!