APPEARANCE

Kobolds are short, reptilian humanoids with bony frames and small tails. They stand approximately 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall and weigh 35 to 45 pounds. Sinewy, double-jointed legs, naturally bent and poised for sudden speed, contribute to their height. When her legs are stretched out, a kobold can increase her height by up to 1 foot, but doing so is uncomfortable.

Kobolds have scaly skin, varying in color from rusty brown to reddish black. They have strong teeth, and their hands and feet have long digits tipped with very small claws. A kobold’s face is like a crocodile’s, with a jaw that can open wide enough to hold a whole melon. Constantly alert and wide, the eyes of a kobold range in color from burnt ochre to red. A ridge of small, hornlike bone juts above each brow and sweeps backward, the protrusions growing larger and more pronounced toward the rear of the skull.

KOBOLD RACIAL TRAITS

• +2 Dexterity, –4 Strength, –2 Constitution. Kobolds are weak and frail, but their size grants them quickness.

• 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 grapple checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.

• Humanoid (dragonblood, reptilian): Kobolds are humanoids with the dragonblood and reptilian subtypes. For all effects related to race, a kobold is considered a dragon.

• Kobold base land speed is 30 feet.

• +1 natural armor bonus.

• Darkvision: Kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight. Kobolds can function just fine with no light at all.

• All kobolds add Craft (trap making) to their list of class skills.

• +2 racial bonus on Craft (trap making), Profession (miner), and Search checks.

• Light Sensitivity: Kobolds are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.

• Automatic Language: Draconic. Bonus Languages: Common and Undercommon.

• Favored Class: Sorcerer. A multiclass kobold’s sorcerer class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multi classing.

AGE

Once hatched, kobolds mature at a breakneck pace. By the time a kobold reaches the age of eight or nine, she is mentally and physically able to assist her tribe in any capacity.

Barbarian / Rogue / Sorcerer: 6 +1d3 years
Bard / Fighter / Paladin / Ranger: 6 +1d4 years
Cleric / Druid / Monk / Wizard: 6 +2d4

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT

Kobolds are Small creatures, weighing slightly more than they might for their height due to their tails and bony frames.

Kobold Male: 2’1” + 2d4”, 40 lbs
Kobold Female: 1’10” + 2d4”, 30 lbs

PHYSIOLOGY

Kobolds are cold-blooded creatures. While kobolds do generate some internal body heat from taking in food and engaging in activity, they are dependent on their environment for warmth. This is one reason why they live underground, especially in their native temperate climate.

Being a cold-blooded humanoid has advantages and disadvantages.

Warm temperatures are comfortable to kobolds, who can sustain their bodies by literally soaking up heat. A kobold who inhabits a region with a temperature of 40°F or above for 24 hours can go for another three days after that time before having to eat normally.

The downside is that kobolds feel the cold more profoundly. Sudden chilling temperatures, such as being struck by a cone of cold spell, do not affect kobolds more than normal, but prolonged cold increases their need for sustenance. After inhabiting a region with a temperature below 40°F for more than three days, kobolds must consistently consume three times as much food per day than is normal for their size.

Kobolds can eat a wide variety of foodstuffs, drawing nutrition from a broad, omnivorous diet. Kobolds have no scruples when it comes to eating, even considering other intelligent creatures as options for the stewpot.

Kobolds desperate for food, especially when traveling through cold regions, can eat almost anything. They can metabolize many forms of organic matter, including bark, bones, dirt, leather, and shells.

As reptiles, kobolds are hatched from hard-shelled eggs.

CLOTHING

Kobolds do not usually have access to resources such as cotton, but they readily harvest silk from underground spiders, worms, and other insect larvae. Along with silk, leather sees widespread use. Such hide, once cured, creates the most durable clothing for mining and requires the least amount of maintenance.

As a miner, the typical kobold dresses for freedom of movement, this usually takes the form of a sleeveless leather tunic and breeches that stop above the knee. The consistent temperatures found in underground environments mean kobolds usually don’t have to consider dressing for warmth.

Footwear does not exist in kobold society. The idea of wearing footwear has never occurred to kobolds, not even for comfort. Kobolds rely heavily on their double-jointed legs and articulated feet to maintain their speed and balance.

Moving across rugged terrain poses no difficulty for a barefooted kobold, whose feet are so naturally tough and callused that gravel and rough stone cause no pain.

When it comes to real armor, kobold warriors prefer leather, avoiding anything that might slow them down. Kobolds perceive speed as their greatest tactical advantage. As a substitute for metal armor, some kobolds have been known to wear armor made from the shells of giant beetles

PSYCHOLOGY

Kobolds exist in a world much larger than they are, dwarfed by creatures usually at least three or four times their physical mass. Living among such competition could be a constant struggle to assert dominance, with kobolds making sure they are never overlooked or taken for granted. But kobolds spend their energy elsewhere.

To generalize kobolds as xenophobic is misleading. They are perfectly happy to be overlooked by others, having disdain for other races and preferring to conduct their activities in secret. Being consistently underestimated is seen as a gift that they have taken advantage of for countless generations.

Kobolds are intimately aware of both their shortcomings and their strengths. Small and weak, they use numbers to aid in bringing down a larger foe. They employ their speed to divide enemies, set up flanking maneuvers, and create hit-and-run assaults. Clever and inventive, they safeguard their homes with cruelly ingenious traps, using tight spaces and passages through which only creatures of their size can travel easily. If all seems lost, kobolds throw themselves bravely at an enemy, hoping beyond hope to stop it.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Among kobolds, traps are an art form. Few artisans are as obsessed with the minute details of their work as a master kobold trap maker. These creatures revel in the intricacies of their inventions. Kobolds rarely indulge in creativity over function, but exceptions are made for a cunning trap.

One-upmanship is definitely present among kobold trap makers. They find ingenious ways to incorporate bizarre spells, technological advances, and unexpected twists into their traps.

In fact, the inventive ways in which kobolds defend their lairs compares favorably to the technological and magical marvels created by their hated foes, the gnomes.

Kobolds take great pride in designing their warrens. Digging a labyrinth or a mine is no offhand matter, with careful planning of a layout taking place before excavation begins. To aid in this process, kobolds use divination magic to identify the location of large ore or precious stone deposits before a single shaft is dug. Whenever possible, kobolds leave no part of mine construction to guesswork, allowing them to concentrate on both functionality and appearance.

Kobolds’ craftsmanship of everyday objects is neither crude nor exceptional. They excel at making useful objects rather than beautiful artworks. The only time kobolds invest any extra effort into their craftsmanship (aside from mine layouts and trapmaking) is for jewelry.

RELIGION

Kobolds have no time for organized religious ceremonies, but they are pious despite their preoccupation with work. Hard work is worship to a kobold, and action on behalf of the tribe is a prayer for success.

Kobolds worship Kurtulmak, but individual tribes and kobolds might venerate another dragon deity.

KURTULMAK

The Horned Sorcerer, Steelscale, Stingtail, Watcher

Intermediate Deity

Symbol: Gnome skull

Home Plane: Baator

Alignment: Lawful evil

Portfolio: Kobolds, trap making, mining, war

Worshipers: Kobolds

Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE

Domains: Evil, Law, Luck, Trickery

Favored Weapon: Spear

Kurtulmak is the god of kobolds, distinguished by his large size, mottled scales, and long tail tipped with a dreadful stinger. Kurtulmak encourages his followers to win battles by any means, retreat to fight another day, and to mete out revenge on every enemy, regardless of how long that retribution takes to achieve.

Cleric Training

Kurtulmak’s clerics begin their careers as miners, learning how to appreciate the kobold work ethic. Kobolds who regularly sustain injuries while mining are selected to become adepts or clerics (before they end up getting killed on the job). Such clerics train under military discipline, learning doctrines for defending and leading the kobold race.

Most kobold clerics worship Kurtulmak, but kobolds are not limited to that deity, especially if they have broken with tradition and embraced an individualized path. Io, a neutral dragon god, is more than willing to accommodate such kobolds. Many other dragon deities also accept kobold worshipers.