General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
In terms of their in-game/rp situation, they're cannon fodder. The lowest of the low. They're like high school jock wanna-bes; they think they have a claim to fame because they're scaly like dragons, but even the dragons use them as trainable maggots.
And you don't think that sounds like fun? C"mon. A kobold who acts like Joxer the Mighty, Don Quixote, or any other delusional "Too big for their britches", "Way in over their head and don't know it" character?
I love kobolds. I do.
I love their mentality. You know those survivalists, the ones that stockpile ammunition in their bunkers, paranoid the Government will take their guns, or the apocalypse is coming? Take that, and add it to a Napoleon complex, and a severe chip on their shoulder about the tall races picking on them. Finally, add in a little communism about making sure The Nest survives, and Voila! Kobold.
It almost requires you to either: 1) Be comical, or 2) Be a sneaky, craven little bastard who is always looking for an opportunity to stick it to the opposition.
Besides. Kobolds are the underdog. They're weak, every gamer and his brother looks down on them as ants. Not to mention their status as the whipping boy of the D&D world, being weak and so, it's just more motivation. So, being able to play one, and kick ass with it, is a definite attraction.
There is still a character I want to play. A kobold rogue/paladin. A normal ol' sneaky kobold sniper who got into a dangerous situation, and was "Saved" by Bahamut, and given a vision that kobolds were created to serve the Metallics, but they were corrupted by the Chromatics. So his goal was to create nests and convert them to the Metallic way of thinking. He was a holy sniper, the kind of guy who wanted to subdue guards with subdual arrows, and sneak in to battle the BBEG without harming the help.
Also, anyone who has been playing since the 1e/2e days has probably killed hundreds of faceless kobolds. They are basically the weakest of the weak; 1e fighters could mow them down with little more effort than mowing the lawn. They are the perennial underdog, and sometimes it's fun to play a character who should be underpowered, but ends up performing okay anyway.
What's more, turning things around just has an appeal to it. I know my players have often expressed interest in running a Humanoids game with kobolds, orcs, goblins, bugbears, ogres, etc. I think it might be fun sometime - and I picked up the 2e Reverse Dungeon just for kicks, should I ever decide to do this.
I think the question should be, Why not play a Kobold?
__________________ Brain: Come Pinky! We must prepare for tomorrow night.
Pinky: Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night?
Brain: The same thing we do every night....TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
I kicked off the 3e game I ran with sunless citadel and Meepo ended sticking around til the very end of the game. I had a ton of fun just NPCing him, and I'm sure would have had more fun were I actually playing him as a player.
__________________ Oni
"Each man, one way.
Each horse, one stance.
Each church, one buddha.
Each master to his own technique."
Thanks everyone! I still think kobolds are ugly dirty little villains, but at least now I get why they're popular.
TS
__________________ Proud gamer of Sullivan, New York.
Death is not the end, but yet another journey--one that we all must take. The gray rain curtain of this world parts, everything fades to silver glass and then you see it--the white shore and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
--Everything that I'd like to believe about the afterlife.
There is still a character I want to play. A kobold rogue/paladin. A normal ol' sneaky kobold sniper who got into a dangerous situation, and was "Saved" by Bahamut, and given a vision that kobolds were created to serve the Metallics, but they were corrupted by the Chromatics. So his goal was to create nests and convert them to the Metallic way of thinking. He was a holy sniper, the kind of guy who wanted to subdue guards with subdual arrows, and sneak in to battle the BBEG without harming the help.
Awesome concept.
The Dragon Magazine writers should give us a Playing Kobolds article.
:/ It definitely is an underdog thing, I somehow doubt anyone thinks those little guys are so badass you'd have to be an idiot not to play them.
On the contrary, it's exactly the opposite.
The little guys are not badass. In fact, their lack of badassitude is kind of the point.
(With that said, I think you could credibly argue that the Kobolds at the back of the 4e MM make extremely competent rogues and very solid warlocks. "Shifty" is a superb racial power, and for rogues, it basically means 2 shifts every round.)
(With that said, I think you could credibly argue that the Kobolds at the back of the 4e MM make extremely competent rogues and very solid warlocks. "Shifty" is a superb racial power, and for rogues, it basically means 2 shifts every round.)
Mearls actually said that the Shifty power is too good, that it might unbalance kobolds.
I remember a DM once threw kobolds filled with acid at us. They had 1 HP and exploded when they were hit... for splash damage. Which just set off more of them. Those suicide bomber kobolds pushed us to the edge, man, the very edge.
__________________ All role playing advice is given without knowledge of you and your group. Only you and your group knows what is fun for you. What you are doing is not badwrongfun. My advice is offered based on what I think might be fun for you to try.
"Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary." - Amedee Ozenfant, Foundations of Modern Art
"I already have a place where I can get little recognition for my accomplishments, advance at a very slow pace, and have to work hard to eke out minimum rewards for my efforts. It's called work." - toberane.
I remember a DM once threw kobolds filled with acid at us. They had 1 HP and exploded when they were hit... for splash damage. Which just set off more of them. Those suicide bomber kobolds pushed us to the edge, man, the very edge.
Reminds me of a module out of Dungeon. For levels 10-12 or something. There was a red dragon living in a giant diamond over a pit of lava...
Anyway, as one of the defenders of his lair he had this tribe of kobolds. He also had a Necklace of Fireballs which he was able to remove each ball from the necklace without it exploding and gave one to each kobold, creating the Kobold Kamimaze Korps.
Back in second edition, I had my opinion of kobolds forcibly altered by the mega-adventure Dragon Mountain. Once I saw what the Monstrous Compendium meant by 'sneaky and clever with a penchant for traps' enforced to make creatures with less than a hit die a challenge for PCs in their teens, I looked at their base Int score and took to heart the idea that they're smart and vicious little critters.
Not long after that, I had an opportunity to play in a friend's game. He used to favor goblin rogues as PCs so, in the spirit of turnaround being fair play, I made a kobold fighter. We rolled random stats (and still do most of the time; 4d6, take the best three, lowest stat rerolled); my little kobold ended up being just a touch smarter than the elven wizard in the party. He was the runt of his tribe, kicked out for letting a human bard escape because he thought her music was pretty, and spent much of his time in a heavy cloak pretending to be a halfling. Nimgal (his name) created the 'rule of Nimi' (when in doubt, go left), used a ring of invisibility and a cheap amulet to con his way into a keep as the 'amulet of Nuuris-Va,' sufficiently impressed a vampire that they came up against to be offered grand master swordsman training from the fang-head, and became the renowned short sword grand master of that particular world by surviving a one-on-one fight with an adult white dragon, sword against tooth. We ended that campaign around 14th level, and though Nimi never made it that far (we used racial level limits, and even with exceptional stats I think he maxed out at 10 or 11.. can't recall), he was still one of the most versatile and survivable members of the party when the curtain closed.
Long story short (too late!), Nimgal was one of the most amusing characters I've ever had and has led to kobolds as PCs being one of the first monster conversions I have looked into in each edition since 2nd.
Reminds me of a module out of Dungeon. For levels 10-12 or something. There was a red dragon living in a giant diamond over a pit of lava...
Anyway, as one of the defenders of his lair he had this tribe of kobolds. He also had a Necklace of Fireballs which he was able to remove each ball from the necklace without it exploding and gave one to each kobold, creating the Kobold Kamimaze Korps.
I'll have to ask him. Incidentally, these kamikaze kobolds weren't exactly willing: they were the victims of mad scientist experimentation. Definitely not something that was natural and possible to thrive in the wild.
__________________ All role playing advice is given without knowledge of you and your group. Only you and your group knows what is fun for you. What you are doing is not badwrongfun. My advice is offered based on what I think might be fun for you to try.
"Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary." - Amedee Ozenfant, Foundations of Modern Art
"I already have a place where I can get little recognition for my accomplishments, advance at a very slow pace, and have to work hard to eke out minimum rewards for my efforts. It's called work." - toberane.
Even though I think the OP has had his question answered.. and a lot of fine answers they were too..
I think people are always trying to stretch the boundaries of the game in new and interesting ways. Many of us have played for years, and like an imaginative new approach in playing.
The challenge is to have new approach that isn't gonzo or just gratuitous.
I think the underdog feel of kobolds is different while not being gratuitous. You're not ego-stroking yourself by playing a disadvantaged race, but the experience is still significantly different.
Also, because kobolds are disadvantaged, there is a strong incentive for team and cooperative play when everybody is a kobold.
__________________ Here's your first clue: I'm watching you!
The little guys are not badass. In fact, their lack of badassitude is kind of the point.
(With that said, I think you could credibly argue that the Kobolds at the back of the 4e MM make extremely competent rogues and very solid warlocks. "Shifty" is a superb racial power, and for rogues, it basically means 2 shifts every round.)
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
