Kobolds as PCs...Why?!

Whimsical · Jan 8, 2009

Rechan · Jan 8, 2009

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.

Jack99 · Jan 8, 2009

I never had a player who wanted to play a kobold, but I still love them. Kicked my players' behinds with them in every edition since 2nd!

Obryn · Jan 8, 2009

I agree with a lot of the folks above.

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.

-O

Brown Jenkin · Jan 8, 2009

I think the question should be, Why not play a Kobold?

Oni · Jan 8, 2009

Kobolds are awesome.

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.

Tequila Sunrise · Jan 8, 2009

Thanks everyone! I still think kobolds are ugly dirty little villains, but at least now I get why they're popular.

TS

Wootz · Jan 8, 2009

I thought dragonborn basically beat them out in, well....everything.

:/ 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.

Peraion Graufalke · Jan 8, 2009

Rechan said:
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.

Obryn · Jan 8, 2009

Wootz said:
:/ 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.)

-O