D&D 5E Changeling Shifting into a Kobold

[Dogo]

TL;DR PC playing Changeling, and became a Kobold and was wondering if they could do with the size restriction.

So I have a Player that is a changeling in are game and the PC wanted to be a Kobold and infiltrate a Kobold lair. I was fine with this and looked up there Shifting ability and gave the OK because I don’t want to take away from there character. I gave them a warning that if I get the correct rules on it and it wasn’t the case I would allow it this one time. (Allowing them to stay in Kobold form until done with the Kobold nest.) Looking at the power it seems that they can change height, but not as short as a Kobold. What is RAW for this and what is RAI?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

The rule is that you "can adjust your height and weight, but not so much that your size changes". They have to remain a medium creature (whatever that means) and a kobold is a small creature (whatever that means).

So, basically they can become the tallest kobold the those kobolds have ever seen by being at the very low end of medium creature, and their game stats would not change. So they shouldn't just blend in. That said, a lair of kobolds will recognize who is and is not a member of said lair, so they are going to raise attention anyway. It probably just means that they will have to field questions about whether everyone in their home tribe is as tall as them. If changeling (or other shapeshifting) infiltrations are more common in your setting then perhaps tall kobolds will be figures of great suspicion.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

RAW and RAI, a changeling couldn't really do this: They can't look like a Small race (and note that kobolds are very small even compared to other small races.)
They may be able to look like a kobold scaled (heh) up to medium size, but that would be like an ogre trying to infiltrate a dwarf community, complete with trying to squeeze through doors and move around on all fours.

 

[Richards]

If you've already allowed this to happen the one time, you can always rule that the process of fitting down into a form that small was so painful the changeling is unwilling to ever do it again - it felt like he was about to burst at the seams and explode into a pile of bones and organs. (And maybe that's exactly what does happen when a changeling tries taking on a Small size and the PC just happened to get lucky that one time.) It would explain the lack of recurrence in the future.

Johnathan

 

[MarkB]

Maybe he could turn into three kobolds in a trenchcoat.

 

[aco175]

I may allow a medium sized kobold to fit in. Maybe with a performance check like the person who played Gimli in the LotR movies where most of the scenes he moved his body enough to appear smaller. Plus, the kobold lairs are mostly dimly lit.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

You can use reduce to make your size appropriate.

 

[jasper]

The changeling can use its action to polymorph into a Medium humanoid it has seen,
So by RAW. NOPE. However, rule of cool, I would give you a bluff/etc check.

 

[NotAYakk]

Maybe he could turn into three kobolds in a trenchcoat.

Why did you attach an image of a perfectly normal human to this post?