Advice for a Kobold.

[JFranch]

Hi,

My group is playing the Kingmaker campaign and a friend PC died in the last session.

While we were wondering what PC he could make, we remembered the kobold tribe we saved and joked about one of them stepping up as a real adventurer. My friend is now trying to build up the character, a Kobold Ninja. Does anyone have any useful advice?

Is there a feat or class feature to use DEX instead of STR for melee damage?

 

[Razjah]

There is, but it requires a scimitar. The Dervish Dance feat is what you are looking for. However, it stops two weapon fighting.

Any particular reason for the Ninja class? A rogue would be a more versatile build that would allow for the Knife Master archetype- it lowers sneak attack of all non-knife attacks to d4s but knives get d8s while making two weapon fighting still viable. Oh ask the GM for some kind of goggles that will remove light sensitivity to make a kobold Riddick.

 

[JFranch]

I suppose a rogue would suffice, don't know.

Part of the joke, is that we were building a secret ninja army of kobolds for our kingdom XD

 

[Samloyal23]

Try adapting the Skulker from Unorthodox Rogues, the class is for masters of stealth but they make good assassins. They are experts at camouflage and hiding in tight spaces...

 

[dmccoy1693]

I love kobolds, and it really saddens me that they are underpowered. I modified the kobold so it would be a race balanced against the core book races, calling it an umbral kobold. You can find it here and easily say that he is the champion of the kobold which is why he is more powerful compared to other kobolds. You can find the umbral kobold's basic racial traits here and find additional character options in Shadowsfall: Guide to Umbral Kobolds.

 

[JFranch]

Sadly our GM is quite strict with rules right now (it's our first campaign in Pathfinder), so he only permits Paizo material.

It's a shame that Dervish dance requires a scimitar, hehe

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would embrace the koboldishness and make this guy a master of all thing traps, especially setting them. It's something that probably hasn't been done at your table before and has a very different feel from other characters.

(And at the notion that "official" material is any more balanced than third party material. There wouldn't be an "optimization community" if 3E official material had actually been balanced and playtested.)

 

[paradox42]

Ninja is better than Rogue, as a base class- it has a lot more options to stay relevant as the levels go on, with its Ki powers (and as a bonus, it can pick up Rogue Talents as Ninja Tricks). Ninja has less Archetypes to pick from, but most Rogue Archetypes aren't all that impressive anyway.

But regardless of which of those you pick, Kobold is underpowered as a race. I'd advise checking out options in the Advanced Race Guide to help mitigate that. If you don't mind losing racial ability with traps, you might try the Gliding Wings racial trait, for example; you'll lose the permanent Stealth-as-class-skill option, but if you're playing Rogue or Ninja that's kind of irrelevant anyway. Whether or not you do that, definitely keep the Kobold Sniper and Kobold Ambusher feats in mind; they let you use ranged weapons and move while using Stealth, and take only half the usual penalty.

 

[Kobold Stew]

IF you play the kobold, you play it in part because it is underpowered. The fun isn't just in being short -- there are halflings for that. Playing a kobold as a PC is exhilarating because of the obstacles that presents. Don't let the player miss out on that part of things.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

IF you play the kobold, you play it in part because it is underpowered. The fun isn't just in being short -- there are halflings for that. Playing a kobold as a PC is exhilarating because of the obstacles that presents. Don't let the player miss out on that part of things.

Hear, hear. You don't play a kobold to min-max. Kobolds are awesome because, even more than gnomes, they're the race that NO ONE thinks stands a chance.

(Also, pick up whatever version of Kobolds Ate My Baby you can lay hands on and read it for inspiration. Because babies are delicious.)