D&D 5E Kobold Preview

[GameDoc]

I appreciate the throwback to having a rivalry with gnomes based on the one between Garl Glittergold and Kurtulmak. Pre 3e, this always seemed to be the kobold's shtick to me - they were the gnome's racial enemies the way goblins were to dwarves and orcs were to humans and elves. And like gnomes, they were burrowers, miners, and crafters - and far better at it than the other monstrous humanoids. That's in keeping with their actual mythical origins.

I kind of wish we got more of that and less of the dragon worshipper thing. Or at least not have attempted to smush both concepts together.

Maybe it would have been better to explain the rivalry with gnomes as happening first and then stating that after Kurtulmak's imprisonment, many fled to the worship of Tiamat. I don't really like the idea of Kurtulmak being her subordinate. Having him be his own deity sets up some interesting plot lines:

Hmmm, do I make a temporary alliance with this evil cult of Kurtulmak because we both want that dragon dead. I need it to stop terrorizing the region and they want its minions to come back to their ancestral religion. But what happens when they now have a mob of crazy kobolds with no dragon to keep them in line? And how to I handle the fact that our party's scout is a gnome? Decisions, decisions.

 

[GameDoc]

A couple of people mentioned giving them the goblin's "shifty" ability. How about instead giving them some kind of swarm ability. Goblins get you by not standing still and making it hard to keep track of them. Kobolds get you by running you over with massive numbers.

 

[Paraxis]

Totally. I really wish they gave kobolds the ability to use items. Man, that would be so cool. I would love kobolds to have an ability to throw a clay jar full of poisonous snakes at opponents. Or to drop flasks of burning oil from overhead.


wait...

It would be nice if this stuff was in the stat block. The game designers should be the ones doing all this creative thinking, leaving everything up for DM's to do the real work is a lame cop out.

Shifty, alchemical pots, stirges in cages, fly by attacks, dragon blooded so they have resistance to a type of energy based on scale color, tons of things could be done to spice up kobolds.

Monster has AC 12, H.P 5, does 1d4+2 damage.... kinda boring and could be anything from a goblin, kobold, gnome, bandit, wolf, or duck. They should make the monsters interesting, it is their job not mine.

 

[steeldragons]

The game designers should be the ones doing all this creative thinking, leaving everything up for DM's to do the real work is a lame cop out.

Shifty, alchemical pots, stirges in cages, fly by attacks, dragon blooded so they have resistance to a type of energy based on scale color, tons of things could be done to spice up kobolds.

They should make the monsters interesting, it is their job not mine.

I'm just gonna say, I disagree with...oh, pretty much all of this.

 

[beej]

It would be nice if this stuff was in the stat block. The game designers should be the ones doing all this creative thinking, leaving everything up for DM's to do the real work is a lame cop out.

Shifty, alchemical pots, stirges in cages, fly by attacks, dragon blooded so they have resistance to a type of energy based on scale color, tons of things could be done to spice up kobolds.

Monster has AC 12, H.P 5, does 1d4+2 damage.... kinda boring and could be anything from a goblin, kobold, gnome, bandit, wolf, or duck. They should make the monsters interesting, it is their job not mine.

I'm of the opposite school of thought. I don't mind simple stats; I actually prefer them because I don't need a lot of things to look at before a game; it also helps because I don't feel compelled to a follow a creature's statblock gimmick. AC 12, HP 5, 4 damage? I just need those (and maybe saving throws) to think about mechanically, allowing me to focus on the creature's rp? Cool.

As long as the fluff is good* it should be enough for many DMs to make them interesting on their own.

* - For the record I think the fluff for the 5E kobold is... decent. The struggles of the gods are interesting, but I'm not too sure about using gods as the shtick of CR1/8 critters.

 

[Paraxis]

I'm of the opposite school of thought. I don't mind simple stats; I actually prefer them because I don't need a lot of things to look at before a game; it also helps because I don't feel compelled to a follow a creature's statblock gimmick. AC 12, HP 5, 4 damage? I just need those (and maybe saving throws) to think about mechanically, allowing me to focus on the creature's rp? Cool.

As long as the fluff is good* it should be enough for many DMs to make them interesting on their own.

* - For the record I think the fluff for the 5E kobold is... decent. The struggles of the gods are interesting, but I'm not too sure about using gods as the shtick of CR1/8 critters.

For me the fluff is pointless, I have run games for almost 30 years I make up my own fluff. I didn't even read the fluff of the kobold page, my only concern is the stat block and it is unimaginative.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm on the boring side, still. A sidebar with cool things to drop/throw other than rocks? That would have taken all of no time to do, just look at previous editions. Now I have to do that, assuming I have access to that info. I appreciate "simple is good". I don't appreciate "simple means nothing much but stand and hit". It would not have been hard to have other things to drop than a rock. Or, to have a sorcerer version, or swarm and trample, or, whatever. But, this just looks like a monster that builds traps, but if you find it, it is dead because all it can do is stand around and hit you. Boring.

 

[beej]

For me the fluff is pointless, I have run games for almost 30 years I make up my own fluff. I didn't even read the fluff of the kobold page, my only concern is the stat block and it is unimaginative.

Of course: Certainly, this DM of 6 years has no business telling you whether or not to make your own fluff. Heck I'm pretty sure DMs make up their own fluff as a general rule, just as they make up glue pots/ honey+ants or other interesting things that urds may drop on the fly. /pun

I'm just saying that boring-but-functional stats for critters that'd die in 1-2 hits are okay if the fluff gives me a good baseline to work with. I'd rather have that than a bunch of combat options on a monster that says "this is a kobold. Have fun."

But like I said, that's my way of thinking regarding the kobolds. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Quaestor]

Speaking of puns, how does Pun-Pun not get mentioned in a discussion of how influential Kobolds became over the years?

Quaestor the Wanderer

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I'm just saying that boring-but-functional stats for critters that'd die in 1-2 hits are okay if the fluff gives me a good baseline to work with. I'd rather have that than a bunch of combat options on a monster that says "this is a kobold. Have fun."

But like I said, that's my way of thinking regarding the kobolds. To each his own, I guess.

The problem with that approach is that you could replace the Monster Manual with just one sentence: "Have fun with monsters."

I want to have fun with monsters and be creative and all that, but I also want the actual writers of the game to share their creativity with me, to throw intriguing and entertaining ideas at me, to provide me with road-tested options. In other words: I want more than a blank canvas.