transtemporal
Explorer
And top rappers! Yipyip Clan 4 life!
D&D 5E A Better Kobold
And top rappers! Yipyip Clan 4 life!
Sacrosanct
Legend
racist
I like the volo's kobold personally. Kobolds were always underdogs (until 4th edition) and that lead to much of their charm. As for grovel, cower,beg just rename the ability if you don't like it. Most of the problems people seem to have with the ability is the fluff, so change it, the mechanic is fine. As for pack tactics again I don't see the problem with it. It encourages a play style that is consistent with how kobolds tend to act. Gang up on a target. I don't think anyone will call Volos kobolds op, with 2 negative traits balancing out its few positive traits even against most of the base phb races.
Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
Grr. Bark. Bark. Grr.The rest of it comes from grognards who want chihuahua-men back.
(Cookie for anyone who gets the reference)
gargoyleking
Adventurer
see
Pedantic Grognard
Groveling, cowering, and begging outside of combat (that is, in order to convince people not to kill them) is perfectly in-character for kobolds facing more powerful beings in general, though it doesn't make particular sense for PCs.
Groveling, cowering, and begging in the middle of combat (that is, while someone who has already decided to kill them is trying to squash them, in place of trying to dodge or the like) is just stupid for any fictional character that's supposed to have any agency whatsoever. You want NPCs to break down in dread, fine, but PCs should not be given an incentive to do it unless you're playing Bystanders & Extras, or Victims: The Doomed.
And then, as the reward for playing your character as an idiot, all your allies get advantage on their attacks. The utterly unfazable, passionless, iron golem? That alien monster from the Far Realm? Is so distracted by your display that he leaves himself vulnerable to everyone else.
Finally, the idea that it's "cower[ing] pathetically" is utterly inconsistent with requiring a rest to recharge. You can't beg for your life each combat because, why, exactly? I mean, "doesn't work more than once a combat" would be one thing, but I go four rooms down in the dungeon and I can't repeat why?
So, yeah, what I'm objecting to is the flavor, because the flavor is pure screwball comedy, with no logic, and a metagamy restriction. Utterly clashing in tone with the Monster Lore section. Everyone who was involved in writing or approving that Kobold Traits block should be embarrassed that it saw print.
And that's particularly true because it can be refluffed so easily to be tonally consistent and mostly logical. Call it "Cunning Trick", fluff it as involving a trap/device/invention you improvised in downtime to render the foe vulnerable, and you're actually playing to the presentation of kobolds given in the same book.
Groveling, cowering, and begging in the middle of combat (that is, while someone who has already decided to kill them is trying to squash them, in place of trying to dodge or the like) is just stupid for any fictional character that's supposed to have any agency whatsoever. You want NPCs to break down in dread, fine, but PCs should not be given an incentive to do it unless you're playing Bystanders & Extras, or Victims: The Doomed.
And then, as the reward for playing your character as an idiot, all your allies get advantage on their attacks. The utterly unfazable, passionless, iron golem? That alien monster from the Far Realm? Is so distracted by your display that he leaves himself vulnerable to everyone else.
Finally, the idea that it's "cower[ing] pathetically" is utterly inconsistent with requiring a rest to recharge. You can't beg for your life each combat because, why, exactly? I mean, "doesn't work more than once a combat" would be one thing, but I go four rooms down in the dungeon and I can't repeat why?
So, yeah, what I'm objecting to is the flavor, because the flavor is pure screwball comedy, with no logic, and a metagamy restriction. Utterly clashing in tone with the Monster Lore section. Everyone who was involved in writing or approving that Kobold Traits block should be embarrassed that it saw print.
And that's particularly true because it can be refluffed so easily to be tonally consistent and mostly logical. Call it "Cunning Trick", fluff it as involving a trap/device/invention you improvised in downtime to render the foe vulnerable, and you're actually playing to the presentation of kobolds given in the same book.
Sacrosanct
Legend
There are plenty of examples of opponents in combat begging/grovelling to give the attacker pause, and even stop them from attacking you. Either by feeling sorry for them, for feeling guilty of beating down a helpless creature, disgust, whatever. It's a fairly common thing, both fictionally and in real life.
Read my earlier comment on this. You're doing the "if it isn't explicitly written, then you can't do it", which is probably one of the worst attitudes to infest D&D from players. There is absolutely nothing stopping your PC from begging and grovelling every round, in every combat. All this trait does is guarantee you a specific result when you choose to enact it. If you don't want to enact this trait (or if you have already used it), you still can beg and grovel. Maybe your DM handles it like a standard persuasion roll or something, then determines the outcome based on that role. Point is, is that "cowering pathetically" is not limited to how often you can do it.
D&D is a role playing game. Role play.
Azurewraith
Explorer
My only issue with the kobolds is the str penalty that just isn't 5e gnomes don't get it so why do kobolds.
gargoyleking
Adventurer
I don't mind it. I actually kind of miss the buffs and penalties aspect of previous editions. Gives a bit more character to the characters.
Squirrels are evil!
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