D&D General Dragonborn as Kobolds: Yea or Nay?

[Corinnguard]

(Honestly the refusal to dual-type species and monsters in 5E mystifies the hell out of me - you can just do it, and it doesn't even break anything!)

Agreed. There are several heritages in Level Up where the heritage in question has two monster types instead of one. There are several species in 5e that could (and should) have two types.

 

[Corinnguard]

@Epic Meepo, any chance you have this particular supplement from Paizo?

paizo.com - Pathfinder Player Companion: Kobolds of Golarion (PFRPG)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I seem to also recall that there were a lot of miscommunications between EGG and his artist(s?). I believe the dog noses was a result of Garry trying to express that they had snouts and the artist taking “dog noses” very literally. Same as the bugbear with a literal pumpkin for a head.

Man, we really need to bring those guys back, with a specific name for them. Maybe they're some sort of undead bugbear or something.

It’s interesting how much that idea of kobolds as dog men stuck, even cross-culturally, hence why we’ve now got straight-up anthro dogs in Dungeon Meshi.

EverQuest has them, too, and it really leans into them barking like dogs.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It’s interesting how much that idea of kobolds as dog men stuck, even cross-culturally, hence why we’ve now got straight-up anthro dogs in Dungeon Meshi.

What's truly astonishing to me is that D&D still doesn't have a dog-person or wolf-person race. Like, at all. We've got multiple brands of cat-person and bird person, arguably two brands of cow-person, countless other anthro races, but no playable dog/wolf-people? I'm not objecting here - it's not something I personally need but like, it just seems really peculiar to me given that they're not uncommon in broader fantasy. No fox-people either in most editions.

I will say that interesting Daggerheart, which is anthro-AF, like literally a third of the species are anthro or something also doesn't have dog/wolf-people. Are they just too Furry a concept?

 

[Corinnguard]

What's truly astonishing to me is that D&D still doesn't have a dog-person or wolf-person race. Like, at all. We've got multiple brands of cat-person and bird person, arguably two brands of cow-person, countless other anthro races, but no playable dog/wolf-people? I'm not objecting here - it's not something I personally need but like, it just seems really peculiar to me given that they're not uncommon in broader fantasy. No fox-people either in most editions.

I will say that interesting Daggerheart, which is anthro-AF, like literally a third of the species are anthro or something also doesn't have dog/wolf-people. Are they just too Furry a concept?

Level Up has two anthro canid races- the Garoul and the Madrai.

Garoul | Level Up

a5e.tools

Madrai | Level Up

a5e.tools

The first are the descendants of werewolves and the majority of them resemble anthro wolves.

 

[jmartkdr2]

What's truly astonishing to me is that D&D still doesn't have a dog-person or wolf-person race. Like, at all. We've got multiple brands of cat-person and bird person, arguably two brands of cow-person, countless other anthro races, but no playable dog/wolf-people? I'm not objecting here - it's not something I personally need but like, it just seems really peculiar to me given that they're not uncommon in broader fantasy. No fox-people either in most editions.

I will say that interesting Daggerheart, which is anthro-AF, like literally a third of the species are anthro or something also doesn't have dog/wolf-people. Are they just too Furry a concept?

Dog people are the original furries - the ancient Greeks called them cynocephaloi (lit. Dog-head) and had a whole mythology about them. This was common-ish folklore through the middle ages.

Maybe it’s like druids and bows: it’s so obviously appropriate that it cannot be allowed!

 

[Tonguez]

I seem to also recall that there were a lot of miscommunications between EGG and his artist(s?). I believe the dog noses was a result of Garry trying to express that they had snouts and the artist taking “dog noses” very literally. Same as the bugbear with a literal pumpkin for a head.

It’s interesting how much that idea of kobolds as dog men stuck, even cross-culturally, hence why we’ve now got straight-up anthro dogs in Dungeon Meshi.

yeah I recall the EGG discussion too, but they werent suppose to be reptiles. According to EGG they were suppose to be more ratty and doglike with scaley skin the artist interpreted scaley to be reptile scales and it stuck. They were egglaying though - which suggest Kobolds are suppose to be more monotreme echidna than reptilian dragon

 

[Minigiant]

Ever since I heard the lore that all dragons are selfish and too self centered to raise their young, I cooked up that dragons do rituals that dragons do to their (or stolen) eggs to make servants.

One ritual hatches dragonborn from dragon eggs.
One ritual hatches kobolds from dragon eggs.
One ritual hatches winged kobolds from dragon eggs.

Both rituals are similar enough that kobolds can reproduce with dragonborn and hide their parentage within a bloodline.

So a kobold tribe could spontaneously produce winged kobolds, draconic kobolds, or full-on dragonborns.

 

[Epic Meepo]

@Epic Meepo, any chance you have this particular supplement from Paizo?

paizo.com - Pathfinder Player Companion: Kobolds of Golarion (PFRPG)

I haven't been following Pathfinder since the early days of its first edition. I do seem to recall Paizo leaning hard into the draconic nature of kobolds with dragonscale variants at one point. That probably subconsciously influenced my thinking about dragonborn and kobolds to some degree.

 

[Corinnguard]

I haven't been following Pathfinder since the early days of its first edition. I do seem to recall Paizo leaning hard into the draconic nature of kobolds with dragonscale variants at one point. That probably subconsciously influenced my thinking about dragonborn and kobolds to some degree.

This is probably what you were referring to:

Kobold (5 RP) – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com