Kobolds

[the Jester]

Your poll should be multiple choice. My kobolds are both canine and reptilian.

 

[MonsterMash]

I vote canines - Woof!

 

[billd91]

Reptiles with somewhat canine features.

 

[Sejs]

Therapsids.

 

[howandwhy99]

Your poll should be multiple choice. My kobolds are both canine and reptilian.

This is what I thought too... both reptile and canine.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Reptiles...that really, really want to be more like Dragons.

 

[Turanil]

I hope you are joking.

Bah, actually I wanted to post something different. In fact, I quite like the "kobold are (inferior) reptiles that want to believe, and pretend to pose as being related to dragons. Of course they aren't, and telling (better: proving) a kobold that it isn't the case is the best way to turn it berserk. Dragons only tolerate them as they are an easy source of food...

 

[demiurge1138]

Reptilian. They certainly believe that they have the blood of dragons running through them, but who's to say for sure?

Demiurge out.

 

[Celebrim]

Something else entirely.

I started back in AD&D, and my first exposure to Kobolds was as 'little dog folk'. I was never really happy with that description, as I figured that Gnolls were plenty canine-folk for one campaign world.

As I started thinking about kobolds, I noticed two things about them. First, Kobolds were almost envariably associated with dungeons containing giant rats. Mostly I think this was accidently. Giant Rats and Kobolds are both good challenges for 1st level foes. Second, Kobolds were the 'vermin' race of the humanoids. I decided to put the two concepts together.

In my campaigns, kobolds are rat-folk - a race which is part of the brood of the cunning hermaphrodite rat deity Sormkurtek. In this view of the world, Kurtulmak is merely Sormkurtek's son - the first born ancestor of the Kobold race and an embodiment of Sormkurtek's nature as a prankster and thief. The kobolds are the vermin race of the world, dwelling amongst the rat brothers stealing baubles, taking food, causing fear, burrowing deep, and spreading disease amongst the 'lesser races' that in thier view of the world only exist to unwittingly serve them.

Even though I wasn't really consciously intending to achieve this goal at the time, I've found this also makes the kobold race a bit darker and brings them back more toward thier faerie roots and less of the 'gully dwarf' species they seem to have almost exclusively become.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I voted dragon-offshoot and I have a +3 defending salad fork here with which to defend myself.

I like speaking in a kobold accent to my players when they deign to interact with the scaly little rat-dog people. It so yippy and annoying. This saves me from having to do too many character voices. Kobolds, mephits, and big, dumb, ogres are the best.