Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Making the Kobold a playable race
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DrSpunj" data-source="post: 1379639" data-attributes="member: 994"><p>Come on, Videssian. That's like me saying:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Both statements have as much relevancy in this discussion. <u>None</u>.</p><p> </p><p>The Favored Class for a Half-Orc is <strong>Barbarian</strong>. WotC does not care that Half-orcs make poor Wizards or Sorcerers (or at least not enough to remove that ability imbalance described in the DMG).</p><p> </p><p>The Favored Class for Kobolds is <strong>Sorcerer</strong>. Objectively, we <em>shouldn't</em> care that they make poor Fighters or Rogues.</p><p> </p><p>Now, I know you have some vested interest in this, but we have to look at the racial abilities and penalties <em>from the viewpoint of a Sorcerer!</em></p><p> </p><p>You bring up the Light Sensitivity again. Let's break this down one more (last?) time with the Kobold abilities I proposed in my previous post.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>So there are three possible settings here for our Kobold <strong>Sorcerer</strong>: Bright sunlight, normal light, and darkness. I'll keep a running total of the number of <span style="color: lime">Bonuses</span> and <span style="color: red">Penalties</span>.</p><p> </p><p>Bright Sunlight:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Melee Attacks - With the -1 from Light Sensitivity coupled with the -2 Str, the Kobold Sorcerer has an effective -2 penalty here, but that is mitigated by the Small size modifier of +1 for a net total of -1. Furthermore, considering most spells delivered via a melee attack are touch attacks, this is a <span style="color: red">penalty</span>, but not a significant one. Regardless, will keep track. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ranged Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity is negated entirely by the +1 from Dex and +1 from Small size, so even in the worst possible conditions the Kobold gets a net +1 <span style="color: lime">bonus</span> from his racial abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Search Checks - Again, -1 from Light Sensitivity but with his racial bonus of +2 the net effect becomes a +1 <span style="color: lime">bonus</span> to Search checks in Bright sunshine.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Spot Checks - Nothing to mitigate the -1 here, so a definite (albeit minor) <span style="color: red">penalty</span>.</li> </ol><p>So for Bright sunshine we end up with a net 2 bonuses and 2 penalties, or a wash. Next, normal light:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Melee Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity no longer applies, so the -1 from the low Str is entirely cancelled by the Small size modifier. Neither a bonus or a penalty -> <span style="color: blue">Neutral</span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ranged Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity no longer applies so the Kobold enjoys a +1 from Dex and +1 from Small size for a net +2 <span style="color: lime">bonus</span> from his racial abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Search Checks - No Light Sensitivity so this increases to a net +2 <span style="color: lime">bonus</span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Spot Checks - No Light Sensitivity so this also goes away. <span style="color: blue">Neutral</span>.</li> </ol><p>So for normal light we end up with a net 2 bonuses, no penalties, and 2 neutrals. Looking better. Finally, darkness:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Melee Attacks - The -1 from the low Str is entirely cancelled by the Small size modifier, but his Darkvision (at just 60') allows him to make attacks without concealment or miss chances that other races with normal vision or even low-light vision would have to deal with. A definite <span style="color: lime">bonus</span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Ranged Attacks - Still a net +2 from the Dex & Small size modifiers, and can see opponents up to 60'. Another <span style="color: lime">bonus</span>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Search Checks - Still a net +2 <span style="color: lime">bonus</span> since Darkvision allows normal vision and therefore doesn't interfere with Search checks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Spot Checks - No mechanical bonuses or penalties, but with Darkvision he again can make normal Spot checks in the dark. Very useful ability for adventurers who often find themselves where they probably shouldn't be. <span style="color: lime">Bonus!</span></li> </ol><p>So that's bonuses in every category this time around. So the final tally for Light Sensitivity?</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: red">Penalties</span>: 2 <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: blue">Neutrals</span>: 2 <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: lime">Bonuses</span>: 8 <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":eek:" title="Eek! :eek:" data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":eek:" /> -> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></li> </ul><p>So explain your reasoning behind this being "a significant issue"? I'm not seeing how the Kobold <strong>Sorcerer</strong> is really affected by Light Sensitivity except by melee attacks (come on, he's a <em>Sorcerer</em>!) and a -1 to Spot in "bright sunshine and <em>Daylight</em> spells". What he gets in eight other categories more than seems to compensate him with respect to this racial trait.</p><p> </p><p>Thanks.</p><p> </p><p>DrSpunj</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DrSpunj, post: 1379639, member: 994"] Come on, Videssian. That's like me saying: Both statements have as much relevancy in this discussion. [u]None[/u]. The Favored Class for a Half-Orc is [b]Barbarian[/b]. WotC does not care that Half-orcs make poor Wizards or Sorcerers (or at least not enough to remove that ability imbalance described in the DMG). The Favored Class for Kobolds is [b]Sorcerer[/b]. Objectively, we [i]shouldn't[/i] care that they make poor Fighters or Rogues. Now, I know you have some vested interest in this, but we have to look at the racial abilities and penalties [i]from the viewpoint of a Sorcerer![/i] You bring up the Light Sensitivity again. Let's break this down one more (last?) time with the Kobold abilities I proposed in my previous post. So there are three possible settings here for our Kobold [b]Sorcerer[/b]: Bright sunlight, normal light, and darkness. I'll keep a running total of the number of [color=lime]Bonuses[/color] and [color=red]Penalties[/color]. Bright Sunlight: [list=1][*]Melee Attacks - With the -1 from Light Sensitivity coupled with the -2 Str, the Kobold Sorcerer has an effective -2 penalty here, but that is mitigated by the Small size modifier of +1 for a net total of -1. Furthermore, considering most spells delivered via a melee attack are touch attacks, this is a [color=red]penalty[/color], but not a significant one. Regardless, will keep track. [*]Ranged Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity is negated entirely by the +1 from Dex and +1 from Small size, so even in the worst possible conditions the Kobold gets a net +1 [color=lime]bonus[/color] from his racial abilities. [*]Search Checks - Again, -1 from Light Sensitivity but with his racial bonus of +2 the net effect becomes a +1 [color=lime]bonus[/color] to Search checks in Bright sunshine. [*]Spot Checks - Nothing to mitigate the -1 here, so a definite (albeit minor) [color=red]penalty[/color]. [/list]So for Bright sunshine we end up with a net 2 bonuses and 2 penalties, or a wash. Next, normal light: [list=1][*]Melee Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity no longer applies, so the -1 from the low Str is entirely cancelled by the Small size modifier. Neither a bonus or a penalty -> [color=blue]Neutral[/color]. [*]Ranged Attacks - The -1 from Light Sensitivity no longer applies so the Kobold enjoys a +1 from Dex and +1 from Small size for a net +2 [color=lime]bonus[/color] from his racial abilities. [*]Search Checks - No Light Sensitivity so this increases to a net +2 [color=lime]bonus[/color]. [*]Spot Checks - No Light Sensitivity so this also goes away. [color=blue]Neutral[/color]. [/list]So for normal light we end up with a net 2 bonuses, no penalties, and 2 neutrals. Looking better. Finally, darkness: [list=1][*]Melee Attacks - The -1 from the low Str is entirely cancelled by the Small size modifier, but his Darkvision (at just 60') allows him to make attacks without concealment or miss chances that other races with normal vision or even low-light vision would have to deal with. A definite [color=lime]bonus[/color]. [*]Ranged Attacks - Still a net +2 from the Dex & Small size modifiers, and can see opponents up to 60'. Another [color=lime]bonus[/color]. [*]Search Checks - Still a net +2 [color=lime]bonus[/color] since Darkvision allows normal vision and therefore doesn't interfere with Search checks. [*]Spot Checks - No mechanical bonuses or penalties, but with Darkvision he again can make normal Spot checks in the dark. Very useful ability for adventurers who often find themselves where they probably shouldn't be. [color=lime]Bonus![/color] [/list]So that's bonuses in every category this time around. So the final tally for Light Sensitivity? [list][*][color=red]Penalties[/color]: 2 :( [*][color=blue]Neutrals[/color]: 2 :) [*][color=lime]Bonuses[/color]: 8 :eek: -> :D [/list]So explain your reasoning behind this being "a significant issue"? I'm not seeing how the Kobold [b]Sorcerer[/b] is really affected by Light Sensitivity except by melee attacks (come on, he's a [i]Sorcerer[/i]!) and a -1 to Spot in "bright sunshine and [i]Daylight[/i] spells". What he gets in eight other categories more than seems to compensate him with respect to this racial trait. Thanks. DrSpunj [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Making the Kobold a playable race
Top