KOBOLDS

Kobolds are often characterized as filthy little reptiles barely better than goblins. They’re malicious but of little actual menace. Catch kobolds in their lairs, where they are almost certainly hard at work mining, and such a description might be fitting. No one ever suspected that being underestimated was the kobolds’ goal.

Kobolds are meticulous creatures with sorcery in their blood, a variety of reptile with a strong work ethic. Discounted as pests or worse by many others, kobolds are a long-suffering race with many talents and clever tricks. Only the foolish overlook the threat that kobolds actually pose.

Kobolds are short, reptilian humanoids with bony frames and small tails. They stand approximately 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall and weigh 35 to 45 pounds. Sinewy, double-jointed legs, naturally bent and poised for sudden speed, contribute to their height. When her legs are stretched out, a kobold can increase her height by up to 1 foot, but doing so is uncomfortable.

Kobolds have scaly skin, varying in color from rusty brown to reddish black. They have strong teeth, and their hands and feet have long digits tipped with very small claws. A kobold’s face is like a crocodile’s, with a jaw that can open wide enough to hold a whole melon. Constantly alert and wide, the eyes of a kobold range in color from burnt ochre to red. A ridge of small, hornlike bone juts above each brow and sweeps backward, the protrusions growing larger and more pronounced toward the rear of the skull.

KOBOLD RACIAL TRAITS

• +2 Dexterity, -4 Strength, -2 Constitution. Kobolds are weak and frail, but their size grants them quickness.
• Humanoid (dragonblood, reptilian): Kobolds are humanoids with the dragonblood and reptilian subtypes. For all effects related to race, a kobold is considered a dragon.
• Small: As a Small creature, a kobold gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a -4 size penalty on grapple checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Kobold base land speed is 30 feet.
• +1 natural armor bonus.
• Darkvision: Kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight. Kobolds can function just fine with no light at all.
• Natural Weapons: Kobolds have two primary claw attacks that deal 1d3 points of slashing damage plus Strength bonus, and a secondary bite attack that deals 1d3 points of piercing damage plus 1/2 Strength bonus. Despite possibly being the weakest reptilian humanoid, kobolds retain a connection to their feral nature.
• Slight Build: The physical stature of kobolds lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever a kobold is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character. A kobold is also considered to be one size smaller when “squeezing” through a restrictive space. A kobold can use weapons designed for a creature one size smaller without penalty. However, the space and reach of a kobold remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.
• Weapon Proficiency: Kobolds receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the heavy pick and light pick as bonus feats. Kobolds are born and bred miners, regardless of their actual profession, allowing them to easily wield these weapons.
• Weapon Familiarity: Kobolds may treat greatpicks as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
• All kobolds add Craft (trapmaking) to their list of class skills.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Profession (miner), and Search checks.
• Light Sensitivity: Kobolds are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
• Automatic Language: Draconic. Bonus Languages: Common and Undercommon.
• Favored Class: Sorcerer. A multiclass kobold’s sorcerer class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.