On Kobolds

Mostly I take the philosophy that the GM wants the players to succeed in the adventure as much as the players do (I certainly do), however there is the more classic "bastard GM" adversarial play style. When my players seem to be getting too cocky, too sure of their own abilities, it is fun at times to send them something that plays optimally, exploits weaknesses, and uses clever tactics. When this time comes, cometh the Kobolds.

I have always had a soft spot for the little dog-dragons, and I like the fact that they are the weakest possible things when taken individually, but that they work together. There's something in the glory of teamwork, that the collective is greater than the sum of its parts, it's the power of friendship.

Kobolds of the Orrery

Unlike Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Elves, the Fey, and sundry other things to be found roaming the planet, Kobolds are native to the world. Their ancestors tiny scaly paws trod the earth when the shadows of the Dragons wing stretched across the land, when the glimmering spires of the Cities of the Serpent Kings bustled with the glory of their ancient magio-technological civilisation, when the warming light of a far stranger, warmer star beat down upon their heads. Before the dark times. Before the stars changed. Before the planet was dragged by whatever inscrutable means through the void between worlds. Before whatever Godlike hand wrought the prison of the Orrery. Before the invaders came from the outside.

And they have never forgotten.

There is much that Kobolds have forgotten. They do not know any of the mysteries of how the earth came to be in its current position, who could have built the orrery and why, and many other mysteries which the great and wise would give their eye teeth to comprehend. Often they misremember their own history, casting the long-dead Naga as wise and beneficial sages who gifted knowledge to their diminutive cousins, rather than the tyrants that they were. They think of their distant past as a glorious idyll where no Kobold ever suffered, toiled, or scurried underground in terror of larger predators. Some of their stories even hold that Kobolds are the larval form of Dragons, and destined to grow to match them in size.

The one thing that all their disparate histories hold in common is that they are the heirs to this land, they were here first, all other beings are aliens and invaders. This land is not yours, it is theirs, it recoils from the trespassing touch of your feet, and one day they will rise again.

The thing is... they are right. This land is not your land, it belongs to them, and they will reclaim it.

Kobold Terrorism

Most of what Kobolds do is try to kill as many of the invading species as possible. To sow discontent and fear amongst them. They are not strong, but they work together, and they are patient. Although squabbles between Kobold tribes, and indeed individual Kobolds are as common as between the societies of the other sentient creatures, they are united in their opposition against everything else.

Their tactics tend to be well thought out. They know they are not playing from a position of strength. Their people have been living in the shadows for thousands of years, they would not be doing that if they had the raw might to face the invaders in a stand-up fight.

 

Kobolds prefer not to fight themselves, even from range with their wicked little crossbows. They often employ traps, from simple pits, to engineering whole avalanches. Kobolds have gotten quite good at mechanisms over the generations. They will also employ a number of the more dangerous creatures to be found in the veins of the earth: rock-squids, iron wetas, achromites, and whatever else they can catch.

They strike from beneath, often having undermined a settlement years in advance before springing their trap. They will also burrow into great buildings and fortresses, partly to undermine them and bring the walls crashing down at some point in the future, but also to listen and spy. Theirs is a culture which knows the value of superior military intelligence. Kobolds have also been known to sow discord amongst mammal settlements, planting evidence, stoking quarrels, and generally exacerbating existing problems that might lead to infighting.

Although their level of disguise for passing in a human settlement does not extend beyond three Kobolds in a trenchcoat, they have learned that mammals can be bribed to serve the interests of Kobolds. They will trade information, clandestine services (such as untraceable assassination of one's rival), or even gold and gems (as loath as they are to part with their precious "starblood" as they call most valuable metals) in order to turn the mammalian world against one another. Terribly convenient after all that a band of savage seabourne raiders were able to navigate upriver to besiege the very walls of the Palace of the King of Winter just as the walls mysteriously collapsed leading to one of the most well-known massacres in the history of their raids.

Kobolds and Magic

As much as they would pretend otherwise, Kobolds do not have much truck with the magics as practised and perfected by the Serpent Kings. They can utilise some of the simpler devices, and will sometimes incorporate some lost Naga artefact into the construction of their own machines if they can think of a viable use for it. However, you will not find a Kobold who will weave the strings of magic in the manner of a human wizard.

Their magic is far stranger, and much more built into their bones. Perhaps there is some truth to the stories they tell of Kobolds being somehow the larval stage of Dragons...

Waking the Dragon

The greatest ally a Kobold colony can have, is a Dragon's dream (and really, by extension, the Dragon itself, but if that's waking up it's probably game over for humanity and Kobolds winning all over). Not only will proximity to the Dragon be a great protection from humans but its very presence will draw more and more Kobolds to the colony. Additionally once the dream becomes large enough to be intelligent, it will grant the benefit of its leadership and cunning to the little lizards that will worship it as a god-king. Dragons universally love flattery, and there are none that are better at this than Kobolds.

The Kobolds help the Dragon as well. They serve it, obey its orders as if it were their God-King, and nurture it to grow. A Dragon Dream which has surrounded itself with Kobolds will grow and advance at a faster rate than one which resides in the wilds. As it grows, the Dragon will grant a measure of its power to its most devoted followers. These are the Kobold Dragon-Priests, and their boons are terrible and splendid. 

 

Rules Malarkey

Kobold

HD: 1/2
AC: Unarmoured
Equipment: Hand crossbow (1d4) and knife (1d4)

Special Abilities:

Traps: If the Kobolds have been in an area for at least an hour, they will have prepared the area with a number of traps growing in complexity the longer they are in a given area. For every hour the Kobolds have been in an area add 1d6 to total trap damage in the area. If in their lair, assume every square inch is trapped with some variety of pit trap, rock fall, murder holes, and other terrible surprises.

Tinkering: Every Kobold seems to have a knack for machinery, often incorporating byzantine Rube Goldberg machines into their traps. All Kobolds count as having 6 in 6 tinkering for the purposes of constructing or maintaining non-magical devices.

The Power of Friendship: Kobolds instinctually work together alarmingly well. A Kobold's attack bonus will be equal to the number of Kobolds they can see (up to +8)

Kobold Dragon Priest

If there is a Dragon in or ear to a Kobold lair, at least one of the Kobolds will become a Dragon Priest, and gain power granted by the Dragon. The power of the Priest grows with the power of the Dragon and the devotion done to it. A Dragon Priest cannot have more ranks than the Hit Dice of the Dragon it serves.

Level 1

When a Kobold first becomes a Dragon Priest, tending to a Dragon Dream to the point that the Dragon becomes aware enough to share some of its power, the Kobold simply becomes more resilient, slightly larger, standing half a head above its companions but not large at all by the standards of other creatures. The Kobold Priest also begins to develop the ability to commune with the Dragon, and communicates with it even of the Dragon is not yet developed enough to speak for itself. The Kobold is a Dragon Priest graduating to a full hit dice creature, and has a more impressive bearing than other Kobolds. 

Level 2

As the Dragon Priest grows in power, it becomes closer with the Dragon in appearance as well as power. The Dragon Priest begins to grow hoarier, coarser scales, its claws lengthen and sharpen. The Dragon Priest also begins to have some command over the instinctual winds of magic which flow from and through the Dragon. The AC of the Dragon Priest raises to that of chain as its scales become closer to the iron hard armour of the Dragon it serves, and its razor sharp claws do d6 damage on a hit. Additionally, the Dragon Priest becomes adept at creating illusions, generally crafted to intimidate, mislead, or confuze intruders into the Kobold's lair. They can create illusions the size of a small room, although such illusions are silent and intangible. They will often create illusions of rock walls to hide escape tunnels or traps, or large rooms full of gold to tempt the unwary to walking out over a pit full of spikes. They are inventive with the use of their powers, and well know the limitations. 

Level 3

At this point the Dragon Priest has become a power in its own right. Having grown in stature to be the size of a small human, it towers over other Kobolds and the lesser ranked Priesthood. The Dragon Priest increases its hit dice to 2. Often Dragon Priests of this rank will equip themselves with some of the magical devices of the Naga that they have managed to acquire through their delvings. They are also more likely to be adorned in gems and gold, the acoutrements of high priesthood. At this point they serve a large Dragon Dream, probably one capable of at least some speech, and planning. Their warren of Kobolds has probably amassed some significant wealth, and possibly some influence in the surrounding regions enough to destabilise the smaller mammalian settlements. Additionally, the power of the Dragon begins to fill the Dragon Priest granting the gift of fire. The Dragon Priest ca breathe fire in a cone doing 2d6 fire damage to any caught in the jet of flame, there is also a chance that the affected creatures catch on fire, and it will certainly consume any flammable material such as paper or rope (recharges on 6 in 6). The Dragon Priest now has more mastery over illusions, and can create moving and audible illusions. A favourite illusion is to create a great audience chamber to overawe intruders, complete with a dragon the size of a mountain slumbering on a great pile of treasure (safely removed from the real Dragon and hoarde of course). Kobolds do so love to boast of the prowess and achievements of their people and of their dragon, and will always be tempted to use illusions to further this end.

Level 4

At this point the Dragon Priest has really begun to understand the mysteries of the world. The great sea of Wisdom which is the sleeping Dragon's mind flows through their own. Dragon Priests at this level know what the Dragons are, know that they must be awakened to rise and rule the earth once more. They also have glimpses of how to accomplish this. Ironically, the Dragon Dreams at this point do not know what they are (a Dragon Dream has yet to become greatly self aware, and are more often fixated on the acquisition of treasure and magical geegaws), leading to Dragon Priests with a far greater wit and understanding than the masters they serve. However, the Dragon Priest will still be subservient, serving as they do the great slumbering True Dragon. Their objectives and plans become greatly circuitous, with byzantine wheels within wheels and plots within plots. They do not always understand themselves what they will be accomplishing, but trust to the wisdom imparted to them by the great Dragon beneath. A Dragon Priest here truly becomes the equal of a magus, with illusions that can fool the eye and the heart. Great illusory Dragons devour intruders whose minds are not strong enough to disbelieve the illusion. The thoughts of lesser beings lie open to them to read as one would a book, and they can bend the wills of others to their own devices. Fire bends to the will of the Dragon Priest as it is called by its true name and formed into shimmering blades or implacable servants made of fire. The Dragon Priest Controls all fire, can communicate telepathically with Kobolds, cast mind altering spells such as charm and suggestion, and creates illusions that are as good as real to those who observe them (save vs magic to disbelieve). 

Level 5
The Dragon Priest becomes truly an imposing monster, sprouting wings and towering above even the tallest of human adventurers. The hit dice of the Dragon Priest increases to 3 and the wings allow for true flight. The iron hard scales give the Dragon Priest protection equal to plate armour, and combined with all the powers mustered until this point, the humble Kobold has nearly undergone apotheosis into a Dragon itself. The Dragon Priest at this point, would be the head of a great warren, and serve a truly monumental Dragon Dream, likely in communication with other Dragon Priests through the silent mind web of great power granted by the Dragons beneath. The power of the Dragon Priest, although impressive in and of themselves, is as nothing compared to the vast organisational resources which can be mustered by the Kobolds as a whole under their influence. Truly, they are terrible and splendid.

Level ?

There is theoretically no limit to how great the power of the Dragon Priest can grow, limited as it is only by the size and power of the Dragon Dream which they serve. Perhaps, when the Dragons wake, the Dragon Priests who served them will become Dragons themselves and soar the skies, scorch the land, and dream great magics of their own.