I have a kobold character, and I could use some roleplaying advice on making him a great part of a troupe.
I am hoping to get into a local game (I'm in East Atlanta), and, well-- I've always been really big on the concept. I have a long history of really well-planned characters, but ultimately, they became extensions of my own personality. Me, in a different skin suit. This was especially true in LARPing. I caused all sorts of trouble but rarely played a character through to the end, well. I'd really like to play something that is purely performance and goes against my own nature and do it well and in an entertaining way, just once in my life.
So here's what I'm asking for: look over these stats and tell me some things about how you suspect he might behave, some guidelines I can follow as a player to do him justice. I don't want to be a Deekin clone or a Spurt knock-off and be a waste as comic relief. I'm definitely not looking to be the center of attention in the party. I want to be a middling party member who just occasionally does something kind of cool with his skills. Of all my choices, I suspect that this kobold doesn't "yip-yip" at his level of Intelligence. I have this idea for a character, and I'd like some tips on playing him out well, based on his basics stats and background.
STR 10 DEX 14 CON 13 INT 16 WIS 10 CHARISMA 14 Kobold (UA) Fighter level 4 Feat: Chef Urchin I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me. I hide scraps of food and trinkets away in my pockets. I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding. Ideals: people. I help the people who help me — that’s what keeps us alive. (Neutral) Bonds: my town or city is my home, and I’ll fight to defend it. I owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets. Flaws: if I’m outnumbered, I will run away from a fight.
Fights with a shortsword and shield (fashioned from a tortoise shell and melted copper pieces). Per kobold concepts from Races of the Dragon, he considers his party to be his family and will defend it to the death, but runs when facing a threat alone. His Fighting style is all about working with others: Commander's Strike, Protection, Riposte, Maneuvering Attack
His great joy in life is cooking; his dream is to open an adventurer's tavern of his own someday.
Pretty high CHA and a high-horsepower INT, but his passion is cooking.
He's literally reptilian, does he like cooking and eating human food? Or is he trying to push the limits of kobold cooking? Is he trying for some bold fusion, where he brings raw lizards and live fish into the culinary mainstream?
Bit paranoid. I was thinking of him as an Anthony Bourdain type, but this guy likes hiding in small spaces to limit the approaches of people who he assumes want to attack him. Also, if he's outnumbered, he'll run. Put those two together and you have someone who survived something really dreadful and plans to keep surviving. Cooking is his let-your-guard-down-and-relax time.
If I were a kobold with a decent DEX, all my battle master stuff would be built around archery. Sword and board would not be my first choice. So let's say it wasn't this guy's first choice either, he just had to do it anyway. Where does an Urchin develop that set of skills? Unlicensed gladiator fights where the little guys all had to fight an ogre for laughs? He wouldn't have figured this stuff out on his own though, so he had a mentor to show him the ropes. Who was that? Are they still alive? What's that relationship like?
I really, really love the Bourdain idea! It really works with the spiteful nature of kobolds, too! I can watch YouTubes of Bourdain and try to imagine AB with a 10 in Wisdom (I'd rate him higher). I could use some thoughts on playing high Intelligence/low Wisdom with a kobold if you have any.
As for his stats, he's not at all built for battle OOMPH, not even for something tactical that's hard to spot... but he is a nice little supplemental fighter. I heard an opinion that most kobolds would have difficulty pulling a short bow or anything bigger than a hand crossbow, so I might move two of those Dex points to Strength to make him make more sense in a fight. (Also... I don't see him as 'leet' in any sense, but a much better fighter for being shoulder-to-kneecap with his friends.
I envisioned him as a kind of dungeon sherpa for hire, the guide you can trust to dig everyone out in a tunnel collapse or an avalanche, whose specialty is also being a decent camp cook. His Intelligence and Charisma have no twink function-- they are just there to make him be someone that even a gnome might give a chance in an adventuring party.
Here's his back story:
Sveargith the Kobold never felt like other kobolds. He could tell there were small differences from his early years. As other kids stole coins and ore from their great servitor dragon’s hoard, Sveargith took books, that he taught himself to read, in time. Although he felt the same sense of spite common to most kobolds, he didn’t act to seek revenge all the time for slights. And he didn’t seem to be as cowardly as others, earning him the Dragon-name "Brave".
He was a better-than-fair fighter (amongst other kobolds, anyways) and for this reason, was picked to be a Dragonshield of the Half-Tooth Tribe. Despite an uncanny intelligence and a quick resolve to fight and fight hard, Sveargith lacked the malice of his brethren. He fought for the tribe, fought hard, fought true again countless cavern-dwelling monsters. But there wasn’t the same giddy pleasure, the same sadism when he stabbed an attacker as other kobolds displayed.
As local adventurers began to assail the mountain regions that Half-Tooth called home, the chieftain ordered Sveargith and four others to clear the slave pits. This meant to butcher the gnome slaves that lived and were bred in the dark of the caverns for decades. Sveargith objected, but his tribal elder made it clear that he would clean his assigned pen or be destroyed himself. Sveargith got to the pens, to see the huddled, terrified gnomes there. Speaking Common, he told them he could not kill gnomes for the crimes of Gary Glittergold. If they attempted no treachery, Sveargith would lead them to the nearest town.
The gnomes quickly agreed and he opened the pen. The first gnome out dived for him, despite other gnomes begging him not to, and Sveargith impaled the weakened, worn gnome on his spear. The poor captive gnome died within seconds. A jittery, on-edge Sveargith offered the same proposition: “I will lead you to the nearest town, if you agree not to try and trick me. I am only trying to help.” The remaining gnomes agreed, and the party quickly moved to a mountain passage Sveargith knew. Within the hour, they breached stone and stood in cursed sunlight. Sveargith kept his promise, and the few creatures that stood between the gnomes and the city were dispatched or avoided. When they reached the nearest city, Saleen’s Anvil, the gnomes brought Sveargith with them to introduce as their rescuer.
A Gnomish council convened as the gnomes asked the group to reward him for his kindness with his own home, as Sveargith could no longer return to the tribe. But some of the gnomes felt differently, and characterized Sveargith’s act as ‘only being kind to his own conscience’. After a few minutes of debate, it was decided that Sveargith would be nominated for citizenship in Saleen’s Anvil, but that he would not be extended favors or shelter within the gnome community-- they would not, could not vouch for a kobold. Sveargith happily accepted the right to live in Anvil, knowing that the city walls would keep vengeful kobold patrols out.
He made himself a small hovel in the sewer city underneath the city, where he met Sorn, the Barbarian kobold. Sorn was also an outcast from his own rival tribe, the Shiny Knives, and rode a fierce street dog named Gurr and fought with a trident the way full-grown men fought with halberds. Sorn taught Sveargith how to wrangle animals in the sewers and to ward out monsters. Sveargith spent weeks taking control of the city’s sewer systems. As more defecting kobolds arrived in Anvil, Sorn took them under his wing, offering to accept them into the Tribe of Sorn and protect them. Sorn’s tribesmen found plenty of rat meat for the both of them to feast upon, but as time wore on, Sveargith began to look for more sophisticated meals.
In the sewers near southern Anvil, a scent called to Sveargith. He dug his way up into what turned out to be The Last Meal Inne, a pub house on the outskirts of the southern wall. The tavern owner’s daughter, Margo, was shocked to see the kobold, and nearly cleaved Sveargith in two—but for the question, “What is that smell?”
This prompted Margo to warily show the kobold her cooking for the tavern. She showed him spices, foods, and talked about how to cook for an inn full of drinkers. She was a bit surprised to see how appreciative of the well-prepared kitchen food the kobold was, but it soon became clear to her that the brash little dragon had no ill intention.
She introduced Sveargith to Tarvan, her father, a legendary adventurer and the owner of the Last Meal Inne. Tarvan had heard of the gnomes encounter and wondered where the little citizen had gone. Sveargith asked if Margo and Tarvan could teach him to make some of the dishes he was smelling, and they agreed to an apprenticeship.
Three months later, the tavern was bustling. Sveargith was his daytime head chef, with Seppye and Bruk as his line chef and sous chef. The three made fantastically good lunches while Tarvan readied dinner. In the off-hours, Tarvan and Margo’s relationship with Sveargith began to increase and they formed a family. As word of Tarvan’s kobold cook began to make its way around Anvil, humans began to avoid it, fearing disease and poison. But within a few weeks, the local gnomes began pouring in, some of whom had been pushed out of other establishments. They became such good, appreciative and well-behaved customers that Tarvan built an area for halflings and gnomes only.
It wasn’t long before the human population caught on that they were missing out on great cooking, and the humans began to flock to the Last Meal Inne. Some were rude and difficult to win over. Told to avoid combat with even the rudest, drunkest guest, Sveargith was chided by locals for cowardice in running away, and began to take on the nickname Tucker—as in, "tuck tail and run".
For Sveargith/Tucker, he loved his human friends, but recognized that he had other ambitions to fulfill. Tarvan’s tales of adventuring throughout the world with Margo’s mother made Tucker long for adventures on the road, and a chance to earn enough to open his own inn someday. As he prepared to join the open road, he was presented with some gifts. Tarvan gifted Tucker his first shortsword, and a bedroll. Margo took the damaged studded leather armor of a murdered guest and tailored it to fit Tucker, as well as outfitted him with a fighter’s pantsuit with a hole for Tucker’s tail.
Wow, that's quite a backstory and it sounds as though you've thought your character through to the last detail.
There are maybe a couple of ideas to consider. If he becomes disillusioned during the adventure, he could revert to joining a kobold tribe. Maybe he is haunted by dreams of being trapped above ground forever?
From a combat perspective, his mediocre strength and okayish dexterity will make him challenging to play as a fighter. Unless he is in a group with a few other fighter/barbarian types who can use his team-orientated style to the full. He could end up being asked to do rogue-type jobs instead, which might be an interesting side-hustle for him.
"Wow, that's quite a backstory and it sounds as though you've thought your character through to the last detail."
I watched a lot of GinnyDi's stuff on YouTube to get his backstory to be reasonable, interesting, with hooks for a DM, and not too self-aggrandizing. Her recent features on playing high stats got me worried about how I'd bring off a low Wisdom score.
"If he becomes disillusioned during the adventure, he could revert to joining a kobold tribe."
He's True Neutral because I'm going to let his party interactions help him decide if he's part of the larger world or better off as a kobold. I could totally see him taking what he's learned of adventurers and starting a new tribe just like Sorn; that might happen.
"Maybe he is haunted by dreams of being trapped above ground forever?"
I never saw this as anxiety to him, but it is rather like going diving. A city is a bit like snorkeling; a plains village is a SCUBA dive.
"From a combat perspective, his mediocre strength and okayish dexterity will make him challenging to play as a fighter. Unless he is in a group with a few other fighter/barbarian types who can use his team-orientated style to the full."
That's what I am hoping. If there's one proper fighter in the bunch, we can work really well together, throwing dice each other's way and pantsing enemies. But this guy is not gonna be an arena fighter, ever! He wouldn't last long!
"He could end up being asked to do rogue-type jobs instead, which might be an interesting side-hustle for him." Well, he does have Thieves Tools, but I'd imagine he's only so-so at them despite the higher Dex. I want to think he's good at being sneaky in combat-- just without the mighty backstab!
I could use some thoughts on playing high Intelligence/low Wisdom with a kobold if you have any.
I've got a tabaxi wizard with this combo and I play him as extremely impulsive and excitable -- he'll rush to work the levers to solve the puzzle as soon as he figures it out without checking for traps, that sort of thing. We just got to third level and I took Dragon's Breath intending on casting it on our air support (our aarakocra druid, fairy ranger or his owl familiar) but instead he used it on himself in the first big combat and charged into melee range spewing frost everywhere because the initiative order didn't line up perfectly.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The hook that leaps out at me here is that he's an incredibly incompetent fighter - he's easy to hit and he doesn't hit accurately, and he doesn't have many hit points and he doesn't hit very hard. At the same time, he has the intelligence of a wizard or artificer - a curiosity for kobolds, who are natural sorcerers, let alone a kobold fighter.
I'd lean into that by leaning into roleplaying why he's a fighter with an artificer's statline. Maybe he wanted to go to magic school, but he couldn't afford it, or his parents forced him not to, or whatever, even though that's where his natural talents lie. Flesh that out, and then lean into it when other party members notice he's suspiciously bad at fighting but suspiciously good at knowing lore.
Along with Races of the Dragon which you noted, I'd read Volo's section on Kobolds if you haven't already.
Yes! I find the books to be often conflicting in small ways about the kobolds, so I've decided to stick with MrRhexx's YouTube video, "What They Don't Tell You about Kobolds", as my one absolute source!
Yes! I find the books to be often conflicting in small ways about the kobolds, so I've decided to stick with MrRhexx's YouTube video, "What They Don't Tell You about Kobolds", as my one absolute source!
thanks! actually working on an adventure right now with kobolds as central figures
It seems like you have a good bead on this guy. The only thing I’d add is that our dude is not high INT/low WIS. He’s high INT/average WIS. There’s nothing dysfunctional about him, he’s clearly an exceptional kobold.
with the backstory you have, my guess would be that he’s been the smartest guy in the room his whole life. We all know people like this. They talk down to people. They mansplain, as they say. Once they get out of their small pond and realize they aren’t the biggest fish after all, sometimes they straighten themselves out and sometimes they get defensive and bitter. I leave that up to you.
with the backstory you have, my guess would be that he’s been the smartest guy in the room his whole life. We all know people like this. They talk down to people. They mansplain, as they say. Once they get out of their small pond and realize they aren’t the biggest fish after all, sometimes they straighten themselves out and sometimes they get defensive and bitter.
This is gold. This is why I asked for help. Thanks, Tim.
Definitely will enjoy playing him as superior until he sees some of his ideas fall apart. Humility and how the part treats Tucker will have a lot to do with how his alignment evolves, but I need to prepare for the moment of defeat that will break him someday. With his weird stats, it shouldn't take long.
Well, and don't forget (because I'm starting to like this guy) that even "broken," he's still got that 14 CHA and he still has his cooking. I can see him just getting cynical and acerbic and irreverent. People like that, if they're smart enough to be funny, they can still be pretty popular.
He's small, and he knows that he's weak compared to a lot of things, but he's smart and he's brave enough to keep trying things. His low wisdom means that when he gets bored, he gets whimsical at times and does things he ought to know better than to do. When confronted he might run, but usually, instead, he'll do something wacky instead. Try to talk someone waving a sword down, or shake their hand.
When confronted he might run, but usually, instead, he'll do something wacky instead. Try to talk someone waving a sword down, or shake their hand.
I love this last part! Thanks, Geann. Given that he comes from a cave himself, entering a dark dungeon, he might not be so quick to fight a creature that has some intelligence. He has Animal Handling as well, so this could go to some very interesting places if the storyteller likes what he brings to the story.
One of my big reasons for creating this character is that I've got this desire to turn game night into a delicious meal that we can eat without fear of causing a huge mess around a dinner table, serving a kind of food that can be eaten from a single bowl by hand. I can spice the meat to whatever the dungeon master tells me we're going to encounter that has meat we can digest, and enjoy some food that gets us in character and allows us to play through without a lot of post-prep. I got some really brilliant ideas for being an adventuring party's cook from this video about Roman armies and how they ate on campaign:
Well, and don't forget (because I'm starting to like this guy) that even "broken," he's still got that 14 CHA and he still has his cooking. I can see him just getting cynical and acerbic and irreverent. People like that, if they're smart enough to be funny, they can still be pretty popular.
I see... so, a bit of a piss-taker with the party? Like, brutally snarky, but with an honest affection behind it? That could be so much fun.
The hook that leaps out at me here is that he's an incredibly incompetent fighter - he's easy to hit and he doesn't hit accurately, and he doesn't have many hit points and he doesn't hit very hard. At the same time, he has the intelligence of a wizard or artificer - a curiosity for kobolds, who are natural sorcerers, let alone a kobold fighter.
I'd lean into that by leaning into roleplaying why he's a fighter with an artificer's statline. Maybe he wanted to go to magic school, but he couldn't afford it, or his parents forced him not to, or whatever, even though that's where his natural talents lie. Flesh that out, and then lean into it when other party members notice he's suspiciously bad at fighting but suspiciously good at knowing lore.
I missed this the first time 'round, just saw it today, and it's got me already updating my Back Story!
I just did a back story rewrite with a lot of the things brought up here in mind. Thanks, folks!
Tucker the Kobold began life as an egg, stolen from a cave. That egg was picked up by an adventurer who suspected it might be something he could sell. The egg found its way to Saleen's Anvil, a large city in the mountain regions beyond the Sword Coast. The adventurer, a callous Rogue, tried to sell it to a Merchant named Merrick Feen, saying it was a dragon youngling. Feen, however, had the insight and intelligence to quickly determine that the egg was in fact a kobold egg. Feen had his Iron Golem arrest the Rogue and then considered what to do with the kobold egg.
One of Feen's close friends was Tarvan, the human innkeeper of The Last Inne, which sits outside of the Tarvan's Southern Gate. He brought the egg to Tarvan, who specialized in rare food, as a chance to perhaps craft something new to the menu... perhaps a kind of veal or Foie Gras. Tarvan was a little doubtful, but he offered 10 silver. The men agreed and Tarvan took custody of the egg.
Tarvan's daughter, the half-elf child Margo, was outraged when she found out about the kobold egg and her father's intentions. She took the 4 silver she had been saving up from her work wages and offered to buy the egg. Tarvan refused but agreed that despite their limited intelligence, kobolds still possessed intelligence and deserved better than to be eaten. Tarvan and Margo took the egg to the city's sewers, where kobolds were thought to live, keeping the sewage system free of rats and smaller nuisance monsters. Once they found a warm spot with steam rising, they set down the egg. A tearful Margo said goodbye.
The little hatchling was found by the kobolds of the sewer system. The group had no particular tribal elder, but the Barbarian named Sorn made certain that the young hatchling had lots of help. He had a lot of fight in him but was useless without others beside him. He showed exceptional intelligence, and by collecting discarded human children's books, he learned to read and write in Common, as well as in Draconic.
On his 1st hatch day, Sorn named him Sveargith, the Draconic word for bravery. (The naming was said to be hopeful rather than ironic.) As he was now old enough to contribute, Sveargith joined his clan in mining for precious minerals whilst working on an off-sewer structure for the kobolds to call home permanently.
As Sorn began to pull stray kobolds into a small clan, there were dangers from above. The city's gnome settlement had seen kobolds entering the sewers and had begun to send patrols to hunt them. Sorn explained Kurtulmak and Gary Glittergold to Sveargith, and the spite that existed in both species. Sveargith, who was smart but not terribly self-aware, questioned what kind of god could get tricked by a gnome. Many of the older kobolds kicked and chided Sveargith for his comment, but despite being the only one with such an opinion, Sveargith wouldn't back down.
After a hunting party killed Nessel, a gnomish Sorceror, an angry Sorn was determined that the fledgling clan (called the Broken Teeth) would hunt and murder gnomes for their crimes, killing two gnomes for every kobold put under the knife. Sveargith had come to be an advisor to Sorn, as Sorn valued his intelligence above his fighting. Sveargith went looking for books on gnomes and found a chapter in a book by Volo Geddarm about Gnomes. Although the information was questionable at best, some of the things Volo had written about were things he had seen for himself. Sveargith learned enough about the gnomes to know that they fear kobold uprisings more than they fear individual kobolds.
After a full day of thinking, Sveargith came up with a plan that the entire clan hated him for: they would meet any hunters in the sewers with traps, tricks, and force, but the kobolds would allow any who surrendered to return to the surface unharmed but humiliated. As much as this angered Sorn, too, he adopted the idea.
In the balance, Sveargith had done some scouting and found a washdown of a purified fountain underneath the City Hall of Anvil. He found discarded wine jugs and barrels in the city above and brought them down, so the kobolds could have safer water to drink and bathe in. by stealing pipes and materials, the kobolds learned to copy the human design and ran a line of freshwater from the courtyard to the mountain (Mount Jovo) in the southeast where they were building their warren. Once the clan has proper bathing pools and drinking water, many kobolds forgave Sveargith for his impertinence. Sveargith's greatest aptitude was cooking their meals. He seemed to intuitively understand what meats went together with what herbs. As humble as their encampment was, the rise in quality of food and water brought better health to the clan and a better survival rate for the new hatchlings that were coming.
As Sveargith grew, he turned out to be a better-than-fair fighter, and for this reason, was picked to be a Dragonshield of the Broken Teeth Tribe. Despite an uncanny intelligence and a quick resolve to fight and fight hard, Sveargith lacked the malice of his brethren. He fought for the tribe, fought hard, fought true... but there wasn’t the same giddy pleasure, the same sadism when he stabbed an attacker. Within a month, the gnome hunting party returned in force, and thanks to Sveargith's designs and concepts, they were captured and marched, weaponless and naked, out of the sewers, and given a warning to never return unless they came weaponless and with gifts. The last part, "with gifts" came from someplace mysterious in Sveargith's mind. Like a riddle invented unsolved, it unraveled over the next year in his mind.
In the sewers near southern Anvil, a scent called to Sveargith. He dug his way up into what turned out to be The Last Meal Inne, a pub house on the outskirts of the southern wall. Margo, was shocked to see the kobold, and nearly cleaved Sveargith in two—but for the question, “What is that smell?” and the childhood memory of saving the egg stopped her in her tracks. A delighted Margo, who had spent the last few years worrying about the fate of the kobold, took Sveargith on a tour of the kitchen, explaining her cooking for the tavern. She showed him spices, foods, shared samples of their dishes, and talked about how to cook for an inn full of drinkers. She was a bit surprised to see how appreciative of the well-prepared kitchen food the kobold was, but it soon became clear to her that the brash little dragon had no ill intention and was just curious.
It was more than just curiosity about the smell of sizzling beef. Sveargith smelled the family scent from Tarvan's sweat on his eggshell as he arrived, and Margo's tears. He did not know the connection, but he nevertheless felt connected to this parent and child.
Margo introduced Sveargith to Tarvan, her father, a legendary adventurer and the owner of the Last Meal Inne. Tarvan had heard of the gnomes encounter. Sveargith asked if Margo and Tarvan could teach him to make some of the dishes he was smelling. They agreed to an apprenticeship, where if Tucker proved useful and trustworthy, he would be paid in food and spices for his clan.
Three months later, the tavern was bustling. Sveargith was Margo's understudy, with Seppye and Bruk of the Broken Teeth as his line chef and sous chef. The three made fantastically good lunches while Tarvan readied the larger dinner meals. In the off-hours, Tarvan and Margo’s relationship with Sveargith began to increase to the point where they sat him down and admitted to their role in his upbringing. The trust they showed that day cemented strange feelings of 'family' that Sveargith had never known before.
Tarvan and Margo did little more than Sorn and the other kobolds had done for Sveargith, but they gave him something his fellow kobolds never had: love and complete acceptance. When Sveargith made mistakes in the warren, he was spitefully chided and told he was worthless. When he made a mistake at the Last Meal, they were learning mistakes and a chance to laugh at themselves. When Sorn had long given up teaching Sveargith to fight, Tarvan and Margo worked with him and discovered how much better Sveargith was in leading a fight than being the best fighter. He would never be a duelist, but team-against-team, Sveargith had definite skills.
Working with Tarvan and Margo and watching customers from the kitchen, Sveargith began to learn valuable lessons about how other humanoids felt about each other. They could be a spiteful and petty as kobolds, but he discovered that they clung much closer to their own set than the collective as a whole. Going back through the Volo book, it seemed pretty obvious that gnomes also felt these same 'family' feelings and looked to their own more than the clan. He read up on a holiday named Tumanor that the gnomes all celebrated, and then, the puzzled unraveled.
He brought his idea to a confused, angry, and objecting Sorn. It was nearly blasphemous. But Sveargith sold it on the merits of how the others reacted to gifts and kindness. And being left alone to rule the sewers was worth more than the wealth the clan would potentially lose. It took eight days and night, many diagrams, and hours of roleplay to finally convince Sorn to go with Sveargith's idea. It took Sorn and Sveargith roughly a year to make the kobolds understand the plan and play their parts in it.
And so it came to be, on the next Tumanor and every Tumanor since, that the kobolds of Anvil would disarm themselves, stalk up to the city of Anvil, and find a gnome to deliver one gem of great value from their ever-accruing collection. The gnomes were absolutely flabbergasted by this. If the gnome refused the gem, the kobold would excuse himself and go elsewhere. If the gnome accepted, the kobold would wish him a happy Tumanor and leave. If the gnome offered a gift of their own, the kobold would graciously accept the gift.
But Tucker knew that what was most likely to occur was a very stunned gnome asking if he could do something the repay this kindness. The kobold would then say, "Kobolds wish to connect with our god again. Please ask Gary Glittergold to release Kurtulmak from his trap." The first time this occurred, there were some harsh words spoken, which Sveargith knew to prepare every kobold for. The kobold response was to assure the gnome, "Just to have you hear the request was a gift returned."
Naturally, this caused a lot of confusion in the gnome community. I hear they're still arguing over it in the Glittergold temple in Anvil. But every year, mining tools and trinkets are left at sewer grates all over Anvil as a return on the blessings of the given gems.
Every kobold knew that these items were given in the hope of securing a larger peace. The Broken Teeth had more gems and mineral deposits than they could deal with, but they had no means of exchanging for things they needed on the market, as they knew Tallfolk were given to greed and betrayal. This act was a gesture of goodwill and helped send prayers out that could one day lead to their Kurtulmak's release.
After one or two curious guests took an unauthorized peek into the kitchen of the Last Meal Inne, the secret of Tarvan’s kobold cooks began to make its way around Anvil. Humans, elves, dwarves, and the extra-planar beings of Anvil began to avoid it, fearing disease and poison. The great livelihood Tarvan and Margo knew began to dwindle. The bard acts who once earned top dollar there began to look elsewhere for coin.
When the gnome community learned of it, they began to show up. At first, just their bravest turned up to eat. Then, families began to come, as Tarvan and Margo took extra good care of their steady customers and updated their menu accordingly. A tradition of lunch roasts on Sundays began. Within a few weeks, the rest of the local gnomes began pouring in, some of whom had been pushed out of other establishments. Some came for the bragging rights of being served by a kobold. Some came because they were curious about the annual kindness the kobolds were showing. Some came just to see what all the fuss was about.
And then, upon hearing that the Last Meal Inne had become the haven of gnomes, the halfling folk who had long overcrowded their own pubs began trying the more-open gnome establishments or coming to the Last Meal. They became such good, appreciative and well-behaved customers that Tarvan decided to make them his preferred guests. With help from Sveargith, Seppye and Bruk Tarvan turned a loft area into the ideal place for halflings and gnomes to eat: above the rest of the pub, with only 4 and a half feet of standing room. In this new space, the halflings and gnomes were freer from rougher humans, elves, dwarves, and half-orcs, who would have to be hunched even when seated. And with little room, glasses and mugs had great difficulty sailing into space during a downstairs brawl.
Naturally, this new popularity prompted the curious and incensed the entitled among the humans, who returned to The Last Meal Inne demanding service, which meant Sveargith and his team worked an overlapping shift each night. The amiable Sveargith had learned a great deal about banter from a blossoming teenage Margo, and he began venturing into the pub to serve food for the first time.
It wasn’t long before the entire human population of Anvil caught on that they were missing out on great cooking from novel chefs, and the tall races began to flock to the Last Meal Inne. Some were rude and difficult to win over. Told to avoid combat with even the rudest, drunkest guest, Sveargith was chided by locals for cowardice in running away, and began to take on the nickname Tucker—as in, 'tuck tail and run'.
For Sveargith/Tucker, the years he spent as a chef were good ones. Given his charm and his fame within the community, he was able to establish a small business of buying and selling gemstones out of the Last Meal so that the Broken Teeth had a means of making a profit on their mining operation. Local smiths were well aware of the quality of the product that the Last Meal sold, and that even adamantine, mithril, glassteel, cinnabryl, and arandur were sometimes available.
What happened next is unclear. Tucker returned to the sewers one night after Seppye and Bruk failed to come to their shift, to discover many dead human soldiers and most of the trap defenses breached. Probing deeper in, Tucker discovered that the sewers had collapsed where they had built their tunnels into their warrens. Some say that the kobolds grew tired of Tucker's ideas and abandoned Sorn. Some say the gnomes betrayed them and had the City Guard flush them from their sewer havens. Tucker stayed on with Tarvan for a month longer before he announced he would be leaving.
While Tarvan’s tales of adventuring throughout the world with Margo’s mother made Tucker long for adventures on the road, he also sought a greater destiny for his species and a chance to earn enough to open his own inn someday. As he prepared to join the open road, he was presented with some gifts. Tarvan gifted Tucker his first shortsword and his favorite skillet, seasoned with the sauced of a thousand epic meals, as well as a bedroll and adventuring gear. Margo took one of the studded leather armor the kobolds had claimed from the gnome invasions of the sewers and tailored the armor to fit Tucker, as well as outfitted him with a fighter’s pantsuit with a hole for Tucker's tail. She tried to offer him a pair of childen's boots, but Tucker demured. "Climbers need their feet, Margo!" With handshakes and hugs, he bid his family at the Last Meal Inne farewell.
Before he left, he presented the only gems remaining from the Broken Teeth's gemstone business to some of his favorite customers at the Last Meal on Tumanor. They allowed him to share in their celebrations and later presented him with a great magical gift: the Chilled Bag of Holding. This tiny backpack had the interdimensional room to store nearly a kitchen's worth of meats and goods but also stored away many cookware and eating utensils needed for feeding a hungry team. The backpack itself looks curious on him, as the gnomish design in its embroidery is unmistakable. Tucker wears it proudly wherever he goes.
Outstanding. You had me at "Volo's information was questionable at best".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I have a kobold character, and I could use some roleplaying advice on making him a great part of a troupe.
I am hoping to get into a local game (I'm in East Atlanta), and, well-- I've always been really big on the concept. I have a long history of really well-planned characters, but ultimately, they became extensions of my own personality. Me, in a different skin suit. This was especially true in LARPing. I caused all sorts of trouble but rarely played a character through to the end, well. I'd really like to play something that is purely performance and goes against my own nature and do it well and in an entertaining way, just once in my life.
So here's what I'm asking for: look over these stats and tell me some things about how you suspect he might behave, some guidelines I can follow as a player to do him justice. I don't want to be a Deekin clone or a Spurt knock-off and be a waste as comic relief. I'm definitely not looking to be the center of attention in the party. I want to be a middling party member who just occasionally does something kind of cool with his skills. Of all my choices, I suspect that this kobold doesn't "yip-yip" at his level of Intelligence. I have this idea for a character, and I'd like some tips on playing him out well, based on his basics stats and background.
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 16
WIS 10
CHARISMA 14
Kobold (UA) Fighter level 4
Feat: Chef
Urchin
I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me.
I hide scraps of food and trinkets away in my pockets.
I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding.
Ideals: people. I help the people who help me — that’s what keeps us alive. (Neutral)
Bonds: my town or city is my home, and I’ll fight to defend it.
I owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets.
Flaws: if I’m outnumbered, I will run away from a fight.
Fights with a shortsword and shield (fashioned from a tortoise shell and melted copper pieces). Per kobold concepts from Races of the Dragon, he considers his party to be his family and will defend it to the death, but runs when facing a threat alone. His Fighting style is all about working with others: Commander's Strike, Protection, Riposte, Maneuvering Attack
His great joy in life is cooking; his dream is to open an adventurer's tavern of his own someday.
Pretty high CHA and a high-horsepower INT, but his passion is cooking.
He's literally reptilian, does he like cooking and eating human food? Or is he trying to push the limits of kobold cooking? Is he trying for some bold fusion, where he brings raw lizards and live fish into the culinary mainstream?
Bit paranoid. I was thinking of him as an Anthony Bourdain type, but this guy likes hiding in small spaces to limit the approaches of people who he assumes want to attack him. Also, if he's outnumbered, he'll run. Put those two together and you have someone who survived something really dreadful and plans to keep surviving. Cooking is his let-your-guard-down-and-relax time.
If I were a kobold with a decent DEX, all my battle master stuff would be built around archery. Sword and board would not be my first choice. So let's say it wasn't this guy's first choice either, he just had to do it anyway. Where does an Urchin develop that set of skills? Unlicensed gladiator fights where the little guys all had to fight an ogre for laughs? He wouldn't have figured this stuff out on his own though, so he had a mentor to show him the ropes. Who was that? Are they still alive? What's that relationship like?
Thank you, Tim!
I really, really love the Bourdain idea! It really works with the spiteful nature of kobolds, too! I can watch YouTubes of Bourdain and try to imagine AB with a 10 in Wisdom (I'd rate him higher). I could use some thoughts on playing high Intelligence/low Wisdom with a kobold if you have any.
As for his stats, he's not at all built for battle OOMPH, not even for something tactical that's hard to spot... but he is a nice little supplemental fighter. I heard an opinion that most kobolds would have difficulty pulling a short bow or anything bigger than a hand crossbow, so I might move two of those Dex points to Strength to make him make more sense in a fight. (Also... I don't see him as 'leet' in any sense, but a much better fighter for being shoulder-to-kneecap with his friends.
I envisioned him as a kind of dungeon sherpa for hire, the guide you can trust to dig everyone out in a tunnel collapse or an avalanche, whose specialty is also being a decent camp cook. His Intelligence and Charisma have no twink function-- they are just there to make him be someone that even a gnome might give a chance in an adventuring party.
Here's his back story:
Sveargith the Kobold never felt like other kobolds. He could tell there were small differences from his early years. As other kids stole coins and ore from their great servitor dragon’s hoard, Sveargith took books, that he taught himself to read, in time. Although he felt the same sense of spite common to most kobolds, he didn’t act to seek revenge all the time for slights. And he didn’t seem to be as cowardly as others, earning him the Dragon-name "Brave".
He was a better-than-fair fighter (amongst other kobolds, anyways) and for this reason, was picked to be a Dragonshield of the Half-Tooth Tribe. Despite an uncanny intelligence and a quick resolve to fight and fight hard, Sveargith lacked the malice of his brethren. He fought for the tribe, fought hard, fought true again countless cavern-dwelling monsters. But there wasn’t the same giddy pleasure, the same sadism when he stabbed an attacker as other kobolds displayed.
As local adventurers began to assail the mountain regions that Half-Tooth called home, the chieftain ordered Sveargith and four others to clear the slave pits. This meant to butcher the gnome slaves that lived and were bred in the dark of the caverns for decades. Sveargith objected, but his tribal elder made it clear that he would clean his assigned pen or be destroyed himself. Sveargith got to the pens, to see the huddled, terrified gnomes there. Speaking Common, he told them he could not kill gnomes for the crimes of Gary Glittergold. If they attempted no treachery, Sveargith would lead them to the nearest town.
The gnomes quickly agreed and he opened the pen. The first gnome out dived for him, despite other gnomes begging him not to, and Sveargith impaled the weakened, worn gnome on his spear. The poor captive gnome died within seconds. A jittery, on-edge Sveargith offered the same proposition: “I will lead you to the nearest town, if you agree not to try and trick me. I am only trying to help.” The remaining gnomes agreed, and the party quickly moved to a mountain passage Sveargith knew. Within the hour, they breached stone and stood in cursed sunlight. Sveargith kept his promise, and the few creatures that stood between the gnomes and the city were dispatched or avoided. When they reached the nearest city, Saleen’s Anvil, the gnomes brought Sveargith with them to introduce as their rescuer.
A Gnomish council convened as the gnomes asked the group to reward him for his kindness with his own home, as Sveargith could no longer return to the tribe. But some of the gnomes felt differently, and characterized Sveargith’s act as ‘only being kind to his own conscience’. After a few minutes of debate, it was decided that Sveargith would be nominated for citizenship in Saleen’s Anvil, but that he would not be extended favors or shelter within the gnome community-- they would not, could not vouch for a kobold. Sveargith happily accepted the right to live in Anvil, knowing that the city walls would keep vengeful kobold patrols out.
He made himself a small hovel in the sewer city underneath the city, where he met Sorn, the Barbarian kobold. Sorn was also an outcast from his own rival tribe, the Shiny Knives, and rode a fierce street dog named Gurr and fought with a trident the way full-grown men fought with halberds. Sorn taught Sveargith how to wrangle animals in the sewers and to ward out monsters. Sveargith spent weeks taking control of the city’s sewer systems. As more defecting kobolds arrived in Anvil, Sorn took them under his wing, offering to accept them into the Tribe of Sorn and protect them. Sorn’s tribesmen found plenty of rat meat for the both of them to feast upon, but as time wore on, Sveargith began to look for more sophisticated meals.
In the sewers near southern Anvil, a scent called to Sveargith. He dug his way up into what turned out to be The Last Meal Inne, a pub house on the outskirts of the southern wall. The tavern owner’s daughter, Margo, was shocked to see the kobold, and nearly cleaved Sveargith in two—but for the question, “What is that smell?”
This prompted Margo to warily show the kobold her cooking for the tavern. She showed him spices, foods, and talked about how to cook for an inn full of drinkers. She was a bit surprised to see how appreciative of the well-prepared kitchen food the kobold was, but it soon became clear to her that the brash little dragon had no ill intention.
She introduced Sveargith to Tarvan, her father, a legendary adventurer and the owner of the Last Meal Inne. Tarvan had heard of the gnomes encounter and wondered where the little citizen had gone. Sveargith asked if Margo and Tarvan could teach him to make some of the dishes he was smelling, and they agreed to an apprenticeship.
Three months later, the tavern was bustling. Sveargith was his daytime head chef, with Seppye and Bruk as his line chef and sous chef. The three made fantastically good lunches while Tarvan readied dinner. In the off-hours, Tarvan and Margo’s relationship with Sveargith began to increase and they formed a family. As word of Tarvan’s kobold cook began to make its way around Anvil, humans began to avoid it, fearing disease and poison. But within a few weeks, the local gnomes began pouring in, some of whom had been pushed out of other establishments. They became such good, appreciative and well-behaved customers that Tarvan built an area for halflings and gnomes only.
It wasn’t long before the human population caught on that they were missing out on great cooking, and the humans began to flock to the Last Meal Inne. Some were rude and difficult to win over. Told to avoid combat with even the rudest, drunkest guest, Sveargith was chided by locals for cowardice in running away, and began to take on the nickname Tucker—as in, "tuck tail and run".
For Sveargith/Tucker, he loved his human friends, but recognized that he had other ambitions to fulfill. Tarvan’s tales of adventuring throughout the world with Margo’s mother made Tucker long for adventures on the road, and a chance to earn enough to open his own inn someday. As he prepared to join the open road, he was presented with some gifts. Tarvan gifted Tucker his first shortsword, and a bedroll. Margo took the damaged studded leather armor of a murdered guest and tailored it to fit Tucker, as well as outfitted him with a fighter’s pantsuit with a hole for Tucker’s tail.
Wow, that's quite a backstory and it sounds as though you've thought your character through to the last detail.
There are maybe a couple of ideas to consider. If he becomes disillusioned during the adventure, he could revert to joining a kobold tribe. Maybe he is haunted by dreams of being trapped above ground forever?
From a combat perspective, his mediocre strength and okayish dexterity will make him challenging to play as a fighter. Unless he is in a group with a few other fighter/barbarian types who can use his team-orientated style to the full. He could end up being asked to do rogue-type jobs instead, which might be an interesting side-hustle for him.
I've got a tabaxi wizard with this combo and I play him as extremely impulsive and excitable -- he'll rush to work the levers to solve the puzzle as soon as he figures it out without checking for traps, that sort of thing. We just got to third level and I took Dragon's Breath intending on casting it on our air support (our aarakocra druid, fairy ranger or his owl familiar) but instead he used it on himself in the first big combat and charged into melee range spewing frost everywhere because the initiative order didn't line up perfectly.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The hook that leaps out at me here is that he's an incredibly incompetent fighter - he's easy to hit and he doesn't hit accurately, and he doesn't have many hit points and he doesn't hit very hard. At the same time, he has the intelligence of a wizard or artificer - a curiosity for kobolds, who are natural sorcerers, let alone a kobold fighter.
I'd lean into that by leaning into roleplaying why he's a fighter with an artificer's statline. Maybe he wanted to go to magic school, but he couldn't afford it, or his parents forced him not to, or whatever, even though that's where his natural talents lie. Flesh that out, and then lean into it when other party members notice he's suspiciously bad at fighting but suspiciously good at knowing lore.
Along with Races of the Dragon which you noted, I'd read Volo's section on Kobolds if you haven't already.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Yes! I find the books to be often conflicting in small ways about the kobolds, so I've decided to stick with MrRhexx's YouTube video, "What They Don't Tell You about Kobolds", as my one absolute source!
.
thanks! actually working on an adventure right now with kobolds as central figures
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
It seems like you have a good bead on this guy. The only thing I’d add is that our dude is not high INT/low WIS. He’s high INT/average WIS. There’s nothing dysfunctional about him, he’s clearly an exceptional kobold.
with the backstory you have, my guess would be that he’s been the smartest guy in the room his whole life. We all know people like this. They talk down to people. They mansplain, as they say. Once they get out of their small pond and realize they aren’t the biggest fish after all, sometimes they straighten themselves out and sometimes they get defensive and bitter. I leave that up to you.
This is gold. This is why I asked for help. Thanks, Tim.
Definitely will enjoy playing him as superior until he sees some of his ideas fall apart. Humility and how the part treats Tucker will have a lot to do with how his alignment evolves, but I need to prepare for the moment of defeat that will break him someday. With his weird stats, it shouldn't take long.
Well, and don't forget (because I'm starting to like this guy) that even "broken," he's still got that 14 CHA and he still has his cooking. I can see him just getting cynical and acerbic and irreverent. People like that, if they're smart enough to be funny, they can still be pretty popular.
He's small, and he knows that he's weak compared to a lot of things, but he's smart and he's brave enough to keep trying things. His low wisdom means that when he gets bored, he gets whimsical at times and does things he ought to know better than to do. When confronted he might run, but usually, instead, he'll do something wacky instead. Try to talk someone waving a sword down, or shake their hand.
<Insert clever signature here>
I love this last part! Thanks, Geann. Given that he comes from a cave himself, entering a dark dungeon, he might not be so quick to fight a creature that has some intelligence. He has Animal Handling as well, so this could go to some very interesting places if the storyteller likes what he brings to the story.
One of my big reasons for creating this character is that I've got this desire to turn game night into a delicious meal that we can eat without fear of causing a huge mess around a dinner table, serving a kind of food that can be eaten from a single bowl by hand. I can spice the meat to whatever the dungeon master tells me we're going to encounter that has meat we can digest, and enjoy some food that gets us in character and allows us to play through without a lot of post-prep. I got some really brilliant ideas for being an adventuring party's cook from this video about Roman armies and how they ate on campaign:
I see... so, a bit of a piss-taker with the party? Like, brutally snarky, but with an honest affection behind it? That could be so much fun.
I missed this the first time 'round, just saw it today, and it's got me already updating my Back Story!
I just did a back story rewrite with a lot of the things brought up here in mind. Thanks, folks!
Tucker the Kobold began life as an egg, stolen from a cave. That egg was picked up by an adventurer who suspected it might be something he could sell. The egg found its way to Saleen's Anvil, a large city in the mountain regions beyond the Sword Coast. The adventurer, a callous Rogue, tried to sell it to a Merchant named Merrick Feen, saying it was a dragon youngling. Feen, however, had the insight and intelligence to quickly determine that the egg was in fact a kobold egg. Feen had his Iron Golem arrest the Rogue and then considered what to do with the kobold egg.
Outstanding. You had me at "Volo's information was questionable at best".
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)