Homebrew Kobold (Hairy Dog-Headed) Species Details

Disclaimers: This is primarily designed for my own homebrew campaign: Tales of Sylvan (Revised)//Tales of Sylvan (Simplified)//Tales of Sylvan: Rise of 7 Evil Lords on Roll20. If you think this species is adaptable to your own campaign/character, feel free to use and modify accordingly to the setting. Links are removed so as to be published accordingly to the rules. Portrait avatar is created with the AI assist of Copilot from Edge, the image is then manually cropped and modified to fit closer to the design by me.

This version of kobold might be a species from another world. From what have been gathered from formal to casual interviews, some of them recall coming from the northern part of Sylvan. No other validated or common information can be summarized/concluded. The Great Library of Sylvania does not contain enough records and information regarding this species. Further research is needed, please feel free to inquire further information from scholars in the respective field.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT if you know how to change the setting so it only allows users to select one of the 3 skill proficiency for Kobold Legacy: Instinct.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Player’s Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Kobold (Hairy Dog-Headed) Traits

As a kobold, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Humanoid.

Size

You are Small.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet. You have a burrow speed of 10 ft.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Dog Howl

As a bonus action, you let out a howl at your enemies within 10 feet of you. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies have advantage on attack rolls against any of those enemies who could hear you. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Kobold Legacy

Kobolds’ connection to your ancestor can manifest in unpredictable ways in an individual kobold. Choose one of the following legacy options for your kobold:

Canine Sensory. You have excellent hearing (up to 60 ft.), heat detection (up to 30 ft.) and superior sense of smell (up to 120 ft.).

Defiance. You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.

Instinct. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Investigation, Stealth or Survival.