Homebrew Dragonwrought Kobold (2025) Species Details

Dragonwrought kobolds are rarely born into clutches of kobolds. Their abilities are more often considered a curse to the tribe they are born to, because of this, these kobolds may find themselves living on their own at a very young age.

When born dragonwrought kobolds are visually similar to their kin, the only distinguishing feature being a pair of small wings and small size. Much like urds this gift often finds them only disdain and resentment among their fellow tribe members. The hatred stemming from the age-old tale of Kuraulyek's betrayal.

As dragonwrought grow older they often find themselves coming under greater scrutiny. Unlike Urds, their wings remain small and useless until they are able to tap into their dormant magic. Their gifts come with the lack of a normal kobold's instinctual tunnelling abilities and often they are driven out of their tribes as they are seen as having no purpose within them.

Expert Fliers

While kobolds are naturally skilled at tunnelling, dragonwrought lack the innate ability, further lending to the tribes dislike of them. They have an instinctive sense for flight, able to feel the currents of the air and updrafts long before their wings are large enough to carry them in flight. This instinct carries with it the want to be above ground far more often than other kobolds find sane. If the tribe's hostility does not draw them out of their homes, this urge for the skies is often enough for them to leave home behind in search of a more welcoming one.

 

Like kobolds, dragonwrought take advantage of their size by squeezing into small areas that they can easily pass through, but that require larger creatures to hunch over or even crawl to make progress. Once they gain the ability to fly these small confined spaces are usually only used for shelter or hiding spots when in danger as most dragonwrought prefer to take to the skies than the ground.

 

Calculating Scavengers

Dragonwrought have retained their abilities for scavenging and identifying broken, misplaced, discarded, or leftover crafted items from other creatures that can still be put to use. They prefer to scavenge objects that have clearly been lost or thrown away, which is easy to do without attracting attention. At the same time, they don’t automatically shy away from trying to grab items that are the property of other creatures, because such objects are more likely to be in good condition and thus more useful or valuable.

When trying to acquire something that is owned dragonwrought will often watch their target for days before picking the right time to collect their new toys. Being lone wanderers, they do not stick around if a situation becomes dangerous and will not attempt to take an item if they don’t believe they could get in without notice.

 

True Dragons

The biggest difference between the dragonwrought and regular kobolds, even urds, is the fact that dragonwrought are true dragons. Unlike urds their wings are useless until they grow physically stronger. The act of strengthening themselves is seemingly tied to their innate draconic magic and must be tapped into through physical training before it starts to make its presence known. As a dragonwrought grows in power they often become more physically draconic, the level of which seems to be tied to the individual, some may remain small, with only their wings growing larger, where others may entirely take on the appearance and eventually even size of young dragons with whom they share a scale colour.

 

Unlike other dragons, the dragonwrought are not as easily swayed by the colour of their scales. A gold dragonwrought kobold is just as capable of being evil as a red dragonwrought is, though they may be more conflicted about it than the red scaled variant, this internal conflict only becomes more amplified as their draconic power grows. This tends to make it hard for dragonwrought to blindly follow dragons as other kobolds do, if serving a dragon whose ideals conflict with their own, they may become deeply conflicted as they would if their nature was opposed to the colour of their scales.

Magically Gifted

Magic flows through dragonwrought and is a welcome presence in their lives. Openly seeking out magic and magical items is even more common amongst the dragonwrought as their magical nature makes them more eager to acquire such items. Due to their position of distrust and scrutiny within kobold tribes, dragonwrought are rarely given education in the arcane and must seek knowledge on their own.

On the rare occasion a tribe does elect to train a dragonwrought, that individual can become highly skilled at a rapid pace. The rare few that manage this may even be looked at with less scorn if they are able to prove their worth to the tribe in this manner.

 

Life and Outlook

Kobolds have a tribal society in which they all take on specialized roles that protect and sustain the tribe. The strongest kobolds are trained to be hunters and warriors, the most clever are crafters and strategists, the toughest are miners and beast-wranglers, and so on. Even a stupid or physically weak kobold is given a role in the tribe, whether something as simple as picking mushrooms for food or watching over hatchlings, and they all understand that their actions contribute to the survival of the group. The tribe practices for the eventuality of defending the lair against intruders, and their plans always include knowing the best escape routes and who is responsible for blocking tunnels to deter pursuit.

Kobolds feel a cool affinity or something like kinship for other members of their tribe, but they are rarely affectionate with each other. Two kobolds who’ve known each other for over a decade might consider each other friends or enemies, but the strength of this sentiment is much fainter than any comparable human emotion. Since most of their waking time is spent working, adversarial kobolds rarely have opportunities to exchange insults, let alone come to blows over their differences.

Kobolds choose mates primarily for convenience. Their lack of emotional bonding means they have no concept of marriage or permanent family relationships. Their eggs are placed in a common tribal hatchery with no effort to keep track of who each one’s mother is. This practice and the communal raising of the hatchlings mean that the tribe operates like a group of cousins.

Because they lay eggs, and the eggs don’t require much tending, kobold females aren’t exempted from war or work. Furthermore, kobolds can slowly change sex. If most males or females of a tribe are killed, some survivors change over several months until the tribe is balanced again. In this way, the tribe can quickly repopulate with just a few survivors. Because of these factors, kobolds don’t have assigned gender roles for young or adults. A leader, sorcerer, miner, or crafter is as likely to be female as male.

Hidden Nature

Unless born into a tribe of dragonwrought kobolds most are unaware of their true nature, many of which succumb to violence, accidents, or disease in their early years, still believing themselves to be malformed Urds. 

The lucky few that manage to survive will find themselves long outliving their kin, a fate that can earn them further scrutiny from their tribe. For many leaving the tribe forces them to become stronger to survive and will often awaken their true natures.

Dragonwrought born into a tribe of their own kind are fortunate and raised from a young age to train their abilities and gifts.

Food 

Much like kobolds, dragonwrought are omnivores, and can eat just about anything, including meat, fruit, tree bark, bone, leather, and eggshells (a newly hatched kobold’s first meal is usually its own shell). A hungry tribe leaves nothing behind from a kill, eating everything that’s edible and using the rest to make tools or adornments.

Teeth are shed as they wear out and grow new ones their entire lives. If living within a kobold tribe it is not uncommon to wear one’s own shed teeth as jewelry, with more teeth indicating an older — and wiser — kobold.

Dragonwrought generally steer clear of hunting intelligent creatures, as they wish to remain unseen. Due to their nomadic or small pack numbers, they stick to only hunting small animals to survive. In desperate times they are not above trying their hand at larger or more intelligent prey. If the choice is between hunting a creature such as a human or starving, they always pick the path of survival.

Although able to eat anything, food is not simply eaten raw, they take pride in preparing the food for consumption. Often creating intricate recipes passed on to any willing to listen, though their tastes may be rather varied from other intelligent races.

Twisted Empathy

Dragonwrought are often mistaken for normal kobolds, this can find them at odds with beings such as gnomes. Those who have been ostracised by their tribes often don’t share the same hatred for the race as they usually feel equally unwelcome within their own tribe. 

Their mistreatment at their kin’s hands lends these kobolds a far more empathetic outlook on other creatures. 

Environment

Dragonwrought are warm-blooded and thus can thrive in any climate. Kobold tribes in colder regions tend to be smaller in population and more aggressive in their hunting since food is relatively scarce in such areas.

Partly out of fear and partly because their eyes are sensitive to sunlight, kobolds prefer the security of a cave to living in the open air, and can be found in any sort of terrain that can support tunneling. In a swamp or along a coastline where digging into the soft ground is problematic, kobolds entrench themselves in dense woods, hills, or large rock outcroppings, creating warrens above the water line.

Kobolds reside most commonly in hilly or mountainous terrain. Such locations usually have natural caves suitable for living space, plenty of room to dig, and ready sources of food. Although lairing in these locations puts kobolds in competition with surface-dwelling humanoids, their ability to avoid detection often means their warrens go unnoticed by their larger rivals. If it’s lucky, a tribe of kobolds that is discovered by a group of larger humanoids might form a mutually beneficial arrangement, relying on the humanoids for protection from invaders and in return providing services such as excavating new living spaces and disposing of trash. If it’s unlucky, the tribe is enslaved by the other humanoids, and the kobolds serve similar roles but under threat of death.

Roleplaying a Dragonwrought

 

Dragonwrought are aware of how small they are and how they are weaker than most larger creatures. This is especially true for younger dragonwrought, whose draconic magic is still dormant. As they often live in small groups or alone, they will avoid conflict where possible or find a group of larger creatures with which to work and feel safe.

 

Dragonwrought are more suspicious than kobolds, as they have lived lives in which kindness was almost always a trick. While they can still be fooled with smooth words or a quick wit, they hold mighty grudges if they learn of the trick. Retaliation is a must for dragonwrought and they will find some way to pay the offending creature back for their humiliation, even if the way they choose to do this is merely something small and petty.

Dragonwrought always try to ensure they are not cornered. They always keep an eye out for a safe escape path or nearby allies if they are an individual lucky enough to have found some. A dragonwrought without either of these resorts to aggression, they have no belief that begging or cowering will serve them well as it never did when in their tribes. Their only chance for survival being fighting their way out or stunning the attacker long enough to get away safely.

 

Urds: Brothers in Wings

Urds often share a similar fate to dragonwrought if they choose to live within the tribe. Few tribes are aware there is even a difference between the two and treat them both equally as poorly as the other. When dragonwrought and urds are present in the same tribe they often form close bonds with one another and strike out on their own together. Small groups can often end up forming a tribe all their own, consisting of only winged kobolds. These tribes are very accepting and have been known to even take care of non-winged kobolds.

Dragonwrought Names

The scrutiny for dragonwrought extends even to the simple act of naming the offspring. Kobold’s will often use negative words to name urds and dragonwrought alike, or simply refer to them all as “austrat” the draconic word meaning to fly. Many dragonwrought that leave the tribe will find new names for themselves, often choosing words they like the sounds, naming themselves for their scale colour or based on traits and values  they feel are important.

 

Dragonwrought Names

D20	NAME	D20	NAME
1	Austrat	11	Nurthul
2	Aussir	12	Ominak
3	Aurix	13	Orn
4	Achuak	14	Ossalur
5	Dartak	15	Osvith
6	Henich	16	Pothoc
7	Irthir	17	Rach
8	Karshoj	18	Thrae
9	Korth	19	Uljar
10	Nurh	20	Vutha

Dragonwrought Kobold (2025) Traits

Your kobold character has the following racial traits.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Age

Dragonwrought kobolds reach adulthood at age 6 and live much longer than normal kobolds. Those with chromatic ancestry can live up to 600 years, while those with metallic ancestors could live up to1200 years.

Alignment

Dragonwrought kobolds are often ostracised from their groups due to the jealousy of others for their gifts. Due to this, their alignment can be quite varied and will depend entirely on the individual.

Size

Dragonwrought Kobolds are between 2 and 3 feet tall and weigh between 25 and 35 pounds. Your size is Small.

As a dragonwrought grows in power they often become more physically draconic, the level of which seems to be tied to the individual, this can also translate to physical size, starting off as the smallest of kobolds, some can even grow to large size.

Additional options become available when you reach lvl 3, 5, 7, 9, 13 and 17 at any point once reaching these milestones you may choose to increase your size with one of the new options available, but can never decrease it thereafter.

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 can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

True Dragons

Your creature type is Dragon, rather than humanoid.

Dormant Power

 At 1st level, you choose your dragon type. Though the power is dormant at first the damage type associated with each dragon is used by features you gain later.

Draconic Ancestry

Dragon	Damage Type
Black	Acid
Blue	Lightning
Brass	Fire
Bronze	Lightning
Copper	Acid
Gold	Fire
Green	Poison
Red	Fire
Silver	Cold
White	Cold

Whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with dragons, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.

Dragonwrought Wings

At 5th level, your wings have grown enough to grant you the power of flight and you can fly up to 30 feet, granted you are not wearing medium or heavy armour.

At 10th level, your wings reach their full size and your flying speed increases to 60 feet with light or no armour and 40 feet with medium armour.

Breath Weaponry

At 3rd level when you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of destructive energy in either a 15-foot Cone or a 30-foot Line that is 5 feet wide (choose the shape each time). Your draconic ancestry determines damage type of the exhalation. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 plus your Constitution modifier and Proficiency Bonus). On a failed save, a creature takes takes 2d6 damage of the type determined by your Draconic Ancestry trait. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage. This damage increases when you reach character levels 6 (4d6), 13 (5d8), 17 (6d10), and 20 (7d12).

At 9th level, metallic dragonwrought develop a secondary breath weapon associated with their scale colour. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. 

You can use this Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Dragon Scales

At 7th level your scales start to harden and tint to the colour of your dragon type, granting you resistance to the damage type associated with your dormant power.