Homebrew Awoken Kobolds Species Details

Introduction

“They were meant to scurry, not to wonder. Something else had other plans.”

Most kobolds live brief, fearful lives in the shadows of stronger creatures, surviving through numbers, traps, and blind devotion to dragons they will never truly know. But once—rarely and catastrophically—a kobold stumbled into something far beyond its understanding.

An impossible whisper.
A broken idol buried too deep.
A gaze that should not exist.

When this kobold survived direct exposure to a vast and alien intelligence—possibly a Great Old One, an imprisoned god-fragment, or a relic of pre-mortal reality—the result was not madness alone. The kobold changed. Its mind expanded, fractured, and reformed into something sharper. Its body twisted subtly to accommodate new perceptions. Its instincts were no longer limited to fear and obedience.

The descendents of this transformed being are known by many names—Awoken Kobolds, Eldritch Tinker-Kin, Deepthought Scales—but they are united by one truth: they are no longer truly kobolds.

They are thinkers, inventors, schemers, and prophets of half-understood truths, standing uneasily between cosmic insight and practical ingenuity.

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Physical Description

Awoken kobolds remain small and reptilian, but their bodies show clear divergence from their kin.

• Size: Small, standing 2½ to 3½ feet tall

• Build: Slender but wiry, with overdeveloped hands and long, dexterous fingers

• Scales: Often patterned with unusual coloration—iridescent, marbled, or faintly luminescent

• Eyes: Oversized for their heads, sometimes asymmetrical, glowing, or oddly faceted

• Cranial Features: Slightly enlarged skulls, pronounced brows, or faintly ridged temples

Many wear strange devices, lenses, or self-made tools, not out of necessity but compulsion.

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Psychology and Mental Traits

Where normal kobolds are reactive and fearful, Awoken Kobolds are curious to the point of recklessness.

Common mental traits include:

• Obsessive fascination with patterns, mechanisms, and cause-and-effect

• A tendency to mutter, sketch, or construct while thinking

• Difficulty distinguishing trivial problems from world-ending ones

• A tendency to believe in obscure conspiracies

• Unsettling moments of insight followed by complete misunderstanding

They think in loops, leaps, and lateral connections, often reaching brilliant conclusions through baffling logic.

Unlike gnomes, their humor is usually accidental. Unlike humans, their ambition is rarely personal. Many believe they are fulfilling a purpose they cannot quite remember.

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Culture and Society

Awoken kobolds rarely form large civilizations. When they gather, it is usually in:

• Hidden enclaves

• Mobile workshops

• Abandoned ruins repurposed as laboratories

Their communities resemble gnome tinkerer dens crossed with doomsday cults, filled with half-finished inventions, cryptic diagrams, and warning signs written in three languages—two of which no longer exist.

Social Values

• Insight over strength

• Ingenuity over tradition

• Questions over answers

Leadership tends to be fluid, based on whoever is currently “closest to understanding something important.”

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Religion and the Eldritch

Awoken kobolds do not worship the entities that changed them—at least, not in the traditional sense.

Their beliefs often include:

• The universe is incomplete or incorrectly shaped

• Reality is a mechanism that can be repaired or improved

• The Great Old Ones are not seen as gods, but as flaws, keys, or observers

Some attempt to avoid further contact with such beings. Others actively seek it, convinced the next revelation will finally make things clear.

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Relations with Other Races

• Kobolds: Viewed with disgust, resentment, or looked down on with a sense of superiority.

• Gnomes: Mutual fascination; gnomes see brilliance, awoken kobolds see potential rivals

• Dwarves: Distrust their methods, grudging respect for craftsmanship

• Elves: Uncomfortable around them, sensing something “wrong”

• Humans: Treated as unpredictable curiosities

Dragons, notably, react with extreme hostility or deep unease—some recognizing what these kobolds have become.

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Adventurers

Awoken kobolds become adventurers for many reasons:

• Seeking answers about their transformation

• Testing strange theories in the real world

• Running from something that noticed them again

• Trying to prevent a catastrophe only they vaguely understand

They make excellent:

• Artificers

• Warlocks (especially Great Old One)

• Wizards (Divination, Illusion, or Chronurgy)

• Rogues with a focus on traps and devices

Awoken Kobolds Traits

Awoken Kobolds have the following racial traits:

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.

Sunlight Sensitivity

All your Wisdom (Perception) checks are made at disadvantage if you, the area, or your target are in direct sunlight.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, your Intelligence score is increased by 1, and your Charisma score is increased by 1.

Gnomish Cunning

You have Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Pack Tactics

You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

Draconic Cry

As a bonus action, you let out a cry 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.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Burrower

You have a natural dig speed of 10 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Gnomish, and Draconic.

Size

Slightly larger than normal Kobolds, Ascended Kobolds are between 2 and 4 feet tall and weigh between 25 and 50 pounds. Your size is Small.

Age

Ascended Kobolds, like normal Kobolds, reach adulthood at age 6 and can live up to 120 years but rarely do so.