To touch upon what someone said earlier - why couldn't the kobolds be chameleonlike and change their colors depending on circumstance or emotional state? Sorta like living mood rings. Or maybe yellow is just a juvenile or imago stage before they mature.
Tlektlop was born of a litter of one single egg: a Krupkrup.
This happens at most once per few kobold generations and the brood-mother who produces that litter is usually killed immediately afterwards for being such a poor contributor. It is a ceremonial duty to fertilize such a single egg and the clan knows exactly what to expect. This typically involves a dozen of the highest ranking males of the tribe (but not necessarily) to ensure that no paternity can ever be invoked or inferred. The hatchling Krupkrup is considered both runt and leader (for is has no peers to be compared against), and such an un-twined kobold is always born with a different complexion (gray, yellow, purple or turquoise) and is considered a free agent among their own race as he/she does not have to respond to any clan affiliation and cannot reproduce any further. There are extremely rare occurences where such a fertilized egg results in a normal coloration. When this happens, the hatchling is de facto considered a demi-god, allowed to grow in luxury free of duty and then sacrificed "for good luck" at the first major problem the tribe has to face. There are rumors of such eggs producing "spotted" or "stripped" kobolds who express more than one scale coloration. Such rumors are unsubstantiated and would probably cause a lot of excitement should it ever occur.
Technically, any egg could produce a Krupkrup if more than one male was ever to fertilize it. But the kobolds have very deep-rooted ancestral taboos against doing so, except in that very special ceremonial case. Those kobolds asked to participate in the ceremony must often atone later for it and usually carry a certain shame related to the act, for which they compensate by making the Krupkrup's life miserable.
While fairly rare, Krupkrups are not unheard of and they often find themselves in positions where they must arrange for commerce between competing tribes or ambassador to the other races the kobolds deign to negotiate with. They are never forced in expendable roles such as digger, trap-tester or PC/monster-fodder, nor are they ever accepted as leaders such as shaman, foreman or chief. All kobolds consider it extremely bad luck to be the immediate cause of death of a Krupkrup (or the destruction of an egg bearing such a kobold). This gives Krupkrups a chance to grow up in an environment that is otherwise often hostile to them.
Many Krupkrups choose a life of seclusion when they become strong enough to ensure their own survival and then let kobold tribes come to them for advise and help, instead of living within a kobold community where they are mistrusted and abused.
Tlektop finds himself in a position where he is both useful to the clan but mistrusted because of his difference and lack of allegiance. Therefore, he must craft his alliances carefully and always remind the leaders of his accomplishments and uses. This makes him look as a brown-noser to the rest of the tribe and can incur the wrath of more aggressive kobolds. Tlektop dreams of the day when he will be accomplished enough as a druid to leave his birth-tribe to become a free agent. He looks up to "Uncle Shweex", a gray Krupkrup sorcerer that infrequently visits the tribe for trading reasons.
In game terms, a Krupkrup should be sterile and have a few perks such as no light sensitivity, higher average mental scores, and a facility for languages. One would expect such a kobold to get a few character class levels if they survive their childhood. If kobolds get perks per color, a Krupkrup should get the perks of the two related colors.
As posted by RavinRay (we had similar ideas, but he posted first)
Yellow = Red+Green
Purple = Red+Blue
Turquoise = Green+Blue
Gray = White+Black
White & Black never combine with the other colors ... White is fully recessive, Black is fully dominant, unless combined together to create a Gray.
Grays should be "extra" special ... this idea could be expended if the concept is adopted.
B.
He used to be a white kobold but the hobgoblins dipped him in honey glaze so he'd taste better. If he can do 3 good deeds before midnight (no mean feat for a kobold), he'll revert to his original colour.
I say if you're going to associate him with a dragon color...make it the yellow dragon, obviously. And, given that yellow dragons use a salt-based breath weapon and have a thing for aquatic/coastal environments and sandy beaches, make sure this guy is the "salt" that flavors the lives of the kobold tribe. In other words, I fully support him being the fun-loving bard of the group.
I also like the earlier idea of him being another "shiny" "good-good" for the queen to have an interest in...both for his story-telling and flattery, as well as his actual coloring (which may be seen as handsome in kobold society?) and charisma. Maybe he has a secret affair going with her...but keep him honest and also spin him as a bit of a jester for the king, himself. His skills at hiding the affair would also make him a decent spy and more wide-ranging traveler for the tribe. And since he'd be a bit more intelligent, maybe he'd make a good foil for the shaman and slave-driver as well. The rest of the tribe might always look to him for inspiration, but the yellow kobold would make a poor leader, since he's more fun-loving than serious-minded.
All in all, I think that would fill in the last remaining niche for the personalities described so far for the other color-coded kobolds...and they all rock!
But that's just my two-cents,
--Neil
I say if you're going to associate him with a dragon color...make it the yellow dragon, obviously. And, given that yellow dragons use a salt-based breath weapon and have a thing for aquatic/coastal environments and sandy beaches, make sure this guy is the "salt" that flavors the lives of the kobold tribe. In other words, I fully support him being the fun-loving bard of the group.
I also like the earlier idea of him being another "shiny" "good-good" for the queen to have an interest in...both for his story-telling and flattery, as well as his actual coloring (which may be seen as handsome in kobold society?) and charisma. Maybe he has a secret affair going with her...but keep him honest and also spin him as a bit of a jester for the king, himself. His skills at hiding the affair would also make him a decent spy and more wide-ranging traveler for the tribe. And since he'd be a bit more intelligent, maybe he'd make a good foil for the shaman and slave-driver as well. The rest of the tribe might always look to him for inspiration, but the yellow kobold would make a poor leader, since he's more fun-loving than serious-minded.
All in all, I think that would fill in the last remaining niche for the personalities described so far for the other color-coded kobolds...and they all rock!
But that's just my two-cents,
--Neil
can't.... yellow dragons are not OGL, and therefore can't be used. *sigh* ... I know, I like yellow dragons too (and orange ones, gotta love the orange ones...
- Ashavan
can't.... yellow dragons are not OGL, and therefore can't be used. *sigh* ... I know, I like yellow dragons too (and orange ones, gotta love the orange ones...
- Ashavan
And purple, I love purple dragons! (And not just because I run a FR campaign set in Cormyr.)
can't.... yellow dragons are not OGL, and therefore can't be used. *sigh* ... I know, I like yellow dragons too (and orange ones, gotta love the orange ones...
- Ashavan
No, no, no. I understand that. I'm just saying play off of the yellow dragon's background. Don't actually reference it. Just go with the assumption that much like the yellow dragon was rare...so too is this yellow kobold. And that would also include his "profession" as the tribe's bard/jester/spy/queen's-secret-lover/etc.
That's all,
--Neil
P.S. Paizo may have lost the original yellow, orange, and purple dragons...but I believe Mike has a few new ones in store for Varisia. So all is not lost...er, um, well...once the dragons make their appearance, perhaps all is lost, but that's what our heroes are for, right? ;-)
Dragons are not the only near-immortals who are known to cavort outside the species. Most assume half-elves are from an elf-human mating. Certainly elves would never admit to liaisons with any of the baser races (yes I am sure there is a pun in there about less base than human). Is it really so hard to believe that someone who has lived for centuries may not have grown bored with the status quo? Or worse accepted that wine-induced dare? Even though the sun-elves may deny it, it has been known to happen.
Whether this has led to the oddly colored kobolds is anyone's guess. Whether these kobold's predilection for wizardry* is a coincidence or not is speculation. Whether their long life and preferences for long bows can be attributed to this has yet to be disproved. These 'yellow-bolds are a lot more common than mere chance can account for. So can the elves dalliances be responsible?
Only the ancestors of these kobolds knows for sure.
Only they and the other races who measure time in eons know. The dragons, yes the dragons know.
*when you only have d4 hp, your spell-books quickly become the property of the trapmaker.
I like the idea of kobolds being various colors most associated with dragons. Infact I recently created a mini-adventure where all the kobolds where Dragon-Wrought kobolds and black in color except for the leaders who were a different color. soo...
Yellow Kobolds represent peasant class kobolds and draconic colored kobolds represent kobolds in positions of authority. Being born into a color makes you important. However its possible for Kobolds to spontainiously or ritually trancend into a rank of power. Spontainious color changes could be gifts granted from kobold gods and what is given can be taken away. A kobold could fall from grace and loose its noble color and become yellow. Ritually can fallow the same sceme and a color can be given to promote within a tribe a kobold. Likewise a ritual could demote someone unworthy. A specific color has no more authority than another other than noble colors over the peasent colors.
You could take this father and say that only the 5 colors of Tiamat are noble colors but Kobolds and that Kobolds can be encountered in numerous various colorings, Yellow, Purple, Orange, Brown etc.. If desired metallics and gem colorings could exist but could be insane or solitary and are Killed off by the tribe often before they can grow into something dangerous.
Of course no matter what you never mess with another Kobolds color or try to fake your color. they dont kill you for that, they torture you untill you go insane then leave you cripple for the rest of your short life.
Well, I'm a fan of the "Why should the chromatic dragons be limited to Red, Blue, Green, Black, and White?" school of thought.
For an alternate idea of where the yellow/gold coloring came from, here's something I adapted from the background of my Ultimate Magus kobold character from my last campaign (who was a kobold with blue coloring before the "Crown of the Kobold King" was announced. His name was "Tyranarex Bluescale" who had something of a complex about being small and weak):
Yek-hrip was a kobold obsessed with magic and power, but as a sorcerer, he simply didn't have access to the shear number of spells a wizard would have. So he decided to become a wizard. Searching long and hard, he finally found a school of wizardry that would accept anyone who applied, regardless of species. Everything was going fine until one day, when they were experimenting with potions, Yek-hrip accidentally mixed a yellow dye with an experimental "potion of permanency," the resulting smoke cloud permanently changed the pigment in his scales to yellow.
After returning to the tribe, Yek-hrip explained his new coloring the way anyone would explain a new look resulting from a self-inflicted accident, he lied through his teeth. He said that in his search for more power, he had come across a red dragon who, as a result of a botched reincarnation, had returned to life in the body of a gold dragon. This dragon infused Yek-hrip with his power, and in the process changed Yek-hrip's scales yellow/gold in color. The others in the tribe believed him, and since then, he has used his "chosen by the dragon" status to get the materials and victims...err, test subjects, for his mystical experiments.
The golden kobold is obviously the buddha.
He's an abomination. Take him out back and put him down with a shovel or something. For the good of the species.
-James Keegan, Charles Darwin of the Kobolds
I find it unsatisfying to have a yellow kobold represent the yellow chromatic dragon type without the full inclusion of the other generally missing chromatics. I like our suggestions that offered the yellow kobold as a unique anomaly.
I went golfing with the Dolly Lama.
I lost a golf ball somewhere on Dolly Parton. I refused to take the penalty and just kept looking for it. Hours... DAYS passed...
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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The yellow kobold is amphibian. He's like one of those poisonous, South American frogs. The other kobolds hate and fear him, for he reveals that kobolds are frog/toad offshoots, and not related to dragons as they like to believe (and tell others).
The yellow toad gene is a highly recessive one, that only appears once every century or so. The young are usually killed on sight, but this one has a particularly virulent poison that has killed any who have tried. (Maybe he also exhibits sorcerous powers and is now vying with the tribe's shaman for spiritual control).
Hell I don't know. Just don't lick him.
Hell I don't know. Just don't lick him.
Aw, you're no fun. Psychedelic kobolds are all the rage.
How many licks does it take to get to the center of your mind?
Is it just me or am I rooting around on my hands and knees in Willie Nelson's beard? Bad trip.
The golden kobold is a "Thrall of Paizo"!