Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!
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Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!
Huggy Bear, Kobold pimp. He needs to be wearin' some sweet purple velveteen threads raided from a thraveling haberdasher's wagon and sportin' a 1/8th staff, though.
Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!
Perhaps he is the kobold version of an albino.
Merlokrep's second born prince, Dindregguk, came into this savage world unique. A yellow kobold. Many believe his birth to be a sign of great changes to come; a fleshly message sent by the scaly gods themselves. Some seem sure that the greatest goldmine ever to be discovered on Varisia will be occur during his lifetime, and that he shall inadvertantly lead the way to it. However, Jekkajak, the Truescale shaman, interprets Dindregguk's sunshine hues to mean that with the prince's death will come a great plague upon the Truescales, and insists that the yellow one's life must be protected at any and all cost. The prince is feared as much for the potential of the latter prophecy as for his psychopathically depraved antics, which as of yet seem to know no bounds. It is said that he ate his own nephew to try and impress a female... a female he then ate as well soon after. Convinced that he is a gifted singer, the only sure-fire way to survive in this murderous brat's presence is to regularly compliment the mastery of his ear-splitting melody shrieks.
Dindregguk represents the future of the Truescale Kobolds, be it feast or famine. He is prophecy incarnate. He is a symbol of change to an entire race. He is as dumb as a lava rock.
He can often be heard in the caverns below, tooting maniacally into an ocarina fashioned from his grandmother's skull.
Always a "special" child, who the shamman believed was destined for divine greatness, yellow connives to usurp the power of the tribe shamman, and cackles with glee when he thinks about the magical power, knowledge, and influence that will come. He's secretly allied with an even greater threat from the forest (or mountains, wherever, etc), who intends to use him (which yellow suspects) because he's "just a kobold" - A throwaway. Meanwhile, yellow envisions shamman of the tribe as only his first stepping stone to power, and already plots ways to usurp the strength of his more powerful ally.
In the short term, he plans to align the tribe with the malign entity of the forest. They will capture slaves, conduct raids and secret battles, and grow in importance, with yellow as their spiritual guide, and eventual leader. Perhaps kobold king will have a tragic "accident", during combat because "he was not pious". A figurehead, or yellow himself, will take his place.
What d'ye do with a yellow kobold?
What d'ye do with a yellow kobold?
What d'ye do with a yellow kobold?
Earlye in the dungeon?
Tell 'im that he's got to put 'is pants on
Tell 'im that he's got to put 'is pants on
Tell 'im that he's got to put 'is pants on
Earlye in the dungeon!
Bree-yark! A lizardey dog man
Bree-yark! A cut-rate goblin
Bree-yark! Ya gotta love them
Earlye in the dungeon!
(Next verse...)
-The Gneech
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Watchfob is a psychotic (even for a kobold) murderer and cannibal. He killed the missing green kobold, Learcheader, and absorbed her amazing powers (which, being a kobold, was none).
Watchfob's day job is keeping time. Since he can't count and doesn't own a sundial he endures ridicule--even when awake. He eats his worse enemies, however, so who has the last laugh?
Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!
Call it gold, and it's obvious: he's the black sheep of the tribe -- a kobold paladin.
Poor bastard.
Option one:
The 'yellow' kobold is really a 'golden' kobold and respresents the fact that, despite being descended from Tiamat/Evil Dragons/Whatever, Kobolds are still distant cousins of the Good dragons. While silver kobolds frequently pass for white, and copper for red, golden, brazen, and bronze kobolds are shunned as rejects and throwbacks. Their births are regarded as ill omens.
Option two: While off-color kobolds are exceedingly rare, they do not represent any different ancestry: merely a mutation. They are hailed as omens, good or bad. They become sorcerors much more often than even other kobolds: Draconic blood or no, there is a certain magic in uniqueness, too. If the off-colored Kobold grows strong, they are treated as a favored of their gods, or of fate.
It is well recognized that kobolds are tied to dragons. What few realize is that proximity to a chromatic dragon directly affects the coloration of a newborn koboldling. Thus, the most common kobolds are white, red, blue, green, black, and green. However, Vlarrga had the misfortune of being born near the proximity of a rare Orangey-Mustard Dragon.
Now colored far different from his kobold brethren , Vlarrga is an outcast, the most pitiful of the kobolds. Merlokep broods for days attempting to find the worst concievable tasks for the odd colored kobolds. He believes that, if he embarasses the yellow kobold before the gods by granting him such tasks as town poop remover, the gods will learn better than to send any yellow kobolds to his domain.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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I vote for a new yellow dragon type. Given all the other re-imagining perhaps the basic dragons would also need some new thoughts which might leave room for the yellow Dragon by environment.
Yellow - Desert
Green - Forest
Blue - Sea
Black - Swamp
Red - Mountain / volcanic
Adding the extra chromatic dragon gives a reason for the yellow Kobold.
I vote for a new yellow dragon type. Given all the other re-imagining perhaps the basic dragons would also need some new thoughts which might leave room for the yellow Dragon by environment.
Yellow - Desert
Green - Forest
Blue - Sea
Black - Swamp
Red - Mountain / volcanicAdding the extra chromatic dragon gives a reason for the yellow Kobold.
Locke, yellows have been written up as desert/beach dwelling wyrms since 2 ed.
Locke, yellows have been written up as desert/beach dwelling wyrms since 2 ed.You are correct I tend to keep to the prime 5 and tend to forget the others. Thanks for the reminder.
My pleasure. :)
the gold kobolk is actually named Keestag the jester. born as a mutant, he quickly became the outcast and was chased out of the tribe, along with the kobold who birthed him. so it was that these two lived in the wilderness, until Keestag reached maturity. during their life together, his mother would sing him to sleep with lullabys and words of comfort. he remembered all those songs, and when he was old enough he left her wilderness home to get revenge on those who had sent him away.
when he came back, it was as if a sign was given to the tribe. he was the "shiny prophet", the story teller, the bard who sings to the tribe about the importance of gold, of yellow shiny-shinys. the king keeps him around to tell stories, sing songs, and regale the tribe with stories of the wilderness, and the lands of humans. he is now the dragon prophet, the one who would lead them to the shiny gold. so far he hasn't been forthcoming (because he doesn't know where it is, and he's afraid if tells anyone the tribe and the king will kill him. it is only a matter of time before he is discovered, but with help from his illusions, he's always pointing the way to the gold. only there is little to be found and it turns to iron when the spells wear off. this has made some of the kobolds suspicious, but they are too daft to realize he is only hiding the ore with illusions.
one of these days, though....
He's Enik, the good, smart sleestak!
Huggy Bear, Kobold pimp. He needs to be wearin' some sweet purple velveteen threads raided from a thraveling haberdasher's wagon and sportin' a 1/8th staff, though.
Ya daaaaaamn right!
*starts humming the Shaft theme song*
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Yakyak is the kings favorite jester/bard. After a few weeks on the job the king ordered Yakyak painted yellow to make him more "funny lookin" Now every week Yakyak is repainted to retain that "lustrous shine". Despite his horrible lot in life, Yakyak actually has become "the power behind the throne". With his luring ballads, and enticingly whispered comments, Yakyak often steers the king in whatever direction he would like.
He is actually a polymorphed halfling. That is why he is so cheerful!
Here's a possibility. The kobolds have an obsession with good-good, right? What if he's not naturally golden, but rather that the purpose of mining gold is to melt it and mix it into a laquer--like gold leaf--that the kobolds carefully apply to their scales.
I'm not sure where this might go. It would depend largely on why the kobolds have such a love of good-good. Maybe it's a pure vanity thing, maybe it has some religious significance, maybe it's thought that a kobold so treated will live forever, or be really lucky, or get stuffed into a bag of holding by an adventurer who thinks it's treasure.
Just a thought.
Vreggma says yellow kobold looks like shiny good-good.
Vreggma says she wants to nag-nag the shiny good-good kobold. *wink-wink*
Extra! Extra! One practial joke causes an eternal fieud between the Kobolds and the Gnomes! Details in todays paper! Extra! Extra!
Sorry, but not nearly as cool as the goblins.... I really hate to be the naysayer. I really do. I love whimsy and peril all rolled into one, I even like Nick, but King Kol of the Broken Lands is spinning on his throne right now and planning an invasion of the Paizo compound as soon as he finds all of his Orc Wars chits. Why did we associate kobolds with dragons again -except perhaps to humiliate the latter? Being a bit draconic myself I'm thinking these guys wouldn't exist long in world with dragons looking as they do -pint-sized parodies. I'm all for dragon races - like draconians or dragonkin for instance, I'm even for differing shades of kobolds, but really this looks a bit too individually monotone for my tastes especially all in one tribe. And don't give me the argument that 'it's fantasy we can do what we want' because every Warhammer enthusiast I know of knows you keep your pallet to a few complimentary colors with some variation of shade.
Really, abiels would have been better. ;)
I'll stick by the new breed goblins (who are infact actually hairless kobolds anyway from the Kobolds Ate My Baby RPG) and while I may pick this up, kobolds are not going to be the selling point for me. I'm hoping the Truescales are a unique tribe and not the status quo.
Really, it had to be said. I'm just sorry it was me.
-GGG
PS As for the gold one, you are obviously in the middle of an artistic Mystara homage, as golds where the only common "good" dragons to be found there. I say stuff him and put him on the mantle like Daffy Duck in that Warner Brother's cartoon where Porky Pig is doing his taxes.
Yeah, to be fair, I wasn't super impressed with the kobold portrayal either. They seem too slapstick, like they're trying to be funny rather than just being interesting and quirky. I miss the old rat-dog kobolds of yore.
On the other hand, I really like the idea of kobolds having the same color schemes as dragons. I think embracing fully the idea of draconic parentage could lead to some really cool things. I wish the face design had a little more of the parent dragons to it though, with the blues having the skull faces and backswept ears and the reds having that sort of regal smirk to them. I wouldn't mind even if there was a little bit of personality bleedthrough--like viscious parody.
You familiar with L5R? Bakemono in L5R are like these degenerate little asian goblins, but they desparately want to be samurai--so they go to embarrassing extremes to mimic humans and do everything they see humans do. They don't understand any of it, of course, but they try their little black hearts out. They trade mud for sticks. They have their own geisha. They even stand up tall before a battle and try to come up with a list of mighty deeds and ancestors. You get where this is going...
I'd love to see the kobolds be the social parody of their dragon progenitors. Play with the earnest desire to be like them and then drive it to comic excess. I think that's the way to play these guys. I think I'll pass on the blue skinned seductress and the middle management whipping boy. The good-good thing might work for a white kobold, but really feels a bit too Order of the Stick for my tastes.
I think there's some good ideas in there, but I think it needs more refinement and reinvisioning to make it really good.
Dienerack the clan Bard, is a lone kobold of his color within the tribe. His ancestory in question he is the kobold most likely to join with the pcs as he wants to search out his true mother and father.
The true father turns out to be a gold halfdragon, who bestowed (and this can be added later to his lil bum) the draconic template...
badedadum! tada all done now
Elvnsword
Sorry, but not nearly as cool as the goblins.... I really hate to be the naysayer. I really do. I love whimsy and peril all rolled into one, I even like Nick, but King Kol of the Broken Lands is spinning on his throne right now and planning an invasion of the Paizo compound as soon as he finds all of his Orc Wars chits. Why did we associate kobolds with dragons again -except perhaps to humiliate the latter? Being a bit draconic myself I'm thinking these guys wouldn't exist long in world with dragons looking as they do -pint-sized parodies. I'm all for dragon races - like draconians or dragonkin for instance, I'm even for differing shades of kobolds, but really this looks a bit too individually monotone for my tastes especially all in one tribe. And don't give me the argument that 'it's fantasy we can do what we want' because every Warhammer enthusiast I know of knows you keep your pallet to a few complimentary colors with some variation of shade.
Really, abiels would have been better. ;)
I'll stick by the new breed goblins (who are infact actually hairless kobolds anyway from the Kobolds Ate My Baby RPG) and while I may pick this up, kobolds are not going to be the selling point for me. I'm hoping the Truescales are a unique tribe and not the status quo.
Really, it had to be said. I'm just sorry it was me.
-GGG
Ouch. There's a lot more to em than what you see in the blog my man, that's like a 5% tease of all the juicy koboldyness backing these guys up. I strove to make them as sinister as they are ridiculous...you'll see what I mean in a few months when it comes out. That's just a very very quick treatment of these guys...I promise, I won't let you down GGG, You'll like "Crown" in all its glory when you get to read the full experience of Jekkajak and Merlokrep. I hope you give it a chance. Greer will vouch, he's read the whole thing. And yes, the Truescales are the Truescales, with their own quirks, not "Kobolds" with a captial "K."
And...you can't expect anyone to compete with J.J. when it comes to monsters...so yeah, his goblins are the snizzle! :-)
Yellow, or for that matter, purple or orange kobolds, are part of Tiamat's oldest shame: a period in time where she could not even excersize control over herself. Long ago, in ancient memory, there was a time where Tiamat had not five but eight heads, perhaps more.
It did not take long, divinely speaking, for her mind to shear under the strain, and in desperate search for a way to alleviate the pain of a mind split asunder, she removed the offending object, eating several of her own heads. Whether she chose to eat the heads she did for a reason, or merely in the chaos of the moment, is unknown. Certainly the rest of the multiverse found great omens in the sundering of the heads, as the draconic races they represented fell into great decline, perhaps even extinction in some worlds.
But the blood of the dragon queen remembers, and in that blood, in her smallest children, the voices of her sundered heads cry out. Do they cry for vengeance? Or for a chance to be one again? Time will tell...
Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!
It's quite obvious to me that they are _Mustard_ flavored Kobolds.
Read today's blog post and let us know your thoughts on how to handle the mysterious yellow kobold!It's quite obvious to me that they are _Mustard_ flavored Kobolds.
MMMmmmmmmm...Mustard.
::Promptly eats yellow kobold::
Ouch.
It was the 'abiels' crack wasn't it?
;)
GGG
First thing popped into my head was a sand dragon. A flightless dragon that makes it's home in the arid deserts. Able to quickly bury itself in the sand (much as a crocodile would in water) it springs up suddenly to surprise it's meals. It's breath weapon is a blast of sand.
Sand Dragon (literally)
Coolest sand-crafted thing I have seen. Evar!
How about a prophecy from old Jekkajak that 'the amber scale that is both True and not shall prevent the destruction of the Truescale when amongst the tribe come 4 of the soft skins seeking the crown.'
Then have him be a really smart kobold who is gathering followers for a rebellion. Unlike Merlokrep he's not insane and has a plan and sees the adventures as a means to his end.
Contributor
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Like many others, my initial thought was Gold. Hey, if you're tying the kobolds to the dragons by colour type, why not metallic ones as well.
Then I thought about it some more and looked at the picture some more, and thought again.
Brass!
His name is Klinktak. He's a trickster. He's chaotic good. The other kobolds admire and fear his cleverness. He is a master tactician and trap designer, and has built a bewildering array of alliances among the clan. He is diplomatic and charming, and scrupulously careful not to steal anyone's thunder. Everyone depends on him, but no one sees him as a rival.
And slowly, he's subtly working to reform the clan.
He's not above using questionable means to achieve his goal. He has encouraged Vreggma's greed to undermine Merlokrep and Lekmek's respect among the tribe. The more cruel and relentless they become, the more they become the perfect bad example. Klinktak has befriended most of the digger-slaves. He remembers their names, and encourages their hatred of Lekmek and Merlokrep. And together they've cached a huge stockpile of iron...
But his plan is not simply about violent revolution. It's about being respected by the masses, so that they will want to emulate him, and having the masses hate and fear leaders like Merlokrep and Lekmek.
Craig Shackleton,
The Rambling Scribe
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Dude, you guys should warn us of links like the "Sam, the world's ugliest dog" link. I had to throw away the rest of my friggin' hoagie! Bastards. You have been warned
FH
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Dude, you guys should warn us of links like the "Sam, the world's ugliest dog" link. I had to throw away the rest of my friggin' hoagie! Bastards. You have been warned
FH
The warning was inadequate.
Ick.
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Contributor
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Dude, you guys should warn us of links like the "Sam, the world's ugliest dog" link. I had to throw away the rest of my friggin' hoagie! Bastards. You have been warned
FH
Yeah, me too, but I had already eaten mine.
In a less creative vein, you could simply Photoshop the hue and, voila, another lovely kobold portrait in the color of your choice appears. Otherwise, I am satisfied with the options already expressed. Cheers!
Jaggurog, Royal Treasurer
Merlokrep's mad keeper of all things shiny, Jaggurog, works a small host of kobold bean counters stowing away and amassing a huge horde of shiny items for thier master. Jaggurogs' obsession with keeping his masters wealth continuously growing, and accurately accounted for is matched only by his eccentric tendencies. He often times counts his masters riches personally, talking to himself and laughing hysterically as he goes about recording the contents of his masters horde. It also manifests in his speech when he randomly intermixes "klink-klink" while talking. He constantly belittles the foreman of the mines because of the lack of gold, which is his favorite mineral. Rumor has it that Jaggurog sneaks off to swim in Merlokrep's treasure horde and that his scales have been dyed by few pounds gold dust that the kobold king has in his treasury, but no one can find evidence towards this.
He's the reason you never feed a kobold after midnight.
Oh, and don't get him wet. :)
Where is the green kobold?
As for the yellow, she is Ratga, the general of Merlokrep's "army". She stays in the back shouting orders and inspiring the kobold forces forward (she is a bard).
Well, I think the yellow kobold is painted yellow. They did this to try to trick some good villagers into assuming that this kobold was a favored soul of Bahamut (yah, but how many villagers know Bahamut's color, really). They'll be using this kobold as a spy and infiltrator.
A twist of Grimcleaver's idea: This kobold is covered in paint made from gold dust in preparation for his ritualistic demise, not unlike the Gilded Man of the Eldorado legend. But the kobolds don't just sacrifice any old kin, only the rare, special ones...
So, while his unique color draws PC attention, you needn't rewrite kobold ecology to provide an interesting mystery.
The quick thinking rascal might even try to pass himself off as a "good" kobold to garner PC favor and (perhaps) gain his rescue.
Are there more like him? Could be. Does something other than death await at the bottom of that sacrificial well?
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His name is Klinktak. He's a trickster. He's chaotic good. The other kobolds admire and fear his cleverness.
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This is a great idea, it gives the tribe different factions competing and makes them less one-dimensional evil.