Hi all.
I need some RP advice.
I'm playing in a campaign right now with a character who's coming up to the enemy that's been built up for her from the start. This is one of those situation where the danger is upped about 1000% so I've been thinking of other characters I can play if my current one dies.
As the title suggests, I was thinking a Kobold Paladin of Apsu. Character concept being that he's on a holy mission to teach the other races about his people in an effort to stop people from coming into their territory and slaughtering them all the time.
My DM will let me play anything if I can justify it. So I would like to know ways in which a lawful good kobold could contribute to (and be in good standing with) kobold society and survive until adulthood.
Any tips about Kobold Society in general above what's in the monster manual, and tips on how to play a low int, low wis kobold are welcome too.
There's no rule that all kobolds are evil. A LG, LN, and NG tribe of kobolds devoted to Apsu seems perfectly reasonable to me. Within such a tribe, a paladin of Apsu would be seen as a sort of paragon of everything the tribe hopes to be.
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well, I can't recall that Paizo has done anything on kobolds, but there are always exceptions. Plus a tribe of kobolds that wish to "reform" from the norm of others of their species is perfectly justifiable. Having a paladin going about and spreading the news that not all kobolds are bad makes a lot of sense in that case.
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Kobold tribe taken over/adopted by a silver dragon perhaps? Silver dragon may have actually taken out the tribe's previous evil draconic patron.
Kobold tribe could also have sought that dragon out, pledging themselves to it for protection in a sort of Hiketiea situation.
His armor could have some of the shed scales of his current patron.
Thanks so far. I should probably specify that I want him to be from a standard LE Kobold tribe. There are precious few kobold paladins from LE tribes, I know. But even Cheliax has Paladins, so there must be some.
My DM doesn't believe that paladins should be on a crusade of killing everybody who happens to be of evil alignment, so being around the other kobolds without wanting to murder them isn't a RP problem, I just need to know why they would want him around.
My problem is, how does a lawful good character contribute to a lawful evil society? How does someone lawful good survive to adulthood in such a society without their alignment changing or them being killed?
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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Too bad Ultimate Races isn't out yet.
The following is not strictly Pathfinder, but mostly my own ideas and point of view.
Kobolds are both the weakest and most dangerous dungeon dwellers that can be commonly found in Golarion. On their own, outside of their element, and with little experience they have very low life expectancy. In a group, with plenty of experience, and on their own turf they are not to be taken lightly. It is said that they breed like rabbits, but in reality rabbits don't produce nearly as many offspring as quickly as kobolds can. Adventurers don't so much as wipe out tribes as participate in natural selection. The strong and cunning survive and live on to breed and teach hatchlings.
A Kobold lair is filled with traps, hidden passages, and a labyrinth that only the kobolds know how to navigate. Some small tribes have less elaborate lairs, but as it is tradition to add on and build traps to protect the tribe, it doesn't take very many generations before things become far too dangerous for outsiders.
Adventuring kobolds are ones that have already proven themselves at home and now wish to discover what they can do in the world. They have participated in defending their home and possibly even done some raids. They have the blessing and the encouragement of their leaders, who expect them to bring home treasure and more knowledge on how to protect the tribe. They may actually be stronger then a normal Kobold, or just specially trained to handle the dangerous outside world.
A paladin kobold of Apsu would do very well, especially as a leader. A mount would work well, and I highly recommend one. Focusing on mounted combat of course would be a must, and it would be great if your GM can work with you on a special mount.
I onestly don't know a whole lot about the god.
I see a nice hook for this. Kobold society is an ordered society, in its own way, which means they'd have their own internal laws/rules/traditions. If one kobold can be relatively honorable and decent, another can be comparatively cruel and mean. Some of them might be dangerously insane, even by kobold standards.
Surely even kobolds need judges, and those judges need someone to carry out their decisions. A paladin is ideal. Apsu's domains include Creation and earth, which are not a far stretch for a kobold to dig, and Travel, which implies his worshipers have a tendancy for wanderlust.
This might even work better with a LE tribe. Odds are good they're all for killing anything that isn't a kobold. He may not be super-bright, but he could still gain the sense that there could be a better, peaceful way to protect his home - and even if you don't want him to be that kind of big thinker, there can always be some older, wiser kobold who is.
Of course, being a PC, "peaceful" is probably going straight to the bad place. He'll get caught up doing violence to many of these other people anyway, and might even save the world doing it. But that can still all be a part of his larger goals.
edit to add:
Build-wise, I think you might do well with crossbows. Wear light armor, gun for an Agile melee back-up weapon, and rock a ranged smiter build. they do good things. Worry about Strength only as far as you need to carry your gear.
I second VillainHat's suggestions for the build. The massive hit to Strength that kobolds take are going to make it difficult to play anything that needs strength. The Vital Strike feat chain may also be useful, but I am not sure what the math looks like for Vital Strike versus Rapid Reload with a Heavy Crossbow (going for Crossbow Mastery).
I don't think Vital Strike's the way to go. You'll always want more shots if you're Smiting.
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I'm going to weapon finesse, dual wield hatchets, use acrobatics to tumble around the place, and focus on an undecided combat manoeuvre. It's completely sub-optimal, but I think it will be hilarious.
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My DM will let me play anything if I can justify it. So I would like to know ways in which a lawful good kobold could contribute to (and be in good standing with) kobold society and survive until adulthood.
A silver or gold dragon has taken over the colony is a really good idea. Either they outright raised you from an egg or has taken a lot of extra care in your upbringing. Perhaps they're trying to do with Kobolds what Mengakare is doing with humans?
You could also be the result of a paladins dilema: what do i do with the innocent eggs/hatchlings? A paladin took the high road and raised you themselves, teaching you their ways.
For a build you can't beat weapon finesse and Dervish Dance. Dual wielding is usually suboptimal, but you'll carve things to pieces when you're smiting.
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the 3.5 book races of the dragon is everything that you could ever hope for when you want to know about kobolds
I support this build.
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I'm going to weapon finesse, dual wield hatchets, use acrobatics to tumble around the place, and focus on an undecided combat manoeuvre. It's completely sub-optimal, but I think it will be hilarious.
Make sure you've got high Charisma and grab Agile weapons when you can and it's actually not bad. TWF paladins are engines of death when they Smite. Maybe go Oath of Vengeance for yet more smites for that very reason.
There's no rule that all kobolds are evil. A LG, LN, and NG tribe of kobolds devoted to Apsu seems perfectly reasonable to me. Within such a tribe, a paladin of Apsu would be seen as a sort of paragon of everything the tribe hopes to be.
I've had a similar idea myself, especially since Kobolds could probably start worshipping a metallic dragon that happens to nest near their caverns, and that dragon could teach them about Apsu and such. The kobolds do happen to pick up new beliefs rather quickly from what I've seen in modules and such so far.
Also, sorry if this is off-topic, but I'm kinda in need of help with something character-related myself right here
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so being around the other kobolds without wanting to murder them isn't a RP problem, I just need to know why they would want him around.
He's a trained fighter, at the bare minimum. Such a person would have value in providing protection to the tribe.
My problem is, how does a lawful good character contribute to a lawful evil society? How does someone lawful good survive to adulthood in such a society without their alignment changing or them being killed?
If it helps you any, a character does not have to have the same Alignment their whole life. Perhaps he was LE at one point. Maybe he played by the tribe's rules and ended up being treated unfairly anyway. Maybe the kobold paladin eventually said "phooey on Gilligan!" and sought another way of life.
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One thing a LG character can do for an LE tribe: Piplomat.
Kobolds, being a rather downtrodden lot with quite the persecution complex(somewhat justified), would probably want to put their best face forward when it comes to staying the hands of their bigger and more well equipped neighbors. This kobold might could have been chosen to be that face because of his nature, or his nature could have been partially cultivated by needing to fill that role.
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Instead of growing up lawful good and always being a paladin you were converted by a paladin of another race. Maybe your original tribe was mostly killed off and this paladin tried to help your rebuild. The rest of the tribe did not abandon their evil way so he left. You went with him and he adopted you and trained you. Your goal in life is to redeem your people.
Kobolds are actually a very social, cooperative race. As long as your character consistently provided useful aid to his tribe-mates, they would probably put up with a fair amount of "eccentricity" (hatchling supervisors would still have tried to beat that weakness out of him earlier on, though).