| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi all.
I've made up a kobold ancestry, as one of my players wanted to play one. Specifically, he wanted to play a metallic kobold. I'm wondering, is that a thing anyone's seen before? I hadn't even thought of metallic kobolds as a possibility but I liked it.
Anyways, here's the ancestry I came up with, heavily drawing from this thread from the playtest, and adjusted to suit my needs:
Each kobold has coloration resembling one of the five varieties of chromatic dragons; some rarely have coloration matching a metallic dragon. For effects that reference a damage type depending on your scale color, use the following:
Black Acid, Blue Electricity, Green Poison, Red Fire, White Cold
Brass Fire, Bronze Electricity, Copper Acid, Gold Fire, Silver Cold
Base Statistics
Hit Points 6
Size Small
Speed 25 feet
Ability Boosts Dexterity, Intelligence, Free Ability Flaw Constitution
Languages Common, Draconic
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Dwarven, Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, Orcish, Undercommon, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).
Traits Kobold, Humanoid
Darkvision: You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.
Kobold Heritages
Kobolds’ volatile dragonkin blood and short lifespan allows for a wide variety of kobolds across the Inner Sea.
Diabolic Kobold
Your tribe has eschewed any concept of draconic lineage entirely and instead placed its faith in the archdevils of Hell. Choose a divine cantrip. You can cast the cantrip at will as a divine innate spell. This spell is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up. Treat your alignment as lawful evil for any effect related to your or your deity’s alignment. Once per day, you can change this cantrip to another divine cantrip by communing with your dark powers; this is a 10-minute activity with the concentrate and evil traits.
Gliding Kobold
Some kobold tribes have vestigial wings, which allow them to slow falls. When you fall, reduce the damage you take as though you fell half the distance. If you succeed at a DC 20 Acrobatics check, you instead fall at a rate of 200 feet per round, and take no fall damage.
Metallic Kobold
Very rarely, a kobold is born with shimmering scales resembling a metallic dragon’s. Such kobolds are seen in normal kobold societies as powerful omens, though whether a good or bad omen depends on the tribe. These attractive scales help you when dealing with other cultures. You gain a +2 circumstance on checks to Make An Impression, and you Earn an Income as if the task level was 1 higher.
You also gain the daze cantrip, and can cast it at will as an innate arcane spell. A cantrip is automatically heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up.
Scaly Kobold
Your scales are especially thick, protecting you from harm just like a dragon’s scales. You gain resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1) against a damage type depending on your scales’ color. This resistance stacks with other resistances of the same type.
Kobold Ancestry Feats
At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a kobold, you select from among the following ancestry feats.
Cavern Dweller Feat 1
Kobold
Your time spent underground allows you to move through such environments by second nature. You ignore natural difficult terrain in underground areas, and treat greater difficult terrain in such areas as difficult terrain.
Energy Affinity Feat 1
Kobold
You have a natural affinity for utilizing the energy associated with your scale color. For the damage type associated with your scale color, your spells and alchemical items that deal damage of that type gain a status bonus to damage equal to half the spell’s level or one-quarter the item’s level (minimum 1). You also gain a +1 status bonus to persistent damage or affliction damage from such effects.
Groveller Feat 1
Kobold
Pragmatic and not prideful, you would rather concede in servitude than risk being killed. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy and Deception checks against creatures which are higher level than you.
Hurried Retreat ◈ Feat 1
Kobold Move
Requirements You are adjacent to an enemy
You Stride up to your Speed plus 5 feet and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against reactions triggered by this movement. You must end this movement in a space that’s not adjacent to any enemy.
Kobold Lore Feat 1
Kobold
Maintaining tribal traditions and practices is not just a duty, it is essential to kobold survival. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting and Survival. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You also become trained in Kobold Lore.
Kobold Weapon Familiarity Feat 1
Kobold
You have been trained in the traditional weapons for kobolds, which were originally whatever the kobolds had on hand at the time. You are trained in the light pick and pick. You gain an unarmed tail attack in the flail group which does 1d4 bludgeoning damage and has the agile, finesse, and trip traits. While using this attack for a Trip attempt, if you critically fail you do not fall prone.
You also gain access to all uncommon kobold weapons. For the purpose of determining your proficiency, martial kobold weapons are simple weapons and advanced kobold weapons are martial weapons.
Trapper Feat 1
Kobold Uncommon
Prerequisite Trained in Crafting
You are skilled and inventive when it comes to making traps, and can piece them together with whatever is on hand. You gain the Snare Crafting feat, and can spend your starting gold on snares (at full price). You do not need crafter’s tools or a workshop to create snares.
Cunning Planner ◈ Feat 5
Kobold Concentrate
Target one enemy within 60 feet
You analyze the enemy’s fighting, determining the best way to create an opening. Roll a Perception check against the enemy’s Deception DC or Reflex DC (whichever is higher).
Critical Success The enemy is flat-footed against your attacks until the end of your next turn.
Success The enemy is flat-footed against your next attack until the end of your next turn.
Critical Failure The enemy’s swift moves leave you struggling to keep up. You are stupefied 1 until the end of your next turn.
Kobold Weapon Cunning Feat 5
Kobold
Prerequisite Kobold Weapon Familiarity
You know how to make the most of your people’s weapons. Whenever you score a critical hit using your tail attack or a kobold weapon, you apply the weapon’s critical specialization effect.
Close Quarters Feat 9
Kobold
You are accustomed to adjusting your ranged fighting style to tight spaces. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus whenever you make a ranged Strike or spell attack roll on an enemy within 15 feet.
Press The Attack ↩ Feat 9
Kobold
Trigger An ally scores a critical hit on an enemy within 15 feet
Your ally’s strong attack emboldens you against the enemy. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls against that enemy until the end of your next turn.
Kobold Weapon Expertise Feat 13
Kobold
Prerequisite Kobold Weapon Familiarity
Your kobold affinity blends with your class training, granting you great skill with kobold
weapons. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency
in a given weapon or weapons, you also gain that proficiency in your tail attack, and the light pick, pick, and any kobold weapons in which you are trained.
Sorry the formating is a little weird in places, I'm on mobile and can't do much about it. The indented "Kobold" after feats is the traits.
I decided to give a bonus to Intelligence, despite that not matching the Bestiary entry. This is because, I felt intelligence makes sense for kobolds who are crafty and able to build complex traps, and also I think many other monstrous races would provide a Wisdom boost, so this helps to make them unique. I also chose constitution penalty over strength as there are already 2 small races with strength penalties and no races with constitution penalties, so this again makes them different.
Is it too martial oriented? I'm afraid there's little reason to be a draconic sorcerer kobold over a wizard, but don't know how I can put in things to incentivize that. How can I encourage that build path through the ancestry, as it's one very popular in kobold fluff?
I've just realized one can't "buy" Snares as such, you can only craft them on-the-spot. So I'll need to rethink the trapper feat.
I've just realized one can't "buy" Snares as such, you can only craft them on-the-spot. So I'll need to rethink the trapper feat.
Snares are as useful to a Kobold as they are to any other PF2 PC: literally nothing. Even at 20th when you can have all the super awesome skill and Ranger feats that exist dealing with snares.
So I'm not overly concerned.
Snares are as useful to a Kobold as they are to any other PF2 PC: literally nothing. Even at 20th when you can have all the super awesome skill and Ranger feats that exist dealing with snares.So I'm not overly concerned.
Then, do you have ideas for trap-related kobold feats? I suppose some Thievery bonus could work, but I'd rather have something that isn't just a straight numbers upgrade to a narrow playstyle.
Then, do you have ideas for trap-related kobold feats? I suppose some Thievery bonus could work, but I'd rather have something that isn't just a straight numbers upgrade to a narrow playstyle.
Sadly I do not. :(
I think what I'd rather have is snares that are actually usable. A bunch of ideas came up during the playtest, but I didn't really like any of them.
I just came to accept that snares, as a feature, are just not meant for PCs (in the vast, vast majority of situations; as rules for creating improvised traps when you have time to set an ambush, they're great, but 99.9% of scenarios are going to be written with the assumption that that time won't exist).
Then, do you have ideas for trap-related kobold feats? I suppose some Thievery bonus could work, but I'd rather have something that isn't just a straight numbers upgrade to a narrow playstyle.Sadly I do not. :(
I think what I'd rather have is snares that are actually usable. A bunch of ideas came up during the playtest, but I didn't really like any of them.
I just came to accept that snares, as a feature, are just not meant for PCs (in the vast, vast majority of situations; as rules for creating improvised traps when you have time to set an ambush, they're great, but 99.9% of scenarios are going to be written with the assumption that that time won't exist).
The problem here being that a kobold without the option of bonuses to laying devious traps just feels wrong
The problem here being that a kobold without the option of bonuses to laying devious traps just feels wrong
For the record, I don't disagree.
I just can't fix the fact that snares are bad.
I might just give a damage bonus for Snares, a la Burn It. It won't make Snares good, but if you want to go that build route it will make kobolds the best at it, which was the intent.