## Kobold redone Kobolds are often dismissed as cowardly, foolish, and weak, but these little reptilian creatures actually have a strong social structure that stresses devotion to the tribe, are clever with their hands, and viciously work together in order to overcome their physical limitations. ### Kobold Features **Ability Score Increase.** Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and either your Intelligence score or Charisma score increases by 1, your choice when you select this race. **Age.** Kobolds reach adulthood at age 6 and can live up to 120 years but rarely do so. **Alignment.** Kobolds rely on the strength of their group to survive. This makes them trend toward law. **Size.** Kobolds are between 2 and 3 feet tall and weigh between 25 and 35 pounds. Your size is Small. **Speed.** Your base walking speed is 30 feet. **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. **Distraction.** As a bonus action, you can distract enemies within 10 feet of you. This can be done by cowering pathetically, shrieking furiously, boasting arrogantly, or through different means. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies have advantage on attack rolls against any of those enemies who could see or 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. **Teamwork.** Once per turn, if you would have disadvantage on an attack roll against a creature, you do not have disadvantage if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated. If you can attack more then once, from the extra attack feature for example, this can apply to each of the attack rolls. If you would get disadvantage from at least two sources, you cannot use this trait. **Sunlight Sensitivity.** You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight. **Kobold Legacy.** The kobold connection to dragons can manifest in unpredictable ways in an individual kobold. Choose one of the following legacy options when you select this race: * Defiance. You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself. * Draconic Sorcery. You know one cantrip of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. Intelligence or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for that cantrip (choose when you select this race). * Craftiness. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, Investigation, Medicine, Sleight of Hand, or Survival. **Skilled Trapper.** You gain proficiency with thieves' tools, and whenever you make an ability check to create traps (Xanathar's Guide to Everything "Thieves Tools", page 84) your proficiency bonus is doubled if it is not already being doubled by another effect. **Languages.** You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. \pagebreak ## Design notes The PC race stats for Kobolds in Volos Guide to Monsters is.... divisive to say the least. While some would say the stats given balance it out but I felt it just wasn't well made. Some rules I like to follow for PC races that were monster races first is that they should resemble each other, the monsters two best stats should be the ones for the ability score improvement, they both should share the same vision capabilities, abilities, movement, etc. with obvious adjustments for balance and new abilities if the monster version doesn't have many to begin with. I'll go over the changes I made and explain why I made them. ### Ability Score Improvement Now this is the first issue: unlike other monsters-turned-PCs, Kobolds have terrible stats except for Dex. unfortunately, This makes finding a second stat to give a bonus a bit tricky. Obviously I removed the penalty to the strength score. This is 5e, negative scores are a thing of the past. I went with Intelligence because Kobolds are known for their trap making, thus Int would be useful for that. ( PCs are suppose to be exceptional versions of the race after all.) but Kobolds are also know for ties with dragons and sometimes receive sorcerous powers, so its a choice of Intelligence or Charisma. ### Distraction While I liked Grovel, Cower and Beg mechanically, the name had to be changed. I see it more like a way to spread pack tactics to allies. The enemy Kobolds all have pack tactics and can benefit from it together, but a Kobold PC would only have it for himself. Thus Grovel, Cower and Beg mechanically (now distraction) gives advantage to your allies like they would if they were all Kobolds with Pack tactics. And it now uses a Bonus action but ends at the start of your next turn. ### Teamwork Pack tactics was too strong. I get why they kept it, to counter the effects of sunlight sensitivity. However, once you aren't in sunlight, your have a major advantage by having... advantage. And even in sunlight, it made it so that you never have disadvantage. So I came up with the Teamwork ability, that lets you ignore disadvantage once per turn. Not being able to use it if two or more things would give you disadvantage (and it being once per turn) is to avoid the previously stated issue where you never had disadvantage. For example: a Kobold player fires a shortbow at an enemy in sunlight, Teamwork gets rid of disadvantage because of the players ally is right next to the enemy. However, if the enemy is also prone, the player has disadvantage on ranged attacks like normal. I feel this is thematically similar enough and achieves the same goal as pack tactics. \columnbreak ### Darkvision and Sunlight Sensitivity I kept these the way they were because that is what the they had in the monster manual. Some would say they either shouldn't have sunlight sensitivity or if they do, they should get the 120 ft. of darkvision like Drow and Duergar, not 60 ft. Unlike pack tactics, sunlight sensitivity is very setting and DM dependent, with a generous DM, it shouldn't be an issue that often, with a not-so-generous DM, Teamwork helps balance it out. ### Resourceful Trapper I originally gave the ability for Kobolds to cast a couple spells that could be trap themed, but seeing other Kobold reworks I borrowed the ability to build traps according to Xanathar's with double proficiency.