Order of the Roll - Dungeons and Dragons Kobold - Order of the Roll

Kobold

DnD Kobold Race

Kobold

Kobolds are small, dra­con­ic crea­tures filled with spir­it, cun­ning, and bound­less ener­gy. Though they often live in the same regions as drag­ons, their devo­tion lies else­where, with the wyverns. These slen­der, fero­cious crea­tures pos­sess only two legs and mas­sive wings, unlike drag­ons which have four legs and wings. Kobolds see wyverns as divine beings, almost like parental fig­ures, and fol­low them with child­like devo­tion.

For kobolds, wyverns embody true strength, speed, and instinct. To hon­or them, kobolds some­times wear the skulls of oth­er crea­tures as masks or head­dress­es. This sacred rit­u­al is meant to bring them clos­er to their gods. The prac­tice is not one of cru­el­ty but of faith, show­ing their desire to imi­tate and serve the wyverns they revere.

Kobolds them­selves are dra­con­ic in nature, but much small­er and less impos­ing than the mighty Drag­onborn. They lack wings, but their bod­ies are lean and agile. Known for their mis­chief and play­ful nature, kobolds delight in tricks, some­times harm­less, some­times risky, and they love col­lect­ing objects whether they own them or not. Their soci­eties are live­ly, unpre­dictable, and filled with cre­ativ­i­ty and team­work.

Dragonborn

Where kobolds look to wyverns, Drag­onborn turn their devo­tion toward true drag­ons, majes­tic and intel­li­gent beings with four legs and two wings. Drag­onborn are proud and mys­te­ri­ous, often choos­ing to live near the realms where drag­ons reign. They see drag­ons not only as rulers but also as divine embod­i­ments of pow­er and wis­dom.

Phys­i­cal­ly, Drag­onborn resem­ble their dra­con­ic ances­tors. They have strong, scaled bod­ies, sharp claws, and a com­mand­ing pres­ence. How­ev­er, unlike real drag­ons, they lack wings and can­not fly. The col­or of their scales varies wide­ly, from blaz­ing red to icy blue or gleam­ing gold, often reflect­ing the type of drag­on they are spir­i­tu­al­ly con­nect­ed to.

Drag­onborn soci­ety is built entire­ly around the wor­ship and obe­di­ence of drag­ons. They believe it is their sacred duty to serve and fol­low a dragon’s will with­out ques­tion. To them, drag­ons are more than lead­ers; they are saints, guides, and liv­ing ves­sels of divine will. From an ear­ly age, every Drag­onborn learns to live a life of dis­ci­pline, rev­er­ence, and loy­al­ty to these mighty beings.

Bond Between Kobolds and Dragonborn

Despite their spir­i­tu­al dif­fer­ences, kobolds and Drag­onborn share a deep and sym­bi­ot­ic bond. They are not blood rel­a­tives, yet they live side by side as broth­ers with­in dra­con­ic com­mu­ni­ties. Drag­onborn often take on the role of pro­tec­tors and lead­ers, while kobolds bring humor, cre­ativ­i­ty, and flex­i­bil­i­ty to their shared soci­ety. Togeth­er, they form a bal­anced whole: strength and struc­ture from the Drag­onborn, inge­nu­ity and play­ful­ness from the kobolds.

In set­tle­ments where both races coex­ist, a nat­ur­al hier­ar­chy often emerges. Drag­onborn lead, espe­cial­ly in the pres­ence of a drag­on, while kobolds serve in var­i­ous roles that sup­port the com­mu­ni­ty. Kobolds accept this struc­ture eas­i­ly as long as they can keep their cus­toms and rit­u­als. Though of low­er rank, they are not viewed as less­er beings but as essen­tial mem­bers of dra­con­ic civ­i­liza­tion.

Difference Between Wyverns and Dragons

It is impor­tant to under­stand the dif­fer­ence between the two divine beings that these races wor­ship. Drag­ons are majes­tic, ancient crea­tures, pow­er­ful, mag­i­cal, and wise, with four legs and two wings. Wyverns, in con­trast, have only two legs and large wings. They are wilder, more aggres­sive, and less intel­li­gent, yet to kobolds they rep­re­sent the purest essence of instinct and sur­vival.

These dif­fer­ences between drag­ons and wyverns are mir­rored in the cul­tur­al divide between Drag­onborn and kobolds. One seeks order, devo­tion, and divine per­fec­tion, while the oth­er finds faith in chaos, free­dom, and pri­mal pow­er.

Stats

  • Abil­i­ty Score Increase. When deter­min­ing your character’s abil­i­ty scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a dif­fer­ent score by 1, or increase three dif­fer­ent scores by 1. You can’t raise any of your scores above 20.
  • Crea­ture Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Small.
  • Speed. Your 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 dis­cern col­ors in that dark­ness only as shades of gray.
  • Dra­con­ic Cry. As a bonus action, you let out a cry at your ene­mies with­in 10 feet of you. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies have advan­tage on attack rolls against any of those ene­mies who could 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.
  • Kobold Lega­cy. Kobolds’ con­nec­tion to drag­ons can man­i­fest in unpre­dictable ways in an indi­vid­ual kobold. Choose one of the fol­low­ing lega­cy options for your kobold:
    • Crafti­ness. You have pro­fi­cien­cy in one of the fol­low­ing skills of your choice: Arcana, Inves­ti­ga­tion, Med­i­cine, Sleight of Hand, or Sur­vival.
    • 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, Wis­dom, or Charis­ma is your spell­cast­ing abil­i­ty for that cantrip (choose when you select this race).
  • Lan­guages: Your char­ac­ter can speak, read, and write. Com­mon, Dra­con­ic and one oth­er lan­guage that you want. 
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