Balanced Dragonwrought Kobold

[Catman]

I'm wondering what would generally be considered a "balance" LA 0 Dragonwrought Kobold. Dragonwrought on its own doesn't really balance out the +2 Dex -4 Str -2 Con ability scores [-4 ability score bonus]. But a "vulnerable" Dragonwrought, (bypassing the aging penalties, adding the mental bonus's), with +3 Cha, +3 Int, +3 Wis, +2 Dex, -4 Str, -2 Con [+5 ability score bonus] takes it too far. So, to balance it I was imagining being reasonable with the ability score distributions, so he'll look mostly equal to his fellow LA 0 party mates. But, he did spend his first feat, I'd say he deserves some kind of bonus.

Basically, does anyone have any experience with Dragonwrought Kobolds? Is there a balanced RAW solution?

[Rubik]

I'm wondering what would generally be considered a "balance" LA 0 Dragonwrought Kobold. Dragonwrought on its own doesn't really balance out the +2 Dex -4 Str -2 Con ability scores [-4 ability score bonus]. But a "vulnerable" Dragonwrought, (bypassing the aging penalties, adding the mental bonus's), with +3 Cha, +3 Int, +3 Wis, +2 Dex, -4 Str, -2 Con [+5 ability score bonus] takes it too far. So, to balance it I was imagining being reasonable with the ability score distributions, so he'll look mostly equal to his fellow LA 0 party mates. But, he did spend his first feat, I'd say he deserves some kind of bonus.

Basically, does anyone have any experience with Dragonwrought Kobolds? Is there a balanced RAW solution?Just keep in mind that you can have, say, a venerable gray elf psion using Metamorphosis with +5 Int/+3 Wis/+3 Cha and huge Str/Dex/Con scores.

[Invader]

It should be noted as well that starting stats aren't really all that important when that's all the higher they are.

[OldTrees1]

Basically, does anyone have any experience with Dragonwrought Kobolds? Is there a balanced RAW solution?

I did not have any problems when I allowed a -4 Str/-2 Con/+2 Dex/+3 Int/+3 Wis/+3 Cha Kobold with Slight Build and natural weapons (as per web enhancement). I just made sure to disallow the Socerer rituals and explain clearly that Kobolds are not True Dragon at my table.

[bekeleven]

To balance venerable dragonwraught kobolds, ban dragon archetypes and epic feats from them. The stats aren't too bad when you consider they're going from +1 feat (human) to -1 feat.

[Chronos]

You're also a creature that most civilized folks will want to kill on sight. How relevant that is depends on your group.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Venerable Dragonwrought Desert Kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertKobolds): Str -4, Dex +2, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +3, all the normal Kobold traits except for no light sensitivity and +2 Survival instead of Profession (Mining), plus all the bonus Kobold traits (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a) like natural weapons and slight build, plus all the Dragon creature type traits (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#dragonType) such as Darkvision and immunities.

I personally feel that all the 'balanced' races are too weak. Most of the above won't have much impact in the mid to late levels compared to any 'balanced' race that gets a +2 to whatever spellcasting stat you use (Gray/Fire Elf, Spellscale, etc.). The greatest impact is in the lowest levels, and it's not so good that every character (of a particular class) should be a Dragonwrought Kobold. Other races have their own race-exclusive feats (Able Learner) or special abilities (Illumians, Dwarves) or substitution levels (take your pick) or one-sided ability scores (Water Orc). Many of those things are going to have an equal or greater impact on the mid to late levels compared to what a Dragonwrought Kobold gets, so it's not an automatic choice by any stretch. Dragonwrought Kobolds are attractive because they get a lot of things, none of which makes them particularly good at anything, like Monks. The difference is, you're giving up a few very strong racial benefits for a much bigger pile of not necessarily useful racial benefits, so IMO it balances out just fine.