Kobold Knight tips?

[RandomlyInspire]

So some friends and I decided to goof off and I took a bet to play whatever character they drew up for next game. What they came back to me (as to what I'm understanding) is a 2'8" Kobold Knight with the Dragon wrought feature. He's Lawful Good but apparently acts off the handle, due to having been raised... By dwarves. So I guess what I'm asking, is aside form the oddity of his existence in general, how would I role-play this? Should I just act like a normal dwarf, or would some like... hereditary/genetic qualities of being a kobold fit into the personality? And since he's a knight, the hell kind of mount should I go for? Dire Weasels aren't easy to come by in dwarven society to my knowledge. Entertaining though crossed my mind of a Dire Rooster, but I'm just curious what tips I can get to make this work.

[Aegis013]

Are you playing as Knight the class from the PHBII? Or the general archetype?

Are there any pertinent houserules for your game?
What books are available to you and what kind of power level does your party normally play?

Do you know the group make up?
Do wizards in your group often end encounters with a single spell?
Do other melee combatants lock down enormous chunks of the battlefield, dish out insane sneak attack numbers, or deal thousands of damage on a charge?

If you can give us a better idea of what kinds of things will fit your table, we can easily give you suggestions for a competent, useful, and (hopefully) fun Kobold Knight.

Kobold Warblade 20 with diamond mind/stone dragon focus reasonably fit your theme, for example.

[MrNobody]

Aside for the reptilian traits, dwarves and kobolds are not so different.
The latters are greedy for their draconic blood, the first... are greedy too. Full stop.
Kobolds have a strong sense of community, same for dwarves (with the distinction that dwarves values clans and families a lot and kobolds don't, since they do not believe in fixed relationships and their offspring are sons and daughters of the community).
As a result, both kobold and dwarves value team-work and team-battling.

For roleplay, you could make your Dwobold (:smallbiggrin:) more or less like a normal dwarf, but with a different kind of greed (doesn't values thing that are "masterwork" but because they are shiny!); since it's outside kobolds' normal behaviour he could also find difficult to understand romantic love and in general any kind of deep attachment to another person (different from a real dwarf that thinks friendship is one of the highest value in life)

If you are NOT an optimizer and do things a little spicy you could use 3 levels to complete "Stonblessed" prc (Races of stone, p.122) that will open you to every game option normally made only for dwarves.

Also in Races of stone (p.161) you find new otions for mounts linked to dwarves and similar races. I like the option of the thrum worm (new monster) or the dire badger!

[Diovid]

I general I suggest reading through Races of the Dragon and Races of Stone. There's also these:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060127a

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a

To make him a bit more dwarf-y, you could make him an earth kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#earthKobolds).

[John Longarrow]

For your mount, two words...

Dire Boar

You also need a custom magic item of prestidigitation to allow you to grow a full beard. Nothing says "I'm a DWARF" like a full, luxurious beard!

[RandomlyInspire]

Wow, I did not expect such a quick response. Addressing questions as listed in the thread xD

He is the PHBII Knight, probably going to start at level 4.

And the house rules are to keep it simple. The DM is trying to get into the groove of things,(It's his first structured campaign) so only +0 races and just general rule of thumb to pass it by him before we make it.

We have a Cleric, Druid, ranger, and a fighter. The DM doesn't want to deal with Wizards and Sorcerers just yet until he's confident he can be prepared for player characters of them.

And as for total combat control n' jazz, I'm kinda the group tactician out of character, so that's no large concern for me as I'm mostly concerned about the role-play aspect.

And I really appreciate the breakdown from you guys, got me to do a little brainstorming of my own before I posted the reply. Though I have to ask MrNobody, wouldn't the whole value of friendship be something that's taught? The way I'm figuring his backstory is the little ****er was taken in by the dwarves as an egg. So I'm totally all for the shiny obsession, but I'm wondering if maybe instead of an alienation, perhaps he feels... confused by relationships? Kinda sporadic maybe? Please do get back to me on it, seems like you'd be a fun theory crafter on the subject. And as for a Dire boar, that totally blows my idea of a dire chicken out of the water.

[Phelix-Mu]

A few bits of lore you might be able to use:

- Dragonwrought Kobolds are of the Dragon type, and many dragons have a kind of hereditary/race knowledge that comes into play some short time after birth (this is why even young dragons can be very well-informed). So, your kobold may have some memories from whatever his draconic heritage is. Thus, this is a good time to outline what kind of dragon it was that was linked to whatever kobold warren he came from, as the personality of that type of dragon may well influence your character. Also, his scales may take that appearance, as well.

- Secondly, kobolds may be instinctively organized at the clutch-level. This is complicated because most kobolds lay eggs collectively, and then they are guarded and supervised by a few kobolds with that specific duty. Thus, there may be memories of his clutch-mates, the circumstances of being raised among many other kobolds (warrens are often very crowded), and so forth. However, this is complicated further by your character being Dragonwrought, as I believe these are identifiable at birth (if not before), and are given significantly elevated status, as they are proof of the noble, draconic heritage that many kobolds lay spiritual claim to.

- Finally, consider that Dragonwrought kobolds age more quickly than dwarves to maturity, and then slow way down, if I am remembering my numbers correctly. This has a big influence on being raised with dwarven peers, as it means that your character reaches adulthood faster and repeatedly will change his peer group. Imagine what would happen to a human child that leaves their friends to go to high school at age ten, then leaves high school to go to college at age 12, then is ready to have a family at age 16. Then imagine that the same kid will never age again, as Dragonwrought kobolds never take aging penalties to ability scores. The effect on emotional development would be huge, especially if the individual is aware of this in advance; while a normal Dragonwwrought kobold would certainly know, your character might have this fact sprung on him during his youth, when he ages much faster than his dwarven peers.

[Beowulf DW]

.

And the house rules are to keep it simple. The DM is trying to get into the groove of things,(It's his first structured campaign) so only +0 races and just general rule of thumb to pass it by him before we make it.

We have a Cleric, Druid, ranger, and a fighter. The DM doesn't want to deal with Wizards and Sorcerers just yet until he's confident he can be prepared for player characters of them.

Your DM is allowing a Cleric and a Druid, but no Wizard...Yeah, I remember when I had yet to hear about CoDzilla. Suffice to say, your DM may be in for a rude awakening. Unless of course you're all already friends, in which case it could be hilarious. I find that the best roleplaying groups are the ones that are already friends. There's a certain trust that you're not going to use the game to enact petty revenge on each other. Unless said revenge would be funny; then it becomes a fond memory.

As for roleplaying this ugly dorfling, I'd imagine that he would be aware of just how much different he is, yet still possessed of a desire to protect his parent culture. An object for character growth could be reconciling a sense of "otherness" with his desire to protect others. "I may not ever be one of them, but I shall protect them. If not for themselves, then for the virtues they strive towards, the virtues they taught me."

[MrNobody]

. Though I have to ask MrNobody, wouldn't the whole value of friendship be something that's taught? The way I'm figuring his backstory is the little ****er was taken in by the dwarves as an egg. So I'm totally all for the shiny obsession, but I'm wondering if maybe instead of an alienation, perhaps he feels... confused by relationships? Kinda sporadic maybe? Please do get back to me on it, seems like you'd be a fun theory crafter on the subject.

Hey, between "difficult to understand" and "alienation" there is a whole spectrum of possibilities! :smallsmile:
What i had in mind is more or less what you said: if you think about the "standard" dwarf, he has a strong tendency on physically showing his affection , expecially when even slightly drunk. Hugs, brofists, slaps&smacks are all part of showing friendship (if you read Asterix and Obelix, in an issue i cannot recall there is a dance where the dancers have to pull the beard each other... i find it very dwarvish).

Dwarves should have taught the Dwobold about "emotions" but he could have problems about accepting the "bodily" part of them: he could be unconfortable with hugs and physical contact, stare clueless at the hand of one of his "brothers" that's requesting a brofist... Thing like that!
This could be enhanced, like Phelix-Mu said, by the character self perception as a full dragon, so as an elevated, superior creature.


do get back to me on it, seems like you'd be a fun theory crafter on the subject

Thanks :smallwink:

[ShurikVch]

Kobold (weak-in-combat as race) plus Knight (direct-combat-oriented class, often - mounted)...
Sound as recipe for Ubermount...
Maybe dragon steed?
How about the Dragon Trainer (http://dndtools.eu/feats/races-of-the-dragon--83/dragon-trainer--728/) feat?
Later - at 9th level - you can take Dragon Cohort (http://dndtools.eu/feats/draconomicon--92/dragon-cohort--3250/) and rode Gold Wyrmling
At early level, if you somehow can obtain Pseudodragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/pseudodragon.htm) with Mighty Steed feat (from Dragonlance), you get compact flying mount with telepathy (kobolds count as Tiny via Slight Build, and Mighty Steed allow rider of same size as mount)


To make him a bit more dwarf-y, you could make him an earth kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#earthKobolds).
To make him even mor dwarf-like, you can make him Stout (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm#stout), or even Stocky (http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/featbox.pl?feat=Stocky) (feat from Dragon #324, pg. 78)