Kobold race and subraces (campaign specific): PEACH

[PotatoGolem]

The campaign I'm running features dragonwrought kobolds as a fairly major part of the plot. The PCs have made an alliance (through intermediaries) with a dragon who has done significant magical experimentation on kobolds, making them much stronger/tougher/all around better. The players have gotten pretty invested in the dragon/kobold angle, so I want kobold to be an option for future characters. As such, these kobolds aren't intended as a good representation of kobolds in any other campaign (or even other groups of kobolds in the game world), I just want them to be balanced against PC races in the PHB and EE. I used musicus' guide for races, but I want to make sure they're not over- or under- powered.

If it makes a difference, tieflings and dragonborn aren't really player options for long-winded story reasons.


KOBOLD
Kobold adventurers are rare, due to their strong community ties and interdependent social structure, but the Lorewyrm has created a few more independent kobolds as agents.

All Kobolds have these traits:
+2 dex: Kobolds are small and agile.
Size: Small; Speed 30 ft
Darkvision 60 ft
Proficient in Trapmaker’s Tools: Kobolds often defend their lairs with traps.
Languages: Common and Draconic
AC when not wearing armor: 12+dex. The Lorewyrm’s blessing toughens a kobold’s scales.

Subraces:
Spellblessed Kobold: Infused with extra magical power.
+1 cha. Spellblessed kobolds are self-assured and natural leaders.
Magic of the Dragons: gain one cantrip from the Sorcerer spell list. At 3rd level, gain Expeditious Retreat as a level 1 spell 1/long rest. At 5th level, gain Hold Person as a level 2 spell 1/long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier.

Trapmaster Kobold: Guerilla fighters and assassins.
+1 con. Trapmasters are tough and hardy
Stonecunning: as dwarf. Trapmasters are adept at noticing unusual stonework due to their expertise in creating stone traps.
Expertise in Trapmaker's Tools
Proficient in Stealth
Naturally Stealthy (hide when obscured by a creature 1 size larger, hide when lightly obscured)

Winged Kobold
+1 str. The large flight muscles of winged kobolds make them stronger.
30-foot fly speed (but see below)
Cannot fly in nonproficient or heavy armor, scale mail, or half plate
Must have gear altered to fit wings at +50% cost
Disadvantage on Str checks to interact w/ objects on ground while flying

Fledgling: at 1st level, a winged kobold can fly for a number of rounds equal to their con score (not modifier) per short rest. A winged kobold can push himself to fly beyond this up to half again as many rounds (eg 5 rounds for a 10 con kobold), but gains a level of exhaustion

Spread your Wings: at 5th level, a winged kobold can duplicate the effect of a Fly spell on themselves once per long rest. This is not a spell, but rather an extraordinary exertion on the part of the kobold; it functions even in an antimagic field and cannot be dispelled. Rounds spent flying using this do not count towards the round limit under Fledgling. A winged kobold may use this ability a second time per long rest, but gains a level of exhaustion.

Free as a Bird: at 9th level, a winged kobold has a 30-foot fly speed and can fly with no more exertion than walking.

Thoughts?

[Chaotic Neutral]

Just wanted to say that when designing races, it's usually a good idea to only add minor new abilities and leave most of the bonus to adding to existing skill (or give it an ability that represents more of a skill and not inherent, such as the Human's Starting Feat (They weren't born with that, they learned it as influenced by their ambition.) or the Halfling's Brave (Not inborn, but influenced by their culture.). I am all for proficiencies that don't imply or intrude upon a class (Such as your listed Trapmaker's tools or another type of Artisan's tools), but everything goes to hell when you start adding racially inborn utility traits. For example, Darkvision (Originally called infravision) started as an Elf thing, but grew to more and more races because it was useful, wanted by everybody for stealth, and showed they were magical. Now, 3 out of the 9 core races have it, making it more a detriment to those three rather than a bonus to the others, and making awkward situations arise like having to narrate what's happening to the halfling rogue on a stealth mission. In general, add things that give insight to the race's upbringings and culture- not so much how physically superior to other races- and everything will go great. Think to yourself: "Does this grant a bonus that everybody would want in the long run as utility, or does it give something cool that sets the race apart?". That's where my peeve with flying comes in. By the way you've written it, a flying kobold not only can follow out much better utility as a naturally flying creature (Winged elves weren't just removed for the stupidity of all the elf branches, but also for the utility advantage.), but at 9th level gain an ability normally reserved for certain monsters (And even they are rare and given careful attention to balance.). While your players might be okay with this, I'd recommend a less utility-based version if you ever released it to others. Something like jumping farther over chasms or gaps and an increased (Doubled?) jump would be nice. This way, the effect of the wings is clearly shown, but other players won't be complaining that billy-joe can fly around the world and they can't. Anyways, best of luck with your adventures in homebrewing! (Sorry for the lengthy post, I'm just peeved by racial ability monopoly.)

[Chaotic Neutral]

Everything else seems balanced in accordance to the darkvision users though.

[Samhaim]

KOBOLD
Kobold adventurers are rare, due to their strong community ties and interdependent social structure, but the Lorewyrm has created a few more independent kobolds as agents.

All Kobolds have these traits:
+2 dex: Kobolds are small and agile.
Size: Small; Speed 30 ft
Darkvision 60 ft
Proficient in Trapmaker’s Tools: Kobolds often defend their lairs with traps.
Languages: Common and Draconic
AC when not wearing armor: 12+dex. The Lorewyrm’s blessing toughens a kobold’s scales.
All seems good here!



Spellblessed Kobold: Infused with extra magical power.
+1 cha. Spellblessed kobolds are self-assured and natural leaders.
Magic of the Dragons: gain one cantrip from the Sorcerer spell list. At 3rd level, gain Expeditious Retreat as a level 1 spell 1/long rest. At 5th level, gain Hold Person as a level 2 spell 1/long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier.

I see no problem with the racials here either. Perhaps the already known "Spellscale" name would feel more appropriate.



Trapmaster Kobold: Guerilla fighters and assassins.
+1 con. Trapmasters are tough and hardy
Stonecunning: as dwarf. Trapmasters are adept at noticing unusual stonework due to their expertise in creating stone traps.
Expertise in Trapmaker's Tools
Proficient in Stealth
Naturally Stealthy (hide when obscured by a creature 1 size larger, hide when lightly obscured)

Also here, racial look good, the name could be cooler (but that's often the toughest part to get right)



Winged Kobold
+1 str. The large flight muscles of winged kobolds make them stronger.
30-foot fly speed (but see below)
Cannot fly in nonproficient or heavy armor, scale mail, or half plate
Must have gear altered to fit wings at +50% cost
Disadvantage on Str checks to interact w/ objects on ground while flying

Fledgling: at 1st level, a winged kobold can fly for a number of rounds equal to their con score (not modifier) per short rest. A winged kobold can push himself to fly beyond this up to half again as many rounds (eg 5 rounds for a 10 con kobold), but gains a level of exhaustion

Spread your Wings: at 5th level, a winged kobold can duplicate the effect of a Fly spell on themselves once per long rest. This is not a spell, but rather an extraordinary exertion on the part of the kobold; it functions even in an antimagic field and cannot be dispelled. Rounds spent flying using this do not count towards the round limit under Fledgling. A winged kobold may use this ability a second time per long rest, but gains a level of exhaustion.

Free as a Bird: at 9th level, a winged kobold has a 30-foot fly speed and can fly with no more exertion than walking.

Since a flying race has been introduced, you could base yourself on that to set the appropriate balance for a flying race. That would help way more than I ever could :smallbiggrin:!


Just wanted to say that when designing races, it's usually a good idea to only add minor new abilities and leave most of the bonus to adding to existing skill (or give it an ability that represents more of a skill and not inherent, such as the Human's Starting Feat (They weren't born with that, they learned it as influenced by their ambition.) or the Halfling's Brave (Not inborn, but influenced by their culture.). I am all for proficiencies that don't imply or intrude upon a class (Such as your listed Trapmaker's tools or another type of Artisan's tools), but everything goes to hell when you start adding racially inborn utility traits. For example, Darkvision (Originally called infravision) started as an Elf thing, but grew to more and more races because it was useful, wanted by everybody for stealth, and showed they were magical. Now, 3 out of the 9 core races have it, making it more a detriment to those three rather than a bonus to the others, and making awkward situations arise like having to narrate what's happening to the halfling rogue on a stealth mission. In general, add things that give insight to the race's upbringings and culture- not so much how physically superior to other races- and everything will go great. Think to yourself: "Does this grant a bonus that everybody would want in the long run as utility, or does it give something cool that sets the race apart?". That's where my peeve with flying comes in. By the way you've written it, a flying kobold not only can follow out much better utility as a naturally flying creature (Winged elves weren't just removed for the stupidity of all the elf branches, but also for the utility advantage.), but at 9th level gain an ability normally reserved for certain monsters (And even they are rare and given careful attention to balance.). While your players might be okay with this, I'd recommend a less utility-based version if you ever released it to others. Something like jumping farther over chasms or gaps and an increased (Doubled?) jump would be nice. This way, the effect of the wings is clearly shown, but other players won't be complaining that billy-joe can fly around the world and they can't. Anyways, best of luck with your adventures in homebrewing! (Sorry for the lengthy post, I'm just peeved by racial ability monopoly.)

Wow! Gotta keep this stuff in mind should I ever feel like making races!

[eleazzaar]

Just wanted to say that when designing races, it's usually a good idea to only add minor new abilities and leave most of the bonus to adding to existing skill (or give it an ability that represents more of a skill and not inherent, such as the Human's Starting Feat (They weren't born with that, they learned it as influenced by their ambition.) or the Halfling's Brave (Not inborn, but influenced by their culture.).

I must say, that sounds to me like a formula for designing boring races. Granted making new abilities that are significant without being overpowered is tricky, but the standard 3.5 way of designing races (give them various small bonuses to situational things, and Attribute adjustments) is really dull. That's why I really like the 5e base races. They are (or most of them) are substantially different from each other, so race actually means something.

And also, i'd take the opposite path and try to avoid putting too much culture in a playable race description. PCs are often not typical members of their race, and will often enough have backstories where they were raised by someone other than their own race. Suddenly cultural bonuses don't make sense.




That's where my peeve with flying comes in. By the way you've written it, a flying kobold not only can follow out much better utility as a naturally flying creature (Winged elves weren't just removed for the stupidity of all the elf branches, but also for the utility advantage.), but at 9th level gain an ability normally reserved for certain monsters (And even they are rare and given careful attention to balance.). While your players might be okay with this, I'd recommend a less utility-based version if you ever released it to others. Something like jumping farther over chasms or gaps and an increased (Doubled?) jump would be nice. This way, the effect of the wings is clearly shown, but other players won't be complaining that billy-joe can fly around the world and they can't.

I do agree that flight is a very tricky thing to balance as part of race.

I can't claim to have enough experience to say that yours is still to OP, but for reference here was my attempt to balance it. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sp2ly6zcRAgS2ocKlLn2VFR9r04JimQP3EI7q0x0P3w/edit?usp=sharing)

[Chaotic Neutral]

I must say, that sounds to me like a formula for designing boring races. Granted making new abilities that are significant without being overpowered is tricky, but the standard 3.5 way of designing races (give them various small bonuses to situational things, and Attribute adjustments) is really dull. That's why I really like the 5e base races. They are (or most of them) are substantially different from each other, so race actually means something.

And also, i'd take the opposite path and try to avoid putting too much culture in a playable race description. PCs are often not typical members of their race, and will often enough have backstories where they were raised by someone other than their own race. Suddenly cultural bonuses don't make sense.



EDIT: Thinking: "Ugh, this dork won't stop whining!"? Scroll to the end for the TL;DR.

Note that I'm not saying to be done with straight racial bonus entirely. I love the human's Extra Feat, as it shows the ambition of the humans, giving them an interesting and useful benefit without relying on any inherent magic. In my campaign, I'm making Darkvision granted to all races, of various strengths. Humans, Dragonborn, and Halflings (The mentioned 3 races that don't currently have darkvision) have a range of 30 feet, while some races retain darkvision scores (Dwarf 60, Gnome 60.), and some are modified (High Elf 45, Wood Elf 50, Dark Elf 70, Half-Elf 40, Half-Orc 40, Tiefling 65.). Some may say that this change is unneeded, but because all but 3 races got the ability, it became less unique to them. Inherent abilities will almost never be unique, and function more as a gimmick that distracts you from what should be the more important parts of your class, class and roleplay. And while I don't say that these abilities die completely, they should be low-key and interesting rather than blatantly superior to other races. If you have the ability to see anything in pitch black 60-120 feet around, this puts you at a sneak attack advantage, even if you are an armored fighter and your opponent is a rogue. That's why darkvision isn't unique anymore- the few races that don't have it are unique now, due to sheer demand of the ability. Elves only really had it in the first place to show they were magic, most variants don't even live underground.

As for me saying "culture", I really mean more of the mentality of that race in general. For instace, let's take the Halfling's "Brave". Whether a Halfling was raised by royalty, brigands, heroes, or thieves, they all have the "Brave" ability. I like to think of this as more instinct of the race for that reason. When forced into fight-or-flight, they are used to choosing to at least take a last stand. I find this much more unique than the elves' (The epitome of a racial mary-sue) magical and culturally unified (Nature's great, we get it, did you spend the last 300 years handing out those pamphlets?!) racial abilities. Examples: Elf Weapon Training (Take note, you said cultural additions are a no-no.): You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow. Are all elves put through a military unit? What about the one that was left at the gnome's doorstep at birth? Or the just cleric noble that was wrongfully accused of a crime and sent to jail for nine years? When they'd pick those skills up? Trance: (Basically, they only need to "sleep" 4 hours a day.). Another magical utility ability. Just because some developer somewhere thought a while back "Hmm, looking through a list of adventurer's inconveniences. Took care of needing a light source, what's next? Ahh, needing to sleep! Next I'll work on making them have over 7x the lifespan of humans, just to rub it in.". "Fey Ancestry" also pitches in, with the inability to be put to sleep by magic and resistance against charms of all kinds. A few jeers at the non-elves later, we've gotten to the subraces. This is extra cantrips, natural spells, extra speed, super-super-vision, and more weapon proficiency. The humans managed to be more interesting and likeable with NO subrace bonus, NO magic extra spells and vision, NO extra whatever, and NO inherent utility skills. Instead, their ambition and WIDE-RANGING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES is shown. Sure, elves get somebodies grocery list of magic, and some hippies' idea of a perfectly unified and superior culture, but WOW, the humans choose which language they speak? It's almost as if different members of their race are different beings with different needs and ideals! Crazy!

Anyways, I get ticked when people call abilities that come from the mind (mindset, not super magic mind powers.) and not the body are somehow boring, while ignoring that elves thoroughly restrict and muddle with backstory in about seventeen different ways whilst humans and halflings (The only TWO races that the writers spared the magical/cultural reliance) manage to be the two most versatile. A Dragonborn's most important part of their life is why they do or do not serve a dragon, an elf is straight magical hippie daydream, a dwarf is normally grumpy and protective, a tiefling is just a human that was "cursed" to gain superpowers at 1st, 3rd, and 5th level, Half-Orcs are almost always fighters or barbarians, half-elves are for when the taste of absolute superiority is too strong for your taste and you need it watered down with inferior human blood. Of course, I do like all of these races (Maybe not so much Elf, they never had any story besides from "Hey guys, magic people!" in the first place..), but wish that they didn't so much rely on what they can add to your magical abilities/ character build. I know plenty of people that manage to roleplay some of these races well, and a few that have even roleplayed truly memorable elf characters. But when some class/ race combos are just unfeasable, you know something is wrong. I allow my players to use different subraces of existing races that either make the race more neutral or playable with their desired class (Such as making Rogue Half-Orcs, Ranger Dwarves, and Cleric Gnomes viable.), but I commend Human for being one that can actually play out any unique backstory, class, and skillset it needs to. The 5e Humans set a fine example for the other races, who just sit around offering +2 strength and crit bonuses to fighters or lists of magical abilities and immunities to anyone who wants to trump the humans or halflings that bear some semblance of an actual character instead of just numbers.


TL;DR: 5e Humans set a great example for the other races, which just provide class assumption and utility magic instead of versatility (And, much as a love the new Human rules, better roleplaying opportunities should be provided to everyone. Even the long-time magic preset elves could be whipped up into a unique race.