kobold character traits

[Aurich]

I'm in the near future able to start playing a kobold character.
And while I'm aware that i can play my character the way i like, away from stereotypes, i can't but be curious how one would play a classic one.

Giving the usual disposition for kobolds to lawful evil, their general view of envy towards larger races and such, how would a kobold react/behave.

I, myself, have little experience with playing characters other then the voice of reason, the groupplayer, the levelheaded etc, but often i'm the least expressive in the group. I'm often 'loved' but i find myself a tad bland i think.. But want to try to broaden the range of characters or at least try.

Others players in my group have played more excentric types, like a wisecracking, some what rude thief, or a flamboyant sorcerer, a dwarf with stereotypical habits.

For that I'd love to learn to play a character with some more racial aspects perhaps. Like said kobold.
To perhaps add some kobold mannerisms, up to a certain point. It's not the idea to become dysfunctional or antagonistic towards the others.

It may also allow me to develop my characters backstory.

Perhaps someone can help me with some pointers?

The character I'm going to play is a kobold artificer battlesmith.

[Sindal]

Kobolds are, in broad terms,
-greedy. They like shinies. While you may not be driven to stealing you may be rather possessive of what you own (just like dragons). Maybe your artificer is very very interested in metal scraps and clings to his armour if someone triest to touch it.

-easily impressed. They usually throw their hands down if an actual dragon shows up and awes them. You could spin this into some humbleness "ohh lady wizard is good at spark sparking."

-cunning and exotic. Their traps and pack mentality are to be feared when put to work. I remember I once had a player who was a kobold who was a wizard cook. Kept talking about all these gross recipes like spider leg stew but that's all you have when your some lizard in the wild


-cowardly but willing to act. Because they're typically so small and 'east to bully' they've got some yellow belly in them. This could just mean your dude could be hesitant and actually falls into the voice of reason thing uou like "um big leader barbarian man? Is going through thr Snake pits a good idea? Venom is bad for my scales. And biting. And choking"

I like to think of them as...intelligent, functional preschoolers, if that makes sense.

[TyGuy]

This video is pretty comprehensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSUBtv9iS-E&t=632s

[Kurt Kurageous]

I envision kobold PCs to be very different from kobolds the monsters. Someone had to steal an egg from a kobold nest and then incubate it. Given that job is handled collectively by the entire nest, whoever took that egg had to know what they were doing (perhaps by trial and error). So your parental figure(s) likely had some kind of adventuring background.

So what instinctive tendencies does a kobold hatchling have that allows other kobolds to train them to become effective members of the nest? What is their nature, separate from their culture?

I imagine they imprint quickly on those around them. They learn primarily by doing and imitating. They lean on vision and touch more than other senses. They are natural team players because of their small size and lawful tendencies.

One implication of these traits is a kobold hatched and raised by humanoids will believe it too is a humanoid and do things in a humanoid way. So they won't use their body exactly like a kobold raised by kobolds does. It would also not be suicidally brave like the monster, but might be sensitive to aggressive personalities like the monster is with dragons. It will not believe in kobold reincarnation and would value it's life and those of other (good) humanoids much higher than the monster.

Another implication is they won't have the traits of monstrous kobolds, but they will have the same aptitudes. I would imagine a kobold would make an exceptionally good artificer who can create function out of raw materials (like the monster), but once trained (by a gnome?) might become an exceptional mechanical engineer because of their mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity. The kobolds' aptitude for lawfulness might make them exceptional thinkers/visionaries who see pattern others do not. I think they also would not have an aptitude for leadership.

In roleplay, your kobold might behave more like their 'parents' that a kobold. Your kobold would also be older and wiser because they have had a long life (think dwarves!) before becoming adventurers.

[OldTrees1]

Races of the Dragon (3E splatbook) from page 37 to 54 is a rather in depth answer.

Kobolds generally believe they are dragonkin. This is for a variety of reasons.

Kobolds share the pathological materialism of Dragons however this combines strangely with their deep community based relationship. They need to feel like they are benefiting from and contributing to the wealth of their community rather than simply working for work's sake. There are no commoners or aristocrats in the kobold tribes. Miners are common since the underground mines are valuable contributions to the tribe, but there are plenty of specialists.

[Psyren]

While monstrous/enemy kobolds tend towards evil/avarice/envy, your character doesn't have to. Think about the experiences, ideals, or desires that might have drawn yours towards a life of adventure.

You can take inspiration from those stereotypical racial features without them becoming a source of intraparty conflict. (e.g. your kobold's envy of taller races can manifest as a desire to prove his superiority to them without being hostile towards them).