Kobold
by Prince Phantom
These tiny little dragon fanboys have been a frequent victim of low level adventurers, but don’t let that fool you, these are a crafty bunch of lunatics. With their penchant for traps and inventions, insatiable love for all things draconic, and a reckless abandon that would make a daredevil blush, Kobolds can work well for a wide variety of classes and builds thanks to their versatility, but they likely will never be the best choice for your build.
Kobold Features
Darkvision: Always nice to have.
Draconic Cry: Granting all allies advantage on everything within 10ft of us for one round for a bonus action is a pretty good deal, but will depend on how many of your party members rely on attack rolls. This does also force us to be in melee, and actually has the best effect when we are surrounded, meaning that using this puts us in quite a lot of danger.
Kobold Legacy: We get three options here, and honestly I wish we could just get all of them, not because I like them so much, but because individually, they aren’t very impressive. Craftiness gives us some really middling skills, Defiance is nice but not very exciting, and Draconic Sorcery is only as good as you can make that Sorcerer cantrip, which uh, I guess it’s an easy way for Rogues to get Booming Blade?
This race just feels like it’s missing features when compared to other modern races. You really just get Draconic Cry and one other mediocre ability of our choice, and that just doesn’t cut it nowadays. This is definitely better than a lot of races, but I struggle to think of a build that would be hungry for any of the features here and wouldn’t be better served by a different race.
Final Rating: 2/5
Kobold (Legacy)
This is a legacy race and may not be available at all tables. Check with your DM before selecting this option.
Now this is more like it! It’s rare that I so definitively love the old version of a race over the revision, but this is definitely the exception to that rule. You probably already know why, but I’ll go over everything anyway.
Ability Score Improvement: +2 Dexterity: Yes, you read that right, this race only gets a +2 and no other ability score increase. Tasha’s rule would overrule this, but don’t worry, this race more than makes up for this even if you’re not allowed to use that rule.
Darkvision: Second verse, same as the first.
Grovel, Cower, and Beg: This is essentially the same as Draconic Cry, just with a bit more of a self-deprecating flavor and only once per short or long rest. Still nice to have, and I actually love this flavor a lot more than a generic roar.
Sunlight Sensitivity: Yes, this race has yet another downside, and yes, I still like it more than the revised Kobold. You might think me crazy, but just wait until you see….
Pack Tactics: Boom, one of the best monster-exclusive abilities, right there for us to take advantage of. This is advantage on virtually every attack you will ever make. It only require an ally to be within 5ft of our target. This condition can obviously be filled by another player, but fret not if you’re in a party with no one who’s looking to get into melee (a smart group of people). A familiar, summon, pet, animal companion, steel defender, animated undead, friendly npc, homunculus, or any number of other options are easily available to you to get this online. Almost every class that would be interested in playing as a Kobold has a means of turning this on even without any other player’s help, and the Magic Initiate feat is right there for anyone who wants it. This even helps negate Sunlight Sensitivity, as now those rolls made in the sunlight are just normal rolls. This is the reason you play as a Kobold, and I absolutely hate that they removed it in the revision.
The old Kobold is an amazing option for anyone who is looking to make attack rolls consistently. Spellcasters who will be mostly forcing saving throws should look elsewhere, but aside from those classes and builds, the Kobold is an amazing way to really boost a character. There are a couple of downsides, and that keeps this from getting a 5/5, but with some good play and knowledge of the general game you’ll be playing, you should be able to mitigate most of them.
Final Rating: 4/5
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