I hope you enjoyed our little April Fool’s joke yesterday. Today, however, we are presenting you something with enough seriousness that it could have been an April Fool’s release: kobold player characters. For all the kobold-lovers out there, myself included, we always wanted a kobold that was balanced against the Pathfinder Core Rulebook so we are not weaker than those that take humans or halflings. Or even gnomes.
Well one of the goals I had when I started Shadowsfall was to make a kobold variant that was on par, power wise, and with the umbral kobolds, I believe we have achieved that.
Umbral kobolds, like their Material Plane brethren, are pesky creatures that are looked down upon by the “big” races. On the Plane of Shadows, however, they are on the side of life against the insurmountable hordes of mindless undead that roam the Outlands and devour all that they find. Unlike humans, drow, dhampirs, fetchlings, wanderers, and the other countless races of the plane, umbral kobolds have a high birth rate and reach maturity quickly. So an umbral kobold tribe that is attacked by undead but a handful survive can replenish their numbers back to full strength in a mere 2-4 years.
For today’s preview we are showing you the racial traits for the umbral kobold. I hope you enjoy them in your own game.
Umbral Kobold Racial Traits
–2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence: Umbral kobolds are fast and a quick study but physically weak.
Small: Umbral kobolds are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Normal Speed: Umbral kobolds have a base speed of 30 feet.
Darkvision: Umbral kobolds can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Natural Armor: Umbral kobolds gain a +1 natural armor bonus to AC.
Crafty: Umbral kobolds gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Perception, and Profession (miner) checks. Craft (trapmaking) and Stealth are always class skills for an umbral kobold.
Light Sensitivity: Umbral kobolds are blinded for 1 round if exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or the daylight spell. Umbral kobolds are also dazzled for as long as they remain in areas of bright light.
Languages: Umbral kobolds begin play speaking Common and Draconic. Umbral kobolds with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aklo, Dwarven, Gnome, Shadowspeak, and Undercommon.
I know a number of people have been looking forward to having the Book of Heroic Races Compendium in their hands as opposed to on a computer screen or on a tablet. Well that is available to you now. Over the weekend, I approved the print version and it is now available at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow. Pretty soon, we will have copies available at Paizo.com. In print, this book is 116 pages of pure awesome. If you like races that are outside the standard elves and dwarves, this book is for your.
