@TheEdVerse Dude, I've already asked this before but I'm Serious: how does the Anatomy of a KOBOLD work? I want to understand it from a Biological Standpoint and you seem to be the guy to do the Job. pic.twitter.com/I2JF82J2NL
— anonymously insane (@anonymous7262) October 2, 2018
1) Okay, here we go. If you’re playing the current (5th edition) of D&D, kobolds are small, weak, humanoid-body-shape reptiles: they lay eggs, are clever trap-builders who work together to defeat foes, and have a reputation among… https://t.co/Qh5SnA6PXr
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
2) …adventurers for cunning. They mature quickly, and have long lifespans (over a century). They are good tunnelers and lair underground; their described behavior makes it clear they are less susceptible to cold and damp than many.…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
3)…reptiles (although they still prefer tropical and temperate climes, to keep warm). VGtM, p63-71, tells you all about kobolds (with some “special” kobolds from p165-167). So: dragon-like snouted heads with many-teethed jaws, scaled,…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
4) …have dextrous hands and limbs like a human, use tools and weapons, and invent and build intricate devices. From what I know of kobolds in the Realms, they are omnivorous but prefer flesh, because they have swift metabolisms and they…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
5)…want to keep their body temperatures up (when possible, they likely huddle together for warmth when sleeping, and/or use blankets, proximity to fire or lava flows underground, and so on, for heat). Many egg-laying creatures can “hold”…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
6)…their eggs inside their bodies so as to give birth in optimum conditions, not “just whenever,” and kobolds are among these. So if they can find a warm underground cavern, and fill it with easily-slain and devoured food beasts that can’t…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
7)…escape, that’ll be a great opportunity to lay their eggs. Kobolds are social beings, used to working together, settling disputes among other kobolds, and looking to the dragons they worship for guidance (and occasional personal boons).
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
8)…So think of lizards or snakes, but smarter and able to speak and craft things and make cooperative plans, with faster metabolisms and an understanding of nature (i.e. how to get warm enough, to avoid torpor), omnivorous but preferring…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
9)…flesh meals, egg-laying from a young age but able to control when they lay eggs (tough rubbery-skinned eggs, not brittle-shelled like most avian eggs), and not needing nest-tending but the young will usually receive teaching and…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
10)… guidance, once active, from older kobolds. Kobolds control internal body moisture through defecation (wet or dry dung), have a keen sense of smell aided by tongue-flicking, and make plans as life unfolds, not merely) “planning for…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018
11)…the next meal.” I hope this covers it. (As kobolds have changed over various editions of D&D, there’s some confusion over their true natures. I put it down to adventurers and just plain folks calling various critters “kobolds.”)
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 4, 2018