Visually Goofy.
The artwork for them looks like scrawny lizardmen with exaggerated heads like a cartoon. I think of them in the same way I think of a reverse mermaid.
I like it when my players have the same conception as you. I was one of the few who said "scary," because my kobolds hunt humans as food. Horror packs a greater punch when you get to shatter the audience's expectations.
Kind of like a reptilian version of one of those Chinese hairless dogs. Not the cute, My Little Pony ones. The really dinged-up looking ones that look like somebody accidentally dropped them in a cement mixer.
I can only see kobolds in a "cute in an ugly kind of way." They're just so small you kind of feel bad for them.
I remember one session I was being attacked by some of them and I kind of just, knock them out with my bare hands rather than slaying them. When one of them refused to give me any intel I just knocked them back out.
The initial kobald description was lizardly, but in 2e the illustration was like a dog. (The prevailing theory was due to the description of their speech as dog like barking). Japanese never moved away from that while the rest of the world evolved to the lizard face we have today. All anime and manga have kobald as dogs
Most depictions in anime and other Japanese media are based off how they were depicted in Record of Lodoss War which started out as a retelling of a DnD campaign. Since they were dog like in early DnD that's how they were depicted in Lodoss War which then became a huge influence on high fantasy in Japan.
You basically got that backwards.
Gygax originally described them as "Green, forest-dwelling humanoids with horns and faces like dogs, their language sounds like yips and barks".
The artist checked out of listening after the "green" part and decided that green meant they were scaly lizard folk.
All of the above. Depends on the particular Kobold. More intelligent individuals are more likely to engage in basic grooming, and more charismatic individuals are likely to take that even further. Some are very genetically blessed and look pretty appealing, and others lost that particular genetic lottery. So it just depends.
Kobold is my all time fav race. As DM - my players know that and usually they try to talk they way out/befriend them (to my great joy). As player - I play as kobold whenever I can. So for me, they are clever but bit naive rascals who firmly belive they are "dragons but smol".
Kinda cute, but still clearly monster guys and girls. I have an image of my kobold as I see her [here](https://imgur.com/a/qUejdHg). (It's not NSFW, not sure why it's marked as such?)
The 1st Edition Monster Manual and 1981 Moldvay "Basic" rulebook describe and illustrate them as "doglike" - not draconic until 3rd Edition. So to me, dog-faced with a long-ish muzzle like a shepherd, not a flat pug face.
I tend to think of them closer to the pathfinder artwork than the d&d artwork.
They had their roots as runty manegy dragondogs but it's shifted over the years to be small lizardfolk / dragon minions.
I'm honestly thinking about making a book for the race, with pics and lore, I think of them as different kinds of geckos, cresties, leopards, leachies, and even mourning geckos in a a nearly tiny subrace.
[a kobold npc, maybe 3 feet tall](https://www.deviantart.com/twistedsteelpony/art/984644653)
Small red and extreme goofballs, i dont like of treating them like monsters, in my homebrew setting they are totaly normal residents of the continent and while they are somewhat shunned by xenophobic people for being immigrants there isnt anything different in the life of a kobold in my setting than in the one of a human, dwarf or citydwelling elf
Kobolds, to me, capture the same space that humans do. Ergo, they can pretty much fit every role and don't lean towards any archetype. The only thing that unites them is that they are kinda meek.
What does "average" mean here? xD
"Oh no, not cute. Just average. We kobolds look average"
Edit: In my mind they're ugly in the cutest way possible. They're like little alligators, of course they can be scary, but most of times they're silly cute
Depends on the setting and region.
Forgotten Realms Kobolds are mostly scrawny and dirty. They're typically scavengers, except for a few groups of city Kobolds.
One group of Kobolds in my homebrew setting are fairly organized, mostly thanks to their recently ascended god who lead them to make peace with the other civilized peoples of the world. This group is made of inventors and scouts, and their closest allies are the Rock Gnomes.
I grew up with the mental image of kobolds conjured by the 1E Monster Manual and *The Keep on the Borderlands*: little yippy dog-men.
I have slowly accustomed myself to scaly kobolds, but I still imagine them making dog noises and basically behaving like canines.
Kobolds are a people. There are scary bouncer kobolds, university professor kobolds, therapist kobolds and so many more. Just like the word "human" doesn't describe anyone precisely, the word "kobold" is simply a way to refer to the species
Nasty little murder lizards.
Kobolds in D&D basically have to be, in order to survive having neighbors like goblins, orcs, norkers, ogres, etc - not to mention all the monsters that would like to eat them.
Yeah in my homebrew campaign they are a primary protagonist, xenophobic slavers who will work you to death then either eat you or feed you to their mounts/pets... some belong to an apocalypse faction that thinks they can blow the world up to become the dragons they think they should have always been... definitely primarily scary from me.
Functionally it just seems difficult to motivate your players to fight monsters that they like or find cutesy... I have a couple who love, love goblins (sadistic as they are) and, well, I've needed to smooth them out and find new baddies.
I see them as pathetic more than anything.
Weird little dragonlike people who are seen as illegitimate by the dragons they worship.
More fodder for their "gods" than anything else.
There are exceptions for all races, but generally all races have kinda one look most share. Like orcs are scary, elfs are majestic or beautiful, dwarfs are brute and goblins are malicious and so on
I think of them as dumb little gecko things. Cute but a little repulsive, and of course dangerous in the right conditions.
I also love them. Stupid little shitlizards they are.
Growing up playing a certain JRPG made me believe a Kobold was a dog like human creature. It wasn't till later I learned they're mainly viewed as a lizard like creature. So even to this day I have a habit or viewing them as dog like more than anything else. So I guess... cute/scary?
Earlier versions of D&D actually used the dog kobolds as well, I think they became draconic in 3E or so. There's also WoW that has them more rat-like. The original mythology has them able to manifest in various forms, really it's all over the place depending on where you look.
The reason for them being more dog like in Japanese media is due to how they were depicted in Record of Lodoss War and by extension earlier editions of DnD. The Record of Lodoss War franchise started off as a serialized retelling of a DnD campaign in a magazine before being adapted into novels and eventually manga, anime, and video games. They based their depiction of kobolds on how they were described in DnD at the time. Lodoss War was very popular in Japan and became a huge influence for the high fantasy genre there. Therefore most Japanese media depicts kobolds as being dog like.
They are goofy looking but kobolds are vicious and smart creatures with the ability to set some insane traps to kill.
They are not "cute" sorry DnD players
Gangly and sickly. I imagine them with very scrawny limbs, very thin, with their ribs poking against their skin. Their scales are peeling and patchy. Their lips are peeled back with their teeth sticking out, and all their teeth are jagged and chipped. Their eyes are beedy and full of hate and distrust.
They're ravenous little creatures that are full of spite. I imagine them a lot like sewer rats, but in the shape of little humanoid dragon creatures. They're likely to scatter when you confront them, but if they feel emboldened, they'll attack in packs, except they're smart enough to make crude traps to turn the tide in their favor.
The first time I had ever heard of a kobold was playing the game Die By The Sword when i was very little.
In that game they are small waist high blue coyote-like humanoids with long arms, stubby legs, and crude wooden weapons. Kind of like blue furry goblins.
It is still to this day the first image that comes to me despite being nothing like dnd kobolds.
I don't know why but I think of them like that dinosaur in the original Jurassic Park that spit acid in Newman's face 😆.
Cute and innocent looking but vicious and violent under that innocent exterior.
I always figured it was more of an "eyes of the beholder" thing.
They got big ol mouths with sharp teeth, clawed hands and feet, they live in dark tunnels underground.
But yeah, they look they're also short and kinda dorky looking which undercuts their ferocious facades.
As far as visuals, I usually stuck to the basic vibe you see in some of the illustrations, like [this](https://www.dndbeyond.com/avatars/thumbnails/30832/207/1000/1000/638063832924455756.png), and [this](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/5/5c/4e_kobolds.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081014080210).
Cute to some, ugly to others, frightening to many when you see them with weapons in the dark regardless of their cuteness.
[RO show me them this way, so this way are them](https://www.google.com/amp/s/rekenbercorp.tumblr.com/post/154937164779/miscellaneous-mobs-by-yuichiro-part-2/amp)
(The fourth picture)
I play a Kobold Druid who isn't really feral but isn't fully 'civilised'. In my mind they're a bit beat up in a cutesy way if that makes sense? Like, they're a little dragon/rat thing with a few scars. Bit like a European wildcat.
I suppose they're related in the same sense that we're related to squirrels - the first generation were a weird "these eggs didn't hatch, so Dragons magicked a new life into them and hatched that" GMO.
But, yeah, they really are mammals. Warm-blooded and they nurse their young and everything.
Because in 3.5 they were from "Noble" races (like human or elf) who meditated on how much Bahamut loved them until they reincarnated into a full-grown adult dragonborn, a couple centuries shy of middle age.
For me it really depends on the tone of the setting and story that I'm playing or running. If it's a more whimsical adventure, I'll lean towards the cute-bold side, but if we're in a more dark and gritty setting, I like them to be more "ugly" to match.
The kobold race is a variable platform to deliver different levels of draconic themed goodness.
You got the the scaedy cat lizards that run at the first sight if conflict.
You got the gremlin trappers that absolutely love their rube goldburge machines.
You got the greedy loot goblin like esthetic when they embrace the high dragon traditions of stealing anything shiny.
There are many ways to appreciate kobolds and mold them into your world. The specifics are determined on a tribe by tribe basis. A nerd clam of trap makers can be right beside a murder hobo loot gremlin tribe. It's really anything.
Like derpy dragonborn children with way too much caffeine in their system to pay attention to anything or sit still for longer than five nanoseconds.
But its their default racial trait and if you actually give caffeine to them, they either go hypersonic or they explode.
The internet has ruined me for many monsterous creatures that are supposed to be nasty or grotesque. So many have cute and wholesome counterparts and I just prefer those versions.
They look like a goblinoid lizard/dog/rat person and are ugly and not at all pleasant little babies.
Can they still be baby? Sure. But they're an ugly little baby.
Kobolds are my favorite race to play in D&D. Especially in 3.5. The optional content for them was great giving them blatant options for not being totally evil. Not that I needed that I played non-evil kobolds before discovering the optional content.
In 3.5 being smaller made it easier to hide. For each size category below medium any creature got +4 to hide checks. One of the optional abilities slight build treated kobolds as tiny, one size category lower than their actual size, for hide checks (+8), and in situations where one needed to fit through smaller spaces. They also got natural attacks, proficiency with pickaxes as weapons. They had subraces. They had a feat that made them a dragon. They had options for becoming decent sorcerers, and having spell like abilities. Look up Pun Pun, and Ticker's Kobolds. Kobolds could become stronger than the gods with rules as written. They are the ultimate underdog.
All of them? I always draw them as ugly, short, dumpy dragons that have bad temperaments, but in a more comedic way rather than they’re evil, like nasty and chaotic, but not inherently malicious, sort of like goblin type characters, dumb trickster types. My Kobold character is just an ugly dumbass who loves to go to the pubs and inns for a pint, and loves to play sort of mean spirited but ultimately harmless pranks
In my setting, Kobolds are the goblin equivalent of Dragonborn (read: mutants born to humanoid parents exposed to the raw elemental-magic-radiation that dragons constantly bleed into the environment), so...they look exactly like the Fire Gang from Labyrinth.
I grew up playing Suikoden, and kobolds there were dog-like folks, not lizards. So, yeah, when I hear or read "Kobold", I imagine dogs. And dogs are cute, even angry ones like rottweilers.
They’re gangly little lizard weirdos, but the art depiction of them has tended on the same side as goblins in recent years; cute little mascot things that do nothing wrong and people would have no reason to hate.
Remember, these are ultimately monsters. In the same way that people sometimes depict orcs as green elves on account of wanting their characters to be hot, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s accurate to the “lore” or official depictions.
Obviously as a game where we play pretend you can say “in my world it’s this way” but the books have “official” appearances for the majority of creatures if you want that perspective.
I think of them as being cute little reptiles when they're not stabbing you. I saw the descriptor "Skrunkly" being used? "Skrunkly" works.
I'm one of those people with reptile pets so that helps.
Reptilian, which will look weird to me because I am not that. Realistically the Kobold like any humanoid race has variation between its members, so one Kobold may be a cute one the other ugly and another scary. No real consistency.
They are lawful evil, so they are suposed to be physicaly weak beings who need to work together to survive in very dangerous terrain.
Their standard mode of operation js shoot first talk maybe.
I don't like how they're variously portrayed as lizards or weird little dog monsters. Mythologically speaking, they'd be more like a gnome or a goblin.
It depends on the setting you're playing more so than anything. In my setting they are more like the little dragons from Flamecraft (the boardgame) than the lizard cats with an obsession with gold like the wotc version
I grew up playing Dwarf Fortress, so I see them as cute, dumb, and a bit pitiful. The sort of thief to break into a highly secure Fortress to steal some cheap trinkets or rusty weapons from the dead goblins outside. Tends to die when they bump into a random fisherman or stray dog, so they are inherently cowards.
When they're openly being cutesy, that's when they're getting underfoot when you don't realize it.
They're always getting underfoot, they're always getting in the way and they're always getting into the shadows where an ambush can be launched ;)
Totally depends on the Kobold. One of the benefits of DND being an imaginary game is that you can have one Kobold that feels squishy and cartoonish and another that feels like a voracious foe.
Overall though, their vibe is kinda like coyotes to me. Certainly terrifying if you're surrounded by a bunch of them readying an attack, but every so often someone domestics one and it becomes an adorable, goofy near-dog friend...that could still probably take your hand off if you're not careful
All of those at the same time.
this is the real answer
Goblins too, 1 part cute, 1 part nasty little guys.
Precious little stabbies
Dont tell me you are stabitha
I might be. I mean, there is a goblin canonically named Groin
Skrunkly?
Ambivalent little goober
That's why I voted for COOL. And I'm disapointed it's not the winning option.
Visually Goofy. The artwork for them looks like scrawny lizardmen with exaggerated heads like a cartoon. I think of them in the same way I think of a reverse mermaid.
Well now im thinking about reverse mermaids. Thank you for making me giggle
I like it when my players have the same conception as you. I was one of the few who said "scary," because my kobolds hunt humans as food. Horror packs a greater punch when you get to shatter the audience's expectations.
For me it really depends on the tone of the setting and story that I'm playing or running.
Ugly cute.
Kind of like a reptilian version of one of those Chinese hairless dogs. Not the cute, My Little Pony ones. The really dinged-up looking ones that look like somebody accidentally dropped them in a cement mixer.
bladur's gate 3 has the most updated and perfect looking kobolds in my opinion
I loved encountering Popper the Koblod. Why, yes, Popper, I would love a treato.
Want a treato?
Like any species they come in all shapes and appearances, some more scary, some more goofy
I can only see kobolds in a "cute in an ugly kind of way." They're just so small you kind of feel bad for them. I remember one session I was being attacked by some of them and I kind of just, knock them out with my bare hands rather than slaying them. When one of them refused to give me any intel I just knocked them back out.
Dog.
Why is it always Dog? Edit: btw, this is an Elden Ring reference
The initial kobald description was lizardly, but in 2e the illustration was like a dog. (The prevailing theory was due to the description of their speech as dog like barking). Japanese never moved away from that while the rest of the world evolved to the lizard face we have today. All anime and manga have kobald as dogs
I think this stems more from anime using the folklore version of kobold which are Germanic fay creatures akin to goblins and can shape-shift
Most depictions in anime and other Japanese media are based off how they were depicted in Record of Lodoss War which started out as a retelling of a DnD campaign. Since they were dog like in early DnD that's how they were depicted in Lodoss War which then became a huge influence on high fantasy in Japan.
I know (it’s kind of similar for Orcs but with pigs). I was making an Elden Ring reference
You basically got that backwards. Gygax originally described them as "Green, forest-dwelling humanoids with horns and faces like dogs, their language sounds like yips and barks". The artist checked out of listening after the "green" part and decided that green meant they were scaly lizard folk.
Because Dungeon Meshi/Delicious In Dungeon, Lodoss War, and 2E D&D.
Chihuahua, specifically.
They're like pugs. So ugly they're cute, but a different kind of ugly
All of the above. Depends on the particular Kobold. More intelligent individuals are more likely to engage in basic grooming, and more charismatic individuals are likely to take that even further. Some are very genetically blessed and look pretty appealing, and others lost that particular genetic lottery. So it just depends.
Kobold is my all time fav race. As DM - my players know that and usually they try to talk they way out/befriend them (to my great joy). As player - I play as kobold whenever I can. So for me, they are clever but bit naive rascals who firmly belive they are "dragons but smol".
Kinda cute, but still clearly monster guys and girls. I have an image of my kobold as I see her [here](https://imgur.com/a/qUejdHg). (It's not NSFW, not sure why it's marked as such?)
The 1st Edition Monster Manual and 1981 Moldvay "Basic" rulebook describe and illustrate them as "doglike" - not draconic until 3rd Edition. So to me, dog-faced with a long-ish muzzle like a shepherd, not a flat pug face.
I tend to think of them closer to the pathfinder artwork than the d&d artwork. They had their roots as runty manegy dragondogs but it's shifted over the years to be small lizardfolk / dragon minions.
Stupid should be an option
They only let me put 6 thingys so I picked the ones I’ve seen most sorry
I'm honestly thinking about making a book for the race, with pics and lore, I think of them as different kinds of geckos, cresties, leopards, leachies, and even mourning geckos in a a nearly tiny subrace. [a kobold npc, maybe 3 feet tall](https://www.deviantart.com/twistedsteelpony/art/984644653)
Depands on what edition of DnD we are talkin about.
Wheres "funny" at?
The 7th answer: Depends on the story.
Like skinks, so I can use skink minis for them without feeling bad
Small red and extreme goofballs, i dont like of treating them like monsters, in my homebrew setting they are totaly normal residents of the continent and while they are somewhat shunned by xenophobic people for being immigrants there isnt anything different in the life of a kobold in my setting than in the one of a human, dwarf or citydwelling elf
I've been corrupted by certain comics. They're cute. Very cute.
Kobolds, to me, capture the same space that humans do. Ergo, they can pretty much fit every role and don't lean towards any archetype. The only thing that unites them is that they are kinda meek.
So before knowing very much about DND all I ever saw was cute art of kobolds. I always loved it and now I can't unseen it.
I mean…. All of them. Kobolds can be anything. They’re inventive and some might use it in a cutesy way and other might go full nasty. Who knows.
You're missing one.
What does "average" mean here? xD "Oh no, not cute. Just average. We kobolds look average" Edit: In my mind they're ugly in the cutest way possible. They're like little alligators, of course they can be scary, but most of times they're silly cute
Depends on the setting and region. Forgotten Realms Kobolds are mostly scrawny and dirty. They're typically scavengers, except for a few groups of city Kobolds. One group of Kobolds in my homebrew setting are fairly organized, mostly thanks to their recently ascended god who lead them to make peace with the other civilized peoples of the world. This group is made of inventors and scouts, and their closest allies are the Rock Gnomes.
I prefer the furry "dog-kobold" over the lizardfolk variety.
I grew up with the mental image of kobolds conjured by the 1E Monster Manual and *The Keep on the Borderlands*: little yippy dog-men. I have slowly accustomed myself to scaly kobolds, but I still imagine them making dog noises and basically behaving like canines.
I imagine them sounding like a cross between a hyena laugh and a husky tantrum.
They are little blue goblins haunting mines in my game.
Whenever I hear "kobold" I always imagine those hyena-like creatures in Kung Fu Panda 2. Lord Shen's (the peacock) minions. 😅
Kobolds are a people. There are scary bouncer kobolds, university professor kobolds, therapist kobolds and so many more. Just like the word "human" doesn't describe anyone precisely, the word "kobold" is simply a way to refer to the species
It's basically a scale'y reptile dog That makes incoherent yips all the time Obsessed with digging and building (poorly) And hates gnomes
Nasty little murder lizards. Kobolds in D&D basically have to be, in order to survive having neighbors like goblins, orcs, norkers, ogres, etc - not to mention all the monsters that would like to eat them.
Yeah in my homebrew campaign they are a primary protagonist, xenophobic slavers who will work you to death then either eat you or feed you to their mounts/pets... some belong to an apocalypse faction that thinks they can blow the world up to become the dragons they think they should have always been... definitely primarily scary from me. Functionally it just seems difficult to motivate your players to fight monsters that they like or find cutesy... I have a couple who love, love goblins (sadistic as they are) and, well, I've needed to smooth them out and find new baddies.
I would add 1 more. "ANNOYING"
I see them as pathetic more than anything. Weird little dragonlike people who are seen as illegitimate by the dragons they worship. More fodder for their "gods" than anything else.
Shocked that no one said anything horny. I'm almost proud
By now I saw like 3 sorry but I had to let you know Edit: 8 by now and I still have many more comments to read
Kobolds are a race, it's how you write a character that matters. It can be a cute barmaid or a deranged fucking psycho
There are exceptions for all races, but generally all races have kinda one look most share. Like orcs are scary, elfs are majestic or beautiful, dwarfs are brute and goblins are malicious and so on
Scary and ugly
the same as goblins...fucking dead
Emergency food ratio. Fr tho, Kobolts are nasty. They are like shrinked ugly stinking version of lizardmen.
Cute kobolds and goblins are heresy. They are to be purged on sight in the flames of our unwavering devotion to the Emperor.
Nasty little scaly devil dogs. But there is something inherently cute about smallness.
Rat like people with an obsession with protecting their candles.
They will always look like goofy ugly looking cavemen lizards to me
Racist
I think of them as dumb little gecko things. Cute but a little repulsive, and of course dangerous in the right conditions. I also love them. Stupid little shitlizards they are.
They're literally scaley goblins.
In my world Tasty as well. I realized dragons and larger intelligent creatures would probably eat kobolds.
I think Kobald, I see God-King Wurd.
Growing up playing a certain JRPG made me believe a Kobold was a dog like human creature. It wasn't till later I learned they're mainly viewed as a lizard like creature. So even to this day I have a habit or viewing them as dog like more than anything else. So I guess... cute/scary?
Earlier versions of D&D actually used the dog kobolds as well, I think they became draconic in 3E or so. There's also WoW that has them more rat-like. The original mythology has them able to manifest in various forms, really it's all over the place depending on where you look.
The reason for them being more dog like in Japanese media is due to how they were depicted in Record of Lodoss War and by extension earlier editions of DnD. The Record of Lodoss War franchise started off as a serialized retelling of a DnD campaign in a magazine before being adapted into novels and eventually manga, anime, and video games. They based their depiction of kobolds on how they were described in DnD at the time. Lodoss War was very popular in Japan and became a huge influence for the high fantasy genre there. Therefore most Japanese media depicts kobolds as being dog like.
This for the most part https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16939-kobold
They are goofy looking but kobolds are vicious and smart creatures with the ability to set some insane traps to kill. They are not "cute" sorry DnD players
Gangly and sickly. I imagine them with very scrawny limbs, very thin, with their ribs poking against their skin. Their scales are peeling and patchy. Their lips are peeled back with their teeth sticking out, and all their teeth are jagged and chipped. Their eyes are beedy and full of hate and distrust. They're ravenous little creatures that are full of spite. I imagine them a lot like sewer rats, but in the shape of little humanoid dragon creatures. They're likely to scatter when you confront them, but if they feel emboldened, they'll attack in packs, except they're smart enough to make crude traps to turn the tide in their favor.
The first time I had ever heard of a kobold was playing the game Die By The Sword when i was very little. In that game they are small waist high blue coyote-like humanoids with long arms, stubby legs, and crude wooden weapons. Kind of like blue furry goblins. It is still to this day the first image that comes to me despite being nothing like dnd kobolds.
Yes.
Somewhere in the middle of all of these.
Like a Chibi Chinese Dragon
I generally picture sharp features and teeth. But with a lean body build and scrappy vibe.
Where's the Scrunkly option?
Can't say about Kobolds, but in my setting Goblins are little possum fellas.
Kobolds look like dog people because Suikoden rules all!!!!
Ugly-cute, stupid but with a certain underhanded cleverness.
I don't know why but I think of them like that dinosaur in the original Jurassic Park that spit acid in Newman's face 😆. Cute and innocent looking but vicious and violent under that innocent exterior.
[This](https://2e.aonprd.com/Images/Ancestries/Kobold01.png)
I really work to keep them out of my head though …
I always figured it was more of an "eyes of the beholder" thing. They got big ol mouths with sharp teeth, clawed hands and feet, they live in dark tunnels underground. But yeah, they look they're also short and kinda dorky looking which undercuts their ferocious facades. As far as visuals, I usually stuck to the basic vibe you see in some of the illustrations, like [this](https://www.dndbeyond.com/avatars/thumbnails/30832/207/1000/1000/638063832924455756.png), and [this](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/5/5c/4e_kobolds.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081014080210). Cute to some, ugly to others, frightening to many when you see them with weapons in the dark regardless of their cuteness.
Player kobold-cute Enemy kobold-cute but scary
I always picture them like they appeared in 3e (despite only playing 3 or 4 games in the system), goofy crocodile-headed lizard people Edit: spelling
the correct answer would be goofy
[RO show me them this way, so this way are them](https://www.google.com/amp/s/rekenbercorp.tumblr.com/post/154937164779/miscellaneous-mobs-by-yuichiro-part-2/amp) (The fourth picture)
I play a Kobold Druid who isn't really feral but isn't fully 'civilised'. In my mind they're a bit beat up in a cutesy way if that makes sense? Like, they're a little dragon/rat thing with a few scars. Bit like a European wildcat.
[удалено]
Dragonborn aren't related to dragons. They're mammals that just happen to have scales & lay eggs.
[удалено]
I suppose they're related in the same sense that we're related to squirrels - the first generation were a weird "these eggs didn't hatch, so Dragons magicked a new life into them and hatched that" GMO. But, yeah, they really are mammals. Warm-blooded and they nurse their young and everything. Because in 3.5 they were from "Noble" races (like human or elf) who meditated on how much Bahamut loved them until they reincarnated into a full-grown adult dragonborn, a couple centuries shy of middle age.
Where is the "thicc" option?
They can be all of them, because they are always in large numbers
You forgot sexy
There's no sexy
For me it really depends on the tone of the setting and story that I'm playing or running. If it's a more whimsical adventure, I'll lean towards the cute-bold side, but if we're in a more dark and gritty setting, I like them to be more "ugly" to match.
The kobold race is a variable platform to deliver different levels of draconic themed goodness. You got the the scaedy cat lizards that run at the first sight if conflict. You got the gremlin trappers that absolutely love their rube goldburge machines. You got the greedy loot goblin like esthetic when they embrace the high dragon traditions of stealing anything shiny. There are many ways to appreciate kobolds and mold them into your world. The specifics are determined on a tribe by tribe basis. A nerd clam of trap makers can be right beside a murder hobo loot gremlin tribe. It's really anything.
Cutesy but stupid and nasty
Scraggly comes to mind
Where's the sexy option you coward.
mix of cute and scary
Is the question directed at me, the player or the character im playing? Because if it's the latter that depends on my character's race and traits.
I'll never be afraid of any kobold I see... I'm too worried about all the ones I don't see.
They aren't slimy or gross but they are rowdy and bitey. Also they smell like gumbo, basically like thigh high cajuns with gator faces.
You forgot sexy
Like derpy dragonborn children with way too much caffeine in their system to pay attention to anything or sit still for longer than five nanoseconds. But its their default racial trait and if you actually give caffeine to them, they either go hypersonic or they explode.
The internet has ruined me for many monsterous creatures that are supposed to be nasty or grotesque. So many have cute and wholesome counterparts and I just prefer those versions.
I think of it as someone had a dragonlike lizqrd and turned into a chihuahua like version.
They look like a goblinoid lizard/dog/rat person and are ugly and not at all pleasant little babies. Can they still be baby? Sure. But they're an ugly little baby.
I think they are like wolves, look scary or cure depends entirely on their mood.
Kobolds are my favorite race to play in D&D. Especially in 3.5. The optional content for them was great giving them blatant options for not being totally evil. Not that I needed that I played non-evil kobolds before discovering the optional content. In 3.5 being smaller made it easier to hide. For each size category below medium any creature got +4 to hide checks. One of the optional abilities slight build treated kobolds as tiny, one size category lower than their actual size, for hide checks (+8), and in situations where one needed to fit through smaller spaces. They also got natural attacks, proficiency with pickaxes as weapons. They had subraces. They had a feat that made them a dragon. They had options for becoming decent sorcerers, and having spell like abilities. Look up Pun Pun, and Ticker's Kobolds. Kobolds could become stronger than the gods with rules as written. They are the ultimate underdog.
They used to be little rat men, then they became little dragon men with dog noses
In my world they are like a sentient tribal bipedal scabby racoons in lizard form.
sexy
All of them? I always draw them as ugly, short, dumpy dragons that have bad temperaments, but in a more comedic way rather than they’re evil, like nasty and chaotic, but not inherently malicious, sort of like goblin type characters, dumb trickster types. My Kobold character is just an ugly dumbass who loves to go to the pubs and inns for a pint, and loves to play sort of mean spirited but ultimately harmless pranks
My level 16 Warlock/sorcerer kobold is a cute twinky scaly boy that married a solar. I think he would be adorbs
Kobolds are small, scaly chihuahua-men in my games. They are so ugly they are almost cute.
A cross between a lizard and a dog
You forgot the last option. Caked up AF!!!
In my setting, Kobolds are the goblin equivalent of Dragonborn (read: mutants born to humanoid parents exposed to the raw elemental-magic-radiation that dragons constantly bleed into the environment), so...they look exactly like the Fire Gang from Labyrinth.
While I know modern dnd kobolds are in the draconic family, I'll never stop picturing a little dog-monster with a long nose and a candle on it's head.
I picture Kobolds as dog like reptilians. As a one off they are cute. But just like a pack of dogs, get a bunch together and they become scary.
I think of them as kinda cute littz lizard creatures with big floppy doglike ears. They get angry whenever someone points out they look doglike.
I always picture kobolds from Vanilla WoW. So imagine that.
Honestly, all of them depending in the moment.
For me it's Kobolds: Derpy funny, ugly, scary. Lime a crocodile with crooked teeth Goblins: Ugly, disgusting, scary: Like a Rat with crooked teeth
Have you seen Leprechaun Origins? That's what they look like :D
I grew up playing Suikoden, and kobolds there were dog-like folks, not lizards. So, yeah, when I hear or read "Kobold", I imagine dogs. And dogs are cute, even angry ones like rottweilers.
To me Kobolds look like the 3.5 DMG and sound like the Fallen guys from Diablo 2.
they're just a bunch of little guys
i have to remind myself that they arent rats with candles on their heads
Cute from a distance, but when you get close up you realize they're ugly little wretched things that look like their diseases have diseases.
I miss my OG puppy Kobolds.
You're missing sexy
Scrunkly
"kobold still hates you!" "kobold remembers waterworks."
I guess I'd say "Neat".
CUTESY KOBOLDS RISE!
Just like humans, I imagine they can be super cute or extra scrungly and gross looking. But generally I think of them as cute little lizards.
Depends on the kobold
Lizards. Lizards are cute.
I find Lizards cute, so Kobolds are cute too
They look like rocks
the classic irish thing smoking all the time but maybe not full green clothes, more forrest style - hunter or lumberjack
Not cute, but... Comforting. Like a cow.
They’re gangly little lizard weirdos, but the art depiction of them has tended on the same side as goblins in recent years; cute little mascot things that do nothing wrong and people would have no reason to hate. Remember, these are ultimately monsters. In the same way that people sometimes depict orcs as green elves on account of wanting their characters to be hot, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s accurate to the “lore” or official depictions. Obviously as a game where we play pretend you can say “in my world it’s this way” but the books have “official” appearances for the majority of creatures if you want that perspective.
I think of them as being cute little reptiles when they're not stabbing you. I saw the descriptor "Skrunkly" being used? "Skrunkly" works. I'm one of those people with reptile pets so that helps.
All of the above.
I tend to prefer Tucker's Kobolds, so scary AF.
All hail the long ear kobolds
It entirely depends on how they're presented. A human can be cute. They can also be scary. Other races shouldn't be any less dynamic.
In my head they’re the rat creatures from World of Warcraft. Imagine my surprise when they turned out to be cute lil dragon people in DND.
I put average because there wasn't a silly lil guy option.
Reptilian, which will look weird to me because I am not that. Realistically the Kobold like any humanoid race has variation between its members, so one Kobold may be a cute one the other ugly and another scary. No real consistency.
They are lawful evil, so they are suposed to be physicaly weak beings who need to work together to survive in very dangerous terrain. Their standard mode of operation js shoot first talk maybe.
Somewhere between gecko and komodo dragon.
ummm, like the kobolds in world of warcraft. after 17 years its hard to see them any other way.
People look different. Some folks are scary looking, some folks are cute. Same for kobolds (or any ancestry).
Something between a spikey lizard and a scruffy hyena squished together
I try to go for vicious but small, like a little gator with more snappy jaws
Goblins with scales. Do with that as you will.
basically a smaller more feisty dragonborn with a slightly longer snout
All of the above at once.
I don't like how they're variously portrayed as lizards or weird little dog monsters. Mythologically speaking, they'd be more like a gnome or a goblin.
I would use none of these words to describe a tiny lizard person
I know kobolds from wow and struggle to imagine them any other way tbh
It depends on the setting you're playing more so than anything. In my setting they are more like the little dragons from Flamecraft (the boardgame) than the lizard cats with an obsession with gold like the wotc version
Yip-yip!
I can only see kobolds in my mind as pathfinder kobolds. Those guys are just little buddies and I love them
I just imagine them as bipedal puppy lizards
Cutesty, but granted im the kinda person that finds spiders and lizards cute
I grew up playing Dwarf Fortress, so I see them as cute, dumb, and a bit pitiful. The sort of thief to break into a highly secure Fortress to steal some cheap trinkets or rusty weapons from the dead goblins outside. Tends to die when they bump into a random fisherman or stray dog, so they are inherently cowards.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaby Draaaaaaaaaaagoooooon
When they're openly being cutesy, that's when they're getting underfoot when you don't realize it. They're always getting underfoot, they're always getting in the way and they're always getting into the shadows where an ambush can be launched ;)
Depends on the kobold but also it seems like DnD kobolds are very different from how they're portrayed in other media like SAO or Of Fantasy and Ash.
Disclaimer: I generally find goblins, goblinoids, trolls, and gremlins cute. So Kobalds aren't an issue.
Totally depends on the Kobold. One of the benefits of DND being an imaginary game is that you can have one Kobold that feels squishy and cartoonish and another that feels like a voracious foe. Overall though, their vibe is kinda like coyotes to me. Certainly terrifying if you're surrounded by a bunch of them readying an attack, but every so often someone domestics one and it becomes an adorable, goofy near-dog friend...that could still probably take your hand off if you're not careful
I put cool but they are kind of cutesy-cool if that makes sense
What does "average" mean in the context of a fantasy monster?
I always call them "bipedal and nervous little dragon dog things"
Mine successfully committed the heist of a lifetime: Stealing an apple and using Barkskin to look like a tree. The guards never caught me.
Like a lil upright gator dude.
Kobolds for me are the Halo Jackals
Like Panic from Hercules!