What They Don't Tell You About Kobolds - D&D

before we get started over 60 of those of you who watch my videos are actually not subscribed if you haven't already go ahead and subscribe that is free will always be free and you can always unsubscribe easily later if you change your mind so go ahead and subscribe now on to the video kobolds are often characterized as filthy little reptiles barely better than goblins they're malicious but of little actual menace catch kobolds in their lair where they're almost certainly hard at work mining and such a description might be fitting no one ever suspected that being underestimated was the kobold's goal kobolds are meticulous creatures with sorcery in their blood a variety of reptile with a strong work ethic discounted as pests or worse by many others cobalts are a long-suffering race with many talents and clever tricks only the foolish overlooked the threat that kobolds actually pose but first a word from our sponsor this video is brought to you by the grim hollow players guide a 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monster manual now unlike our video on the tree ends most of what you will find here in this entry is actually not particularly useful though i will attribute that more to the fact that many of us already know what the kobolds are all about if you have played dnd for a relatively decent amount of time then most of what you will find in here will actually come as no surprise in here we're told that cobalts are physically frail and rely on large numbers in order to survive down here we're told that they have a knack for creating tunnels under the ground and filling those tunnels with clever traps and then over here we're told that sometimes a kobold might be born with wings those cobalts are called orts though normal couples are jealous of them and don't quite treat them as well that's what you get as far as their description and personality not a lot and i bet you already knew most of that we do get an interesting piece here though about their god which is actually really cool it says here that in addition to the dragons that they revere kobolds worship a lesser god named kortulmak legends speak of how cryptal max served as tiamat's vassal in the nine hills until girl glittergold the god of gnomes stole a trinket from her horde tiamat sent kourtelmak to retrieve the trinket but garl glittergold played a trick on him collapsing the earth and trapping the kobold god in an underground maze for all eternity for this reason kobolds hate gnomes and pranks of any kind now that is a really cool paragraph we'll of course cover that in just a bit though first in here we can see their stats and you can see that they are truly frail a single decent hit from basically almost any weapon will kill a cobalt they have a slightly below average stat though i would take that with a grain of salt cobalts can be very clever when they need to be so keep that in mind they have dark vision but with a sunlight sensitivity they mostly stay underground building their tunnels and hence they obviously hate the sun pack tactics here represent how weak they are when alone but how strong they can be when they have number superiority and then lastly here their attacks you will notice that they use mostly tiny weapons like daggers and slings in the lore we're told that they are not strong enough to wield bows even just the effort of pulling the string to shoot the arrow requires more strength than when a cobalt actually possesses and that's why they use those links instead but yeah there you have it the entry gives you just the bare necessities that you would need in order to understand the basics of what a cobalt is but there is so much man so much that you guys are missing out on these guys are legitimately really cool but yeah anyways let's go over and talk about what the 5th edition monster manual and volaska 2 monsters did not tell you about kobolds first of all i want to talk about the beginnings of kobolds and about quartermac because unfortunately even though the part about the cobalt god was the coolest part in the monster manual entry it is actually fairly incorrect at least when it comes to the forgotten realms see canon is a curious word in dungeons and dragons because there are multiple worlds and universes in the game things happen one way in one world and then differently in another because of that i always focus whenever possible on the forgotten realms which is the world where the video games like baldur's gate are set the world where the dungeons dragons mmo is set the world where some of the more popular dnd fiction books are set and the world where most of the fifth edition adventures are set this world is called the forgotten realms and it was designed and created by ed greenwood i focus on this world because it is obviously where most of the products focus on so i figured it is the world you guys would enjoy hearing about the most but sometimes finding what's canon and what isn't to this world is difficult most times we're told something and we're just meant to take it at face value but some other times information differs greatly between editions and books thankfully in previous editions there were lore books that were released that were official to very specific worlds like for example this book here called the grand history of the realms which as it sounds is a book that is very specific about the history of what happened in the forgotten realms it is thanks to this book that we know all about the ancient elvish empires of old about the giants about how dragons were born and more to the point how cobalts were created information that contradicts what the 5th edition master manual says in essence this information in the monster manual is probably meant to just be a generic understanding of kobold's understanding that could apply to as many worlds as possible but because we are interested specifically in the forgotten realms we're gonna talk about what's true in the forgotten realms in essence when you go and play baldur's gate 3 this information that i'm about to give you is what's actually canon in that world quote it is told that when io first created the true dragons they were originally immortal gods less powerful than io but much like him to make each one of his creations distinct io gave each a different aspect of his personality these divine dragons rarely got along pursuing only one goal in common the acquisition of material wealth the true dragons quickly realized they lacked the power to manipulate creation in all the ways necessary to accomplish their goals and they petitioned io for aid io being an impartial god would not play favorites with his creations and gave each dragon the same choice he taught them how to create life by giving up a piece of themselves but he warned them that in so doing they would permanently be rendered mortal and eventually die the life they created however would serve their desires without fail perhaps not yet wise enough to appreciate their divine existence the dragons accepted the knowledge io offered and departed to the world below they took up residence in widely separate lands there the true dragons did as io instructed each severing a single lamb not only did the limb start growing back immediately but the severed part also grew into an adult dragon the original true dragons thereby gained mate furthermore wherever the dragon's blood had spilled little creatures began to emerge out of the ground with alert crimson eyes already looking up at their creators for guidance thus were kobolds born witnesses to the moments during which the immortality of the true dragons slipped away when io gave the secret of creation to the true dragons the first dragon to put that ritual into practice was kai singh i i don't know how to pronounce her kai singh jack a green dragon the first kobold to take form out of her blood was quartalmak from the beginning kortelmach was much larger than any of his kin for this reason casein jack always commanded her kobolds through cortalmak as a result the towering kobold naturally ascended to a position of leadership when casein jack told the kobolds to mine for precious metals cortel mack invented a pickaxe when casein jack told the covalt to tile her lair with gold cortulmec mined the first draconic coin when casein jack told the kobolds to mine precious stones krytelmak taught himself sorcery and learned how to define where minerals were located when casey jack's lair was finally completed laden with platinum filled with gold and gleaming with gemstones she had become the wealthiest true dragon in creation without further need for mortal servants she released the kovalds from their duties to embrace their own destiny in emulation of his former mistress cortomack immediately began mining a layer of its own although he never asked for any help in this endeavor he nonetheless received it assisted by every cobalt he had worked beside for the past several decades end quote now this is where it gets interesting in its endless search for wealth minerals and expansionism courtemak and his cobbled vassals found a rare sanctum filled with special gems and with gnomes see gnomes originally came from gems their souls were found originally in gems and the gnome god garld glitter gold gave them life and turned them from original gems into what they are today well the kobolds found this sanctum filled with these gems and with gnomes and then they enslaved them in fact the entire backstory of the gnomes is filled with different people enslaving them but the kobolds were actually the first different wars were enacted during this period with the dragons fighting themselves and fighting others and during one of those major wars garold managed to save the gnomes and their crystals and then collapsed the underground empire of the kobolds in a massive cataclysmic haven basically killing most of them at that point the empire of the kobolds was massive and all of it just completely destroyed in a single swift move and none of the dragons helped cortalmak and his vassals except for io himself who peeded him he turned cortalmak into a true god and made him a martyr that the remaining covalents would remember for all time from then on court tolmak would never let them forget how the gnomes ruined their burgeoning empire in the past which is why kovals hate them so much even in the present which by the way is incredibly important the hatred that kobolds have for gnomes is mentioned in the monster manual but also in every single cobalt entry that has ever existed in dnd look it is even here in the first edition entry in fact you want to hear something hilarious the godly symbol of cortelmack is literally the skull of a gnome sometimes impaled by a weapon the level of pettiness in here is unreal and i love it now this story is important because it shows you multiple things one kobolds do indeed come from dragons and deep inside their bodies there is true dragon blood two reverence towards true dragons is historic for them and also ingrained in their dna and three their mining strength and their ability to find wealth underground is legendary even amongst godly beings it was thanks to the kobolds that case in jack became the wealthiest dragon in all creation so now that you know the birth of kobolds and their very unfortunate beginnings let's actually talk about them now what are they what do they do a cobalt is a very short reptilian humanoid with weak bony frames and a small non-prehensile tail they stand about two to two and a half feet tall which is for comparisons smaller than even halflings and gnomes they would be a little bit taller but their legs are naturally bent and poised for sudden speed they are also double jointed they could stretch their legs and if they do they would increase their size by up to one foot but it is actually very uncomfortable for them to do so their skin is scaly and can range in color from brown to reddish black though it is important to keep in mind that those cobbles that possess strong dragon blood can have coloration similar to that of the dragon which they get their power from their face is like a crocodile with a jaw that can open wide enough to hold a whole melon their teeth are strong but they fall out multiple times throughout their life a couple's whole set of teeth actually gets completely replaced during the span of three years multiple times throughout their life and cobbles make necklaces out of their teeth to symbolize just how old they are constantly alert and wide the eyes of a cobalt range in color from burnt ochre to red a ridge of small horn-like bone juts above each brow and sweeps backwards the protrusions growing larger and more pronounced towards the rear of the skull kobolds speak draconic but their voice sounds very different than that of true dragons or humanoids speaking reconyx see cobbles actually sound like a yapping dog whenever they speak and obviously combined with the shape of the head which many have described as being sort of canine has led to gobbles to not be treated seriously by the rest of civilization something they actually use to their advantage see kobolds have many strengths that people don't know about one of them is their long lasting life something no one ever sees coming thanks to their draconic blood kobots can actually live for up to 120 years which is obviously not as much as some of the elder races like dwarves and elves but way more than most fast breeding races like goblins or orcs 120 is just the beginning though gobold's blessed with particularly powerful draconic blood can get to live for almost 400 years those particular type of kobolds we call dragon rotcovalds and they are considered somewhat sacred in cobalt culture these kobolds have wings extended lifespan and are generally more powerful so this is not just draconic ancestry sorcery we're talking about here these are probably the equivalent what a half dragon would be to a human for the covalent rays except that they actually have a chance of just hatching one of these ones naturally these guys were even immune to sleep and paralysis magic bringing themselves even further aligned with true dragons it is ironic however that true dragons are warm blooded but cobalts are actually cold blooded ironic of course because blood is the connection they share they have draconic blood quote while kobolds do generate some internal body heat from taking in food and engaging in activity they are dependent on their environment for warmth this is one reason why they live underground especially in their native temperate climate being a cold-blooded humanoid has advantages and disadvantages warm temperatures are comfortable to cobalts who can sustain their bodies by literally soaking up heat a couple to inhabit a region with a temperature of 40 degrees fahrenheit or above for 24 hours can go for another three days after that time before having to eat normally the downside is that cobalts feel the cold more profoundly sudden chilling temperatures such as being struck by a cone of cold spell do not affect cobalts more than normal but prolonged cold increases their need for sustenance after inhabiting a region with a temperature below 40 degrees fahrenheit for more than three days kobolds must consistently consume three times as much food per day than it is normal for their size end quote food is typically not that much of a concern for them regardless however since a desperate covalt can eat almost anything they can eat bark bones dirt they can eat leather or even shells for sustenance a tribe of kobolds that is short on provisions feeds its youngest members whatever they can eat end quote but yeah all of that should answer the question of what is a kobold but i think the fun question is what does a couple do which is the whole point of this channel this i think will be the part that most of you will like especially those of you who are fan of kobolds let's talk about the vibrant kobold culture kobold's lives culture relationships religion basically anything that is anything in a cobalt's life is based off of mining why because mining is what a kobold does a kobold spends the entire existence mining making tunnels finding ore and mining some more of course this depends on the stature of the kobold and what is his station but 99 of kobolds basically just swing pickaxes all day you can imagine the most hard life imaginable a taxing dangerous life that requires extreme amounts of endurance and determination and that is the kobolds live except that they actually love it here check out this quote quote cobalts live in a non-deviating state of contentment despite any setback experienced by their tribe end quote kobolds live extremely fulfilling lives doing what they do this comes from their draconic ability to take the long view to plan ahead for the future and work for the future instead of focusing on the present quote their individual lives might be fleeting but the impact of their presence in the world is widely felt a powerful self-sacrificing instinct rules kobolds whenever their tribe is endangered kobolds readily struggle against impossible odds or unconquerable foes simply to buy time or coordinate a diversion the needs of the tribe await the continued existence of any one cobalt this is not to say that kobolds needlessly throw their lives away they value their lives no less than any other creature retreating when necessary this selfless behavior carries over into everyday life expansion of the tribe is more important than personal accomplishments and any personal accomplishments should advance the tribe success of the tribe is personal success end quote what is interesting is that this is no mere philosophy for the kobold they truly feel this way if the tribe is expanding and becoming wealthier the kobold truly feels that satisfaction so even if said kobold works 12-hour shifts in a mine the very notion that this allows the tribe to expand and become bigger fills it with determination and more importantly with happiness once again kobos live their life in a non-deviating state of contentment kobolds when they mine and when they're with their family they're just happy and as generally happy and fulfilled people kobolds are also very hygienic in spite of the fact that they spend all day working hard in minds see cobbles shed their skin like many other reptiles do but instead of a big shed like snakes do kobolds shed their skin in patches when this process starts kobolds brush their scales in order to remove the old skin whenever possible to stay vibrant otherwise they use a very popular oil in their culture called bitter leaf the oil strengthens their scaly skin and makes them shine using this oil basically delays shedding indefinitely for as long as they use it now you might not know it but covals also love baths in fact their favorite non-mining pastime is actually bathing and they always take the opportunity to bathe whenever a natural spring is found they're also very meticulous about their teeth and claws making sure that they are always clean quote kobolds shoe roots and bones to strengthen their gums and clean the surface of their teeth and quote i think this goes without saying even though for some reason it is strange to visualize but you need to understand that the generic kabul tribe is filthy rich this guy's literally mine all day and they are really good at finding minerals and ore this wealth is spread across all the kobolds and so they love to wear gem encrusted things from necklaces to bands to earrings they especially like to adorn their tails with bling on the other hand combos don't typically get access to normal clothing attires since they don't have ways to get cotton or similar materials instead they harvest silk from underground spiders and worms whenever possible and use that as clothing quote as a miner the typical kobold dresses for freedom of movement which usually takes in the form of a sleeveless leather tunic and breeches that stop above the knee the consistent temperatures found in underground environments means that cobbles usually do not have to consider dressing for warmth footwear does not exist in cobalt society the idea of wearing footwear has never occurred to kobolds not even for comfort cobalts rely heavily on their double jointed legs and articulated feet to maintain their speed and balance moving across rugged terrain poses no difficulty for a barefooted kobold whose feet are so naturally tough and cloud that gravel and rough stone caused no pain end quote now it is very interesting that the lore actually describes the kobolds being even better at mining and finding wealth than the dwarves themselves what they lack in physical strength they more than make up for with sheer numbers kobolds simply reproduce extremely fast and they all work in tandem all day every day quote kobold labor forces are a marvel to behold when fast at work cobbles function like a hive of ants despite the swarming masses of bodies devoted to one task they rarely trip over each other instinctively knowing where to apply their help most efficiently using their tails to help avoid collisions this work ethic permeates every level of magical and technological advancement in cobalt society from planning to execution cobalt's work competently and with amazing speed end quote this is helped by the fact that cobols are extremely religious but they don't serve their god as a traditional humanoid with prayers and worship instead hard work is worship to a cobalt and action on behalf of the tribe is a prayer every single swing of their pickaxe is like a song to their god and they take their god very seriously in fact it is hilarious that one of the main jobs of a cleric in kobold society is to specifically go to where the workers are toiling and to try and increase their efficiency again the cleric's job is just to go to where the workers are and make them work better these clerics of quartermac are also there to work as doctors in the front lines healing and treating workers injuries these clerics also help incentivize work by performing singing phrases to their god songs that have a rhythmic quality to them that can be sang while swinging a pickaxe into the ground the other main jobs of a cleric of chortle mac is to use divination magic to actually find where the minerals and ore are so that the tribe can mine in that direction sometimes they are made to cast augmental magic on workers to help them work faster basically they're just there to make mining better some of these tasks are also taken by kobold sorcerers depending on the powers granted to them by their blood but generally speaking being a sorcerer is definitely seen as more of a blessing than that of a cleric quote in contrast to most humanoid cultures cobalt sorcerers are not left to discover their abilities through trial and error couples with a talent for sorcery are guided through the awakening of their abilities and directed towards specific types of magic entering into this calling is a deeply reverential act surrounded with more ceremony than any other part of cobalt culture a cobalt sorcerer is required to make lifetime vows to the craft of sorcery not unlike swearing into the priesthood end quote see when a cobalt is revealed to have the spark of sorcerous magic in their blood they can undertake what kobolds call the draconic rite of passage which awakens the power within the blood of kobolds this right however requires only the one performing the passage it is a solitary activity but this is necessary if you're a cobalt and half sorcery if you're a player character or you're a dm and you're planning on adding a kobold sorcerer they must pass through this the kobold must spend nine whole days fasting without eating a single thing then they must enter into a deep trance that lasts for 24 hours some couples pass it others don't most times the problem lies with the kobold not being able to focus hard enough to enter into this deep trance the cobalt must then also sacrifice a gem worth a hundred gold pieces during the ritual and the kobold will also permanently lose some of his vigor in the process but if all of this is completed successfully then the kobold will become finally a sorcerer however in order to regain the spells the cobalt has used during the previous day it must meditate every morning in what kobolds call the searching for the dragon meditation see at the start of every single day before mining begins the entire tribe of kobolds gather together in a large hall each kobold picks a spot on the floor and then closes his or her eyes and then casts their mind inward so that they can quote embrace the wellspring of kobold heritage the silence and stillness of a tribal meditation is awe-inspiring one can hear the giraffes blowing in the empty tunnels and an unattended fire crackling in the distance this daily meditation lasts for at least 15 minutes and is known as searching for the dragon end quote a cobalt sorcerer must do this every single morning in order to get his spells back for the day now outside of the clerics of cortalmak and the dragonic sorcerers the other and last leadership position that kobolds fill is what they call the all-watcher which for all intents and purposes is the leader of the tribe quote a cobalt old watcher is the leader of their tribe and the accountant of the tribe's accumulated wealth in addition to approving chosen one bonds and arbitrating matters of betrayal and exile an old watcher is concerned with the dispersal of wealth generated by the minds this duty not only involves allocating wealth among the tribe's major groups but also deciding how resources should be spent to strengthen the tribe's position in the world experts offer a steady stream of proposals for augmenting the tribe's lair and expanding influence kobolds scholars priests and arcane spellcasters similarly proposed areas where cobalt knowledge and power can be increased to lucrative effect military commanders recommend feasible and beneficial engagements a cobalt all watcher must weigh all of these options and choose where to devote assets beyond this responsibilities an all-watcher must be an unyielding taskmaster she must set deadlines for projects and allocate workers to them to ensure their timely completion the challenge for a leader is to make every kobold feel that she is benefiting from and contributing to the wealth of the tribe rather than simply working for the sake of working kobolds earned positions based on merit with no arbitrary system of social classes to prevent advancement aristocrat and commoner non-player character classes do not exist in global society a tribe is largely made up of experts and warriors with adapts supervising the mining operations end quote as you can see when i said before that everything about their lives revolves around mining i wasn't exaggerating their religion their hobbies and the way they live their lives surrounding that which they do all day even their love life and reproduction that we will talk about that in a bit later now what's interesting is how all of this impacts their social life with other creatures see kobolds actually dislike virtually any other humanoid race the fact that they live in a world of giants with them being so tiny has made them social pariahs to the world especially when the other tiny creatures have already banded together with the giants how could a kobold ever live harmoniously with humans if they have a thriving gnome community in their cities this is exacerbated by the fact that kobolds out of every single humanoid race have the longest memory when it comes to spite everyone talks about how dwarves never forget an insult or how they hold grudges for a really long time well those people have never met a cobalt a cobalt will remember something mean you did to it for its entire life and would have spent his whole life to just planning revenge it is important to know though that kobolds are not as monstrous as you might envision them to be their revenges are more petty than murders really whereas you might never truly be able to make friends with a true orc because of the murderous blood that runs in their veins or whether you might never be able to really allow goblins to run free in a city because of how cruel they are kobolds are actually quite docile if treated well and especially if they're allowed to just earn their wealth and to mine this is why you should never compare goblins and kobolds they are just vastly different in personality that being said none of this applies with gnomes quote if kobold's love one thing is seeing a gnome beg for his miserable life they despise gnomes and the feeling is mutual the two races barely manage civility towards each other even under optimal diplomatic conditions despite how well she may hide it a part of every cobalt is constantly looking for a dagger whenever a gnome is present end quote this is compounded by the fact that kobolds take offense from simple misunderstandings which is very characteristical of their race if you're a dm and you want to role play a cobalt or you are a player trying to find information on how to play one this is key kobolds always have a chip on their shoulder when dealing with other races when they are alone or with their own kind they are just blissfully happy with no problems in the world but with others it's like they always have something to prove and anything a person says just always robs them the wrong way and again kobolds always hold grudges and they always plan for a petty revenge these behaviors also radically shift when dealing with dragons who kovals see as older and wiser kin and as cultural heroes cruelty mack might be the kobold deity sure but dragons represent a tangible glory that kortelmach cannot provide and in their presence cobalts become servile doing anything required of them the body and soul of kobolds are dedicated to dragons and have been since the inception of their race in the world literally and figuratively every morning in their searching for the dragon ritual they pledge themselves fully in body to the dragon and they mean it if you actually do find a tribe of kobolds who is actually not rich chances are it is because they have a dragon overlord who has already taken it all now it is interesting that this respect also follows half dragons a half dragon has a good chance of commanding entire tribes of kobold if he is charismatic enough however a half dragon half gnome is an abomination that must be destroyed lest it pollute the draconic bloodline dragonborn on the other hand are not treated with the same respect it is more of a suspicion with grudging respect since their beginnings are questionable especially since most of them were created rather than just being the natural descendants of dragons so there you have it all of this should answer the question of what do kobolds do but there is still a lot left especially because we haven't even talked about reproduction and relationships within global society which is very important since numbers are what makes kobold strong see kobolds are so physically frail that typically a single hit will kill them whether it is with a sword strike or an arrow to the body anything you do to them will kill them and that is why they rely on numbers so much and why it is their greatest strength see kobolds have two great benefits to their reproductive process one is that their eggs are extremely resilient like wildly resilient in fact in the lore cobalts are described as having one of the highest birth rates within humanoids but the second benefit is that they can reproduce a lot and very very fast but yeah so this is how it works once a female cobalt has been fertilized she will then lay an egg within 2 weeks though there is a 10 chance that it will be 2 eggs instead the egg must then be incubated for 60 days after which time it hatches into a cobalt wormlink that is from the get-go able to walk and feed after only a few hours the whole process is actually very easy for all parties involved and the cobalt female can lay the egg and basically just go back to work almost immediately the eggs are all put into a communal hatchery where a cleric of courtemak and a couple of other kobolds take care of them to make sure that they are incubated properly and what's interesting is that you only need a very small group of kobolds to take care of a bunch of different eggs at a time the eggs can be transported and disturbed if needed without actually causing any problems to the embryo and in fact even if the egg is broken there is still a good chance that the baby will not be damaged especially if it happens on the later stages of the incubation process this means that it is very rare for an egg to be lost and even during the mist of baby making efficient mining can still be done since the mother can just go back to work really quickly when you combine all of this you get an efficient baby making machine by the time a cobble female gets fertilized it only takes two months and a half for a walking and feeding baby cobalt to come out but the biggest thing is that it only takes two weeks from fertilization to the laying of the egg so a female cobalt can just go and get fertilized again and deliver another baby in just two weeks this is why we have so many cobalts and because the eggs are all put in a communal hatchery nobody actually knows whose babies are actually theirs and instead everyone just treats each other more like cousins and family in essence everyone is family in the tribe this is compounded by the fact that kobolds don't particularly form romantic bonds with one another and sexual activity is not considered taboo in the least a female will have multiple sexual encounters throughout the week so by the time she is ready to lay an egg it is actually impossible to know who was the father the lore however does describe that kobolds who share two similar dna as in if two cobalts are actually brothers or directly related they can actually smell it on each other as in kobolds can actually smell who their direct close family is they only use this information though to avoid mating with those people since mating with close relatives will never yield children now thanks to the incredibly high number of kobolds that you will find in any one warren there's never nowhere near close enough enough space for every couple to have their own room and as such everyone sleeps together in the same room and changed together in the same room being naked around each other is considered also completely normal and they have no shame at all in fact generally speaking in kobold society clothing is optional most people just do it for the sake of feeling different but many don't even dress so keep that in mind i guess anyways quote kobolds only rarely engage in any activity resembling romantic love most find their communal life among tribe members satisfying enough a cobalt can live her whole life without forming a bond to any sort of significant other kobolds who form an emotional attachment to another kobold are drawn to that one out of mutual respect and increased productivity the potential partners often meet because of having to work with one another and then find that they work better jointly than they did alone and as such cobalts who don't work together only rarely ever become romantically involved cobalts were attached in this manner take an oath to serve and care for one another each becoming the other's chosen one the would-be couples all watcher must approve the match and with that done a priest witnesses the oaths and blesses the joining such unions are rarely monogamous because both sexes are still compelled by mating instincts and are likely to succumb to those influences if separated from one another for too long since sex itself has little emotional value to kobolds these extramarital liaisons create no friction between couples couples who bond together in this way are provided with personal living quarters if their status and contributions to the tribe merit such a privilege usually the old watcher allocates an area that the couple must then excavate end quote because of all of this the population of a cobalt warren is always bound to explode to the point where it becomes inefficient this is actually considered to be a great positive quote it is only through vast population however that a tribe can hope to thrive and become wealthy so kovals shamelessly reproduce impersonal mating is commonplace with females choosing mates by practical measures instead of influences such as love or lust while kobolds do form bonding relationships the idea of sexual monogamy is alien to them kobold's desire to spread their kind everywhere and the inability of one warrant to contain a tribe's population is celebrated part of the old tribe breaks off to expand into new territory end quote see when this happens the kobolds will separate their tribe in half with each half having all the important necessary representatives that they will need and then the two halves separate one stays in the old warren while the other will go out and search for a new mountain to mine typically it is at this time that conflict between the kobolds and other races tend to occur since see since most times kobolds just mind their own business they seldom start wars with other races but when their tribes become too big and then they're forced to expand and find new land that's when feathers are ruffled that being said generally speaking you will tend to see kobolds retreat from skirmishes fairly quickly since there's generally no profit in long military engagements and the cobalt code commands them to retreat if certain victory is not assured they only make final stance when their backs are truly against the wall and they lack the resources to travel further or when they have no true place to settle this is when they are at their most dangerous see quote kobolds believe that no obstacle exists that cannot be defeated by strength of numbers they are one of the few races that strike fear into their enemies not due to combat prowess but rather because of the suffocating wave of bodies that they can muster a cobalt army is a pounding onslaught of flailing weapons hurling itself against supposedly impenetrable defenses until those defenses crack buckle and break this time-honored tactic although completely devoid of elegance has been the turning point in more than one battle shifting the balance of a stalemate in the kobold's favor and winning that day to that end kobold's commanding officers planned for and accept a large number of casualties among their troops end quote now this is made worse by the fact that kobolds have no qualms in sacrificing their life if it serves the tribe this is something that cortalmak also incentivates see if you were ever wondering how calm kobolds are so chill about just getting demolished in any attack this is why kobolds place no emphasis on the body attaching more importance in their belief in a cycle of reincarnation quote couples believe that if they die in service to their tribe cortalmak immediately sends each of them back to life as the next egg laid in a hatchery if a particularly important or respected member of a tribe dies the hatchery is closely monitored the next egg laid is immediately separated from the rest and carefully protected once hatched the resultant wyrmling is groomed to fill up a position of importance if not the position of the recently deceased cobalt such wormlinks are given the name of their predecessor in some form end quote though it gets even more interesting than that if a couple dies while serving her own needs rather than those of the tribe krotelmak reincarnates them as the next pup born in the dire weasel stables she basically becomes a domesticated animal unable to choose whether to serve very ironic and i love it going even further though if a kobold dies betraying their tribe they are incarnated as a giant stag beetle which kobolds hunt for their kite and as armor but then a colt can also find the greatest glory in such a death if a kobold dies not only in the service of the tribe but in a matter that involves a sacrifice of its life for the greater good of the tribe then curtail mag welcomes that kobold into his own mind in heaven this is why cobalts are totally cool with just throwing their lives away in war that's literally all it takes for them to get to heaven see heaven is interesting in dnd as a human you kind of have to live your whole life in virtue of the god you serve you have to do good by it and every god is of course different sometimes getting into your desired heaven is just a lot of work for a cobalt all you have to do is sacrifice yourself in the service of your tribe just like the nords of skyrim who also must die in combat to get to savangard this creates a great incentive to just go all out without fear and just die for your brethren so whenever you're fighting kobolds and you see them just charging at you to happily ready to die dying with a smile in their face now you know why but further it gets even better in heaven the most productive and loyal of kobolds get eventually reincarnated as true dragons which further incentivizes them to work hard it's a great racket that kurtlemac has going for himself here but this is the beating heart of cobalt culture this is why they are the way they are and this is why even the kobolds can easily live for up to 120 years they rarely ever make it past 10. but now just a couple of things that i couldn't eloquently fit on the script but it's cool enough that i just wanted you all to know koopals are great merchants because they are forced to trade in many things that they simply cannot get underground they however do not want others to know that they are covered when they're trading for fear that their minds will be compromised and because of that they actually use magic and other tactics to pretend to be a different kind of humanoid when they go to make deals in cities you could be buying a great diamond from a random trader in the town so you could cast your resurrection spell or something without actually knowing that you're making a deal with a cobalt in disguise they're actually really good with those magics part of their sorceress blood you also probably didn't know that kobolds can actually change their sex if because of war or any other reason the tribe has a scarcity of either males or females any cobalt can actually over time change their sex to the opposite and this doesn't hinder them in any way you also probably didn't know that kobolds have a natural fear of bears since one of the most common enemies that they face when making mines are bears trying to find a cave to hibernate a single great bear can call dozens of kobolds and so they have evolved to be very much afraid of them you also probably didn't know that when a cobalt commits a heinous act and is further sentenced to death these death sentences are typically enacted via death by traps kobolds do this in order to test the effectiveness of traps while simultaneously giving death to the criminal if a cobalt manages to survive or avoid three traps then the cobalt is considered to have gained his freedom and is generally considered from then on a hero and then lastly among kovald's traps are an art form few artisans are as obsessed with the minor details of their work as a master kobold trap maker these creatures revel in the intricacies of their inventions koopals rarely indulge in creativity over function but exceptions are made for a cunning trap i could have gone deeper into explaining their culture revolving around traps but i figured that this is probably the most well known factor of kobolds people generally speaking when they think of kobolds they think of traps so i didn't want to focus too hard on this the video is already wildly long as it is but just know that traps are so commonplace in cobalt culture that many of them have plenty of deadly traps even in their own bedrooms this gives them no anxiety whatsoever in fact to ecovolt a deadly trap in their own room is what a dangerous dog would be to a human owner yeah both could kill you and you probably shouldn't step on either one i would like to personally thank my patreon supporters zack bowell ricardo fan barry maskant 5e magic shop daniel umar morgan johnson rusty rayne biotechnofrag daniel luna duck feeder brad salazar terry kolp the great codini walker motley omega scales ziran king ozol ariel nelson alex cookson griffin pierce fawkey951 benjamin bosters mr salty thomas hunt drayden tesla coyle the royal playing junkies podcast prince daylight morning crown jericho dark star sabine kershaw solarensis or doric williams latin nathan mccomb bushido burrito ag dare music soulless writer roleplay with advantage stalia items to astound on dm's guild samuel king lost crusader jacob ortiz tython sean douthat and garrett minich for supporting me on patreon at the 25 level if you would like to support me as well then please head on over to patreon.com mr rex to support my voice is non-existent at this point this always happens whenever i record any of these 40 plus minute videos but i i hope that you guys are happy with it i um posted a comment on the youtube post thing and you guys seemed pretty positive about having just a long video instead of multiple short ones so i hope that this was satisfactory for you guys but please make sure to click the link in the description or in the comment section to go into the kickstarter and check it out yourself the book that i told you guys about before grim hollow was a tremendous book these guys made great work before and i have no doubt that they will make great work uh for this new book that they're creating so go ahead please support them please support the kickstarter i have great hope for that project but yeah with that said thank you guys for watching thank you guys for liking and viewing the video and i'll see you all next time bye

Channel: MrRhexx

Views: 544,409

Rating: 4.9386926 out of 5

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Id: eSUBtv9iS-E

Length: 50min 33sec (3033 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 21 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/DarkSoulsXDnD]

Great vid, love it.