Kobold

Perhaps the most controversial thing not related to the mechanics of the game I've seen discussed on the topic of Pathfinder 2nd edition is the art direction of the Kobold. I will forever be a defender of these big-headed, skink-lookin' things. If you disagree? Please @ me on Twitter and I will tell you you're wrong *to your face*. Now that I'm done being needlessly aggressive, let's talk kobolds.

The kobold is the draconic counterpart to the goblin in a lot of fantasy media. Oftentimes you will find them close to one another in proximity or goals—they may even serve the same evil overlord (should they choose to serve someone other than themselves).

While I am personally opposed to the traditional stereotyping of a particular ancestry as wholly evil—evidently Paizo is too given both kobolds and Goblins are playable ancestries in Pathfinder Society—the kobolds present in the bestiary make great adversaries for a new upstart group of players.

Their favored tactics include, but are not limited to, the following: sneaking, swarming, trapping, and of course, running away.

The dragon mage, scout, and warrior all have Sneak Attack which allows for a surprising amount of additional damage at low levels. They are particularly dangerous in packs when they greatly outweigh a foe in the action economy of a particular fight.

As the kobolds are starting creatures, they are designed to be extremely versatile and can be used in most fantasy settings. Deploy them as vicious and tricky adversaries or as misunderstood scamps that cause a bit of mischief here and there.

It helps that they're cute—wherever you use them, they can be a great learning experience for new players that not all the "bad guys" look the part.

- Reece // @Cobalt_Crusader -- come at me -- 

Hook 1 (Max) - Locker, Kobold Thief Extraordinaire 

Do you need a master thief? Someone that can bypass any trap? Someone who can find their way into every possible place? Well, look no further, Locker has got you covered!

Truly an artist in his field, he knows everything there is to know about locks, traps, safes, and anything in between, putting to good use the knowledge of his people in this regard. He elevates the natural predilection towards trapmaking—a hallmark of all kobolds—to a whole new level. There are many stories of Locker's exploits, at least some of which are bound to be true.

It is not easy to find him, harder yet to get him on a job. But once he commits to a task, there is no stopping him. Despite the difficulties in hiring him, he can never resist a good challenge, for Locker believes that no lock or contraption can best him.

And, to be completely honest? There might be some truth to it.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - Beyond The Trench

In the ages past, when battles were fought with glorious charges on open battlefields, kobolds were rarely seen as an important player in global geopolitics.

But the Great War came, and with it, trench warfare became the norm. In the past fifteen years of slaughter, the Kobold nation of Wingsreach has risen to become a major force. In the age of shifting borders and contested territories, their frontier, littered with endless trenches and countless traps, has never moved a single inch. No one even seems to know what their endgame is, either.

Despite all this, when Captain Khazad is sent to retrieve a prisoner of war taken behind their lines, he does not back down.

Hook 3 (TJ) - From Many Rise One

The traps of a small group of kobolds are little to be worried about for those that are prepared. Without a guiding force, kobolds remain unorganized and disordered so that their efforts often fall flat. Given sufficient time to pursue their own goals, however, some kobold magickers develop a disturbing power.

Known as a warrenmind, the head kobold magicker subsumes all of the minds of the kobolds within its warren. Stripped of individuality but suffused with the creativity of many, the warrenmind expresses as one of the most terrifying entities in the civilized world: a group of kobolds unified in thought and in purpose.

These warrenminds are nearly impossible to flush out, as stepping foot into the twisting dens concocted by this hivemind nearly guarantees death. Trying to force the warrenmind out into the open is likewise impossible, as their natural draconic resistances provide defense against most methods of attrition.

The biggest concern of those that find a warrenmind is to keep it isolated. If a warrenmind were to meet up with another warrenmind, only one of two outcomes is certain. Either both warrenminds are destroyed in the ensuing battle, or one easily subsumes the other and the warrenmind grows. If a singular warrenmind were to subsume all of the known warrenminds, that would certainly spell destruction for anyone that stood against them.