Building Better Monsters | Kobolds
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- We redesign Kobolds and try to figure out what they are BUILDING DOWN THERE!?
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...I was not expecting a Tom Waits gag in my Kobold video. Then again, in another life Tom Waits was probably a weird little guy that lived in dark caves and caused mischief.
Yayyyyy. I’m so glad you noticed too.
YES!! I was HOPING someone would get the Tom Waits reference!
I'm a real one. I recognized the *whistling* in the background before you started the actual joke.
I can confirm I got the reference too 😁
I don't get it and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
Can someone help me out? 😅
My brother, during his games, separated Kobolds from other minion-types through a single, critical detail that made them scarier than goblins- they could *build* things. Crude things, yes, but better than your average group of bandits could make. Towers, fort walls, even bombs occasionally. One group had even managed to capture a gelatinous cube in a makeshift holding cell, which they would sic on people too large to travel on the ridges the kobolds would use. They were industrious little things. They had low wisdom, yes, but together they could make quite the threat, even when we were at a level where they normally couldn't touch us.
I love the idea of Kobolds making weird little side tunnels off of main shafts which humans dig, and the miners don't know where the tunnels are coming from but figure it's not a problem. Until, that is, the few kobolds that could be seen skittering about out of the corner of the oldest and wariest miners' eyes finally hit the giant veins of cobalt they've been hunting for, and all of a sudden the main mine is filled with arsenic-breathing kobolds wreaking havoc and destroying entire economies
Oh I absolutely love this idea! Issue is, I already have a place for kobolds in my world. But I’m going probably going to use this for gargoyles, just because I think it suits them very well and it’s pretty different from the norm for them.
Speaking of, I’d love to see YOUR take on gargoyles. If you don’t want to do that I have other suggestions: scarecrows, hell hounds, and heck, even orcs are all staple monsters but I don’t think are as interesting as they should be!
Thank you!! Yeah, I think I would do something very similar with gargoyles, except they would be servants of the religious powers. I was talking through some ideas with my friends, but it might needs some more time to stew because it's so similar to the kobolds right now. Haha
@@mapcrow maybe they’re existing statues of a religious nature, like gargoyles on a church, brought to life by a god in a time of dire need - maybe they’re even particularly wise and learned on the teachings of their respective gods, and can come to life for internal threats such as schisms as well
In my campaign, the gargoyles are made like golems by alchemists and are binded magically to important buildings. For example, the great library in the capital is protected by them. They listen to no one but the great archivist and if something happens to him, the gargoyles would be furious and chase off everyone from the library until the new pact is created. But when they're under control, they're big help, especially if you want to use them as part of a setup for a fight, the players could interact with them, wake them up and ask for help.
Gnolls or bullywugs are also good ones to add to the list. I don’t want to overwhelm you though! Take your time!
From my readings, kobolds are basically to Germany what hobs are to England. You got the house variant, the ones who do chores for milk and cookies (or some such). There's the seagoing variant, which lived in the hulls of healthy ships. And then, there were the mine kobolds, which were very much like what's depicted here...
I’ve used the route “klabautermann” as my version of kobolds. Without getting too deep into my world lore, all trees were once from the Fey world, so they hold fey essence. And when shipwrights care for their ships, or someone cares deeply for a house, that draws from the remaining dead wood a new life, a life which manifests as a sprite, they have Draconic features for other lore reasons but I’ve basically made Kobolds magical-woodlouse-rat-termite-dragon-spirits and they’re fun! Lol (and the irony of them only manifesting in cared for areas makes them spot on for Fey imo)
Heck yeah! That sounds like a well thought out world!
I like this idea of Kobolds being the D&D version of folklore's tommyknockers
Oh dang! I vaguely remember reading about those!! Yeah, I'll bet that they share folklore with kobolds in someway! Cheers!!
@@mapcrow I'm Appalachian, from deep in America's coal country right along the Virginia / West Virginia line. You should really check out some videos or read up on Tommyknockers! They're a staple bit of folklore for Appalachian miners, but are mostly viewed as benevolent earth spirits / sprites. Not too dissimilar in appearance to a mining kitted lawn gnome, but with a knack for tapping rocks with their minute mallets to warn miners of gas, collapses, etc. Really neat bit of folklore. I think the topic would be a hoot for ya. Cheers!
Your lighting is so good, I’m always impressed by how few strokes you need to give an object form!
Thank you so much! It's all about pushing that value contrast!
In our “Out of the Abyss” campaign I played a Lizardfolk Ranger who eventually hired a Kobold servant (called “Awe F••k” in Draconic) to collect “meat” for him after battles. In a later campaign I guested on Awe F••k had become a highly level warlock after running a successful abattoir for a few years. Lol
Ha! That sounds like a good time!
I love the color choice in the illustration, and those kobolds are so interesting, burrowing long and complex tunnels in order to hide their source of new kobolds.
Heck yeah!! I love that detail!! Now you're thinking like a KOBOLD!! Haha
I absolutely LOVE this idea for Kobolds, it makes them stand out so much more and it's just so unique! I personally like to think that their bodies aren't just a stone-like texture, but almost ruby-like to give them that red coloration, (can also be cobalt for obvious reasons.) giving them this sort of jaggedness to their shape and red sheen to them. I think I will definitely use this for any future campaign I might have planned.
I said it in a reply chain in an earlier one of his videos but i gotta say it again.
I love how there are so many passionate and creative ideas for kobolds in the comments, it's clear how much people love these guys.
This depiction of kobolds would work really well in a gothic horror type campaign. An idea that would be there would be a city with some kind of mass grave that keeps getting looted for bones etc. The people hire a group of adventures to try and find the cause of the issue as the newly buried corpses attract disease and death the longer they're exposed to the sun. Nothing seems out of the ordinary in the city....expect. they have a bizarre amount of small Gargoyle statues
Damn, amazing video. Loved the in character part
Thank you! Yeah, it just turned into that while I was recording it! I love surprises like that, which is why I don't script these videos!
I absolutely love this idea. Maybe it could be expanded upon as kobolds originally sprouting up wherever an evil dragon with knowledge of magic dies - created by the remnants of the dragon's malevolence, given will and a desire to gather the power needed for the dragon to jumpstart their own resurrection. Dragons are, after all, an inherently super-magical race, so having the ability to linger after death and order around minions wouldn't surprise me.
As for fighting kobolds, I think this could add another layer to kobolds being infamously cowardly - they run away so as to preserve the bones and nails used to animate them, and they can just set up another base elsewhere. And speaking of their bases, those will become even deadlier, as having a bunch of creatures that all breath poison packed into a small underground cave will obviously result in the area being toxic to any intruders.
these are some real cool Kobolds
the Kobolds in my D&D would are made from a dragons blood so you get green,black,white,blue and red each one get theamed on the dragon the are made black Kobolds spit poison, blue Kobolds spark and shock you and soo on
I've been waiting for kobolds, and as someone who loves the absolutely basic small lizard version of kobolds with all of my heart, these are absolutely fantastic! The different interpretations you've had in this series has been always great, but I do think this is my personal favorite!
Great job as always!
Thank you so much! Yeah, I see a lot of love for 5E kobolds out there, and I'm delighted to see the fun that folks are having with them!! I was a bit worried I was going to tick off kobold fans with this one.
Oh man, my favorite dragon-worshipping lizard goblins! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us.
Hope you enjoy! Cheers!!
Ever since I did a run through the old 2E boxed set "Dragon Mountain", I've had a healthy respect for kobolds, even when playing a higher-level character. I really like your constructed take on them, though; I think it makes them very distinct and interesting.
You may make them creepy and evil, but the party will still adopt one
Ha! That would be great!!
amazing take on these critters, i agree there's often a "role creep" over fantasy creatures in RPGs
An idea I had for Kobolds was a bit more neutral and enforcing their connection to dragons. Kobolds are born from the scales shed of dragons and are often abandoned to themself or formed into servants for their parent. Also they are often dreaded with inferiority complex as they feel like nothing compared to dragons and they share a legend where only by accomplishing a major effort of bravery or accomplishment they can become as powerful as a Dragon.
It's been some time... Still love the series for a multtude of reasons
Haha! Thanks for watching AND for the kind words!
this spark some great ideas for me, like kobolds being afraid of tiny birds which would link the canary in mines to them.
One of my players LOVES Kobolds! This is so cool!!
I can not express how much I love this idea. It really is an awesome and unique take on Kobolds that I find helps to distinguish them from others a bit more than smarter goblins. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) Though I am not planning anything DnD related, I do have a cool idea I would love to utilize these guys in. Thank you so much for the inspiration, and great art work as well.
I love using Kobolds on my characters!!
In our campaign, goblins went in more of the warcraft direction, so they're pretty smart (as smart as greenskins get) and they build all kinda bombs and tanks and stuff. They also made kobolts but they just got independent. Now they are in a constant war in the cave city of Goblaa Brrakka.
these ideas are so creative and always feel like a breath of fresh air
Shows how well Baldurs Gate 1 was with its Nashkell introduction of Kobolds that actually felt threatening and involved iron being ruined in mines.
Awesome artwork here! The shading and lighting is great, really nice sense of atmosphere. Also, always enjoy the depth of the folklore and thought that goes into these, always a treat to see a new upload
Thank you very much! I had more fun that I expected with this one!!
Supreme acting! Wow! That laughter was downright creepy! The art, the process, and the ideas are amazing as usual
Kobolds are my favorite to be honest. They wear you down. They drain your resources. They lure you deep and then take away your exit. Then you, and your loot, are added to the dragon's growing hoard. Ye olde Tucker's Kobolds is the best thing to throw at a party before they reach the dragon's lair. They don't need to be high level. They just need to be prepared and with a natural trap bonus and generations upon generations serving the same dragon they certainly are
Oh man, the spike through the head is giving me steel inquisitor vibes, if you've ever read mistborn, I thought for a moment you were doing the head-candles thing warcraft has but as always you've got a fresh and interesting take on old monsters.
This is something straight up from a Mike Mignola comic, and I say this in the best way possible, it's great
These are really awesome. I'm a sucker for the classic Kobold but I love these as separate guys
I was just thinking 'I wonder what Map Crow will do with Kobolds?'! These new creative ideas for old DnD characters are incredible!
This makes me think they might sort of have a golem aspect of being made out of different materials. Being from hardened mud (clay) on up to various metals could give the dm a chance to explain why they go up in challenge throughout an adventure.
Also maybe a plot hook could be a disgruntled miner looks into the occult and captures and twists an engineer's spirit into one of these things which gives them the knowledge of how to built traps and contraptions. Maybe sort of like you said at the end about raiding graves they could start raiding the graves of dead engineers and combining their spirits together into one golem, err kobold, and it could be a massive twisted one with many arms that all work together to build things.
I did not expect this one to be so campy lol It felt like you were possessed by a 50's Horror Host there, I loved it!!!
Glad you did kobolds too, these weird critters who live underground. If I put them in my games, though, they'll definitely have dog-shaped heads, kinda like Anubis style thingies
I like this idea of pseudo elemental kobolds not only ebcuase ti's cool on its own but also works well with dragons, the kobolds main lore connection. Dragons are made of natural things (crystals, metal, elements kinda, chromatic dragons are kidna funky with it) and it works to set up all the draconic creatures as pseudo elementals, perhaps guardians designed long ago by nature deities, with the more malicious variants falling from that purpose and thus becoming less elemental
Ooh the serious eyebrows in the thumbnail that you talked about in the live yesterday!
This is arguably the most creative one yet, love your epic paintings to accompany the lore filled poems you provide
I already loved kobolds, but this take adds some much needed flavor
You could literally make an entire campaign, or at least an arc, over an ever expanding artificial life like this
I've been developing interesting ideas for kobolds in my world. What I've gone with so far is they are essentially the "worker" class of hellish hives of deformed, mutated Dragons living underground. They serve their disgusting queen and build the tunnels and the traps, whilst guarded by horrifying eyeless dragonborn warriors who navigate with thrashing tentacle covering their head like antenna. Essentially combining bugs and Dragons
In our campaign kobolds live in sewers of cities and under town houses and work as pest control. They're mostly harmless and people tolerate them as silly little whoozies.
That's how they usually fit into socities, at least. Of course, in larger cities they have their own underground towns - and they are just as susceptible to the influence of larger lizard folk... even dragons, as said in the rules. Just, they aren't just inherently only minions of enemies or villains. They can be (and have been) but only because they are so liable to draconic influence. Mostly they're a fun addition to any town and city as comic reliefs and as those who know the sewage, drainage and best ratting grounds by heart, silly and simple as they may be.
Thankfully dragons are rare.
Your what makes a kobold reminds me of “what makes a man” from Terry Pratchett’s The Wintersmith.
I also found the Kobold/cobalt connection when I was making my Pax Draconis setting which is more like classical antiquity in setting then medieval, and is about the origins of a lot of dnd species/myths and tropes. In the setting the initial kobolds and goblins are both made by exposing children, dragonlings and humans to toxins and a corrupting ritual by an evil druid. An evil empire takes this technique and uses it on full grown me to make the first orcs.
I LOVE THIS SERIES
Great stuff as usual, thanks a bunch Kyle!
My pleasure!
Your concept serves as a good potential low level construct for the party to first encounter.
Ha! They are a fantasy equivalent of a machine out of control! What they do doesn’t have to make sense. They were a part of something bigger, now they just make more and more. And more. And who knows what they might unearth. Maybe hunting them for the relics they toss aside is common. Maybe the worry they’ll sink a nearby city, if they keep expanding their digging? Anyway really love your idea!
Thank you! Yeah, they are like ants that have a dark god commanding them to do stuff!
This is now going to be my default kobold. Combine them with the story of the marbled king we got a compelling nuisance monster.
bees, but i just adore the folklore scholarship you bring to your videos 😍
that's an awesome idea for kobolds
Thank you!!
Very cool! Any ideas regarding what monster you'd like to reimagine next?
Man, I did not see this spin on kobolds!
Great stuff!
What they are building? More kobolds, as you said
What are they looking for? Phylacterys.
Why? To always dig the one that their Queen made deeper then before (when they find it) or to dig other Liches phylacterys upper or destroy them.
Kobolds are autonomic lich-to-lich weapon system!
Nice Tom Waits reference!! Great video!
Thank you! Glad folks are picking up the reference!
I like to think of Kobolds as shapeshifters whose only defining characteristic is their burrowing habits. To me they assume forms that are associated with how deep they live and how close to other beings they are, so gnomish kobolds live close to human/dwarven mines and imitate their digging habits while dog-like kobolds are encountered in the wild mimicking small mammals and living in small burrows.
Lizard-like kobolds, in the other hand, are common in harsh biomes where life only thrives underground where groundwater runs. They are craftier than the dog-like ones, taming other creatures for their needs and resorting to the most practical decisions to survive, like kidnapping and butchering people who wander too close to the entrance of their caves.
Heck yeah! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
kobolds are the main creatures in my game right now so this will help a lot
I love watching these videos. I love watching his art, and I want to play D&D one day but I'm a child and nobody else really knows what D&D is in my home and finding it weird. Maybe that's why I like Stranger Things???
Always a good day when you upload :)
Maybe for the next video you could do Cyclopses? I feel like they're just another one in the list of giants that are just big and hit thing good.
Man, this (or something similar, probably something similar tbh) is going into a campaign ASAP!
Hey Map Crow! This was such a cool video and awesome painting! I was wondering if you had (or could make) a video about your painting/drawing process so I could get some tips?
I have returned to this video time and again, and these terrifying stony creatures born of old earth and evil bones are going to be the main antagonists in an adventure I’m making
Awesome!! Yeah, run with it!!
You are doing your job too well. Watching your videos has made me so inspired to get back to art making and drawing for fun that it has conditioned a pavlovian response in which I have to grab my sketchbook every time I start watching. The problem is that then I get so focused on drawing that I don't watch and learn!
Personaly I prefer my kobolds as organic beings, but leaning into their origins as mine spirits does feel like the right direction (and I do love the eldritch vibes of *what are they building down there*).
Inspiring as always!
Btw i would totally be up for paying a fair bit of money for a zine or something like it that is just a collection of these rebuild monsters.
Not sure if that is a plan for the future but just wanted to throw in that possibility.
Dude, I LOVE your takes! Can you do Displacer Beasts??
I have a soft spot for Kobolds as they are, but this is fantastic. Maybe I'll use something inspired by these, but call them Knackers or Tommyknockers...
points for the Megaman Legends music during the only crits advertisement!
My kobolds are small dinosaurs (like coelurus, specifically) crossed with Gremlins (as in the movies). Servants of dragons always, offspring of dragons always, if you see kobolds, you know a dragon is close. A previous world and iteration saw them as very doglike instead, and herders of poodles for wool and meat.
This...I could use this as a good template for goblins. They have existed in sort of a quantum state in my world. I haven't pinned them down yet, but I want them to be monstrous, not people, and these strange motivations resonate with me.
Great episode. They always pepper me with half a dozen ideas about what to do next game. You kept reminding me of the Tom Waits song "What's He Building"
Haha! Thank you! Yeah, I actually sample like 6 seconds from the end of that song for that little homage! Haha
@@mapcrow Well there's always room for more Waits in a TTRPG.
I love kobolds, goblins, sahuagin, redcaps and other little mischeif things that like traps as regional variations of similar creatures. They're all goblins, it's just swamp goblins, or forest goblins or cave goblins. Swampville calls them sahuagin. Undertown calls them kobolds.
ooooh, I really like this cava golem concept, super creepy and creative!
Ive always kind of thought of them as draconic raccoons.
That's a very fun idea!
I guess these kobolds turned into golems of sorts, but I'd love to see your take a more traditional Stone Golem/Rock Monster/Earth Elemental, as it's one of if not my all time favorites ( and yes, I know the three of them are technically different).
Other than that I'm curious what you could to with the classic Slime.
More coming soon!!
I would LOVE to see your take on a Cadaver Collector!
This is an absolutely amazing change to Kobolds!!!! I love how they are WAY more impactful in the story now instead of just being little dragonkin!!!
Thank you! I feel like my best work in these videos comes from subjects I've never enjoyed before. It's a great excuse to think about stuff I usually write off and avoid.
agghhh im so fond of my own interpretation of kobolds that i wanna use in stuff but god dammit this goes hard as hell and id 1,000% be down to like throw it at a party of adventurers or something, also holy fuck i love the art being a primarily digital artist myself makes watching that whole process right there so surreal to me.
What a fun idea! Great video 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
I have come to expect that I will find something unexpected in each of your videos, ha. I like that the kobold takes some of the vibe of Uruk-hai in its mud origins.
I might suggest building better Witch-hunters or building better Monster-slayers, for the next one. I think you would have a unique take on them.
Just discovered the channel, love it, now subscribed but... Can't help but think this is a missed opportunity to call this "building better baddies".
my favorite thing!
04:28 Kobolds: "Yeah... we know very well how to make more of us, do you dare to participate?" >;3
Kobolds in D&D were originally associated with goblins, they were another type or variant of goblins. And doing some research I found that the term kobold comes from German folklore and they used that term to refer to spirits of the earth, or small creatures, that inhabited caves... that is, goblins. What I prefer to do is have the goblins that we all know from D&D, green goblins from the forest and meadows or swamps, and on the other hand make the kobolds red-skinned goblins... or maybe take advantage of your interpretation and make them goblins from stone/mud, looking for bones to make more of themselves reminds me a lot of Japanese witchcraft folklore of mud "zombies". I really like small humanoid dragons but I think I would like to give them a different name, since "kobold" seems better to make another type of goblin. I think it was only in D&D 3.0e or 3.5e that D&D gave the kobolds a reptilian appearance and in D&D 4e they associated their kobolds with dragons... and the term "kobold" was completely misrepresented.
Amazing video and design!
Hey that's great! I was just thinking about using kobolds in my campaign as a part of the bigger plot, only my version of them also use direwolves as overworld mounts (HoMM3 nostalgia hit me good recently, haha). I was just lacking some sort of flair... Your idea is perfect and very inspirational, I'd love to use it!
Heck yeah! Run with it, make it your own, have a great time!!
I think we need more Tom Waits themed monsters
Right? So many opportunities!!
In my game kobolds are dwarves who, because they started to worship dragons, began to take on draconic characteristics.
3:00 a Tom Waits reference in my dnd monster video more likely than you think
There’s a mixtape idea! Haha
* creates radioactive cannibalistic necromantic construct kobolds * sounds silly doesn't it?
Me: Um...no. * hides *
This one is great
Rattle big black bones
In the danger zone
There's a rumblin' groan
Down below
There's a big dark town
It's a place i've found
There's a world going on
Underground
They're alive, they're awake
While the rest of the world is asleep
Below the mine shaft roads
It will all unfold
There's a world going on
Underground
All the roots hang down
Swing from town to town
They are marching around
Down under your boots
All the trucks unload
Beyond the gopher holes
There's a world going on
Underground
You should do sphinxes or manticores
I was originally going to eschew little dragon people for my setting because I was ignoring D&D lore in favor of something based on real mythology. I finally settled on using the word Kobold to describe Dwarves who have given into their lust for material wealth and transformed into partially-mineral monsters, living underground, hoarding and consuming the treasures they find. But then I was inspired by artist Chris Zito to add a version of little dragon people in my setting after all.
Saurites, as they're called, are smaller cousins of the Lizardfolk, who in fits of ego call themselves Dragonborn. The little guys live via hive mind, in which 90% of the population has animalistic intelligence, capable of understanding only rudimentary intructions, and they obey the other 10%, who are smarter than most humans. The smart ones form a telepathic bond with the others, allowing them to work with unerring and uncanny precision and timing, and to make short work of any foe who underestimates them.
Love the video, question. What was your pencil in at the start there? Curious as to what it does too?
very mignola, i love it!
Attempt number 2 of suggesting goetian deamons. Perhaps you could work with the ideas of the nobility of hell, and their hordes of grotesque underlings. Or the fact that many deamons specialize in a particular field of study or interest, which they make deals with mortals in order to recruit mortal souls into their hoards, in exchange for fantastical power, or arcane knowledge.
So good
I think we should get back the kobolds that are more canine like