FATEsy Heartbreaker: Monsters and Treasure Part 3

Kobolds

Arthur Rackham

At the dawning of the world the gods created many of the peoples and bests of the world. They then left for the higher planes, leaving the nature spirits in charge of the running of the world. Some of those nature spirits saw this as a great honor. They carry out their duties to this day with a sense of dignity and pride. Some did not appreciate the gods abandonment of creation. Some of these nature spirits became Kobolt(mischief makers). As they spent more and more time away from the other nature spirits their essence began to change. Still bounded to elements, they became nearly material beings. Now they live on the edges of civilization, in small groups, bands or clans. These Kobolds are still an enemy of all peoples in the world. Often they are nothing more than a nuisance, but in large numbers they are a deadly foe, not to be underestimated.

There are three types of Kobold: Draches(Fire Kobolds), Klaboutre(Rock Kobolds), Hodkin(Wood Kobolds). Each deals with the people of the world in their own way.

Draches(also known as Salamanders, Pucs, or Fool's Fire) can transform into fire and are immune to fire. They love to draw travelers to their doom in swamps and marshes. They will come out at night and appear as a flame in the distance. Always out of reach. They draw their prey further and further into the bog. Finally their quarry will give up the chase and turn toward home, only to find themselves lost and alone. That is when the Draches strike. Legends speak of times of great calamity when scores of Draches would gather and march on village and town, burning everything in their path. It has been centuries since the last great conflagration, but the eldest Duara and Ael Adratta warn the youth, that fire cannot be completely quenched. The Kobolds will march once again.

Nameless Drache
Aspects: Devour all life, Lead them astray
Good(+2) at: Deception, Illusion, Burning
Bad(-2) at: Telling the truth,
Stress: [1] [2]
Special: All Draches are completely immune to fire and can transform from physical body to a fiery form. When they attack in this form the things they attack burn. If you have taken one or more stress from a Drache, you will continue to take one stress every turn until you spend a round putting the fire out(difficulty +1 constitution roll).

Klaboutre(Evil Stone) are the most commonly known Kobolds. In fact the name Kobold comes from a human mispronunciation of the Risjar's word for the creature. They dwell in rock as the other races dwell in air. They are also called knockers due to the sounds right before a mine collapse. This is a favorite trick of the Klaboutre. They will walk through the stone and place a vein of good ore that leads to more people down in the mines. Then, when the miners are tired and thinking about going home to riches and comfort, the Kobolds come and collapse the mine. They think this great fun. Some speak of the blue caps who lead the kobolds. Dark magicians wielding blue flame that melts through nearly everything.

Nameless Klaboutre
Aspects: The Rock is My Strength, The Stone is MINE!
Good(+2) at: Resisting physical stress, mining/shaping rock, ambushing
Bad(-2) at: Hiding, Keeping silent
Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Special: Kobolds are incredibly tough. Reduce any stress they take by two(to a minimum of one). Kobolds can also walk through stone, rock or most metal. Armor does not protect against attacks from a Kobold.

Blue Cap
Aspects: Purifying Fire, All Hail the Voice in the Darkness, Dwarves and Giants Must Die
Make as a main villain. They have the Wizard Class and they worship a voice that can only be heard in the darkest depths of the rock. It tells them to destroy all life above the ground. There spells are generally fire related and all fire spells cast a blue flame instead of an orange. They do not get the standard Klaboutre immunity to damage, though they can still walk through stone.

The Ael Ve tell stories of the Hodkin(Tree Ghosts). They speak of a spirit, at once tied to the wood and separate from it. It is said the only Elves who have seen one died shortly thereafter. The Golla Banne seek to appease these beings and carve out small spirit tokens from Lakjarina(live wood) in the shape of the Hodkin to ward off these foul spirits. They say that the yipping laughter is a sign that you will not die that day. The Hodkin(also known as gremlins, buhgis, and hobs) are spirits of the forest who despise the intelligent races that claim rulership of the woods. They lay out traps, snares, and even convince the foliage to turn against other creatures. They can become one with the forest around them, leading some to surmise they can become invisible. They are also masters of poisons and toxins. They can be appeased. If you can make them laugh they might let you live. However what makes them laugh are things that most gentle-beings find horrible.

Arthur Rackham

Nameless Hodkin
Aspects: Others Pain is Funny, Get out of my wood!
Good(+2) at: Blending in, tricking and trapping, ambushing, avoiding being hit
Bad(-2) at: Direct physical conflict, facing a superior number
Stress: [1] [2]
Special: The Kobold can completely blend into the surrounding greenery, becoming one with the forest. when they are like this they cannot be found by any means save for destroying the woods. They can also give animation to the surrounding trees. Treat this like a create advantage roll with Tricking and Trapping, on a success the aspect is made and can be used to attack with tripping and tracking.




There is my take on Kobolds. I hope you like them. If you have any thoughts, comments, or ideas I would love to hear them. The next monster I plan on writing up is The Ogre. That should be a lot of fun to do. Loads of cool folk lore and D&D lore to pull from there.