Hello Yes This Is Dog — Kobold (Dungeons & Dragons) - Schafpudel

Kobold (Dungeons & Dragons) – Wikipedia

In the 3rd edition of the game, kobolds are distantly related to dragons, and are often found serving them as minions. Kobolds speak a version of the Draconic tongue, with a yipping accent. In their original appearance in the canon, kobolds were described as dog-like humanoids with ratlike tails, horns and hairless scaly skin, and were not associated with dragons. […] Kobolds are much more explicitly reptilian in current editions, though they were egg-layers as far back as first edition AD&D. The Greyhawk Player’s Guide said they have “certain features that are both reptilian and doglike.”

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Kobolds vary in height between 2’-2'8" in 3.5 edition, and 3'6"-4'0" in 4th edition, with scaly, hairless hides, reptilian heads, and tails, and weigh over 30 pounds (14 kg) in 3.5 edition and about 40 pounds (18 kg) in 4th edition. Males are about three inches taller and ten pounds heavier than most females. Their hides are typically a rust-brown or reddish black color, with ivory-colored horns. Their heads are described as dog-like, but in recent editions they are illustrated as looking more like crocodiles. Their eyes glow red, and they can see accurately even in lightless conditions up to 60 feet away. Kobolds are described as smelling like a cross between damp dogs and stagnant water.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted my take on D&D kobolds before, so here it is.

Really, the “ugly dogratlizard” concept of the first two editions and the “tiny dragonkin“ concept of third edition onwards are far from mutually exclusive. I’d like to see more draconic kobolds that take inspiration from ye olde shitdragons. Also, while dog/rat/reptile is a good mix of influences, dog/rat/reptile/human is overall way too cluttered a mix of features to juggle. As a result, my kobolds are much less humanoid than any of the official art from TSR, WoTC, or Paizo.

Instead, I based overall shape of the body is insprired by small, bipedal ornithiscians such as heterodontosaurus, as well as 20th century dragon art that gives dragons a pearlike shape. This also helps enhance the rat resemblance, as rats also have narrow chests and shoulders relative to their hindquarters. The head is supposed to be a mix of dwarf crocodile and italian greyhound, with the addition of small horns. The ears have a finlike structure, but are bent down and back like a greyhound’s ears, giving them a submissive appearance.

The kobold in the bottom left is my concession to the furry, more purely doglike sort of kobold that show up in Japanese media, as well as a nod to feathered dinosaurs. Its hairlike integument makes it look fairly convincingly like a strange bipedal terrier, but it’s no more a mammal than the other kobolds are. (I’m sorry, dogbold fans, “weird platypus meerkat of the dragon family” is just a lot more interesting to me than “a gnollish dog furry, but, like, smaller and stuff.”)

In addition to a furred kobold and several scaly kobolds, I drew a pseudodragon (which I headcanon as being the closest living relative of kobolds), an urd, and the stinger-tailed kobold god Kurtulmak.