“You’re sure about this?”
A stiff nod from Jito and the determined glint in his eyes were answer enough for Gavin. Gavin often had trouble distinguishing between determined and crazed when it came to kobolds, though.
Gavin checked his operating theater: He had the inner workings of the cuckoo clock Jito had brought, as well as the shard from a mirror Jito had broken just for this purpose. He’d use the mortar and pestle they had to whip up some glue.
“Again, I am no healer, and you are absolutely sure?”
A growl and a nod.
“Just making sure. This might sting a bit.” Gavin raised his hand axe and, with one fell swoop, severed Jito’s tail.
Trapsmiths love innovation, and when a patron wants something more innovative than an arrow trap, a trapsmith might get a mad glint in his or her eyes. So, when a kobold desires to make a true weapon out of its tail, a trapsmith’s eyes gets very bright indeed.
After the tail is enhanced by the trapsmith with the sharp mirror shard and the mechanical elements of the cuckoo clock, it is reattached to the kobold in such a way that it becomes another weapon in the kobold’s arsenal. Who expects a kobold’s tail to whip around and cause so much piercing damage in combat? Perhaps only other trapsmiths.
Kobold Tail Trap CR 3
Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger touch; Reset automatic
Effect tail shard (+15 melee, 3d6 damage)
Tail Strike (Combat)
Through practice, you’ve become very skilled at deploying your trapped tail.
Prerequisite: Kobold with kobold tail trap
Benefit: You can deploy your kobold tail trap as a secondary attack with no penalty.
Normal: Without this feat, secondary attacks with natural weapons take a –5 penalty.
Jito CR 1
Kobold warrior 4
LE Small humanoid (reptilian)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +1 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 22 (4d10)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0
Weaknesses light sensitivity
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +5 (1d6) and trapped tail
Ranged sling +7 (1d3)
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 10,Wis 9, Cha 8
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 14
Feats Skill Focus (Perception), Tail Strike
Skills Craft (trapmaking) +6, Perception +8, Stealth +8; Racial Modifiers +2 Craft (trapmaking), +2 Perception, +2 Profession (miner)
Languages Common, Draconic
SQ crafty
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Crafty (Ex) Craft (trapmaking) and Stealth are always class skills for a kobold.
Trapped Tail (Ex) Jito can, as a secondary attack, make a melee touch attack with his tail to deploy his kobold tail trap.
Next Installment
What can Gavin do with a spatula, vampire’s teeth, a spring, and the festering hand of a troll?
The Challenge
Name four adventuring items and receive a murderous trap in return.
This is awesome. I never even thought of attaching a trap to a living creature before. The kobold from our party lost his tail in the desert, so we replaced it with the stinger of a giant scorpion we had killed on our way to a city. If I had thought to save it with some help from or necromancy specialist, I think we could have done this.
Ace!
three feet of tinsel, half a dozen baubles, a fir tree and a goose.
Your items are on the list.
Very clever Maurice! I like the trap, the feat and the character.
Well done!
Fishing rod, rusty spiked greaves, swashbuckler’s hat, hammock
And those items are also on the list.
Hmm. Nice one Maurice! I think there is another trap-endowed kobold coming very shortly…
Great idea. Hmmm… Under normal circumstances would the tail grow back?
@Todd
Maybe Wolfgang knows the answer to that question?
Why my tail— that is, the tail of a Kobold friend of mine has grown back three or four times.
Elder kobolds do seem to lose this regenerative ability: nothing sadder than an old codger Kobold, hunchbacked and tailless.
Of course the next question is can they pop them off like a lizard – leave them wiggling to distract enemies and predators?