(Banner art from the lovely and talented
AndroidArts)
LINKS:-- Kobold Caverns on Steam (for diplomatic non-kobold civs)
-- KC: Skulking Filth Edition on Steam (for hostile non-kobold civs)
-- Will be backporting to 47.xx soon!
PICS (50.xx):
OVERVIEW:Kobold Caverns is a thematic and challenge mod for Dwarf Fortress, focused on playable kobolds. They're small, weak, widely-disliked by other civs, don't have easy access to metalworking, and can only eat meat and fish. And now you're in charge of keeping them alive!
Plenty of care went into tweaking their gameplay, psychology, and culture, without deviating too far from the weak, thieving, anxious little cat-lizard goblins we know and love. Tweaks are focused on playability, visual and personality variety, and generally encouraging a richer kobold experience in fortress mode, adventure mode, and worldgen.
I also gave them fur and made them socially groom each other like cats; I had to throw the cutebold fans a bone, after making kobolds weird and creepy again. You're welcome~
I'm relatively new to modding anything this in-depth, so please let me know if you run into issues, or have any features you might like to see. And please share screenshots of your kobold outposts, especially if there's any you think might look good on the Steam page.
FEATURES:-- New weapon types, like quick-striking knives, high-torque staves, and stone-throwing slings.
-- Original outfit and equipment graphics, and new fur colors.
-- New creatures, like trainable dog-sized, silk-spitting, shearable Wooly Spiders.
-- Expanded weapon crafting, using wood, bone, leather, stone, and even gems.
-- Unique administrators, who get greedier as your civ grows.
-- A 100% carnivorous diet of meat and fish. Bones, raw eggs, and live vermin work too!
-- Ranchabe lizards, spiders, and cave creatures, to support your kobolds.
-- Milkable venom!
ON THE NEEDS AND CARE OF YOUR KOBOLDS:Kobolds are carnivores; they primarily eat butchered meat and cleaned fish. They can also gnaw on bones for food, and eat raw eggs and live vermin as well, so keep some around for the occasional treat. If you want to cook meals for your kobolds, they MUST contain at least one cooked meat or fish ingredient. Kobolds might enjoy other ingredients mixed into their meat-based meals, but they won't get any nutrition from meals made of just cooked eggs, tallow, cheese, fruit, or plants.
Even as carnivores, Kobolds can still enjoy booze as well. Foraging or farming for some can be a nice way to boost their mood. Note that kobolds are quite small, and have a much lower alcohol tolerance than dwarves; be on the lookout for rowdy drunk kobolds, if you build a tavern.
Kobold settlements don't start with access to metalworking, and their smelting knowledge is less developed than dwarves, or even humans. They only have broad access to soft ores like lead and copper, and can only create low-temperature alloys like bronze. Generally, lead is a good choice for blunt weapons, while bronze is their best option for armor and blades. Kobolds are perfectly capable of melting down *stolen* weapons or alloys, however. After they acquire an anvil from one of their neighbors, of course.
On the other hand, kobolds are masters of working with animal products. They can carve bones into most anything that dwarves would make out of metal or wood; bone weapons, armor, furniture, and more. They can also craft chitin and scale the same ways shells or leather are used, and have additional crafting options with them. They can also use stone and wood to make blunt weapons, and can knap certain gems and stones to make blades. Obsidian makes the sharpest blades, but high-silica minerals like chert and petrified wood work well, as do gemstones like quartz, opal, chalcedony, and jasper. In a pinch, low-grade blades can be knapped from glass, or medium-silica stones like andesite, basalt, dacite, quartzite, and rhyolite.
And though they don't have as many crafting options as elves do with grown-wood equipment, they can always carve basic wooden weapons and armor.
Above-average sized kobolds can wield dwarf-sized weapons, but they'd have to use both hands to do so. Instead, most kobolds use tools and weapons that are smaller than those of other peoples:
-- MATTOCK (Pick-class): A small digging tool, and an effective piercing weapon in a pinch.
-- HATCHET (Axe-class): A small axe, used for cutting trees and chopping foes.
-- MALLET (Hammer-class): A small hammer, capable of piercing some rigid armors with blunt attacks.
-- CLUB (Mace-class): A small mace, whose blunt attacks are most effective against unarmored foes.
-- STAFF (Mace-class): A long blunt weapon, specialized for high-speed swatting strikes and blunt jabs.
-- DIRK (Sword-class): A small versatile sword, with slashing and piercing attacks, and blunt pommel strikes.
-- KNIFE (Knife-class): An extremely small and fast stabbing weapon, with some slashing ability.
-- DAGGER (Knife-class): A small, quick stabbing and slashing weapon, capable of piercing soft armor.
-- SLING (Throwing-class): A flexible weapon which throws heavy bullets at high speed. Uses the thrower skill, and deals blunt damage. Can be made of leather or cloth as well.
Kobolds don't have a governing civilization per se, let alone dukes or queens. Instead, they form self-governing independent settlements, with a handful of kobolds in local leadership roles. As your settlement grows, your kobolds will chose these administrators themselves. However, kobolds tend to be ambitious and greedy, and as their society grows, their leaders get increasingly demanding of trinkets and personal quarters. And if one kobold is appointed to multiple positions, their demands will get even more extreme.
-- PIT BOSS: The civic leader of the settlement, who handles complaints and makes decisions to address them. The may make production demands as well. Outsiders would consider them the local leader.
-- HORDE KEEPER: Responsible for keeping a count of loot and goods, and managing bulk crafting. They often mandate the crafting (and hording) of their favorite items.
-- WAR LEADER: The local military leader. They coordinate the settlement's defenses, and wage war. They also lead combat demonstrations, to build morale and skill.
-- MASTER SCHEMER: These kobolds coordinate raiders abroad, and prevent trouble at home. They track rumors, investigate criminals and cults, and exile wrongdoers.
-- CHIEF HEALER: They track the settlement's health needs, provide backup emotional support for stressed kobolds, and manage your settlement's hospitals and healers.
-- HEAD SPEAKER: When you must speak with outsiders, this is the kobold for the job. They handle any trade or negotiations, and visit your holdings personally to make demands.
Kobolds are about 1/4 the size of an adult human, with bodies that resemble a mix of lizards, dogs, and cats. Their average lifespan is considerably shorter than dwarves, but they also grow up much faster. Despite what others may think, they can be quite intelligent as well; they just speak in a rambling grammarless language, which others have trouble understanding. Despite their small size and physical weakness, kobolds possess some natural defenses. They're very quick, relatively tough, resistant to disease, quick to heal, have a very keen sense of smell, and have heightened situational awareness. They also have sharp claws and canine eye-teeth to defend themselves with, shining cat-like eyes that can see in the dark, and a cold-insulating layer of fur.
Kobolds are individually weak, and depend on each other for survival. As such, they tend to live in loyal, tight-knit communities. They aren't very private, and many don't to mind sharing quarters, or being partially dressed. They tend to be messy as well, and may leave belongings and weapons scattered around. Psychologically, kobolds are predisposed toward anxiety, and easily get stressed. In a pitched battle, they tend to go catatonic, or scatter in fear. Paradoxically, they also tend to be impulsive thrill-seekers, and may be drawn to fearful and exciting situations.
Like cats and dogs, messy kobolds groom by licking their fur clean of contaminants. They can do this for friends as well; it's a bonding experience, and may give them a positive bathing-related mood. Just be sure to give kobolds coated in deadly dust a proper bath, before they decide to lick it off.
Since there's no central kobold government, don't expect a trade caravan from other kobold outposts; if you want goods, you'll have to acquire them from your neighbors. Stealing is the obvious option, but if you like, you can work to establish neutral relations with other civs to trade.
Migration from other kobold settlements is limited; apart from guaranteed starting migrants, you may be on your own. Conquering holdings, establishing trade relations and exporting goods to other factions to entice migrants, or building great taverns and temples to attract guests, are all ways to expand your population. Alternatively, kobolds have litters of multiple children who grow up quickly, so you can always grow your population the old fashioned way.
Many things that are considered crimes in other societies, such as theft, aren't a big deal for Kobolds. Though it's frowned upon, some kobolds may even eat or make trophies from sentient creatures. However, they don't tolerate torture, slavery, or murder. Most crimes are punished by reprimand, but assault is considered a serious crime, and murderers are exiled.
Kobolds like tropical wetlands best, but aren't very picky about where they live. Wandering kobolds can be found in caves, cities, sewers, libraries, goblin pits, and more. Their culture encourages banditry and scheming, so look out for rogue factions of kobold criminals and raiders. With their short lifespans and high anxiety level, kobolds are also more likely to become necromancers. They often accomplish this by stealing the secrets of life and death from more established necromancers.
Kobolds have a rambling language entirely made of proper nouns, but they *can* communicate under duress. They tend to be awful at written language and poetry though. Kobold bards express themselves best through dance and music. What few kobold scholars exist tend to study animals and nature, though their writing is unlikely to turn many heads.
FUTURE FEATURES:-- Envenomed weapons and traps. The current crafting system doesn't support this, and I've not found a vanilla workaround yet.
-- Edible milk, cheese, and cooked eggs. I don't have an intuitive, non-clunky way to make this happen in the current DF version.
-- Restore kobolds egg-laying. I've temporarily made them ovoviviparous (they lay and hatch their eggs internally), due to bugs with egg-laying sentients in fortress mode.
