Kilkil: Replacement Kobold

[Finagle]

So, now that the Linear Guild has disposed of its #3 kobold, they're down to #4, Kilkil. So far, he has shown no skills other than administrative skills. What class could he be and what possible benefit can he bring to the LG? He's not carrying a weapon, otherwise it would be on his back like all other OOTS characters. Concealed daggers?

In the LG, we've got cleric, fighter, bard, wizard, and outsider. My guess is...thief? Or he's some obscure prestige class? Magic device-user? I suppose it'll be a big reveal after being cornered by Belkar, Kilkil suddenly displays awesome powers. Maybe he's there to count the spears and arrows used, to better update the accounting books of the Empire.

[Marlowe]

Well, his job in the EoB is to be Tarquin's Factotum, and he seems to have a high intelligence, which doesn't suggest absolutely anything at all to me whatsoever. I'm completely stumped.

[Emperor Flumph]

I'm sure there's some way he'll use his actuarial skills to great effect in battle, but I don't know what it is.
I suppose in a world that functons according to DnD rules, where everything comes down to numbers, a solid grounding in mathematics would allow you to assess your opponent very well and pinpoint his weaknesses, but I can't imagine how that mighty play out in the comic.

[Chess Tyrant]

Another possibility is that his behavior is a reflection of having tons of Expert class levels, resulting in an actually-decent fighting capability.

[Bastian Weaver]

Wait. There's no bard in Nale's gang. Never was, actually...

[Blisstake]

Wait. There's no bard in Nale's gang. Never was, actually...

Nale says bards are a weak class. Who told him that? Tarquin.

Anyway, he's probably an expert.

[Johel]

Wait. There's no bard in Nale's gang. Never was, actually...

Never will : Nale cover the jack-of-all-trade part.

As for Kilkil, yeah, he is just a lackey.
But a nice opposite to Belkar.

[Emperor Flumph]

Wait. There's no bard in Nale's gang. Never was, actually...

Saying 'Bard' was easier than 'Fighter/Rogue/Sorcerer'. He's the rough equivalent of a Bard anyway.

[Onyavar]

Hm, what Skills and Stats might Kilkil have?

I estimate he has high INT and a decent WIS.
Regarding the skills, he might have the following in a higher amount:
Appraise, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Profession: Bureaucrat, Gather Information, maybe Forgery and Bluff...

What do you think?

[Kish]

There hasn't been a "thief" class since 2ed. Sabine is a rogue.

Kilkil thus far appears to be an Expert. I hope it stays that way rather that having a Big Reveal of what a badass the secretary actually is; I also hope he kills Belkar.

[hamishspence]

4E Essentials finally brought the "thief" back.

But this is 3.5- so no "thief".

[Morquard]

Well he's a Kobold with wings.
So maybe he is a badass race with lots of racial hitdice and inate sorcerer abilities or something. Either dragon or fiend-related maybe?

[Bastian Weaver]

Maybe he's a mutant! Blessed and cursed with amazing powers! Striving to protect the world that fears and hates him!..
Well, more like "the world that doesn't care much for him".

[Yuki Akuma]

Or he just took the "Draconic Wings" feat.

[D&D5eplayer]

the dragonwrought feat from 3.5 let your kobold be a dragon. As a dragon if you are X number of years old you can take epic feats.

there is a power play where a 3rd level kobold could have epic toughness.

edit: Specifically, they take advantage of an obscure rule in Draconomicon that states any True Dragon of at least Old age category can take Epic feats without being Epic. Kobolds use age categories like True Dragons, though much shorter. With Dragonwrought, the character's type changes to Dragon and counts as a True Dragon, as well as not suffering physical penalties for age. This lets a Dragonwrought Kobold start play as Old or older and legally take Epic feats.

Dragonwrought
( Races of the Dragon, p. 100)

[General]

You were born a dragonwrought kobold, proof of your race's innate connection to dragons.

Prerequisite: 1st level only, Kobold,

Benefit: You are a dragon wrought kobold. Your type is dragon rather than humanoid, and you lose the dragonblood subtype. You retain all your other subtypes and your kobold racial traits. Your scales become tinted with a color that matches that of your draconic heritage. As a dragon, you are immune to magic sleep and paralysis effects. You have darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision. You gain a +2 racial bonus on the skill indicated for your draconic heritage on the table on page 103.

Special: Unlike most feats, this feat must be taken at 1st level, during character creation. Having this feat allows you to take the Dragon Wings feat at 3rd level.



so if kilkil is around the right level for the oots to fight he is atleast 12th... so 1st and 3rd feats are taken, and 3 extra feats, and that is amazing power he could have not withstanding what class he is.

[Acanous]

Factotum or Archivist seem likely. He's certainly not a sorceror, bard, barbarian, fighter, druid, paladin, wizard or ranger. It is concievable he could be a Rogue.

[D&D5eplayer]

Factotum or Archivist seem likely. He's certainly not a sorceror, bard, barbarian, fighter, druid, paladin, wizard or ranger. It is concievable he could be a Rogue.

Archivist would be great, divine caster, and those built in buffs of knowing your enemies, but none of the order would be the type for the dark secerets to come in... if on the other hand the IFF or Team evil show up...

[Smolder]

As for what strategy KilKil will employ against Belkar, an obvious one suggests itself.

KilKil can stay out of Belkar's range by hovering high over the battle. He just needs a ranged attack, like a tiny crossbow or dragon breath.

[thepsyker]

Well, his job in the EoB is to be Tarquin's Factotum, and he seems to have a high intelligence, which doesn't suggest absolutely anything at all to me whatsoever. I'm completely stumped.

Maybe he's a Factotum, Rich did write the book on them.

[Aasimar]

I really don't see why anyone would assume he's anything other than a (relatively low level) expert.

[androkguz]

I really don't see why anyone would assume he's anything other than a (relatively low level) expert.

Well, mostly because he got recruited in a high level team of adventurers to fight against another high level team of adventurers, by a guy that is smart enough not to waste precious minions.

However, it does seem like he is just an expert. Tarquin could have brought him to deal with finding the gate, not to fight. Keep in mind that, with Yukyuk dead and with him being an expert, the fight becomes a 5 vs 5, with the Oots very low on spellcasters.

[thepsyker]

I really don't see why anyone would assume he's anything other than a (relatively low level) expert.

Because the fact that he has wings and can fly with them seems to imply he is either a dragonwrought kobold or a regular kobold with enough levels to take the Improved Dragon wings feat*, which requires at least 6hd and a prerequisite feat. Further in order to fly for longer then a few minutes with Improved Dragon Wings he would have to have 12hd. Thus, he has a minimum level of 12 in something. So he is at least mid level, the question is in what. This is of course assuming that Rich isn't fudging the rules. Still I think for a lot of people it is a more meta case of them viewing his having such unique characteristics as wings as hinting that there is something special about him.


*It would have to be Improved Dragon wings because Dragon wing which is available at first level only allows one to glide while he is clearly capable of flying. He also can't be a half-dragon as only half-dragons of large size or greater get wings.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

He's probably an expert with the Epic level feats people were talking about.

But there is a more important link here we gotta think about. His name is KILL KILL. No matter what he was brought there for I bet he's going to be the one to finally end Belkar.

Not to mention I would relish in the irony of such an event. Belkar, super tough and thinks he can kill anyone, is taken out by a Kobold with no grudge against him and with NPC levels. It would be a fitting end.

[Kish]

I really don't see why anyone would assume he's anything other than a (relatively low level) expert.

Between strips #629 and #630, hundreds of theories were posted on this board about how Vaarsuvius' mate was going to kick the dragon's ass.

[Murray]

Maybe he's a mutant! Blessed and cursed with amazing powers! Striving to protect the world that fears and hates him!..
Well, more like "the world that doesn't care much for him".

...maybe he has nunchucks?

I really am expecting Kil-Kil to be more than what he appears to be. But he could just end up being a bloody reminder that Belkar still has that ring of jumping.

[ti'esar]

There hasn't been a "thief" class since 2ed. Sabine is a rogue.

Kilkil thus far appears to be an Expert. I hope it stays that way rather that having a Big Reveal of what a badass the secretary actually is; I also hope he kills Belkar.

I kind of agree with this, honestly.

[KillianHawkeye]

He's probably an expert with the Epic level feats people were talking about.

I think you mean "probably NOT."

Just explaining how it works would take long enough to make it not worth it, and that's not even getting into how it's a dubious reading of the rules to even allow those sorts of shenanigans.

Rich doesn't care about the rules beyond the basics. If he wants to give a kobold wings, he doesn't need to make sure he has Feat A so he can get Feat B, he just gives him wings.

[Fenice]

I really don't see why anyone would assume he's anything other than a (relatively low level) expert.

Same here.

The fact that Kilkil is not really good at fighting is perfect. The Order of the Stick misses a member right now (Vaarsuvius). And one of the most important one (a spellcaster).
Kilkil not being very useful in combats sort of balances the match: 5 vs 5.

Moreover, Tarquin didn't initially think about recruiting him in the Linear Guild. Once he and Malack joined the team he asked his son what he thought about the new party. Kilkil got recruited only because Nale felt that "something was missing".
If Tarquin had such a powerful minion, why didn't he recruited him from the very beginning?

Least but not last, Kilkil never cast a spell nor desplayed any magical aura so far. And no one ever mentioned that he can cast spells. That would be very strange for a OotS spellcaster. We have usually been informed if a character could cast spells from their first appearances.

[urkthegurk]

Maybe Rich isn't into a metagaming reading of the rules, but I bet the kobold has. If not the specific 'epic feats at 3rd level' hack detailed above, I bet Kilkil is capable of bending the rules in all sorts of other ways. Diplomacy alone, if used literally, and applied correctly, can be paralyzing to an adventuring party. Having someone who can theorize about DPS or optimized attack formations is very valuable on any team. What if he's a combination of Ender and Lord Hamster?

Or he could just get murdered really easily. Which would be boring, not funny.

Although there is another reason Tarquin might have invited him along: he, like Elan, values narrative symmetry. MAybe he knows that the Linear Guild CAN'T defeat the Order without a Kobold... so he brought his useless accountant along.

[Haldir]

I think it would be interesting if he were some sort of spellcaster.