| Dragon | Races | - | - | Dragon 101 |
| History | Society | Personality | Handling | Religion |
| Kender as PCs | Appearance | Possessions | - | - |
As the DRAGONLANCE saga has
grown and changed since its conception, so
have its various elements, including the
racial portrait of the kender. Originally
thought of as much like halflings, kender
have evolved into a distinctive race unto
themselves. The following article brings to
light new information about this interesting
race. Some thoughts are also given on how
to effectively role-play kender characters in
AD&D® DRAGONLANCE campaigns.
History
DL-5, Dragons of Mystery, describes the
origin of the kender folk. All kender are
descended from gnomes who were magically
and permanently changed by the artifact
known as the Greygem, or the Greystone of
Gargath. Gnomes were themselves descended
from men who were magically
altered by the deity Reorx.
Kender thus
came to possess most of the personality
traits common to humans, though certain
ones became much magnified and others
disappeared.
Kender spread throughout Ansalon during
the Age of Dreams, though little is said
of them in official histories. The earliest
known kender hero was Balif, a close friend
of the elven lord Silvanos, who established
the kingdom of Silvanesti. Balif fought in
the First Dragonwar and established his
own kingdom of kender, called Balifor. Balif
died in the year 250 of the Age of Dreams.
A second kender kingdom was established
in northwestern Ansalon in the year 400 of
the Age of Dreams. Known as Hilo (because
of the mountains and low plains), this
second kingdom was brought into the empire
of Ergoth in the year 800. Following
the Rose Rebellion of Vinas Solamnus (also
known as the War of Ice Tears; see
DRAGON® issue #94, "My
honor is my
life"), Hilo again gained its
independence
and has kept it to this date.
Tragically, Balifor was destroyed during
the Cataclysm. The few kender survivors
wandered north and eventually established
a city at Kendermore, renaming the area
around it Goodlund. Kendermore is only a
short distance from the remains of an old
human city-state called The Ruins by the
kender who explore it in droves. It is said
that finding artifacts in The Ruins is easy,
but leaving with them is impossible because
of the local kender.
Many of the kender in Goodlund never
returned to civilization, however, remaining
in a state of semi-barbarism for centuries.
One of these tribal kender, an unusually
powerful and charismatic leader named
Kronin, has begun organizing all local
kender to combat the draconian and dragon
armies sweeping the area. Kronin is unusually
antagonistic for a kender, and those few
who have met him have come away shaken.
Whether Kronin and his army of kender
will have any effect on the current war
remains to be seen.
Society
The basic unit of kender society is the
immediate family (parents and children).
Because kender wander so much, extended
families do not truly exist. A detailed discussion
of kender politics, government, and
society is beyond the scope of this article.
Suffice to say that kender society is unique
and everchanging.
Kender society can also be hard to take.
Non-kender visitors rarely stay longer than
a week in any major kender town, unless
they have a sense of humor. "If an asylum
had turned loose its inmates and a jail its
thieves to run this city," wrote one traveler
of Kendermore, "the end result could not
have been more atrocious. I have been
robbed a dozen times today, twice by constables
and once by a child who could
barely reach my kneecaps. I have been
tormented by a hundred thousand questions,
been told a million lies, and been run
to exhaustion by my guide. Half the population
wants to make a gynosphinx
their
mayor on the grounds that they have never
had one before, and the other half has left in
search of one. Gods take me if I ever set
foot in this land again!"
Personality
4 things make a kender's personality
drastically different from that of a typical
human. Kender are utterly fearless, insatiably
curious, unstoppably mobile and independent,
and will pick up anything that is
not nailed down (though kender with claw
hammers will get those things as well).
The fearlessness that all kender possess
gives them a strong sense of confidence.
They are quite carefree or matter-of-fact
about a situation, even if things look hopeless
and grim. ("No sense in running away
now. There's 500 goblins surrounding
us!") Kender react effectively to
dangerous situations, fighting hard and
fearlessly. They sometimes come up with
some bizarre tactics which may carry the
day in battle, and they don't let their fearlessness
get in the way of self-preservation
-- most of the time.
Kender appreciate the need for caution,
but their uncontrollable curiosity gets them
into trouble on adventures. They forever
have to check out unexplored places and
peek into dark corners. They have no desire
to be the second or third persons who ever
entered and left the Caverns of Unspeakable
Doom; they want to be the very first.
Pointing out that no one returns from the
Caverns of Unspeakable Doom has no
effect. In fact, describing what makes the
caverns so unspeakable might even excite
the kender further and make him or her
determined to go to the caverns at once.
("An evil archmage and an army of ogres?
Wow! Let?s go see 'em!") Some kender
might allow their curiosity to overcome
their common sense when facing unusual
opponents, such as a dragon, though they
eventually learn to run when running is
best.
A kender's fellows are often in the position
of having to teach him that certain
things have big, nasty teeth, and that avoiding
these things is often in the kender's best
interests, regardless of what the kender's
opinions are in the matter. Whenever a
kender displays an inordinately sensible
attitude about danger, it is probably because
the kender realizes that performing this
action will ruin any further chances of doing
exciting things -- ever.
A few legends suggest that kender can
actually be frightened, though only by
creatures on the level of demon princes and
archdevils. No one is willing to test out this
theory, however, and most people believe
that after the initial scare, the kender would
be back to normal, pestering the monstrous
prince with personal questions.
Kender are intensely curious about everything.
Magic awes and fascinates them, as
do any large, unusual, and dramatic creatures
like chimeras, centaurs, unicorns,
and, of course, dragons. Kender are drawn
to beautiful things, but they may find certain
things that others find disgusting to be
intriguing or humorous in some way (even
some gully dwarves).
Though strong-willed, kender are not
prone to consider all the possible results of
their behavior. A kender may quickly and
impulsively paint herself into a comer, then
wait for someone else to come along and get
her out of the jam. Sometimes this means
that the kender?s fellow adventurers are
painted into the same comer. (?I guess I
shouldn?t have opened that locked door
with the warning signs on it, huh??) Experienced
adventurers quickly come to dread
that most awful of kender sayings: ?Oops!?
Another important point is that kender
need action ? and they need it now. They
thrive on excitement and yearn for new
adventures. ?I?m just along for the fun? is
a common saying among wandering kender.
It has been suggested that the worst torture
that could be inflicted on a kender would be
to lock him up and simply give him nothing
new to do or look at. (Conversely, it is said
that the worst torture one can visit on any
non-kender would be to lock him up in a
bare cell with a bored kender.) Some kender
believe that evil creatures are condemned to
an afterlife where they will be eternally
b o r e d .
Most kender are encountered during
wanderlust, a peculiar phase that comes on
a kender in his early 20s. Apparently the
kender?s natural curiosity and desire for
action suddenly go into overdrive at this
time, and kender are driven to wander the
land as far as they can go. Wanderlust may
last for many years, and some kender have
a habit of making maps of their travels
during this time. Sadly, most kender are
poor mapmakers, lacking the patience and
skills to chart their travels accurately. Kender
may collect other maps during this time
to satisfy their curiosity about other places.
This wanderlust is responsible for spreading
kender communities across the continent of
Ansalon.
Risky deeds draw kender like dragons are
drawn to gold, but risk must be combined
with action or else they?ll lose interest.
Gambling with cards won?t hold a kender?s
attention for long, but seeing if one can
outrun a mad owlbear is another thing.
Bravery is easily confused with recklessness
where kender are concerned.
Kender are natural extroverts and enjoy
making new friends and seeing new places.
The majority of them are very personable
and friendly ? perhaps too friendly for
some people, who dislike their nosiness,
their extreme talkativeness (which grows
worse when they get excited), and their
habit of pocketing everything that interests
them. Kender also resent being given orders;
they want to do what they want to do,
especially if they have their minds set on
doing it. Telling them to do otherwise is
worse than useless, as they will complain
loudly and disrespectfully, using their taunting
skills if they?re mad enough. The best
way to handle kender, say old adventurers,
is not to give them orders, but to get them
to volunteer.
Kender are sensitive and can be easily
hurt by indifference or intentionally cutting
remarks (triggering their taunting talents
almost immediately). They treasure their
friends; if one?s friends are injured or slain,
the kender may become very depressed and
upset. Death only seems to affect a kender
when it comes to one that the kender knows
and loves, or when it is meted out by disaster
or warfare to innocent beings (including
any kender). In such cases, the distress that
the usually cheerful kender feels seems
extremely terrible. A story is told of a human
ranger in the Age of Dreams who
wounded a deer that was the pet of a kender
community. The sight of an entire village of
small kender crying their hearts out was so
upsetting to the ranger that he quested until
he found a druid who could heal the animal,
then retired and took up fishing.
Kender are also masters of taunting,
sarcasm, and outright rudeness when it
suits them to use it. (See the section on
kender as player characters for details on
taunting effects.) Their intense curiosity
gives them shocking insights into the character
and nature of other people, though
such an awareness is generally shallow. It is
acute enough, however, for a kender to
forge an idea of another person?s character
flaws, giving the kender the ability to create
the most stinging insults that can be imagined.
Full-scale riots have been reportedly
started by irritated kender who opened up
on someone with their verbal guns.
Taunting is one of the few defenses that
kender have. Physically small, kender resent
anyone who takes advantage of them.
A kender could not imagine taunting a
fellow kender; after all, they?re in this together.
Taunting is especially effective if a
kender has others to back him up or some
trap that a maddened attacker can be lured
into with little cost to the kender himself.
Though not very effective against the largest
creatures (who will not have their combat
effectiveness reduced greatly), taunting
might still give a hard-pressed kender an
edge in a fight. It is best used only against
those who are either attacking or are about
to attack; there?s no sense in angering a
potential friend.
Handling
The kender concept of personal property
and theft deserves special attention. Because
many kender develop thieving talents, most
people assume they are merely innocent-looking
but sneaky burglars. This isn't so.
The intense curiosity that kender feel feeds
their desire to know how locks can be
opened, how to approach people unseen
and listen in on their conversations, and to
reach into pockets or pouches to find interesting
things to look at. Thieving comes
naturally to them -- so naturally that they
cannot see it as thieving.
Kender do not steal for the sake of profit.
First of all, they have little concept of value.
Faced with a choice between a 2000 gp
diamond and a huge, glittering chunk of
purple glass, 90 kender out of 100 will take
the glass. (The rest will take both but will
get rid of the diamond first.) They pick
things up out of curiosity and wander off
with them. Sometimes the owner of an item
leaves before the kender can give the item
back, or else the kender becomes enchanted
with the item and forgets to return it. If
adventuring, a kender will regard anything
found in an enemy stronghold as fair game
for picking up, as such items are marvelous
curios and might prove useful later on.
Even if caught taking an item redhanded,
the range of excuses a kender will
offer if found to have something that
doesn't belong to him is amazing:
"Guess I found it somewhere."
"I forgot that I had it."
"You walked off before I could give it back."
"I was afraid someone else would take it."
"You must have dropped it."
"You put it down and I didn't think you wanted it anymore."
"Maybe it fell into my pocket."
All of these lines are delivered with an
innocent sincerity that is all the more maddening
because the kender is sincere! A
kender might not necessarily remember
where she found something, even if she
picked it up half a minute before, and such
responses are often delivered as part of an
unthinking defense mechanism. Intense
curiosity is a trait ingrained in their souls
and minds from their racial creation by the
Greystone of Gargath. They cannot be
other than what they are -- natural thieves.
No regular thieves' guilds operate in
kender communities, and kender would not
belong to such guilds even if they did exist.
(Tasslehoff Burrfoot learned Thieves? Cant
during his travels by overhearing conversations
between human thieves; he has never
belonged to a guild.) Informal organizations
for adventurous kender do exist, however,
and thieving skills are taught as a matter of
course to anyone who is interested in learning
them. In addition, families of kender
often pass along the knowledge of how to
perform certain skills from generation to
generation.
Kender, like everyone else, do not like the
idea of someone deliberately taking an item
from someone else without the latter?s permission.
To be called a thief is still considered
a base insult. This assertation sounds
remarkable in view of the fact that kender
constantly "borrow" things from each other
and from visitors (without asking) in their
home communities. Kender don?t regard
their idea of borrowing as stealing, however.
If they need something, they?ll take it. If
they see something interesting, they?ll pick
it up and pocket it. A popular proverb
defines a kender heirloom as anything that
remains longer than 3 weeks inside a
kender's home.
Religion
After their creation in the Age of
Dreams, certain kender were gifted with
clerical and druidic powers. These spellcasting
kender roamed the entire length and
breadth of the continent of Ansalon, spreading
their various faiths. Clerical and druidic
kender were either incapable of or had no
desire for establishing fixed places of worship.
No evil kender clerics were ever seen
or heard of.
The clerical kender proved to be troublesome
for the clerics of the more rigid established
religions to govern. Aside from their
wanderlust, which made it impossible to
keep track of them and get them to settle
down, kender clerics also displayed all of
the less engaging traits shown by their
people: petty theft, name-calling, and questionable
wisdom in dealing with danger.
Worse yet, kender clerics were quite good at
seeing through false piety and sham, and
their criticism of other clerics -- whether of
their own religions or of others -- was
stinging. Religious kender themselves were
dedicated and sensitive, even if they were
incapable of maintaining close relationships
with their flocks for very long. Sooner or
later, they would have to move on.
Clerical and druidic kender vanished
from the world after the Cataclysm, as did
all other clerics. Nothing is known
of where
they went. During the centuries after the
Cataclysm, kender spent their time searching
for their religious leaders and investigating
the various false religions that sprang up
across the changed world. Few kender
joined such cults for long, and gradually
they forgot about the old gods and created a
number of their own philosophies on life
and the world ? philosophies in some ways
as error-prone as the false religions of the
land, but certainly more sincere and
friendly.
The most highly favored of all gods
among the kender were Branchala, Chislev,
Mishakal, and Gilean. A certain degree of
homage was paid by all kender to Reorx,
who indirectly caused the creation of kenderkind,
and to Habbakuk, the Fisher King
and ruler of animals and the sea. Branchala,
the Bard King, appealed to the kender
with his mastery of song, his love of
stories and legends, and his wayward nature.
All true bards among the kender held
Branchala to be their lord, and they served
him well on their endless travels. Clerics of
Branchala often learned to play musical
instruments or sing as a part of their religious
training.
Chislev, the male/female deity who governs
all the natural forces of Krynn, was
served by many druidic kender. Chislev?s
worship involved immersing oneself in the
harmony and peacefulness of nature, establishing
a oneness with the earth and its
seasons and cycles, and in the avoidance of
judging things to be good or evil. If a thing
was troublesome, it was dealt with, whether
it was good or bad in nature. Peace and
community were emphasized highly. Druidic
kender were often accompanied in their
wanderings by retinues of wild animals
(some under a charm and some merely
friendly).
A small cult dedicated to Mishakal could
always be found in a large community of
kender. Clerical kender of this deity were
known to be especially pleasant company,
though they had not lost their talent for
ridiculing evil-natured beings to their faces.
Kender who worshiped this deity were less
prone to wander than other clerics and
druids, and often followed a circular trail
around several small communities that they
would periodically visit.
A minor cult among the kender devoted
to the worship of Gilean was known from
several parts of Ansalon. Kender who
sought knowledge of the world?s secrets
sometimes took up the gray robes of Gilean
?s clerics and set out with pen and book,
recording all they saw, heard, suspected,
and imagined. Only a few diaries of these
kender have survived; they make wonderful
reading.
During the Third Dragonlance War, it
was reported that a kender had encountered
a true, good cleric, and, to the cleric?s surprise,
had gained a duplicate medallion of
faith. Nothing more is known of this event,
but it appears to foretell the return of holy
spellcasters among the kender of Ansalon.
Kender as PCs
For the most part, kender characters will
only appear in DRAGONLANCE campaigns
set in the world of Krynn. However,
it is entirely possible that kender have found
their way into other campaign universes by
toying with plane-shifting devices or by
other means. Krynn is the only world of
origin for the kender race, and kender on
other worlds will probably have legends
concerning their old homes and how they
arrived at their new location.
Kender PCs may be of any non-evil
alignment. A magical effect that forces a
kender to become evil will instead cause it
to go insane with catatonia,
as per the
Dungeon Masters Guide.
The initial characteristics for a kender are
generated using 3d6 rolls, with a -1 modifier
for strength and a +2 modifier for dexterity.
The following table gives the maximum
and minimum values for their six principal,
characteristics.
| Strength | 6-16* |
| Intelligence | 6-18 |
| Wisdom | 3-16 |
| Dexterity | 8-19 |
| Constitution | 10-18 |
| Charisma | 6-18 |
Kender gain a racial bonus of +1 to
comeliness, and virtually no kender are
known to have a comeliness of less than 7.
Kender may become fighters, rangers,
thieves, thief-acrobats, and bards. Note that
kender thieves, thief-acrobats, and bards
may be of any non-evil alignment, including
lawful good and chaotic good. Kender
bards will only gain 1 hp per bard level,
instead of a 6-sided hit dice, after the 1st
level of bardic experience. Kender clerics
and druids may also be used as characters,
if the referee is able to work them into an
ongoing DRAGONLANCE campaign.
Neutral clerics may exist, but druids must
always be completely neutral.
Kender cannot learn to cast magic-user
or illusionist spells because of their innate
magic resistance, a legacy of their creation
by the Greystone of Gargath. They cannot
become assassins because of their natural
empathy with living things, and they cannot
become monks because, regardless of alignment,
they lack self-discipline. No evil
kender are known to exist. The maximum
possible levels that kender may attain in
such professions are listed below in table
form.
| Class | Maximum level |
| Fighter | 5* |
| Ranger | 5* |
| Cleric | 6 |
| Druid | 5 |
| Thief | unlimited |
| Thief-acrobat | unlimited |
| Bard | 9 |
* -- Kender who somehow gain 17
strength can reach 6th level; those who
manage to get strength of 18 (as great as
can be permanently allowed; no percentile
roll allowed) may become 7th-level fighters.
Kender may mix classes so long as alignment
and common sense prevail. They may
become fighter/thieves (of any non-evil
alignment) or ranger/thieves (of any good
alignment). If the referee allows cleric and
druid characters into his Krynn campaign,
then fighter/cleric, ranger/cleric, fighter/
druid, thief/cleric, and thief/druid kender
may be used as PCs, though such should be
extremely rare.
Kender bards (like other bards) cannot be
multi-classed, and a class cannot be mixed
with a subclass of itself (such as a cleric/
druid or fighter/ranger). Kender druid/
rangers do not exist. The thief-acrobat split
class may be mixed as per the thief class.
Kender who are not thieves are allowed a
base 5% chance to perform any thieving
skill except reading languages (nil) and
climbing (base 40% chance); these chances
never improve except for dexterity and
racial modifiers (treat kender as halflings
with regards to the latter). This also applies
to NPC kender who have no levels (who are
treated as O-level characters with 1-6 hp).
Unarmored kender, if moving in front of
a party by 90' or more and traveling only
with other beings like elves who can move
as quietly as they do, can surprise opponents
on a roll of 1-4 on a d6. They can tell
directions above or below ground with 50%
accuracy, due to their innate sensitivity to
the environment. No kender has ever been
known to have psionic talents. As a race,
kender tend to be strongly neutral with
good and chaotic leanings.
Kender have the same lifespans and age
categories as halflings, though they begin
their adventures at age 20 + 3d4, regardless
of class. Starting money
is as per the Players
Handbook, substituting steel pieces for
gold pieces.
Kender have a base movement rate of
12" due to their agility. They lack infravision
and gain a special saving-throw bonus
vs. spells, rods, wands, staves, and poison
of +4, regardless of their constitution
scores.
Most kender will learn the languages of
any major human, demi-human, and humanoid
peoples living near their villages. In
Ansalon, kender will become familiar with
goblin, ogre, elven, dwarven, and gnomish
languages, as well, as local human tongues
and their own racial language, Kenderspeak.
Druidic kender will learn the secret
language of that class. Interestingly, kender
have a chance to learn Thieves? Cant regardless
of their own class, supposing that
they have opportunity to learn it. The idea
of using a secret language is quite appealing
to them.
The two special talents of kender, taunting
and fearlessness, are elaborated upon
here. Taunting any intelligent creature who
can understand the kender will cause it to
save vs. spells (with wisdom bonuses applicable),
or else the victim will attack the
kender wildly for 1-10 rounds, with a -2
penalty to hit and a +2 penalty to armor
class due to the affected being?s irrationality.
If a particular victim is assumed to be more
or less vulnerable to such abuse, the DM
may apply penalties or bonuses to saving
throws as desired. Long-time friends of a
particular kender will develop high savingthrow
bonuses against this power as they
will have grown used to it.
Fearlessness applies specifically to any
form of magical fear generated by magical
items such as wands and monsters such as
dragons, androsphinxes, demons, and the
like, as well as to spells like cause fear,
scare, emotion (fear), symbol (of fear), and
fear.
In general, kender prefer the company of
other kender, though they aren?t likely to
see very many other kender for long periods
of time while wandering. They are very well
disposed toward elves, humans, half-elves,
and hill dwarves, and will have neutral
feelings toward other, non-evil dwarves at
worst (particularly toward gully dwarves).
Gnomes are tolerated for the most part.
Kender do not truly hate any other race on
Krynn, feeling antipathy at worst toward
goblins, derro, and draconians. Kender
antipathy usually means that the kender will
ready a weapon and open fire on the opponent
at a moment's notice -- as a matter of
principle, not out of hatred.
At the DM's option, a particularly bright
or well-traveled kender could be given a 5%
legend lore chance to know the answer to a
particular problem, based upon the kender?s
past experience. Kender tend to collect
trivia in the same way they collect other
people?s belongings, and they enjoy songs,
stories, tall tales, and legends. All kender
bards gain a +5% bonus to their legend
lore skill rolls.
Appearance
Kender are small and resemble human
children, though they are more heavily
muscled. Males are typically 3' 9" tall and
weigh 80 lbs.; females are 2' and 6 lbs.,
smaller. Adult kender are rarely more than
4? tall, and their weight can be up to 100
lbs. Kender lack the hairy feet and chubby
appearance typical of halflings.
Kender typically have sandy blond, light
and dark brown, copper-red, or even red-
orange hair colors. Hair styles are usually
long, with many varieties of braids and
pony tails being popular. Cheek braids
indicate a kender is of royal or noble blood.
Often bits of colorful material such as bird
feathers, ribbons, or flowers are carefully
woven into their hair as well. Kender are
fair-skinned but tan quickly, becoming nutbrown
by midsummer. Their eyes are variously
pale blue, sea green, olive, light
brown, and hazel.
Facially, kender are distinctive for their
pointed ears, giving them a faintly elfin
look. They are bright-eyed, and their facial
expressions are quite intense. No one seems
to look as happy as a joyful kender or as
miserable as a crying one. Angry kender
using taunts and insults against someone
they particularly dislike can be shockingly
vulgar, as noted above, and can look quite
devilish for a few moments. This intensity
of emotion can be infectious.
Kender have been called ?wizened?
because of the fine network of lines that
appear on their faces about age 40. These
minute wrinkles give kender a curious
appearance when seen close up, though
such lines are considered attractive by
kender of all clans.
Kender have a wide vocal range, from
deep and husky to high-pitched and
squeaky. Older kender tend to have deeper
voices,-but they still maintain wide pitch
ranges and can often perform remarkable
sound imitations. When excited, kender
tend to speak very quickly and ramble at
the same time, making it hard to follow
what they?re trying to say.
Possessions
Because of their small size and low
strength, kender prefer to travel light. Only
small shields will be used (if class allows),
and leather or padded armor or
furs make
up the heaviest armor that most kender will
tolerate. A few warriors may use ringmail
or studded leather armor, but will generally
take it off when traveling long distances by
foot or when scouting an enemy position.
Elfin chainmail (if somehow obtained)
would be much enjoyed.
The following one-handed melee weapons
may be used by kender: aklys, hand axe,
dagger, hammer, horseman?s flail, horseman
?s pick, horseman?s mace, sap, and
short sword. Kender may throw the aklys,
hand axe, club, dagger, dart, hammer,
harpoon, javelin, and the short spear and
trident using only one hand, and they may
use the short spear and trident as onehanded
thrusting weapons. Javelins may be
hurled with a throwing stick (atlatl). Light,
small shields and spiked bucklers may be
used with any of the above.
In addition, kender may carry and use
the following weapons (though twohanded):
club, falchion, footman?s flail,
footman?s mace, morning star, footman?s
pick, scimitar, spear, short quarterstaff and
bo staff, khopesh sword, long sword, broad
sword, and trident. A few of the taller ones
can use the bardiche and battle axe. Kender
despite their height, may learn to use a
lasso. They dislike the use of the garrot and
whip, and no kender are known to have any
expertise with them.
Kender prefer using slings and staff slings
as missile weapons, though they have also
been known to use short bows of various
sorts. Blowguns and hand-held crossbows
may be used by them. Kender have never
been known to build or employ large siege
weapons on a regular basis, though they
might be fascinated with them for a short
time.
The hoopak is a special weapon developed
and used exclusively by the kender,
who are the right height to make the best
use of it. Its origins are unknown, lying far
into the earliest years of the Age of Dreams.
A hoopak is a combination bo staff and staff
sling (treated as a regular bullet sling, regardless
of the type of missiles fired) that all
kender are able to use, regardless of class
restrictions on weapons. Kender PCs should
choose a hoopak as one of the weapons
learned at 1st level; those who do gain a +2
bonus to hit and damage on all attacks
involving the hoopak, due to the years of
practice with it earlier in life. Any kender
PC who does not choose the hoopak at 1st
level will never be able to gain the +2
proficiency bonus.
A hoopak can be easily made in 1-4 days
by any adult kender. They cost nothing,
since kender never sell them, and a kender
PC may begin the game with a ready-made
hoopak. A hoopak is made from a springy, resilient
wood; one end of the staff is forked
like a slingshot, and a leather pocket is
mounted there as the sling. The other end
of the staff is pointed and shod with metal
or hardened by fire.
Being fairly inventive, some kender have
developed combination weapons similar to
the hoopak. A snapper is a hand axe, balanced
for throwing, with an elastic-band
slingshot mounted on the back of the axe
head. The kender using it simply points the
shaft of the axe in the direction of an enemy
and fires away. Other such devices, such as
spears with removable spearheads (turning
them into staves), have also been noted, but
these are fairly rare. Kender also like adding
extra things to their weapons such as
whistles, notches for tying bundles to the
weapon's shaft, or hollow shafts that allow
the weapon to double as a snorkel or a
blowgun.
All kender, whether thieves or not, invariably
have one or more makeshift lockpicking
tools, often no more than a length of
wire, hidden on their persons. Professionalquality
thieves? tools are made and sold (or
picked up) at the same adventuring clubs
that teach thieving skills.
Kender clothing is widely varied and
tends to be colorful and bright. Even rustic
clothing will have bits of brightly colored
material woven into it. Soft, thin materials
are much preferred, and soft leather is
highly valued (especially if dyed and tooled
with designs). Kender thieves generally
avoid wearing clothing that is too loudly
colored, since this inhibits their thieving
abilities at hiding.
Beyond the above, a kender will almost
certainly have an assortment of other small
items in his pockets or belt pouches that
were acquired in one manner or another.
Bird feathers, odd stones, rings (possibly
magical), string, animal teeth, toys, whistles,
scraps of paper, necklaces, tinderboxes,
small tools, chalk, purses, figurines, charcoal
sticks, handkerchiefs, gems, pet mice,
glass marbles, unusual daggers, bits of dried
meat or biscuits, foreign coins, and the like
will fill a kender's pockets. Anything that
could conceivably hold a kender's attention
for longer than 2 seconds and that can be
quickly hidden on a kender's person will
almost certainly be taken.
Players using kender characters may have
their DM generate random-roll tables in
case the kender quickly reaches into a
pocket to grab an item at random. If a
kender wants to find a specific item, it will
take 1 round to locate it among the kender's
possessions. A kender grabbing an
item on his person at random may hurl or
use the item immediately. Random-roll
tables should be adjusted to keep track of
new items acquired. If a kender exceeds the
maximum possible number of items that he
or she could possbily carry (as determined
by the DM and player before play starts),
then items are randomly lost from the list.
Some degree of rational judgement should
be used in figuring out these tables, but
they add enormously to playing enjoyment.
Players with kender PCs should also
make a habit of passing notes to the DM
whenever an item is seen that the kender
wishes to "handle." The DM may roll for
successful use of the kender?s pickpocketing
skill only if an item is being taken from a
living person or within plain view of another
character. Otherwise, the item is
automatically and secretly transferred to the
kender?s list of possessions.
Kender often "handle" items taken from
fellow adventurers. Threats are generally
useless in preventing this occurrence. In
fact, a kender PC who does not pickpocket
her friends probably has something seriously
wrong with her, and she should be
seen by a physician or cleric at once. A
lowered ?curiosity drive? is often a symptom
of fever or insanity.
Kender have sometimes been known to
make pets out of stray animals, particularly
cats, dogs, and small, friendly rodents like
mice. A few stories are told of kender who
managed to get even bigger and more unusual
pets; one peculiar tale is told of Tasslehoff
Burrfoot and a mammoth he freed from
captivity, but this cannot be proven. Kender
only rarely use mounts, preferring to walk
even over long distances.
This article was prepared with the help of
Harold Johnson, who is to blame for creating
kender in the first place, and Margaret
Weis and Tracy Hickman, who brought
them to life in the DRAGONLANCE trilogy.
Thank you all!
SEPTEMBER 1985