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This one’s for you Stephen.

The Kobold. Those annoying little rat-like creatures that have somehow survived through the editions, even though they only have 1-4 hit points. It’s probably because there are so many of them… and that makes it nearly impossible to kill them all off. Just when you think you have all 200 of the little lizard things wiped out, those last fifty or so scurry away to breed and live to fight another day.

This deep dive will be about the kobold development in history, lore and fighting techniques. Being cannon fodder hasn’t changed much for these guys, but the creature has transformed from being a complete pushover and compared to a goblin, to now being involved in the lore of Tiamat.

OD&D - Kobold

Goblin/Kobold

Number Appearing: 40-400

Armor Class: 6/7

Move in Inches: 6

Hit Dice: 1- 1 1/2

% in Lair: 50%

Type or amount of Treasure: 1-6 G.P. ea.

Even though the kobold was one of the original creatures in D&D, it didn't even merit a unique description of itself, as it was described as the weaker cousin to the goblin. This is pretty pathetic considering how weak the goblin was. And we all know that calling someone a goblin is extremely rude. Not only is this a slight against the majestic kobold, this is also a personal attack against Dump Stat. We here at Dump Stat, at least Stephen, thinks they are the greatest creature to ever spring to life on the pages of the monster manual… Chris has other opinions.

Like many of the monsters in OD&D, information is pretty sparse. It is worth noticing that the number appearing is 40-400. Can you say pack tactics anyone? Kobolds on their own, or in small groups, will run or be quickly slaughtered by even 1st level adventurers. Forty kobolds… well that’s another story altogether, though the fact that the barbarian gets a horde at higher levels means that even 400 kobolds aren’t much of an issue. Information on the kobold is pretty limited in OD&D, but that is not uncommon in the original version.

What little information we have on them was released in the White Box (1974). They are listed as a Chaos monster and the DM was told to treat them as a goblin… but weaker. Not a bright day for the Kobold back then, which is pry for the best since they took a -1 to their attacks in daylight.

AD&D 1e - Kobold

Before we begin… I would like to address a horrible slight that the Kobolds experienced in 1e, and I’m not talking about the fact that they look like weird dog/rat/reptile creatures. It’s that the 1e Monster Manual says: It is possible that goblins are distantly related to kobolds. Is there no end to the suffering the awesome kobold must endure? Anyway, here are the stats: