BX Monsters A to Z: Kobold

 

The classic Erol Otus kobold. 

There might not be a more iconic staple monster of low-level play than the kobold. Curiously, kobolds get a lot more extensive write-up in the Basic Rules than many other monsters, such as goblins.

Kobolds have been depicted in a variety of ways in D&D, but in B/X they're describes as small, scaly, rust-brown, hairless, and dog-like. Perhaps the adjective "scaly" contributed to their later portrayal as little dragon-men, a model I personally find cheesy and stupid. I imagined "scaly" more like a skin condition such as mange. Folklore tends to lump them in with goblins and dwarfs, and it wouldn't be a huge stretch to depict them as ugly, gnarled little bearded men, or even combining that with the dog-like appearance of B/X tradition. 

Setting aside attempts to make them truly formidable and fearsome opponents (e.g. "Tucker's kobolds"), kobolds in their basic form are individually quite weak. Their AC is equal to leather armor, they have a mere 1/2 Hit Die (1-4 hit points) and they do 1-4 points of damage, or by weapon -1 if you're a hardcore variable weapon damage enthusiast. Even a 1st-level magic-user with no combat spells has a decent chance against a kobold in one-on-one combat. 

Their Number Appearing can make them a legitimate threat: 4-16 in the dungeon, including on the first dungeon level where new adventuring parties will tend to encounter them, and 6-60 in dungeon lairs or in the wilderness. That first number is twice the Number Appearing for goblins. A goblin does have slightly more hp on average, and does a minuscule amount more damage, but the most salient factor here is that a typical encounter with kobolds is going to feature twice as many attacks per round as one with goblins. That actually does equate to significantly greater danger for a low-level party. The average number of kobolds encountered on Dungeon Level 1 is 10, and that's a whole lot of attacks per round against a party of characters who are probably going to have around 2-5 hit points each. Granted, a sleep spell can take out twice as many 1/2 HD creatures as 1-1 HD creatures, but that's only a factor when the encounter occurs while the party magic-user or elf has a sleep spell prepared, and that's only an equalizing factor, not a true advantage. 

There are a few factors working in a party's favor, though. Kobolds are slow, with a movement rate of 60' (20'), so characters who aren't heavily encumbered can outpace them. They also have a morale score of 6, meaning that they fail morale checks about 58% of the time; thus a fight with kobolds is unlikely to go to the bitter end. 

The description specifies that kobolds prefer to attack from ambush. What that means in a practical sense isn't clear. They don't have any enhanced chance to surprise opponents, and there aren't any formal rules for ambushes in B/X that I can recall. It could be interpreted to mean they're unlikely to attack if they don't have surprise. They're also stated to have well-developed infravision to 90' range, which is 50% greater than the standard. (In B/X, all monsters encountered in dungeons are assumed to have 60' infravision, even the human monsters like bandits and berserkers.)

A kobold lair will contain a chieftain who has 9 hp and fights as a 2 HD monster, and 1-6 bodyguards who have 6 hp and fight as 1+1 HD monsters. (In practice, the HD make no difference at all, as they both use the "1+ to 2" line on the attack matrix, or a THAC0 of 18.) While the chieftain is alive, all kobolds present have a morale of 8 rather than 6. 

Kobolds are stated to hate gnomes and attack them on sight, though since gnomes are not a PC race/class in B/X, this is unlikely to be relevant in play. In the monster entry for gnomes, kobolds are stated to steal the gnomes' precious gold, though neither creature's Treasure Type includes gold. Treasure Type J is found in the kobold lair, and individuals carry Type P, but it doesn't matter. At all. Not even a little bit. 

If I were to redesign the kobold, I'd lean into the implied cowardice a lot harder. Dropping standard morale by one point, from 6 to 5, cuts the odds of a successful check in combat by more than half, meaning the little buggers are extremely prone to bolt or grovel at the first sign of adversity. They might regroup and try again a few turns later, but a tendency for hit-and-run tactics suits them well. I find it even more colorful and satisfying to use them primarily as lethal tricksters rather than combatants, though. They'll make noises to lure adventurers into dangerous places -- other monsters' territories, traps, natural hazards. Folkloric kobolds have frequently been referred to as tappers an knockers, after all. They might steal or sabotage provisions and light sources while a party rests. I also like to give them a couple additional minor special abilities: they can crawl through tight spaces (and have usually honeycombed their territories in a dungeon with warrens of secondary tunnels allowing them to move quickly and unseen from place to place) and they have an uncanny knack of navigation in tunnels. They're literally incapable of getting lost. To put it all succinctly, they are in their element in dark, claustrophobic underground places, and delight in making parties of foolish "topsiders" feel anxious and hopeless in the dank depths. 

Finally, I'd cut the dungeon Number Appearing to 2-8. That's more than enough kobolds to accomplish some real mischief, without too much temptation to use them as a combat threat.