Is there a reason you expect sample traps not to appear in the DMG? Is the some cause to expect that Green Slime will not have it's own entry in either the monster manual or the DMG?
Because otherwise this seems to me to be identical to complaining that they didn't print you a list of possible alternate weapons Kobolds might use when the equipment section of the PHB is already there for you.
Traps are not unique to any individual monster. Ergo they do not belong in individual monster listings. Likewise they don't have to list out the mechanical effects of being medium creature trying to crawl through the Kobold's small tunnels because we already have rules for squeezing in the PHB.
if they do appear in the DM's guide then thats fair enough.
I still think the kobold is a badly designed monster. I've probably not explained myself very well.
I always believe that the crunch is the interaction between the fluff and the games system.
In the fluff for the Kobold, we are told they rely on trapmaking and tunneling to make up for their lack of physical prowess. Thats great its gives me a good idea how to run a Kobold encounter. Now when I run the encounter what makes the Kobold stand out at these things? Does it have an ability tied around trap making? I don't see one
ok fair enough, how about skills? does it have a skill tied to trap making it is proficient in? Again I don't see it.
hmmmm ok so I guess we can look at its attributes to see if its reasonable in areas that you'd think are needed to set good traps, I'd say INT and/or WIS for this. a -1 and -2 respectively. so not really
Theres nothing in the stat block that ties what the fluff says into the actual game.
I'd be falling back on because 'its what they do' which while not game breaking isn't ideal.
Maybe if there was a second page with Kobold leader or Shaman who was the one with these abilities/skills/attributes, who directed the 'grunts' in setting up the traps, again that's fair enough, but judging on the single page preview (which I admit is a dangerous thing!) the kobold doesn't for me do what it says on the tin.
