D&D 5E Kobolds are also from the Feywild now?

[Vaalingrade]

Funny how kobolds bein “dragon adjacent “ is now treated as the way things were when that’s something that wasn’t a thing until 3e. But making them from the Feywild is a huge change.

Credit where credit's due: 3e got it right in my eyes.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Funny how kobolds bein “dragon adjacent “ is now treated as the way things were when that’s something that wasn’t a thing until 3e. But making them from the Feywild is a huge change.

It's not a huge change, if you look at the origins.

OD&D, 1970s. Kobold are "weaker cousins" to goblins, mystical little buggers that live in forests and attack you.
AD&D, early 1980s. Kobolds are "dog-like" relations to goblins, now with divine hatred for gnomes.
AD&D 2E, late 1980s. Kobolds finally are their own race, scaly little guys that make up for their size with traps.

Until AD&D 2E, they followed the Germanic "fae little imps" motif that goblins followed. Except, D&D designers and writers wanted to do their own thing. As you note, 3E is where "kobolds -heart- dragons took off. I'm an AD&D 2E child, but my history lessons say the 5E designers aren't wrong if they go back to the original design of kobolds as fey.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's not a huge change, if you look at the origins.

OD&D, 1970s. Kobold are "weaker cousins" to goblins, mystical little buggers that live in forests and attack you.
AD&D, early 1980s. Kobolds are "dog-like" relations to goblins, now with divine hatred for gnomes.
AD&D 2E, late 1980s. Kobolds finally are their own race, scaly little jerks that make up for their size with traps.

Until AD&D 2E, they followed the Germanic "fae little imps" motif that goblins followed. Except, D&D designers and writers wanted to do their own thing. As you note, 3E is where "kobolds -heart- dragons took off. I'm an AD&D 2E child, but my history lessons say the 5E designers aren't wrong if they go back to the original design of kobolds as fey.

I don't recall ever seeing kobolds described as "mystical" in the history of the game. In so far as D&D is concerned prior to this comment by Crawford, they have no fey roots. Insofar as folklore is concerned, almost every non-human sapient being in Western mythology (and many others) is fae-like in origin. Does that mean we have to keep porting stuff over? There's just no good reason to keep make these huge changes to lore. What the heck happened over there a few years ago? Mid-edition is not when you do these things.

 

[Azzy]

Again, this is not how kobolds are described in MPMotM. So it's pretty left-field.

 

[Voadam]

It's not a huge change, if you look at the origins.

OD&D, 1970s. Kobold are "weaker cousins" to goblins, mystical little buggers that live in forests and attack you.
AD&D, early 1980s. Kobolds are "dog-like" relations to goblins, now with divine hatred for gnomes.
AD&D 2E, late 1980s. Kobolds finally are their own race, scaly little shits that make up for their size with traps.

Until AD&D 2E, they followed the Germanic "fae little imps" motif that goblins followed. Except, D&D designers and writers wanted to do their own thing. As you note, 3E is where "kobolds -heart- dragons took off. I'm an AD&D 2E child, but my history lessons say the 5E designers aren't wrong if they go back to the original design of kobolds as fey.

I don't really see that fey or goblin connection in the descriptions of early D&D. A bit of it in the art of 2e.

Their stats were like weaker goblins but that was as close as it got.

0e 1973:
"KOBOLDS: Treat these monsters as if they were Goblins except that they will take from 1–3 hits (roll a six-sided die with a 1 or 2 equalling 1 hit, a 3 or 4 equalling 2 hits, etc.)."

1e 1979:

B/X Basic 1981:

2e MC I 1989:

2e Monstrous Manual 1995 with Tony DiTerlizzi art:

 

[Voadam]

Damn. Just checked my birth certificate, I think I may be from the feywild?

How about you?

Do switched at birth changelings know they are actually fey?

I think it depends on the specific story.

 

[Hriston]

Chainmail (1971) treats kobolds as interchangeable with goblins.

 

[Voadam]

Chainmail (1971) treats kobolds as interchangeable with goblins.

Yep. My PDF of the 3rd edition 1979 7th printing says:

GOBLINS (and Kobolds): Goblins and Kobolds see well in dimness or dark, but they do not like bright light. When fighting in full daylight or bright light they must subtract 1 from their Morale Rating, as well as 1 from any die rolled. Because of their reciprocal hatred, Hoblins (Kobolds) will automatically attack any Dwarves (Gnomes) within charging distance. Hobgoblins fight as Armored Foot and defend as Heavy Foot. Their Point Value is 2 1/2 .
Morale Rating — 5 Point Value — 1 1/2

So the gnome hatred seems to be there as well.

There is a note in the 1979 printing that says it is revised and expanded so I could not say what the original that OD&D was based on specifically said.

 

[Weiley31]

Crawford: Please join us as we announce the classic setting that you were all hoping for this year: Monsters of the Multiverse: Kobold Edition.

-It's the same thing as the recently released Monsters of the Multiverse from the January Rules Expansion Gift bundle, and the Monsters of the Multiverse standalone release in May. Except the only change is that now, in the Kobold section, we tossed Feywild at the very end of the statblock. Our editor tells us it is an incomplete sentence, but sentences are from the Feywild. Coming soon for sale at the end of December 2022. In order to make this crowded deadline for this much anticipated release, both Spelljammer and Dragonlance have been cancelled. But because we enjoyed the adorableness of the Hamster face, we have decided to place it on the cover of Monsters of The Multiverse: Kobold Edition. Now you can see the glory of Mordenkainen, except with the head of a Hamster.


This sparks joy!

 

[cbwjm]

D&D 5.5e: Now Everything is now from the Feywild.

Sounds more like 5.fey.