D&D General Why do we color-code Dragons?

Those claiming that kobolds were originally dog-humanoids can note that the AD&D 1e Monster Manual:
I wonder how much of the association of kobolds with "dog men" comes from the original Baldur's Gate CRPG, where you run into plenty of kobolds early in the game and they have the war cry "Yip yip!"
Why did kobolds get dragonized in particular? Well, the 3rd edition Player's Handbook mentions on p.49 that . . .

. . . and in addition to speaking Draconic, that seems to be all the suggestion that was needed. Mongoose's Slayer's Guide to Kobolds in 2003 seems to have all kobolds claiming a connection, and by 2006, WotC's Races of the Dragon includes kobolds.
In addition, you have the Best Kobold in the Sunless Citadel, Meepo, who has managed to hatch and intends to train a wyrmling white dragon (who is one of the strongest creatures in the whole module). The wyrmling is not cooperating with Meepo's plans.
 

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The first time the monster entry for kobolds for any version of D&D mentions "dog" or any variations on it was Moldvay (using calling them "small, evil dog-like men") -- but it's also the first entry that the text explicitly establishes their skin as being "scaly". It is understandable that readers starting from Moldvay, Mentzer, or the Rules Cyclopedia could notice the "dog-like" and miss the contradicting "scaly" (and I note JRPG depictions of kobolds probably start from the Japanese translation of the Basic Set), but D&D 3rd's Monster Manual didn't actually change what kobolds were in D&D lore. Starting with the original Monster Manual, kobolds were consistently land-dwelling, hairless, and scaly,
Scaly skin is a common description of eczema and similar dermatological conditions and importantly scaling is a common issue for Chihuahua and similar hairless dogs - so really saying they had scaly skin doesnt suggest reptilian traits at all, and paired with dog-like makes me think of Kobolds as vicious little Chihuahua people.
I will concede that the egglaying thing is a significant push towards being reptilian
 

I wonder how much of the association of kobolds with "dog men" comes from the original Baldur's Gate CRPG, where you run into plenty of kobolds early in the game and they have the war cry "Yip yip
None, directly. BG1 was referencing Basic D&D lore, some of the kobold rumours are direct quotes from Keep on the Borderlands.
 


I think that WotC should have a wealth of DDB data on how often each skill is rolled, and should recalibrate the distribution of skills to make them much more balanced in their utility. I suspect that if you consolidated all of the knowledge skills into one skill (call it "Lore"), it would get used about as often as Perception.

That said, you might add another "Creature Lore" skill that could give the character specific knowledge of creature strengths and weaknesses (e.g. different colour dragons). Give rangers automatic expertise.
i don't think we need another more niche skill, we just need to give nature, arcana and religion more opportunity to pull their weight in identifying creatures and their weaknesses
 

The biggest actual change to what kobolds are wasn't at the start of 3rd, but how they became progressively more associated with dragons during the course of 3.x. The 3rd edition Monster Manual did have them speak Draconic, but it did the same thing to lizardfolk and troglodytes, which accounts for all three Humanoid (Reptilian) monsters in that book. Why did kobolds get dragonized in particular? Well, the 3rd edition Player's Handbook mentions on p.49 that . . .

. . . and in addition to speaking Draconic, that seems to be all the suggestion that was needed. Mongoose's Slayer's Guide to Kobolds in 2003 seems to have all kobolds claiming a connection, and by 2006, WotC's Races of the Dragon includes kobolds.
Kobolds are draconic because the kobolds said so?

The game world is changing the real world now. Have I fallen down the rabbit hole into the world of TRON: Ares?

I'm going to take a spear with me into the back garden at night, in case there are kobolds around.
 


i don't think we need another more niche skill, we just need to give nature, arcana and religion more opportunity to pull their weight in identifying creatures and their weaknesses
They do. Using the Study action, you would roll Arcana for information on Aberrations, Constructs, Elementals, Fey, and Monstrosities, Nature on Beasts, Dragons, Oozes, and Plants, and Religion on Celestials, Fiends, and Undead
 


re metagaming dragon colors:

1. These color-associations are spelled out on the Player's Handbook in the description for dragonborn

2. The PHB also tends to consider dragonborn a fairly common race

Ergo, I think we can assume most players and characters are at least broadly familiar with dragon-color-coding. They might get thrown off by gem dragons or linnorms or other less common stuff but the basics should be mostly well-known.

(Unless, of course, you do it differently in your setting.)
 

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