D&D 5E New Statblocks for D&D's Kobolds

The weekend's streaming events at WotC revealed two Kobold-related things! First, they get a new alignment-free stat block; and second, there's a fan-made stablock for Three Kobolds In A Trenchcoat illustration.

The stat block is an unofficial one from Reddit user TamLin123.

On the official front, the site Venturebeat heard from WotC about races other than orcs, and recent discussions about changes to orcs and other previously evil races, and got the following reply:

“Orcs are not prevalent in the adventure, but Rime of the Frostmaiden does feature other creatures that are currently defined in the game as humanoids. Some cleave to a particular alignment, while others defy expectation. We’re of a mind that humanoid creatures, going forward, shouldn’t have prescribed alignments; alignment belongs to each individual. To that end, there’s a new kobold stat block in Rime of the Frostmaiden that identifies the creature as a humanoid of any alignment, which is a departure from the kobolds in the Monster Manual”.

 

[Mercurius]

I have no issue with the idea that "alignment belongs to each individual." Individual DMs can still customize humanoids to their own liking. I do hope, though, that designers of specific campaign worlds still feel creatively free to offer their own takes on humanoids. The D&D rules and default assumptions can, and perhaps should, be general enough to facilitate a diversity of play styles, but specific campaign settings provide opportunities to play with different themes.

All that aside, I like the kobold(s).

 

[GameWyrd]

Neat!

 

[Derren]

I thought they wanted to do a horror adventure? (Not that horror adventure work in PnP).

 

[Eltab]

I thought they wanted to do a horror adventure? (Not that horror adventure work in PnP).

Sometimes you need a Scooby-Doo kind of scary to break you out of the "Ima all gonna die" spiral.

 

[AmerginLiath]

“Anyone could have been Three Kobolds In A Trenchcoat all along”

Well, the questions of racial identity and racial alignment may still be live ones, but we’ve officially now solved the problem of what to do when a player is suddenly absent for the latter sessions(s) of an adventure/campaign when there’s no reason/way for their character to have been separated from the party...

 

[Morrus]

I thought they wanted to do a horror adventure? (Not that horror adventure work in PnP).

It's a fan creation.

And try Call of Cthulhu with a better GM.

 

[werecorpse]

While I was initially looking forward to the idea of a snow and ice/borderlands/horror themed adventure the gimmicks such as the traitor mechanic and the kobold in trench coats are turning me off.

 

[Panda-s1]

I have no issue with the idea that "alignment belongs to each individual." Individual DMs can still customize humanoids to their own liking. I do hope, though, that designers of specific campaign worlds still feel creatively free to offer their own takes on humanoids. The D&D rules and default assumptions can, and perhaps should, be general enough to facilitate a diversity of play styles, but specific campaign settings provide opportunities to play with different themes.

All that aside, I like the kobold(s).

there are... how many official campaign worlds? and only in one of them are orcs, goblins, drow, gnolls, etc. aren't considered evil by default, that's some real creativity going on there.

 

[HomegrownHydra]

It's a fan creation.

But the art is from the book, is it not?