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Message: <blockquote data-quote="see" data-source="post: 9755616" data-attributes="member: 10531">There have been variant kobolds of various colors at various points, and the coloring on the main entry art in 3rd/3.5 was ambiguous, but 3rd/3.5 kobolds by text description were the same color as older D&D kobolds.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"The hide of kobolds runs from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black. They have no hair." -- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st edition) Monster Manual, p.57.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"They have scaly rust-brown skin and no hair." -- Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Moldvay), p.B37</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"They have scaly, rust-brown skin and no hair." -- Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Mentzer), Dungeon Masters Rulebook, p.32</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Barely clearing three feet in height, kobolds have scaly hides that range from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black." --  Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition Monstrous Compendium Volume 1, Kobold page</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"They have scaly, rust-brown skin no hair." -- Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia, p.187</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Barely clearing three feet in height, kobolds have scaly hides that range from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black." -- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition Monstrous Manual, p.214</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"A kobold's scaly skin ranges from a dark rusty brown to a rusty black color." -- Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition Monster Manual, p.124</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"A kobold's scaly skin ranges from a dark rusty brown to a rusty black color." -- Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e Monster Manual, p.161</li> </ol>Note that the original D&D booklets had no description of kobolds at all, the Holmes set described them as being dwarf-like. The text for none of the 4th edition Monster Manual, 4th edition Monster Vault, or 5th edition Monster Manual give what color a kobold is. The 5.24 Monster Manual says "Kobolds' scales resemble those of chromatic dragons that live near their warrens." [EDIT: I typo'd "love near their warrens" for 5.24 originally. 5.24 does not actually imply that the dragons are breeding with kobolds.]Those claiming that kobolds were originally dog-humanoids can note that the AD&D 1e Monster Manual:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Said, as quoted above, "They have no hair."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Mentioned that, that "If 200 or more kobolds are encountered in their lair there will be the following additional creatures there: 5-20 guards (as bodyguards above), females equal to 50% of the total number, young equal to 10% of the total number, and 30-300 eggs." [Emphasis added]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Had art depicting them covered in scales on both pages 57 and 58 (though, sure, that could be easily mistaken for scale armor).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Did not mention the word "dog" or any variations on it even once.</li> </ol>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, and AD&D entries always mentioned they had eggs. Well, land-dwelling, hairless, scaly, egg-layers are quite fairly described as "reptilian". 3rd edition then reconciled the Moldvay/Mentzer/RC entry with the well-established reptilian features by mentioning kobolds had a "doglike head" (and the heads of the kobolds were rather dog-like in the 1st edition Monster Manual artwork, more so than in 3rd).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.</blockquote>

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