Kobold
k kobold 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 1 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d4 |
| Base level | 0 |
| Base experience | 6 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -2 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 400 |
| Nutritional value | 100 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A kobold:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line569 |
A kobold, k, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is the most basic type of kobold, and one of the earliest monsters that you will encounter in the dungeon. A kobold has a single weapon attack and poison resistance.
A kobold corpse is poisonous to eat.
Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated kobolds are always hostile. A kobold can grow up into a large kobold.
Kobolds may appear among the hostile k that generate in throne rooms, as well as the various monsters that can be randomly generated by looting a throne while confused and carrying gold (provided there is no chest on the level).[1]
A kobold has a 1⁄4 chance of generating with a stack of darts.[2]
Kobold zombies and kobold mummies leave behind aged kobold corpses upon death, and reviving the corpse will not produce a live kobold.[3][4]
Strategy
Kobolds are among the earliest-encountered monsters that can wear armor, wield weapons and use items, which already makes them more of a danger compared to newts or sewer rats. While a kobold is not an especially tough monster overall, they can be quite troublesome to starting characters in roles that are not martial-based or at least immediately melee-capable. Even combat-ready roles should treat kobolds with some caution when starting out - the darts they generate with may be enchanted or even poisoned, and a kobold that happens upon an attack wand of any kind can spell doom, similar to the dreaded gnome with the wand of death.
Also of note is that the kobold is one of the earliest monsters whose corpse is harmful to consume for most characters - conversely, roles and races that begin the game with poison resistance can use kobold corpses as an additional minor source of nutrition that will not be readily snapped up by pets.
History
The kobold first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0.
Origin
Kobolds are creatures that appear in many fantasy-themed works and media, which often borrow significantly from Germanic folklore - Germanic kobolds are a form of sprite that are generally benevolent if treated with kindness, but will respond to disrespect with anything ranging from pranks to even outright attacking and killing offenders.
Dungeons & Dragons in particular - and by extension, NetHack and many of its variants - depicts the kobold as a race of small reptilian humanoids with long tails, distantly related to dragons; earlier editions gave kobolds more dog-like features, which lead to many depictions of kobolds in Japanese media leaning harder in that direction after the popularity of the anime franchise Record of Lodoss War. Fantasy kobolds are often considered weak "cannon fodder" monsters that can be cunning and strong in groups, similar to goblins.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, thirty kobolds are generated scattered across the "town" map of the kobold level at level creation.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, kobolds are a playable race. They are also eligible to appear as various racial monsters within the dungeon, and are generally the weakest of those types.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, kobolds have a mutual grudge with elves.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, kobolds may appear in the court of a throne room ruled by a kobold lord.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, kobolds are a playable race.
Encyclopedia entry
The race of kobolds are reputed to be an artificial creation
of a master wizard (demi-god?). They are about 3' tall with
a vaguely dog-like face. They bear a violent dislike of the
Elven race, and will go out of their way to cause trouble
for Elves at any time.
References
- ↑ src/mkroom.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 757
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 456
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 147: Converting monster index of undead to corpses of their living counterparts
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 372: Undead corpses and their ages are handled with other "special" death drops
