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 one of the earliest monsters that you will encounter in the dungeon, and has a single weapon attack and poison resistance.
A kobold's corpse is poisonous to eat.
Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated kobolds are always hostile. Kobolds may appear among the various k generated in the courts of throne rooms and while looting thrones. A kobold can grow up into a large kobold.
A kobold has a 1⁄4 chance of generating with a stack of darts.[1]
History
The kobold first appears in Hack 1.21, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack, and also appears in Hack for PDP-11. It 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 level in the "town" variant 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.