Three kobolds in a trenchcoat get a statblock

If you were in the YouTube stream during the Rime of the Frostmaiden announcement you might have seen that one particular image from the book caught fans’ attention.

It shows near-blizzard like conditions in a wintry town, presumably in Icewind Dale. While someone struggles into the wind, pulling the hat down, we can see that in the nearby alley that there are three lurking kobolds.

The kobolds seem to be pretending to be a human, or a humanoid of human height, standing on each other’s shoulders to fill up a trenchcoat.

On Reddit, artist TamLin123 went to town on the idea. First came a sketch and then came a statblock.

Two humans having a normal conversation, NOT three kobolds in a trenchcoat

Via.

Anyone could have been three kobolds in a trenchcoat all along

Via.

Kobolds will get a new Frostmaiden statblock

As it happens, kobolds will get a new statblock in Rime of the Frostmaiden. VentureBeat reveals quote from an email with Wizards of the Coast;

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,”