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You recently posted the following poll results for kobolds in your latest Wandering Monsters article. Here is it again for the edification of all.

Kobolds: Dragon blood?
1 -- No dragon blood.	221	17.6%
2 -- I like the wishy-washy answer.	731	58.1%
3 -- Definitely dragon blood!	306	24.3%
Total	1258	100.0%

I'd like to take a crack at interpreting these results.

82.4% of those polled like the 'possibility' that kobolds are descended from dragons, if not definitively linked to dragons with no question in their mind what-so-ever.

You made it clear that you want to de-couple kobolds from their dragon lineage, but I think this poll disagrees with your sentiment.

You also made it seem like (in the previous Wandering Monsters article) there are no D&D precedents for kobolds being descended from dragons, writing:

"The most contentious part of the description seems to have been the kobold claim to dragon descent. That's one of those things that has worked its way into my mind (and not just mine) without ever really being explicitly stated in the core rules, at least not that I could find."

Let's start with a quote from the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set.

"They have scaly, rust-brown skin and no hair."

Fair enough, scaly-skin does not a dragon make. So let's follow this quote up with two more from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1.

"Barely clearing three feet in height, kobolds have scaly hides that range from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black."

...and...

"In a lair there will be 5-20 (5d4) bodyguards, females equal to 50% of the males, young equal to 10% of the males and 30-300 (3d10x10) eggs."

Eggs. A picture of kobolds as reptiles is beginning to form, which is eventually firmed up in Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition, Monster Manual.

"Kobolds are short, reptilian humanoids with cowardly and sadistic tendencies."

...and...

"A kobold's scaly skin ranges from a dark rusty brown to a rusty black color."

Fast forward and couple of years and guess what? The secret is out. Let there be no doubt!

Here is a picture of a 'dragonwrought kobold' figurine, made by Wizards of the Coast and hosted by the Wizards of the Coast web site.



Here is the book, published by Wizards of the Coast, in which kobolds were featured and described as having strong game-mechanical ties to dragons.



Here's some beautiful interior art of a 'winged' dragonwrought kobold from Races of the Dragon (no doubt responsible for inspiring the above-posted figurine).



Which leads me to ask...how hard did you look for connections between kobolds and dragons in D&D lore?

Also, based on these easily discovered examples of winged kobolds, I think you may be premature in leaving the 'urd' aside for now. The urd kobolds seem to be alive and well (in some form or another).

You asked what D&D players think. Well, D&D players have spoken. Please listen to them.

I think when they say "D&D Lore" they mean editions 2 and earlier.  Clearly the dragon-kobold thing in 3e is pretty solid. In earlier editions, they're reptitian but not draconic.

I love this thread.

The way I see it, leave the answer as a mystery, all wishy-washy.  Maybe they are dragon-blooded, maybe they're not.  If it's something that becomes important in a game, the DM can decide for himself based on his preferences/setting.  If it's not important to the game, it's just one of life's unanswered questions and adds flavor to the game.