Alexey Monk wondered about this sentence in Moldvay’s Basic D&D, B25, on Google+: “Unless missile attacks are mentioned, monsters will only engage in melee combat.”
I let monsters use ranged wepons when I want to emphasize something. So, giants throw stones, gnolls are dangerous hunters, hobgoblins have discipline and formations and know how to make a shield wall and shoot arrows from the back, that kind of thing. My kobolds dig pits, prepare barrels of flaming oil, or if they set up bottleneck ambushes, they might use their tiny bows, in general, but when running into random encounters, they are disorganized and relying on melee only. That’s the trade-off that happens in my game. I guess I could take Moldvay’s rule and apply it to dungeon stocking. If the “Saturday special” includes Tucker’s kobolds, then missile attacks are mentioned (in my notes). All the other kobolds will not.
#RPG