The Kobold As Race/Class in S&W:Core

I’ve been tossing around the idea of a large tribe of neutral alignment kobolds that live near Marqueyssac and whose chief is in the service of the High Druid there. Basically, for centuries this has been the case - the neutral kobolds both shun and are shunned by other kobold tribes in the area. There are numerous advantages that come with their serving the High Druid when called upon by him, the primary one being the protection he affords. In exchange, the kobolds offer their service as spies, messengers, and occasionally as guards or escorts. The Druid even trains the kobolds in his ways, the kobold chief actually having achieved the rank of Initiate of the Second Circle. The tribe has prospered greatly in this manner over quite some time, and their warren and members grow ever more sophisticated. Though they still love their underground domiciles, the kobolds of this tribe spent ever greater amounts of time above ground. Consequently their eyesight has adapted to sunlight.

In view of this, in game terms, I can see a strong possibility that eventually a kobold may join the PCs party as a NPC. This in turn might inspire the desire to play a kobold directly. So, I decided to sketch out some rules for this. They're really meant specifically for the Swords & Wizardry Dordogne Campaign I'm building (hence no kobolds as MUs or Assassins for example), but in case anyone might find of interest...

The Kobold as Race/Class

Although most kobolds are evil, foul smelling things, there are said to be some who have become more civilized. It’s this latter kind, as well as the most exceptional specimens among them, that it should be understood are the only ones able to be played as a character in the game.

Prime Attributes:
Dexterity 13+ (5% XP bonus)
Hit Dice: 1d6-1
Armor/Shield Permitted: Any.
Weapons: No Heavy or Two Handed Weapons

Kobolds fight and advance like the Fighting Man class. As such, they cannot advance past the 4th level. They may also take the Thief class up to 6th level (per Salvatore Macri's "Core Rules Thief" (see Knockspell Magazine # 2 or Supplemental Lore for Core Rules) or the Druid class (again, per Macri's Supplemental Lore) up to 4th level, although as Druid their Hit Dice remains 1d6-1.

They save as the Fighting Man class except that they have a +2 versus Poison.

Special Abilities:

Infravision 60’ (they do not suffer -1 penalty when fighting above ground).

All PC/NPC Kobolds have the ability to Find/Remove Traps (see Supplemental Lore, above) up to 4th level.

While not suffering from Charisma penalties, obviously most humans and demi-humans will initially react very badly to the presence of a kobold in a party, especially perhaps any dwarves or gnomes. Over time however a kobold character’s charisma will stand on its own without the prejudice brought about by the greater majority of (evil) kobolds.
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Eventually I’ll probably edit this, add some tables, and turn it into a pdf for the heck of it... oh yeah, and properly designate it OGL... :)