D&D 5E Half-Dragons and Dragonborn: What's the difference?

[ChipBoundary]

First, Abeir-Toril was never apart prior to the sundering. It was created by Ao at the creation of Realmspace as one planet. They were created by Bahamut from devout non-draconian humanoids. You can find this specifically mentioned and cited under the Origin section of the Forgotten Realms wiki. Ed Green, the creator of Forgotten Realms has stated this via Twitter. They are a created race, by a god of the draconic pantheon, even if they don't actually know it themselves.

Half-dragons are specifically the physical result of a dragon breeding with a non-dragon, such as half-dragon/half-bugbear.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonborn

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Half-dragon

 

[the Jester]

Dragonborn are a race unto themselves. Half-dragons are the spawn of a dragon and something else. So you might have a half-dragon giant alligator, for instance- which is pretty far removed from the dragonborn. Or a half-dragon displacer beast. Etcetera. It sounds as though you are analogizing the dragonborn with basically a half-dragon human, but there are far more possibilities for the half-dragon than that.

 

[Minato]

Also a half dragon's lifespan is twice that of it's non dragon half's race. a half dragon half elf can be over thousand years old, compared to the fairly mundane lifespan a Dragonborn has. You can have a ancient, gargantuan half dragon, half storm giant if you so choose.

 

[Leatherhead]

Dragonborn are basically overgrown Kobolds, who lack tails for some reason.
Half-Dragons are the first step in getting Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers, and are typically significantly more powerful than a Dragonborn.

I just realized that Half-Dragon/Half-Dragonborn is a valid combo! Wonder how they would look.

Like an Abishai, probably.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

It occurs to me you could skip the whole dragon sex thing, and have half-dragons be something that (eventually) happens to any creature that stays in the area that surrounds an adult (or older) dragon's lair for a significant amount of time (and somehow doesn't get eaten). If that is too big a power up for dragons, it could also be a ritual the dragon does ("I'm feeling like a nap, so I need some guards while I sleep for the next decade. Not any guards will do...."). Joe Peasant could differentiate between dragonborn and half-dragons (if he was foolish enough to hang around instead of run away), because bipedal half-dragons might be hanging around bulls with big dragon teeth, scaly wolves, and don't forget weird dragon/giant spider things....

That might be a good gimmick for kobolds. If the tribe pleases a dragon, they might become half-dragon kobolds.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

It occurs to me you could skip the whole dragon sex thing, and have half-dragons be something that (eventually) happens to any creature that stays in the area that surrounds an adult (or older) dragon's lair for a significant amount of time (and somehow doesn't get eaten). If that is too big a power up for dragons, it could also be a ritual the dragon does ("I'm feeling like a nap, so I need some guards while I sleep for the next decade. Not any guards will do...."). Joe Peasant could differentiate between dragonborn and half-dragons (if he was foolish enough to hang around instead of run away), because bipedal half-dragons might be hanging around bulls with big dragon teeth, scaly wolves, and don't forget weird dragon/giant spider things....

That might be a good gimmick for kobolds. If the tribe pleases a dragon, they might become half-dragon kobolds.

Well traditionally half-dragons would have been the offspring of a dragon in humanoid form. So no “dragon sex” and the dragon would always be the father (because the human/elf, whatever is giving birth), and only dragons that can take a humanoid form without a spell could do so, making most of the metallic dragon offspring.

In Krynn (Dragonlance), draconians (the first half-dragons/Dragonborn in D&D) were the result of a magical corruption of metallic dragon eggs. There were five types, depending on the type of dragon egg.

Of course, eventually they wanted dragon-people that weren’t evil offspring from a specific campaign, and a different type for each metallic and chromatic dragon.

Dragonborn would be the dragon equivalent of lizardfolk, or the various fish folk. They aren’t a half-spawn, they are their own race entirely.

This might make a difference in different generation. For example, a half-elf/half-elf child is a half elf, but if one parent is human, the child is human with some elven traits, and if one parent is elven, then the child is elven, but perhaps some sign of their human heritage. Although they may still be considered “not elven” by other elves.

But something like a Dragonborn might only be able to have children with other dragonborn.

 

[Maxperson]

Back in 3e there was a race called "dragonblooded" that I was a lot happier with than half-dragons. They had less draconic blood in them, and much smaller stat boosts (and therefore made better PCs). I suspect the concept of playable dragon people in 4e came from there.

Also half-dragons could be half-anything, including some really ridiculous combos.

If in your world half-dragons only get small benefits, then I rather doubt there is any distinction.

Weren't those the bloodlines from the Unearthed Arcana?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

... a half-elf/half-elf child is a half elf, but if one parent is human, the child is human with some elven traits, and if one parent is elven, then the child is elven, but perhaps some sign of their human heritage. Although they may still be considered “not elven” by other elves.

In the 2E PHB, the only place I've seen half-elven genetics discussed in any kind of detail, it says that elves only have elven ancestors, while half-elves are those with 50% or more elven blood. So a half-elf that has children with an elf will have half-elf children, and human children with a human.

Does anyone know if this lore has been explicitly changed in a later edition, or is it simply not discussed at all?

 

[Ilbranteloth]

In the 2E PHB, the only place I've seen half-elven genetics discussed in any kind of detail, it says that elves only have elven ancestors, while half-elves are those with 50% or more elven blood. So a half-elf that has children with an elf will have half-elf children, and human children with a human.

Does anyone know if this lore has been explicitly changed in a later edition, or is it simply not discussed at all?

Interesting...

I had to dig.

My statement come from the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting (the original gray box from 1e).

I had forgotten about the difference in the 2e PHB. I’m sure at the time we noted it, and said, “no, we’re not changing it,” since by then we already had characters and stories with that established.

Realms elves were different than the core 1e elves, and it was one of those many things that helped differentiate the Realms from our other campaigns. This was really the case with all settings at that time except Greyhawk. That was the setting that followed the PHB.

I still prefer the Gray Box version. Other characters have elven heritage, but aren’t half-elves. I have a table of traits (rolled randomly) that might give any character one or more of the demi-human racial traits (or other things) that reflects the fact that characters might have other racial heritage that shows up.

Not sure why 2e changed it, as it makes half-elves far more common and, if you’re detailing a family tree, requires quite a bit more math.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

In the 2E PHB, the only place I've seen half-elven genetics discussed in any kind of detail, it says that elves only have elven ancestors, while half-elves are those with 50% or more elven blood. So a half-elf that has children with an elf will have half-elf children, and human children with a human.

Does anyone know if this lore has been explicitly changed in a later edition, or is it simply not discussed at all?

Interesting...

I had to dig.

My statement come from the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting (the original gray box from 1e).

I had forgotten about the difference in the 2e PHB. I’m sure at the time we noted it, and said, “no, we’re not changing it,” since by then we already had characters and stories with that established.

Realms elves were different than the core 1e elves, and it was one of those many things that helped differentiate the Realms from our other campaigns. This was really the case with all settings at that time except Greyhawk. That was the setting that followed the PHB.

The 2e rule makes half-elves more common than the original Realms version.