Dragonborn Alternative: Lung Dragonborn

[QuietBrowser]

I'm on record as not liking the 5e dragonborn very much. Still, since the dragonborn are now intimately tied up with the draconic families, I wanted to investigate the potential in making a new dragonborn "branch" dedicated to one of the more obscure branches of the D&D dragon family tree: the "Oriental" Lung Dragons.


First appearing in the Fiend Folio, the Lung Dragons then went on to appear in the Kara-tur Monstrous Compendium Appendix, and made their last appearance to date in the 3e Oriental Adventures splatbook.


Now, mechanically... this is a tricky race to work on. I'm open to suggestions on how to proceed, but my current thoughts is to stat each of the eight lung breeds' equivalent dragonborn as its own PC race. I'm hoping people are willing to give me a hand reinventing the wheel, if need be.


Incidentally, only two Lung Dragons have a Breath Weapon - the Lung Wang has a cone of superheated steam, and the T'ien Lung has a cone of fire.

 

[jaelis]

I don't know, but I would definitely replace the breath weapon with an ability called "Heavy Breathing."

Because of their lungs.

 

[QuietBrowser]

I don't know, but I would definitely replace the breath weapon with an ability called "Heavy Breathing."

Fun fact; almost every species of oriental dragon can breath underwater; earth dragons are the only exception, and I think they gained that ability in 3e. Hard to tell because my only reference material is a rather poor scan.

 

[Sunseeker]

Fun fact; almost every species of oriental dragon can breath underwater; earth dragons are the only exception, and I think they gained that ability in 3e. Hard to tell because my only reference material is a rather poor scan.

Right, because the Imperial/Lung/Oriental/Noodle Dragons are more related to fish or sea serpents than monster lizards.

You could give them each a kind of terrain immunity, perhaps Earth Noodleborn have a burrow speed. Maybe River Noodleborn have a swim speed/are amphibious. Maybe Forest Noodleborn ignore difficult terrain in forests. Some of these might be kind of obscure terrain problems, but that's more of a campaign issue.

In Pathfinder Noodle Dragons get a gore attack (I guess because they have antlers? Probably more to balance out their lack of wings).

Aside from producing visually different Noodleborn, I don't really know how you'd differentiate them from regular Dragonborn, since they still have breath weapons. I mean they can fly without wings, maybe their Noodleborn would have a levitate-like ability? Ability to fall slowly or something?

 

[cbwjm]

I think that you may only want to do 7 of the 8 as the carp dragon is the young version of all the other 7 Lung dragons that turns into one of them when it becomes an adult.

 

[QuietBrowser]

Right, because the Imperial/Lung/Oriental/Noodle Dragons are more related to fish or sea serpents than monster lizards.

You could give them each a kind of terrain immunity, perhaps Earth Noodleborn have a burrow speed. Maybe River Noodleborn have a swim speed/are amphibious. Maybe Forest Noodleborn ignore difficult terrain in forests. Some of these might be kind of obscure terrain problems, but that's more of a campaign issue.

In Pathfinder Noodle Dragons get a gore attack (I guess because they have antlers? Probably more to balance out their lack of wings).

Aside from producing visually different Noodleborn, I don't really know how you'd differentiate them from regular Dragonborn, since they still have breath weapons. I mean they can fly without wings, maybe their Noodleborn would have a levitate-like ability? Ability to fall slowly or something?

Yeah, part of my issue is that I'm trying to figure out what abilities I can actually give each subrace. River Dragons can exhale rain clouds to create gentle rains whenever they want, which I'm sure somebody can provide me with the arguments for as to why it's overpowered as a PC ability.

I think that you may only want to do 7 of the 8 as the carp dragon is the young version of all the other 7 Lung dragons that turns into one of them when it becomes an adult.

I was actually thinking that Carp Dragonborn can work well as a Small sized, amphibious kobold sort of race. Fluff-wise, all Lung Dragonborn begin their lives as Carp Dragonborn, then mature into their adult form on their 101st birthday.

Hmm... would it help to share the few draft profiles I have?

 

[cbwjm]

Yeah, part of my issue is that I'm trying to figure out what abilities I can actually give each subrace. River Dragons can exhale rain clouds to create gentle rains whenever they want, which I'm sure somebody can provide me with the arguments for as to why it's overpowered as a PC ability.


I was actually thinking that Carp Dragonborn can work well as a Small sized, amphibious kobold sort of race. Fluff-wise, all Lung Dragonborn begin their lives as Carp Dragonborn, then mature into their adult form on their 101st birthday.

Hmm... would it help to share the few draft profiles I have?

I think sharing a few drafts would be good. Much like your catastrophic dragonborn, having something other than a breath weapon can be a good way to differentiate them from the standard dragonborn in the PHB.

 

[QuietBrowser]

Alright, these are extremely rough first drafts; I'm not happy with these at all, but hopefully they will at least provide a foundation to begin hashing out what a lung dragonborn should have. For example, some species have a Water Fire ability, almost all species can breathe water, and many species can fly. Coiled Dragons are good at crushing things, Typhoon Dragons have an affinity for wind, thunder and lightning, Spirit Dragons are the diplomats of the species... there's potential here, I just wish I knew how to unlock it!

Carp Dragonborn (Yu Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 to one other ability score of your choice
Size: Small
Speed: 25 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Blooming Wisdom: When you need to make a Wisdom check for a skill you do not have Proficiency in, you may still apply half of your Proficiency bonus (rounding down).

River Dragonborn (Chiang Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Cloud Step: You do not take damage from falls if you are not Restrained, and you are always considered to have a running start when making Jump checks.
Cause Rain: As an action, you can exhale storm clouds, causing the weather to change to gentle rain within a radius of miles equal to your Charisma score. The rain lasts for a number of hours equal to your Charisma modifier, and once you have used this ability, you must complete a long rest before using it again.

Earth Dragonborn (Li Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Fly 20 feet, Burrow 20 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Wings: You have a pair of wings which allow you to Fly at a speed of 20 feet. You cannot fly if you are wearing medium or heavy armor, or if you are encumbered.
Stone-Shaper: You can cast the Mold Earth cantrip (Xanathar's Guide) and have a Burrow speed of 20 feet.


Sea Dragonborn (Lung Wang)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Constitution
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Armored Scales: When not wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Constitution modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Breath Weapon: As per standard dragonborn damage, a cone of Steam - this inflicts Fire damage, but can function underwater.

Coiled Dragonborn (Pan Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Natural Weapons. Your fanged maw and constricting
serpentine body are natural weapons, which you
can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with your
bite, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your
Strength modifier. If you hit with your constrict attack, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and the target is grappled (escape DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and you can’t constrict another target.
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Cloud Step: You do not take damage from falls if you are not Restrained, and you are always considered to have a running start when making Jump checks.

Spirit Dragonborn (Shen Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Cloud Step: You do not take damage from falls if you are not Restrained, and you are always considered to have a running start when making Jump checks.
Tail Slap: You can make a tail slap as an unarmed strike. If it hits, you deal 1d8 + Str modifier Bludgeoning damage.

Celestial Dragonborn (T'ien Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wisdom, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Cloud Step: You do not take damage from falls if you are not Restrained, and you are always considered to have a running start when making Jump checks.
Breath Weapon: As Dragonborn, Cone of Fire, Dex Save.

Typhoon Dragonborn (Tun Mi Lung)
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Strength, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Swim 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Amphibious: You can breathe water and have a Swim speed of 30 feet.
Cloud Step: You do not take damage from falls if you are not Restrained, and you are always considered to have a running start when making Jump checks.
Thunderborn: You have Resistance to Thunder & Lightning Damage.
Stormbringer: You can cast the Gust, Shocking Touch and Thunderclap cantrips, all using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score.