D&D General Dragonborn Physical Features

[Charlaquin]

Especially when Lizardfolk such as the Argonians from the Elder Scrolls series sport nearly all of the same features as a Dragonborn?

Except, you know, the breath weapon and the spectral wings.

 

[Charlaquin]

Honestly outside of western gaming it’s been that way for a while. It’s just that a lot more people play Warcraft than read new fantasy fiction.

Although Japanese fantasy tends to either not use race or not use Tolkien races as such.

Japanese fantasy is so heavily influenced by AD&D, when it uses races they tend to straight-up be the AD&D races, plus anthropomorphic dogs called kobolds and anthropomorphic pigs called orcs.

 

[Corinnguard]

Except, you know, the breath weapon and the spectral wings.

Why spectral wings and not something similar to the Draconic Sorcerer's Dragon Wings feature or 3e's Flight of the Dragon spell?

 

[Scribe]

Sure. It is just that tits on dragons in not necessarily the sort of "fantasy" I want to associate with RPGs.

This is why I've moved anyway from anything anthropomorphic.

 

[Charlaquin]

We left dragon boobs a long while back trying to make them lizards.

Lizards or not, boobs just look silly on them.

 

[Charlaquin]

Why spectral wings and not something similar to the Draconic Sorcerer's Dragon Wings feature or 3e's Flight of the Dragon spell?

Because that’s what the book says they have. If you’re asking why the writers chose to describe the wings as spectral, I’m guessing it’s because they didn’t want to give them permanent wings, and temporarily growing and then losing physical wings every day raised a lot of questions they didn’t want to have to answer.

 

[Corinnguard]

Since their spectral wings are made of the same energy as their breath weapon, they ought to get a feat that allows them to do damage with a Wing Slap attack.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Since their spectral wings are made of the same energy as their breath weapon, they ought to get a feat that allows them to do damage with a Wing Slap attack.

I’d love a bonus action wing buffet attack that deals the damage type of the breath weapon to enemies within 5 feet of the Dragonborn. I’d also love a tail sweep bonus action.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Lizards or not, boobs just look silly on them.

So does a lack of wings and a tail, or worse hologram ones.

 

[Charlaquin]

So does a lack of wings and a tail, or worse hologram ones.

Well, lack of tail I agree looks silly, and apparently so do the artists, since they do have tails in the art now. I don’t have the book yet, so I don’t know if the description talks about tails or not.

Ad for wings, personally I always think wings look silly on humanoid body plans. With stuff like angelic or demonic wings the silliness is kind of an expected part of the package, but with dragon people I prefer they just not have them. The spectral wings are also silly, but at least they’re temporary. And temporary physical wings would be even sillier.