D&D General D&D Archetypes that spread out to other settings and media

[Dire Bare]

Dragonborn are not draconians. Like, not even a little.

Ehhh . . .

I agree with this, at least in terms of concept space. I know that 5e lore makes them the same, but that's a retcon. Draconians are orcs wearing dragon-suits to make Dragonlance look like less of a Tolkien rip-off. Dragonborn are evolved from the playable dragons in Council of Wyrms.

Draconians and dragonborn are not the same, not exactly the same, but they both exist in the continuum of dragon-people in D&D.

Draconians have gone through the "Klingon Effect" . . . where they started as irredeemable villains and evolved into more three-dimensional beings capable of the full range of human sapient behavior (alignment). Right around the same time we got protagonist draconians, we got half-dragons in the Council of Wyrms setting. 3E's dragonborn were an evolution of the draconians and half-dragons.

Sadly (IMO) in 5E, draconians have NOT been retconned into being the same as dragonborn, the opposite rather! The only 5E Dragonlance book, "Shadow of the Dragon Queen" tries to differentiate draconians from dragonborn by making them MORE monstrous.

 

[Dire Bare]

As for Tiamat and Takhisis, very ancient and very powerful dragons had numerous versions of themselves scattered across the multiverse. Some draconic deities are the result of one of these ancient wyrms assimilating their multiversal counterparts. Takhisis is merely an aspect of Tiamat, just as Paladine is an aspect of Bahamut.

The argument over the relationship between Takhisis/Tiamat and Paladine/Bahamut has been argued back and forth in the fandom and in canon for decades. The Dragonlance deities being aspects of the core dragon gods is one take, but not the only take.

 

[Seramus]

The argument over the relationship between Takhisis/Tiamat and Paladine/Bahamut has been argued back and forth in the fandom and in canon for decades. The Dragonlance deities being aspects of the core dragon gods is one take, but not the only take.

Yep. 1992 Tales of the Lance states that Takhisis was called Tii'Mhut (p117) and Paladine was called Bah'mut (p113) by the people of Istar. That would be firmly 2E territory.

So, at least 34 years!

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Sadly (IMO) in 5E, draconians have NOT been retconned into being the same as dragonborn, the opposite rather! The only 5E Dragonlance book, "Shadow of the Dragon Queen" tries to differentiate draconians from dragonborn by making them MORE monstrous.

They were retconned into being draconians and then retconned back out into separate creatures.

The 2014 PHB says the following:

In the Dragonlance setting, the followers of the evil goddess Takhisis learned a dark ritual that let them corrupt the eggs of metallic dragons, producing evil dragonborn called draconians. Five types of draconians, corresponding to the five types of metallic dragons, fought for Takhisis in the War of the Lance-auraks (gold), baaz (brass), bozak (bronze), kapak (copper), and sivak (silver). In place of their draconic breath weapons they have unique magical abilities.

Then SotDQ, pubbed in 2022, says the following:

Peoples who aren't native to the world still might find their way to Krynn. It's possible to find individual members—or even small enclaves—of folk like dragonborn, halflings, tieflings, or any other race in Ansalon. Perhaps such individuals stepped through a portal and found themselves on Krynn, or traded with one of Krynn's great empires before the Cataclysm. Use such possibilities to play characters of any race you please in your adventures across Krynn.

2024 rules do not mention a connection between dragonborn and draconians, so the SotDQ status-quo is canon, but it's only been in place for less than four years.