D&D General Dragonborn as Kobolds: Yea or Nay?

[Epic Meepo]

I was brainstorming ways to incorporate dragonborn into older D&D settings which don't currently include lore for dragonborn, and found myself wondering: What if dragonborn were just kobolds who tapped into their latent draconic ancestry? In other words, there's no separate dragonborn species. All dragonborn are kobolds, and any kobold can, in theory, evolve into a dragonborn. That extra bit of lore gets added on top of any pre-existing kobold lore.

To me, that sounds like a fun way to hack dragonborn into an older D&D setting, but I'd be curious to hear the thoughts of diehard dragonborn fans. Would making every dragonborn a powered-up kobold detract from the fantasy of playing a dragonborn? Or would a kobold connection be no big deal, given the strong ties kobolds have to dragons in the current edition of D&D? Would your answer change if dragonborn were changed to be Small like kobolds?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As a kobold fan, I think this makes perfect sense. Dragonborn could be kobolds that had gotten some sort of power-up, either from a dragon or a ritual spell cast by a bunch of kobold spellcasters.

I would take a peek at the 3E Races of the Dragon book to see the original origins of the Dragonborn, along with the largely forgotten spellscales race. It would be easy to have both be modified/upgraded kobolds, similar to urds.

And again, just speaking as a kobold fan, rather than a dragonborn fan, keeping them small makes sense, but I can also see the argument for dragonborn in particular being larger, as the ritual might have been intended to make big bruiser kobolds who can guard their lairs from pesky demihumans.

 

[Zeromaru X]

I say "nay". If you want, go ahead, but for me dragonborn are dragonborn and kobolds are kobolds. Each has their own defined lore, and fulfill different functions in the game. I prefer the two to be distinct species, in the same manner you have gnomes and halflings without the need to combine the two.

There are more ways to introduce new elements into old settings without trying to reduce the new elements, also. Besides Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, most old settings don't have any lore for dragons (they just exist), so anything new on that department will not contradict anything.

 

[pawsplay]

I don't even like kobolds having strong ties to dragons. To me, they'll always be freaky little goblinoids.

 

[Greg K]

For publishing official settings? No thanks. For homebrew settings or a home campaign in an official setting? Go wild.

 

[CleverNickName]

Nah, I prefer canine kobolds.

 

[aco175]

If you are trying to shoehorn something into older editions, start with the kobolds who were more dog-folk until, what 4e days when the designers changed them. I do like the change into more dragon-folk, but I can keep the two separate like humans and halflings.

 

[Tonguez]

Actually having the little reptilians be neotenic dragonborn would be great as it would free-up kobolds to go back to being rat-dog goblinoids instead.

I could see a species with paedomorphosis like Axolotls that retain their neotenic forms until exposed to extreme magical environmental triggers that then see rapid growth into full sized Dragonborn.

Lets give the little guys a patagium and them Urds

 

[DEFCON 1]

I've occasionally thought similarly... like thinking that kobolds could be to dragonborn what goblins are to bugbears. Two species under the same grouping.

In fact, in the Eberron setting in the land of Q'Barra... Keith Baker has talked in various articles and on his website about how kobolds, lizardfolk, dragonborn and troglodytes are all of similar reptilian ilk in the jungles there and you can find any and all of them in various clans and whatnot. They are all different, but same.

 

[jmartkdr2]

My headcanon is that kolbolds and dragonborn are the same species anyways (with a middle-size variant as well) but represent different castes.

I like your idea as a soft way to add dragonborn to existing settings as essentially giant kolbolds. It's about as good as my personal go-to of "dragonborn come from a kingdom/empire across the ocean but only figured out how to cross said ocean a little while ago." The goal being to add them without adding all the extra stuff that would go along with an entire race's homelands. (since kingdoms across the ocean don't matter.)

But whether either of those work depends on the setting; some just don't have room for it - ie a setting with Urd as a thing might find the "kolbold but more dragon-y" niche already kinda full.