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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 6800140" data-attributes="member: 6778044">To me it's all in your interpretation. In all of the Forgotten Realms game products published since the start of the 4th edition, where dragonborn first appeared as such, this is the extent of what's been said about them. Compared to the information on elves, dwarves, and especially humans. It's not the only interpretation, but I believe it's a valid one. This is the only explicit statement, it's a broad 'they'll accept anybody' so it's not dragonborn specific. It's also not entirely consistent with earlier published materials on the Dalelands.My focus is on the word 'some.' Competent and highly-sought after are contradictory. One would hardly praise somebody who is 'competent.' Among the published materials, it would appear that they were hired a lot by the Cult of the Dragon, which would raise suspicion in those that have experienced anything related to the Tyranny of Dragons storyline.Yes, they did have a stable homeland, but not in Toril. With their culture my sense is that their focus would be on stabilizing their new land. What sort of natural resources did they have on Abeir? Did they mine metals for example. If so, with those mines gone they would have needs that they didn't have the day before. Since I wasn't interested in exploring the nation, I haven't developed anything questioning these sorts of things. But I think they would be there.The reason I mention something like being (at least partially) quadrupedal is that the vast majority, if not all playable races in D&D are essentially reskinned humans. But if this is a 'humanoid' race based on draconic heritage, why not retain more draconic features besides scales and a face? Half-dragons are the same, and even the draconians. Sure, they had tails and wings, although their design of being an entirely bipedal race with the same stance as a human negates the need for the tail, and probably impossible from a scientific perspective. Something that is both bipedal and quadrupedal, like the aliens in the movie Aliens would be an interesting departure. But aside from physical characteristics, I think their entire culture would have evolved along different lines because their needs, biology, and physical characteristics are different. That's just an example as an alternative that could have been used. That still doesn't mean that I think they should be in the Realms, just that they would be more interesting.I'm pretty sure some of Ed's books go into it a bit. There isn't any official group that determines what canon is or not, but most people I know (along with Candlekeep.com and the Forgotten Realms wiki, places officially published game materials above the novels, which often have contradictions or incorrect information. I'm OK with both, but lean toward the game stuff, and Ed's stuff first. The only reason why the history with the elves is important in this discussion is that people have stated that humans don't have any problem with them. And my point is that the history and their relationship is entirely different than that of a new race that suddenly appeared.This is a difference of interpretation again. You see 'great efforts' I see 'some' and 'a few' along with the fact that they are not mentioned to any great degree in most of the published materials. 5 pages in 27 supplements published since 2008. That's just not a major part of the campaign as far as I'm concerned.And this is exactly my point. Your Realms are based on what you determined makes sense to you. I agree that the retcons were somewhat cheap, but they were trying to put the Realms back in a state that was as close to what it was before without coming right out and saying none of it happened. The 4th edition changes were largely irrelevant to me, since that was the period I was running games the least since I was a kid. A large portion of the changes I just ignored, and so the retcons were essentially irrelevant. That's the way it should be for everybody (and is explicitly called out in the books). The quotes I found give plenty of canon reasons why dragonborn might be treated poorly, just as you can decide to go the other direction. Other than some brief notes about what their society is like and what their possible motives would be, they are left almost entirely up to the DM to expand and develop. For example, in two places in the game materials it states that Chessenta is largely friendly and fascinated by the dragonborn, but the only novel that had anything to say on it says they are on the verge of war. They were in a tough spot, because they had lost a lot of players (many if not most which seem to be coming back) to Pathfinder. While nobody else can publish Forgotten Realms specific material, it was clear that many of those that had played in it for a long time, along with some of their most successful authors, were not happy with the new direction. But there are plenty of other people who picked it up in the middle and were happy with the current state. So bringing it back to close to what was there allows those that were still playing 3rd edition Realms campaigns to jump forward to a familiar Realms and ignore the changes. By leaving slivers of things like Tymanther in play, it also allows those that want them in their campaigns to keep them. I think they did about as well as they could under the circumstances. Your interpretations are entirely valid and work well for your campaign. They wouldn't work for me and my interpretation or the way my world works. Call me old school or stuck in the past, I'm OK with that. Ilbranteloth</blockquote>

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