D&D General Dragonborn In Your Game (A Poll)

[el-remmen]

No Dragonborn in my current setting. Lizardfolk are the alternative choice (and according to some of their cultural legends they are descended from dragons). They have tails (and splayed feet) that grant them Advantage on any skill check or saving throw to keep their balance. Their claws give them expertise in athletics checks to climb.

 

[Stormonu]

I have three species - Dragonborn, Tyres Haul and Al'Galue.

The Al'galue came to Amberos from another realm, fleeing some ancient disaster to their old world. They brought strange machines with them and were persecuted by humanity for these devilish devices. Those that survived these ancient purges isolated themselves in remote regions and developed clannish tendencies. Al'Galue have cosmetic tails and wings. Some Al'galue can fly, though many of the surviving tribes have lost their ability to fly. Al'Galue cannot use their maws for biting and their claws are too weak to use for combat. However, they are naturally talented in illusion magic, having used it to hide their appearance from other races.

Dragonborn are the result of alchemical infusions that eventually led to the appearance of a new race that bred true. Others claim to be the children of dragons, manipulated into human form for reasons now long lost and forgotten. Most Dragonborn come from the Federation, the homeland of the dragons, and they were born and bred originally for the First Dragon Wars. The dragonborn are varied, though they have claws and a bite

The Tyres Haul claim they are the direct offspring of elvin and dragon unions, or in some tales spawned from alchemical attempts by elves to emulate the dragon form. There is inconclusive evidence for either origin, though it is clear that the Tyres Haul have existed as a distinct race for many millennium. The Tyres Hauls are natural fliers. They rarely have tails, though some can use their claws or maw in combat.

 

[cbwjm]

In my setting dragonborn can have tails because I don't care of they do or not.

They don't have wings, but sorcerers are typically draconic sorcerers as that gets them closer to their draconic forbears and they get wings from that.

 

[Minigiant]

I realized that I allow for 3 weapon Fighting and I'd allow a Dragonborn who takes the feat to attack with a nick weapon attached to their tail.

Tri Wielder

General Feat (Prerequisite: Level 4+, Strength or Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.)

Tri Wielding. When you make the extra attack of the Light property, you can make a second extra attack with another weapon with the Light property. The weapon must be different from the first two. You may not draw or stow a weapon between these attacks

Third weapon. You may wield an additional weapon on your person and attack with it normally. This weapon must have the Light property and cannot have the Two Handed property

 

[CleverNickName]

If Dragonborn had their ability to breath fire, and flight taken away, would they be as popular a character class as they are now?

The half-orc fighter used to be ubiquitous, but since ability score bonuses got flattened out they are far behind dragonborn and tieflings as current trends go..

The dragonborn you are describing were the standard in 3E, 3.5E, 4E, and 5E (they had a breath weapon, but didn't have flight). I remember them being fairly popular, both at my game table and in the Reddit community.

 

[ART!]

I think WOTC's dragonborn are "under-powered", in the sense that they don't have as many dragon-like features as I would like. I've been tempted to re-write the races/species, so that features evolve with age/level. This might allow for more features starting out, but maybe they'd be less impactful starting out.

 

[CleverNickName]

I think WOTC's dragonborn are "under-powered", in the sense that they don't have as many dragon-like features as I would like. I've been tempted to re-write the races/species, so that features evolve with age/level. This might allow for more features starting out, but maybe they'd be less impactful starting out.

I remember back in earlier editions, your character's Race was also their character classes...you could play a 5th level Dwarf, for example, and you would gain additional/improved Dwarf features as you gained levels. I know it was standard for non-human races in BECM and B/X, but I could have sworn I saw options for it as recently as for 3.5E back in the mid-2000s.

It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I can see how that could make for some interesting dragonborn characters in 5E.

 

[cbwjm]

I remember back in earlier editions, your character's Race was also their character classes...you could play a 5th level Dwarf, for example, and you would gain additional/improved Dwarf features as you gained levels. I know it was standard for non-human races in BECM and B/X, but I could have sworn I saw options for it as recently as for 3.5E back in the mid-2000s.

It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I can see how that could make for some interesting dragonborn characters in 5E.

You might be thinking of paragon classes. I can't remember if they were base classes or prestige classes but they allowed you to become more dwarfy or more elfy. Pretty sure they were in 3.5, I know they had some in the WoWrpg.

 

[CleverNickName]

You might be thinking of paragon classes. I can't remember if they were base classes or prestige classes but they allowed you to become more dwarfy or more elfy. Pretty sure they were in 3.5, I know they had some in the WoWrpg.

Yep, that's what I was thinking about. A paragon Dragonborn could eventually learn multiple breath weapons, gain a tail slap, grow wings and learn to fly, get a bite and claw attack, learn draconic magic, etc.

Feat chains might be easier, but some folks might prefer a paragon route.

 

[Necropolitan]

In my campaigns I have it so Dragonborn are a species AND something that powerful True Dragons or Dragon deities can turn other species into.

The former tend to look more like 4E's version and the latter look like 5E's version with their scales matching the color of the Dragon that transformed them (or whatever was chosen if it was a deity).

Since 4E's Dragonborn lore was that they were originally Humans transformed to be slaves for Dragons I think that makes sense and allows for more flexibility for my players.