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

[jmartkdr2]

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.

There was a supplement that had "racial paragon classes" so you could 3 levels of elf (gaining proficiency with traditional elven weapons, a little bit of magic, some bonuses to elven senses, etc.) They were available for all the PHB races and maybe some others, and I think the biggest one had 5 levels.

I want to say it was Unearthed Arcana but I'm not fully sure and don't have those books handy to check.

 

[Corinnguard]

There was a supplement that had "racial paragon classes" so you could 3 levels of elf (gaining proficiency with traditional elven weapons, a little bit of magic, some bonuses to elven senses, etc.) They were available for all the PHB races and maybe some others, and I think the biggest one had 5 levels.

I want to say it was Unearthed Arcana but I'm not fully sure and don't have those books handy to check.

They were in Unearthed Arcana 3.5e. Later on, the 3.5 Races books have racial substitution levels for certain classes. Each substitution level provided a racial feature to a class.

 

[Corinnguard]

PF1 has a couple of racial archetypes for some of its' classes. The Treesinger Druid (Elf). The Bushwacker Gunslinger, Dragon Herald Bard, Snare Setter Rogue and Swarm Fighter Fighter (Kobolds).

 

[VHawkwinter]

[Deleted the accidental doublepost]

 

[VHawkwinter]

I notice that these kinds of threads eventually branch off into two different distinctions: Dragonborn vs. Half-Dragons. And that's fine, comparisons can make for good discussion. But when you vote in this poll, keep in mind that you are only voting for the Dragonborn mentioned in the Player's Handbook (of your favorite D&D edition). Half-dragons and other draconic playable species are invited to the discussion, but they're not part of this poll.

Regardless of edition, I don't include the Dragonborn. I've held a grudge against them ever since 4e retconned the Dragonkin out of existence to make room for them. I liked Dragonkin. Anyways. No Dragonborn, but I will often allow half-dragon or draconic templates, and dragonkin of some manner or another. When I ran 5e, I converted such things over from 3.x.

Dragonkin do have wings and tails, and are like 8.5ft tall.

 

[DragonLancer]

In my homebrew setting, dragon born usually have cosmetic tails but no wings.

 

[Longspeak]

CAN have tails, no wings, and Not in my game...

One game I run is in Tal'Dorei, where Dragonborn with/without tails is a bit of a thing. Another game has a lot of involvement with Dragons as near-godlike creatures, and instead of Dragonborn, has "Dragonbloods" people with Dragon somewhere in their ancestry. Dragonbloods make up nearly all Arcane casters and a large number of primal casters, and some have unusual abilities.