D&D 5E Dragonborn inter-species breeding?

[BookBarbarian]

I'm new and coming into this late but I can't find a definitive answer to the OP. Some say yes. Some say no. Some say possibly.

The reason I was googling this question (halfling dragonborn) is because one of my favorite mythos has dragons (changelings so they have a human form) mating with humans. The catch (and what prevents mass extinction of one race or the other) is that only certain humans have a compatible dna. Details aren't gotten into but for a few humans it IS possible to bare dragon babies, or rather halflings.

Since there is no definitive answer would this line of thought be acceptable?

You could apply the Half-Dragon template from the Monster Manual to a Halfling, but this would be in my opinion more powerful than the Dragonborn race for a PC. But maybe not by so much as to be a problem.

Also, thank you for identifying that you were resurrecting an old thread. Hopefully that will keep people from responding to Posts that are a couple of years old.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The reason I was googling this question (halfling dragonborn) is because one of my favorite mythos has dragons (changelings so they have a human form) mating with humans. The catch (and what prevents mass extinction of one race or the other) is that only certain humans have a compatible dna.

Since there is no definitive answer would this line of thought be acceptable?

Sure, if you're coming up with a campaign setting, that's the kind of thing you get to decide.

 

[epithet]

As far as I know, there's never actually been a definitive statement as to whether dragonborn have breasts and deliver live young, or have no breasts and lay eggs.

There have been a few discussions regarding the ecology of the dragonborn, but no two of them seem to agree on every point.

 

[BookBarbarian]

As far as I know, there's never actually been a definitive statement as to whether dragonborn have breasts and deliver live young, or have no breasts and lay eggs.

There have been a few discussions regarding the ecology of the dragonborn, but no two of them seem to agree on every point.

I hope there never is such a definitive statement.

 

[S'mon]

They have breasts & lay eggs.

They are duckpilled platypi.

 

[Sunseeker]

They have breasts & lay eggs.

They are duckpilled platypi.

Dragon-billed people-pi?

 

[Eltab]

I'm new and coming into this late but I can't find a definitive answer to the OP. Some say yes. Some say no. Some say possibly.

The reason I was googling this question (halfling dragonborn) is because one of my favorite mythos has dragons (changelings so they have a human form) mating with humans. The catch (and what prevents mass extinction of one race or the other) is that only certain humans have a compatible dna. Details aren't gotten into but for a few humans it IS possible to bare dragon babies, or rather halflings.

Since there is no definitive answer would this line of thought be acceptable?

There IS no 'definitive answer'; you can do things the way you like.
Thanks to the thread, you also have almost 100 posts' worth of possibilities to explore and pitfalls to avoid.

Sure, your proposal is acceptable.
If you need some pseudo-science justification for it, say that being able to interbreed with dragons is like having blue eyes: a recessive gene that only displays itself sometimes.
So far, nobody - not even a dragon that expects to live 1000 years - has created a breeding program to make the interbreeding trait a dominant ability. Perhaps the needed DNA is actually a handful of traits working together (or something like that involving multiple independent variables); too complicated to keep track of just by memory, and prone to create disorganized shelves of books scrolls &c. with notes and hypotheses.

 

[Ganymede81]

"Dragonborn cannot produce inter-species offspring. Also, maybe don't allow your players to make serial rapist PCs." - Dungeon Master's Guide, Pg. 238

 

[TheNoremac42]

I know there's (fan-made) DM material for dealing with *ahem* mature content of this similar nature. I had to pull it out when our elven ranger seduced a human sailor and I needed to figure out gestation periods and all that. You can always use the closest real-life equivalent for Dragonborns as a template. Reptiles lay eggs (there may be some that don't since nature can be weird like that, but I can't think of any off the top of my head) and generally have a mating season.

 

[Anakzar]

I know there's (fan-made) DM material for dealing with *ahem* mature content of this similar nature. I had to pull it out when our elven ranger seduced a human sailor and I needed to figure out gestation periods and all that. You can always use the closest real-life equivalent for Dragonborns as a template. Reptiles lay eggs (there may be some that don't since nature can be weird like that, but I can't think of any off the top of my head) and generally have a mating season.

Some snakes, Pit vipers and Boas give live birth as do several lizards, horned toads spiny lizards, night lizards (most seem to live in colder climates.) They basically retain the eggs inside their bodies until they are ready to hatch. It is generally thought of as a more advanced/evolved trait... seems like sentient lizards might have this trait. Also a mating season is definitely a thing... in many species the female can save up sperm for when the conditions are better for the young to survive.