Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Being able to replace one of your attacks with the breath weapon instead of having to use your action just to use it is a big improvement for martial characters. Doesn’t make any difference for characters without extra attack.
1d10 damage instead of 2d6 is 1.5 damage lower on average at first level, but increasing by 1d10 at later levels instead of 1d6 easily makes up for it, pulling ahead by 0.5 average damage at 5th level, and capping out at 4.5 damage higher on average by 17th level. And that’s assuming you only hit one target each time; the difference multiples if you hit more targets.
Prof bonus uses between long rests instead of one use between short rests is something I hate to see, but it’s the way the wind is blowing. Assuming 6-encounter days with 2 short rests, you get 0.5 uses per encounter for a total of 3 per adventuring day with 1/short rest compared to 2 per adventuring day at 1st and as many as 6 per adventuring day at 17th level with prof bonus/long rest. And that’s before considering the fact that a 17th level character will almost always have a better use for their action than the classic dragonborn breath weapon, whereas a martial character would be happy to trade one of their extra attacks for a Fizban’s breath weapon use at any level.
All breath weapons being a 15 foot cone instead of some being a 5 foot by 30 foot line is a wash on paper - same total square footage in either case. In practice though, I think it’s going to be much easier to hit multiple opponents with a 15 foot cone, so this may be an improvement for some, if you really wanted to have like a blue dragon ancestor but wanted a cone instead of a line. On the other hand, it does mean no more line breath weapons for those who did want them, and in my opinion it’s a big flavor fail.
Verdict: Breath weapon is significantly improved, even though some of the changes make me grumble.
On top of that, dragonborn now get a 1/long rest ability based on subtype at 5th level: immunity to a damage type for 1 minute for chromatic, 1 minute fly speed with hover for gem, and a secondary breath weapon that can cause 1 round of incapacitation or a 20 foot push and knock prone for metallic. All three of these seem really nice, and fairly on par with other racial features that grant one use of a spell (usually 2nd level) per long rest at 5th level. Gem dragonborn also get at-will telepathy, which is potentially very useful.
Verdict: A solid addition that makes dragonborn more appealing next to innate casting races like Tieflings and Drow.
Still no Darkvision which is crazy to me since all dragons have Darkvision.
Overall, I’d say Fizban’s dragonborn are a really solid choice for martial characters with extra attack. For casters, I feel they’re improved, but less dramatically so, and with floating ASIs now being the standard, dragonborn have tougher competition, since hill dwarves and tortles are now very appealing race options for optimizers looking to play a caster. But I think that’s alright. The most important thing is really just that it doesn’t end up feeling like your race’s one stand-out feature is a dud after 5th level. And adding a second feature at 5th is a nice extra touch,
1d10 damage instead of 2d6 is 1.5 damage lower on average at first level, but increasing by 1d10 at later levels instead of 1d6 easily makes up for it, pulling ahead by 0.5 average damage at 5th level, and capping out at 4.5 damage higher on average by 17th level. And that’s assuming you only hit one target each time; the difference multiples if you hit more targets.
Prof bonus uses between long rests instead of one use between short rests is something I hate to see, but it’s the way the wind is blowing. Assuming 6-encounter days with 2 short rests, you get 0.5 uses per encounter for a total of 3 per adventuring day with 1/short rest compared to 2 per adventuring day at 1st and as many as 6 per adventuring day at 17th level with prof bonus/long rest. And that’s before considering the fact that a 17th level character will almost always have a better use for their action than the classic dragonborn breath weapon, whereas a martial character would be happy to trade one of their extra attacks for a Fizban’s breath weapon use at any level.
All breath weapons being a 15 foot cone instead of some being a 5 foot by 30 foot line is a wash on paper - same total square footage in either case. In practice though, I think it’s going to be much easier to hit multiple opponents with a 15 foot cone, so this may be an improvement for some, if you really wanted to have like a blue dragon ancestor but wanted a cone instead of a line. On the other hand, it does mean no more line breath weapons for those who did want them, and in my opinion it’s a big flavor fail.
Verdict: Breath weapon is significantly improved, even though some of the changes make me grumble.
On top of that, dragonborn now get a 1/long rest ability based on subtype at 5th level: immunity to a damage type for 1 minute for chromatic, 1 minute fly speed with hover for gem, and a secondary breath weapon that can cause 1 round of incapacitation or a 20 foot push and knock prone for metallic. All three of these seem really nice, and fairly on par with other racial features that grant one use of a spell (usually 2nd level) per long rest at 5th level. Gem dragonborn also get at-will telepathy, which is potentially very useful.
Verdict: A solid addition that makes dragonborn more appealing next to innate casting races like Tieflings and Drow.
Still no Darkvision which is crazy to me since all dragons have Darkvision.
Overall, I’d say Fizban’s dragonborn are a really solid choice for martial characters with extra attack. For casters, I feel they’re improved, but less dramatically so, and with floating ASIs now being the standard, dragonborn have tougher competition, since hill dwarves and tortles are now very appealing race options for optimizers looking to play a caster. But I think that’s alright. The most important thing is really just that it doesn’t end up feeling like your race’s one stand-out feature is a dud after 5th level. And adding a second feature at 5th is a nice extra touch,
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