[Homebrew]Dragonborn Revisited.

[FelixJ]

I've never really been happy with dragonborn, they've come across incredibly weak. So in that link you can download a homebrew that aims to correct the issue with dragonborn while expanding on them. Its free I just wasn't sure where to share it.

Comments and feedback would be fantastic.

There is also apparently this cool attachment option here so I hope that has been added correctly now as well.

Cheers all.

 

[Bladesinger]

This is actually quite fantastic, Thank you! We too made some adjustments to the Dragonborn. Most notably we give them Darkvision, as Dragons have tremendous sight abilities and we ( my group ), always felt that this should have been included. We also allow the Breath weapon to be used as a Bonus Action. It may seem a bit much, but it really doesn't alter the balance that we have seen, but is really cool in flavor during a fight. Lastly, the only feedback I have for your document is I really feel that the Red Dragonborn should be +1 Strength and not Charisma, as they are the true brutes of the Dragonborn. Also, I might remove the +1 Charisma from the base Dragonborn as well, this way you maintain the normal racial bonus format. Otherwise, fantastic job!

 

[FelixJ]

Thanks for reading it over!
So I had wanted to give darkvision but it really was going to make to strong with the breath weapon changes.
The +1 Charisma I felt was still nice to keep, it is only a +1 but keeps it in the mood of these creatures that use that presence to alter the perception of themselves.

The red dragonborn, I figured people would make this point and it was done to not double up on skills and as there is only one STR based skill and it had to go to the Bronze.

I determined the skills from the descriptions of the dragons from the MM. And the red dragon just feeds on the fear it places in others so intimidation just felt right. That and the Bronze dragon lives to be in combat and prove it's mettle. Bronze didn't really have any other really strong point to latch on to making it hard to give an other skill that it felt stronger in than any of the others. Red dragon on the other just came across as the strongest in the intimidation category than all others.

I went back and re-checked and decided because the skill the ancestry gives you is a locked selection it bring the power level down a bit. And should value this on the same level as elves or dwarves or the newer races.

 

[Bladesinger]

No problem. Don't get me wrong, you did great work. I was just musing on some thoughts is all. Your points are also well taken. In any event, thanks for your efforts. I plan to use them next game I GM!

 

[FelixJ]

So, I'm putting a new version of the pdf up.
and the pdf may change over the next little while as I try to get it approved for the DMs Guild.

But I have added dark vision to the class with out removing anything.
I went back and re-checked and decided because the skill the ancestry gives you is a locked selection it bring the power level down a bit. And should value this on the same level as elves or dwarves or the newer races.

That is why I did the change, new pdf should be up shortly.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

I really like this! Dragonborn are one of my favourite races so it's nice to see them finally get some love. At first I thought giving +2 Con, +1 Cha and +1 to other was a bit over powered, but thinking about it the half elf and mountain dwarf do set the precedent of giving more than the regular stat boosts while also getting nice racial abilities.

Had you considered giving stat boosts that don't match the skill proficiency? You could make a case for white to get +Str while getting survival as they are the more primal hunter type. But that might just be me wanting to see more +Str races...

Also some of the alt breath weapons seem more useful than the increased damage of the chromatic breaths. Putting something to sleep will result in an auto crit that can easily make up the difference.

But all in all awesome. I'll see if I can get my players on board to start playing with this.

 

[FelixJ]

I really like this! Dragonborn are one of my favourite races so it's nice to see them finally get some love. At first I thought giving +2 Con, +1 Cha and +1 to other was a bit over powered, but thinking about it the half elf and mountain dwarf do set the precedent of giving more than the regular stat boosts while also getting nice racial abilities.

Had you considered giving stat boosts that don't match the skill proficiency? You could make a case for white to get +Str while getting survival as they are the more primal hunter type. But that might just be me wanting to see more +Str races...

Also some of the alt breath weapons seem more useful than the increased damage of the chromatic breaths. Putting something to sleep will result in an auto crit that can easily make up the difference.

But all in all awesome. I'll see if I can get my players on board to start playing with this.

Hey thanks for the read over and feed back!
I did consider the stat distribution but the tie into the skill just felt the best way to justify the two things working with one another. I was exploring ways of giving a +STR and +DEX to each side but it just felt awkward, and almost like it was being shoehorned into place. I do like the idea and will play with it a little.

I'm also glad you liked the idea of the start distribution. While Mnt. Dwarf and Half Elf have a total of +4 points. The half elf is the only with freedom to pick and choose 2 +1 distributions. There is a number of reasons why this balance works. And that it the options are pretty locked. You aren't picking and choosing the strongest combinations. It helps pull back the power games a little as well.

Edit: I forgot to address the alt breath weapon, So where this comes into play it is either a pass or fail situation on say sleep breath. If you have a weak dc this isn't going to effect many. It is also a CON save con saves are one of the easiest saves for monsters to make (typically). While the chroms breath at the very least is guaranteed to do at least half damage to everything in the breath that could be a lot more than a whole bunch of passed saves on the alternative breath weapon. This is why I gave the +2 Con to help with the DC save but still it is one of those stats that many people aren't going to prioritize.

This all being said I've only tested this homebrew with a small pool so it is my hope that more people pick this up and give me some feedback so I can make adjustments.
So I do hope after you have the chance to play it you do return to share your experience!

Cheers.

 

[FelixJ]

I hope this isn't considered to much of a necro but I'm curious if anyone has given this any game play, didn't want to start a whole new thread of the same topic really.
I was hoping to weigh the feedback against things I've experienced with in my games, and see if there is any room for improvement.

Cheers,