D&D General What if we gave dragonborn four arms?

[CleverNickName]

I know we're already pretty far off-topic, but we already have rules for playable species that fly (several of them, in several different books, over several years.) Why not use one of these?

Flight. You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Flight. Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can't use this flying speed if you're wearing medium or heavy armor.

Fairy Flight. You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover. This flight is magical and does not require the use of your wings (if you have them).

Fairy Flight. You have a flying speed of 30 feet. You can’t use your flying speed while you wear medium or heavy armor. (If your campaign uses the variant rule for encumbrance, you can’t use your flying speed if you are encumbered.)

I'm just sayin', this isn't really a new or unusual thing for player characters.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I know we're already pretty far off-topic, but we already have rules for playable species that fly (several of them, in several different books, over several years.) Why not use one of these?




I'm just sayin', this isn't really a new or unusual thing for player characters.

Some dms don't mind flying pcs, other despise them. I think it depends on the kinds of encounters you like to make, since flight trivializes some and is barely even useful in others.

I don't know if I'd want flight on a core race, though. That makes it harder for dms to restrict it.

 

[CleverNickName]

I don't know if I'd want flight on a core race, though. That makes it harder for dms to restrict it.

It wasn't so long ago, that people were saying the same things about whether or not Dragonborn should be in the core rulebook. I remember the outrage and anguish when the D&D Next playtest (soon to become 4th Edition) included them.

It never was a hill that I was going to die on (I have other hills for that), but yeah, you make a fair point--folks are very picky about what gets to be considered "core."

 

[jmartkdr2]

It wasn't so long ago, that people were saying the same things about whether or not Dragonborn should be in the core rulebook. I remember the outrage and anguish when the D&D Next playtest (soon to become 4th Edition) included them.

It never was a hill that I was going to die on (I have other hills for that), but yeah, you make a fair point--folks are very picky about what gets to be considered "core."

I never minded dragonborn, I think they might be my favorite DnD race -but I can understand why some people don't like them aesthetically.

I also don't want wings on my dragonborn because I want them to be distinct from half-dragons - but that's also mostly an aesthetic preference. I'd certainly prefer wings to extra arms.

But if something's in the PHB it's not readily accepted if dm's restrict it. If something's not in the PHB only a few players get whiny if you don't include it, especially if it has abilities not available in the PHB. It's just the expectation, which doesn't mean dms can't include or exclude any ancestry, but it does impact how readily players will accept those restrictions.

 

[Tonguez]

I never minded dragonborn, I think they might be my favorite DnD race -but I can understand why some people don't like them aesthetically.

I also don't want wings on my dragonborn because I want them to be distinct from half-dragons - but that's also mostly an aesthetic preference. I'd certainly prefer wings to extra arms.

But if something's in the PHB it's not readily accepted if dm's restrict it. If something's not in the PHB only a few players get whiny if you don't include it, especially if it has abilities not available in the PHB. It's just the expectation, which doesn't mean dms can't include or exclude any ancestry, but it does impact how readily players will accept those restrictions.

I really didnt see the point of Dragonborn because Half-dragons and Draconians already existed. But its no biggie.

With 2024 making lineage mainly cosmetic, none of them need to core really. It would be good if the PHB could make that explicit and let DMs and groups choose their own 'setting species'