D&D 5E (2024) WotC Should Make 5.5E Specific Setting

[Yaarel]

Note the Dray were not in any main boxed set for DS as a playable race.

The Dray were in the 2e Monstrous Manual (Terror of Tyre 2). If I recall correctly, the sorcerer-king Dregoth the lich created the Dray. This is enough to establish a presence of Dragonborn within Dark Sun. They might be identical to Dray - or maybe even originate similarly from an other sorcerer-king.

 

[Parmandur]

And yet, every D&D setting makes PHB species choices common. Funny that.

Greyhawk didn't back in 1E.

 

[Maxperson]

Let's be honest here. Dragonborn and Tieflings were noted as "rare" in the 5.0 PHB because they had 4e cooties. It had ZERO to do with world building. It was the whole "We're bringing the game back to its roots" push.

And as far as "They already have a place", umm, that was done, what, fifteen years ago? I think it might just be time to add just a tiny bit more to the setting.

I think they were uncommon because of their origins, tending to result from experiments on dragon eggs like the Draconians of Krynn. You can agree or disagree with that, but I don't think it was because cooties.

As for adding more to the setting, I don't have a problem with that. They added a tiny bit by making them fine mercenaries who spread out across the realms. I can easily see some of them banding together and settling down in a village of their own or as a community within a town or city on the Sword Coast(or elsewhere).

 

[Maxperson]

Greyhawk didn't back in 1E.

Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Gnomes, Tieflings and Aasimar have never been common in any setting, even Planescape.

 

[Yaarel]

Looking at it, they are called out as uncommon, along with Gnomes, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, and Tieflings.

"The dragonborn and the rest of the races in this chapter are uncommon. They don't exist in every world of D&D, and even where they are found, they are less widespread than dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans.

Uncommon. In other words, Dragonborn are a normal player species, with frequency similar to Gnome. Also, 5.5 removes commentary about rarity. It lists the species in "alphabetic order".

Judging by actual frequency of use in games: the defacto rarity is more like.

Common: Elf, Human.
Uncommon: Tiefling, Dwarf, Dragonborn, and probably Goliath.
Rare: Halfling, Orc, Gnome, Awsimar.
Very Rare: all other species.

As you can see, their uncommon status is explicitly called as for every setting, but of course specific settings would change that.

"Uncommon" is common enough to be prominent in a setting.

For instance my group once ended up going to the Council of Wyrms setting as part of their adventuring and Dragonborn were common there.

reasonable.

In my Forgotten Realms setting they are extremely rare and are not a PC race, being far more powerful than the PC races.

I feel Dragonborn ought be "uncommon" in Forgotten Realms, with more Dragonborn than Halfling.

My group has only encountered one, and that one is the head of Candle Keep. They might have encountered the other one at the keep, but I can't remember.

I am ok with the Dragonborn being rare in the Swordcoast, but common in the Dalelands, for example.

 

[Corinnguard]

My point being, as it always has been, that dragonborn and tieflings are barely present in the game. There are no dragonborn towns. No dragonborn organization

Considering where most 5e adventures in Faerun occur, it's not surprising that Dragonborn sightings are pretty rare to non-existent. You're more likely to spot a Dragonborn PC than a Dragonborn NPC.

Now if your character went beyond the Sword Coast to a place like Tymanther, it would be a different story. A game held in that area of Faerun would have plenty of Dragonborn going about their business.

Location, location, location.

 

[Reynard]

Considering where most 5e adventures in Faerun occur, it's not surprising that Dragonborn sightings are pretty rare to non-existent. You're more likely to spot a Dragonborn PC than a Dragonborn NPC.

Now if your character went beyond the Sword Coast to a place like Tymanther, it would be a different story. A game held in that area of Faerun would have plenty of Dragonborn going about their business.

Location, location, location.

So, in the place the PCs are likely to be from, a significant few of the PC species options are rare?

yeah, this is why 5.5E needs a setting of its own.

 

[Corinnguard]

So, in the place the PCs are likely to be from, a significant few of the PC species options are rare?

yeah, this is why 5.5E needs a setting of its own.

We're talking about population size and distribution. Some species are going to be found in larger numbers than others depending on where you are in the setting. Not every species is going to be common in a given area. They're going to run the gamut between being very common to being very rare.

Even if you create a new setting for 5.5, the species you place within that setting are going to run that same gamut.

How would you make a setting where every species is a common sight?

 

[Reynard]

How would you make a setting where every species is a common sight?

The setting is a nexus Demi-plane that draws from all worlds.
The setting is very old where the entire civilization is completely cosmopolitan and job/background has a much greater impact.
The gods ordained that the world would be evenly divided amongst their people. Each species has one god and one homeland, as determined by Heavenly Decree.
That took about 7 seconds each. it isn't hard.

 

[Corinnguard]

The setting is a nexus Demi-plane that draws from all worlds.
The setting is very old where the entire civilization is completely cosmopolitan and job/background has a much greater impact.
The gods ordained that the world would be evenly divided amongst their people. Each species has one god and one homeland, as determined by Heavenly Decree.
That took about 7 seconds each. it isn't hard.

For a moment there, I thought you were going to mention the City of Doors.