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

[Remathilis]

I'm not talking about pop size.

I am 100% talking about lore prominence.

Part of the problem is that D&D (up to 4e) had seven races it used as core. (Half-orc disappeared for one edition in the middle, even further diminishing it). You have to go to 4e to get two new races in the PHB, and there is a highly resistant strain of DMs who cannot accept anything but the original PHB races (and let's be honest, gnomes and halflings are often ignored and half-elves and half-orcs defined by their lack of place in society. So we're really talking humans and elves with occasional dwarves). 50 years in and I still rarely see gnome or half-orc NPCs, let alone tieflings and Dragonborn. And a some fans throw hissy fits just seeing Dragonborn NPCs, because they are "too modern".

I've reached the point that I would prefer those elements shoved down every setting's throat, continuity be damned. I want Baldur's Gate to have a Dragonborn regiment. I want a tiefling mayor, and an aasimar pirate. I want tabaxi thieves, aarakroca acrobats (aarakrocabats?l and a gnome evil mastermind to rival a Bond supervillain. In Greyhawk. In Faerun and Krynn. In Ravenloft. And even in Athas. Make few exceptions for certain settings (like subbing kender for halflings on Krynn) and go nuts. I don't want the Star Wars cantina, I want the bloody galactic senate.

Let's break this habit of only having human NPCs and the occasional demihuman. Bring the menagerie.

 

[Parmandur]

Part of the problem is that D&D (up to 4e) had seven races it used as core. (Half-orc disappeared for one edition in the middle, even further diminishing it). You have to go to 4e to get two new races in the PHB, and there is a highly resistant strain of DMs who cannot accept anything but the original PHB races (and let's be honest, gnomes and halflings are often ignored and half-elves and half-orcs defined by their lack of place in society. So we're really talking humans and elves with occasional dwarves). 50 years in and I still rarely see gnome or half-orc NPCs, let alone tieflings and Dragonborn. And a some fans throw hissy fits just seeing Dragonborn NPCs, because they are "too modern".

I've reached the point that I would prefer those elements shoved down every setting's throat, continuity be damned. I want Baldur's Gate to have a Dragonborn regiment. I want a tiefling mayor, and an aasimar pirate. I want tabaxi thieves, aarakroca acrobats (aarakrocabats?l and a gnome evil mastermind to rival a Bond supervillain. In Greyhawk. In Faerun and Krynn. In Ravenloft. And even in Athas. Make few exceptions for certain settings (like subbing kender for halflings on Krynn) and go nuts. I don't want the Star Wars cantina, I want the bloody galactic senate.

Let's break this habit of only having human NPCs and the occasional demihuman. Bring the menagerie.

WotC already has done so, essentially...?

 

[Remathilis]

WotC already has done so, essentially...?

Turbocharged.

 

[Maxperson]

Loads of races in Forgotten Realms don’t have origin stories.

Pretty sure I don’t know the origin story of gnomes but don’t really have a problem with that.

I don’t understand why there can’t be many different origins stories for Dragonborn same was there are for Aasimar, tieflings etc. not everything has to be codified.

Also worth saying that there have been half dragons in FR for all of 3rd edition and we never thought it was a big deal, well before the spell plague. Dragonborn is just a playable version of half dragons.

Half-dragons are much more powerful than Dragonborn and would not be a playable 5e race.

 

[Corinnguard]

Perhaps Karatur Dragonborn are long and serpentine like Gold Dragon

What about a Dragonborn with a ridiculously long, serpent-like tail? The fella here isn't a Dragonborn, it's a Ryujin. One half of a dimorphic species. The other half is the koi-like Nishikin. All Ryujin arise from the Nishikin after experiencing a profound epiphany or tragedy in their lives.

If there are Dragonborn in Kara Tur, I could see them being modeled after the Five Phases- Earth, Fire, Metal, Water and Wood.

 

[Epic Meepo]

...there has been ZERO effort to connect dragonborn into the Forgotten Realms.

Dragonborn have an extensive history in the Realms, as mentioned nearly twenty years ago in Dragons of Faerun. The problem is that newer Realms products completely ignore Bahamut, the Dragonfall War, Sammaster's Rage, the Sisterhood of Essembra, and the haven of the dragonborn in the town of Essembra. That's five named setting elements which involve (non-Abeiran) dragonborn in various ways, few of which get called out in later sourcebooks. Because reasons.

 

[Corinnguard]

Dragonborn is just a playable version of half dragons.

In the Midgard setting from Kobold Press, the Dragonkin are the result of Half-Dragon Humans breeding amongst themselves. Kobolds in this setting bred true from Half-Dragon Gnomes, Half-Dragon Goblins and Half-Dragon Halflings.

Neither one is as powerful as a Half-Dragon.

 

[TheSword]

Half-dragons are much more powerful than Dragonborn and would not be a playable 5e race.

Well that’s a mechanics / edition / balance shift issue not a setting issue.

Half dragons have dragon blood, Dragonborn have draconic blood. Dragonborn are just less powerful playable half dragons.

Just like tieflings existed to be weaker playable versions of half-fiends. [I know Cambion’s and Alu fiends existed along side tieflings in planescape but thats just a power balance issue not a biological one.]

 

[Corinnguard]

Half dragons have dragon blood, Dragonborn have draconic blood. Dragonborn are just less powerful playable half dragons.

Since they do, can we change their type to Dragon?

 

[Parmandur]

Turbocharged.

I mean, haven't they already...?