Dragonborn: Do they emulate their corresponding Dragons?

[DontEatRawHagis]

I was looking to add dragonborn to my setting and I was wondering if Dragonborn emulate the behavior of their respective dragon?

Are Red Dragonborn likely to be very greedy? Do Gold ones try to be Paragons of Goodness? Etc....

[Beta Centauri]

I was looking to add dragonborn to my setting and I was wondering if Dragonborn emulate the behavior of their respective dragon?

Are Red Dragonborn likely to be very greedy? Do Gold ones try to be Paragons of Goodness? Etc.... I doubt there are any mechanics for greediness or goodness, so it would be entirely up to the player. Even if the player chooses to act a different way, that wouldn't say anything about the race or sub-race in general.

[NomGarret]

Not necessarily. Individuals or groups may show similarities but it's not the default. It certainly can be, but if you do that in your game it would be worth mentioning to prospective dragon born players beforehand

[Red Fel]

Are you talking about Dragonborn within a specific game system (e.g. a specific edition of D&D)? If so, you might consider moving this post into the appropriate subforum.

If 3.5, I don't remember Dragonborn being specifically associated with one color or another; they're all generally just associated with Bahamut.

I think one of the later editions, either 4e or 5e, also has them, but I don't know the details there.

Or are you talking about Skyrim Dragonborn? Because if that's the case, I really don't know how to help you. :smalltongue:

[DontEatRawHagis]

I'm just talking about the race in general(not Skyrim).

I want to add them as NPCs with various heritages based on their Ancestor dragon. Just thought another setting might have done it before.

This isn't an edition specific question as I don't care about crunch in this case.

I will inform my players, because before Dragonborn were just there. No culture or history associated with them. I need to flush that out.

[Beta Centauri]

I'm just talking about the race in general(not Skyrim).

I want to add them as NPCs with various heritages based on their Ancestor dragon. Just thought another setting might have done it before.

This isn't an edition specific question as I don't care about crunch in this case.

I will inform my players, because before Dragonborn were just there. No culture or history associated with them. I need to flush that out. I recommend you work with your players on it. That way, whatever you arrive at will make sense and be interesting to them.

Me, I'd say that dragonborn who have integrated into civilization would have to be careful about emulating the dragons they share a color with. Dragons can get away with behavior individual humanoids can't, and can deal with those who don't like their behavior. I would think that a red dragonborn would have enough prejudice to deal with, without actually having a tendency to be greedy. Then again not all of them would reflect on this and might embrace the way the world sees them. It's a set-up for playing out color-based racism, which D&D already has plenty of, so you might not find it worth bothering about. Stock 4th Edition dragonborn don't come in colors that strongly resemble real dragons, except for gold and brown, and their color doesn't indicate the type of breath weapon they might have, so I wouldn't expect those dragonborn to have any strong tendencies similar to any real dragon. Yours may vary.

[Red Fel]

I'm just talking about the race in general(not Skyrim).

I want to add them as NPCs with various heritages based on their Ancestor dragon. Just thought another setting might have done it before.

This isn't an edition specific question as I don't care about crunch in this case.

I will inform my players, because before Dragonborn were just there. No culture or history associated with them. I need to flush that out.

So, in essence, you want to use the concept of a dragon-person, without using the existing mechanics in 3.5 or 4e, and adding a different color-dependent flavor to it.

May I suggest something different? Instead of Dragonborn, consider Draconians. They sound more akin, fluff-wise, to what you're describing.

Draconians come from the Dragonlance setting, but can be adapted in a fairly straightforward manner. They also subvert the whole "alignments by color" problem, unless your players are familiar with the original source.

The basic idea in the original fluff is that bad guys got their mitts on some metallic (good) dragon eggs, performed some unholy rituals on them, and created humanoid dragon-people, in metallic colors, of Evil alignment. The good guys, not to be outdone, did the same thing with chromatic (evil) eggs, creating a race of chromatic Good dragon-people. These are the Draconians, and they're a great option if your players wholly expect that a shining golden dragon-man will be a beacon of justice and mercy, and a scarred red dragon-man a sinister force of rage and brutality.

Unlike Dragonborn, Draconians actually do have abilities tied to their progenitors. For example, Flame Draconians, the noble (Good) Draconians made from Red Dragons, have a fire breath weapon, and explode upon death.

[goto124]

Was it your ma or your pa that was the dragon?

[Karl Aegis]

5e Dragonborn are just samurai. The behavior of most dragons would bring dishonor on their clan and get them exiled. Their clan is more important to them than whatever creature created the eggs of their ancestors. What came out of those eggs and founded their clan, however, would be something the dragonborn would try to emulate.

[Darth Ultron]

I was looking to add dragonborn to my setting and I was wondering if Dragonborn emulate the behavior of their respective dragon?

Are Red Dragonborn likely to be very greedy? Do Gold ones try to be Paragons of Goodness? Etc....

Sadly, by-the-book, Dragonborn are very bland. They are just ''dragon humanoids'', that act like humans.


Now in my game I have Draconians, ''half dragon'' color coded humanoids that do act like the dragons they are spawned from.

[Ashtagon]

Was it your ma or your pa that was the dragon?

Clearly, it was the mother. We all saw *that* movie.

[DontEatRawHagis]

Clearly, it was the mother. We all saw *that* movie.

I hate Beowulf now because of that movie( I assume you mean Beowulf).

[Ralanr]

5e Dragonborn are just samurai. The behavior of most dragons would bring dishonor on their clan and get them exiled. Their clan is more important to them than whatever creature created the eggs of their ancestors. What came out of those eggs and founded their clan, however, would be something the dragonborn would try to emulate.

Not if you change how the clan sees honor. I made a white dragonborn clan that strongly encourages pragmatism and ferocity based on the environment they live in (One of those snow blizzard places that kills you if you get distracted for a moment).

That's if you wanted to keep them to their clan concept (Which if you do, please just alter the clan concepts of honor. Different countries had different honor systems), but if not you can do whatever to their racial concept.

If you want to emulate the dragons based on their colors, I'd kinda recommend against metallic dragons. I had the same idea and while the chromatic dragons felt interesting, the metallic ones...well goody goody two shoes gold that can rip your face off did not seem like a racial background since morality is subjective.

[Karl Aegis]

Sadly, by-the-book, Dragonborn are very bland. They are just ''dragon humanoids'', that act like humans.


Now in my game I have Draconians, ''half dragon'' color coded humanoids that do act like the dragons they are spawned from.

Well, since this was moved to the 5e forum, draconians no longer make sense as half-dragons. Draconians in 5e are variants of dragonborn that trade their breath weapons for unique magical abilities and come in five flavors: auraks, baaz, bozak, kapak and sivak. They're all evil servants of an evil Dragonlance setting goddess that act the opposite of the dragons they are spawned from. Which is weird because one would assume the corruption wouldn't be as prevalent several generations of dragonborn down the line.

[Shining Wrath]

If we are talking 5e fluff for dragonborn, the PHB states that color-coding is not very strong; most dragonborn tend to one of the extreme alignments, but more are good than evil. Color is no longer predictive of behavior.

Furthermore, you could use the 3.5 Eberron version where dragon color simply does not predict alignment.

I think you are free to do whatever you want. Myself, I'm inclined to think that except for creatures specific to outer planes (fiends and angels and the like), your upbringing has as much to do with your alignment as your ancestry. Which is not to say that ancestry doesn't matter, because in most non-Eberron editions of D&D, races are created by deities, and that creator (and minions) are going to try to guide you into their desired path.

[M Placeholder]

Well, since this was moved to the 5e forum, draconians no longer make sense as half-dragons. Draconians in 5e are variants of dragonborn that trade their breath weapons for unique magical abilities and come in five flavors: auraks, baaz, bozak, kapak and sivak. They're all evil servants of an evil Dragonlance setting goddess that act the opposite of the dragons they are spawned from. Which is weird because one would assume the corruption wouldn't be as prevalent several generations of dragonborn down the line.

Reading the 5th description of dragonborn, it does not seem right stating that the Draconians are now Dragonborn. The races are quite different, and the draconians were never meant to be a player race, as they all have outlandish death throes (turning to stone, dissolving in acid), and all of them have racial features that make them unsuitable for Playable Races. In 3.5, all of the Draconians had LA's, and even the most lowly caste had a level adjustment of +1 and an ECL of 3 + Class levels.

I personally would have left out the section on Draconians from the PHB.

[RedMage125]

OP:

In 4e, there was quite a bit written on dragonborn culture. The small paperback of "Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn" was quite informative. Of course, in 4e they did not closely resemble specific dragon phenotypes. From what I remember without looking at the book, I remember that they had a great emphasis on honor through combat, a very warrior-code kind of sense of honor.

When I adapted them into my homebrew world, I took this and and adapted it one step further. In my world, the continent to the south is ruled by an empire known as the Drakkensrad. It has a very "oriental adventures" style feel to it. The true dragons rule as daimyos, and the dragonborn are the samurai, merchants and commoners. Bushido fits very well with the default fluff of dragonborn sense of honor.

Now, in 5e game in which i am a player I have a Copper Dragonborn Valor Bard. While my character is not truly descended from copper dragons, the society he comes from venerates dragons, and metallic dragonborn (according to my DM) often try to imitate the dragons they resemble. So to that end, my character enjoys puzzles,and even pranks (even when he's the victim of said prank).

It's up to you, ultimately, but there's material out there if you;re looking for an "official" answer.