Dragonborn Clans

[Scarey Nerd]

Hi Playground, I was just wondering how you guys have handled the Dragonborn clans in your 5th edition games? In the online game I'm currently running I have a Dragonborn player whose egg was found by a Halfling married couple and raised by them. The character is interested in looking into where he might have come from originally, but I have no real clue, since I'm so used to the 3.5 Dragonborn with the Rite of Rebirth etc.

[Rowan Wolf]

My work in progress homebrew has the various dragonic ancestries be exactly that they are descended from dragons who in turn claim to be the children of one of two deities (re-flavored Tiamat and Bahamut) so there is a bit of a potential for god complexes. So clans are usually single colored in scale, but larger social groupings are possible (particularly among the metallic scaled dragonborn).

[Ralanr]

My friends and I have handled it in two ways at the same time.

The first way was environment. I'm playing a white dragonborn from a frozen land that cannot sustain much life (The most adapted civilization are the dwarves that have tunnels all under the area and melt ice for water). As such they are a ferocious bunch with a pragmatic code they follow to help them survive (For example: A duel is a battle between two warriors. That's all it is, doesn't specify what a warrior is, doesn't limit on what can be done within the duel, as long as there is two warriors then it's a duel until otherwise stated). It's actually very fun to play as I can showcase a lot of ruthless intelligence which helps avoid the "Barbarians dumb, barbarians don't think, we rage!" stereotype. To give another example: I was the only one who considered cutting off the hands of the unconscious enemy (considered at the time) magic user. In fact I was the one who brought it up. No hands means a lot of good magic spells lost (If not all).

A friend of mine played a green dragonborn from a forest/swamp area whose clan was under rule (hostage situation) from a green dragon. The questline that was somewhat unrelated to her clan ended up freeing her people and letting them into swamp Venice (Just in time for Madri Gras!).

Basically our dragonborn clans were focused in the respective areas of our dragon color/typing. But while my clan shared the ferocity traits with white dragons, my friend's clan showed no shared traits of green dragons.

The second way is something I've thought up recently, basically make a kingdom or a upcoming kingdom for them. In 4e dragonborn used to have a big empire that is no more, then never bothered to explain if they made others after, sticking with the clan structure. So why not make them build a kingdom or be in the process of building one? I chose the latter and I have an entire movement that is conquering territories to turn into it's own empire. It's pretty fun to write up, and I even combined them with tieflings. Dragons and devil people working together to build an empire. Fun for me.

That's how we've dealt with it.

[BurgerBeast]

I DM'd a 4e campaign and I used some of the resource material from there and my own (mostly video-game inspired) version of the cosmology/history to explain things.

So the dragonborn in my world are a race not so much in decline as pretty much done, a little like the dwarves of Tolkien. Floating island cities that are remnants of ancient Arkhosia still drift about the world and are occasionally spotted. There is a dragonborn general who roams the Nentir Vale reclaiming ancient dragonborn relics in his attempt to restore Arkhosia to its formal glory, but he's obsessed to the point of evil (this is Legatus Dythan from Threats to the Nentir Vale).

In my cosmology, the world began with Io (the all; the everything), and somewhere near the creation of time or some other cosmological event, Io was "shattered" or more accurately was struck as a prism by light and the ten refractions that arose were the 5 chromatic and 5 metallic "shades." Each metallic shade is effectively a virtue that is represented by one of the dragon types and each chromatic shade is effectively a vice that is represented by one of the dragon types, and each virtue has an opposing vice (a play off the idea of the seven deadly sins but a few were combined together to make it fit). (Dragons are a little "Dragon Age" inspired in my world, so there are deities of each type of dragon that are "old gods" and represent eternal forces more than the modern gods would, and the evil ones are archdemons).

The good dragonborn arranged themselves into city-states under the rule of each of the five metallic clans. These were airborne palaces and cities similar to Ancient Greek city-states, with influx of all races but distinctive characters based on the virtue upon which they are founded. Although I never went into detail about the evil dragonborn, I think it would be better for my setting if they weren't as organized, and took on the more traditional role of masses of weaker evil enemies.

One of the PCs in my campaign belonged to the clan (Bronze-skinned) that was responsible for the downfall of the dragonborn (we played this campaign on an intentionally epic scale). His father was beguiled by a tiefling and went mad, opening a portal that allowed the tieflings to overtake the city, enslaving many of the citizens and taking them to Bael Turath. (As another side note, I didn't like the idea of dragonborn having roughly human lifespans in my world so I changed it so they live to be about 700-900 years old).

This PC had a similar story to your PC in that an egg was dropped off a church of Bahamut and the church raised the character. Late in the campaign it was revealed that an elderly dragonborn man dropped the egg off, and someone who was there to witness the event recalled that the man had seven canaries with him (a very alert player recognized right away that this is one of the forms Bahamut takes and the table went ape-****, which was pretty cool). A big story element was the quest to reclaim his family's heirloom treasure from the vault in his palace. Upon completing that quest the dragonborn PC was then able to essentially lead the dragonborn army since he was the obvious heir to the palace in question. The party had a big choice to make about going to Bael Turath or dealing with the more pressing threat of a demon invasion of the vale (a la the blights in Dragon Age).

Edit: I should add that up to now, my campaign has been limited in scope to the Nentir Vale (the default 4e "points of light" setting), and in my setting the Toraxiss Clan (bronze skinned) held dominion of that area, so the current status of the other four city states is undeveloped in my setting.

[Ralanr]

Each metallic shade is effectively a virtue that is represented by one of the dragon types and each chromatic shade is effectively a vice that is represented by one of the dragon types, and each virtue has an opposing vice (a play off the idea of the seven deadly sins but a few were combined together to make it fit).



What were the vices and virtues, if I may ask?

[Shining Wrath]

For my campaign I visualized the dragonborn as being modified humans (or other races). Tiamat, and later Bahamut, took humans and imbued them with draconic essence (chromatic or metallic, respectively).

Tiamat, being evil, simply sent her minions out to collect humans by the tribe. These were not usually volunteers and it is to be expected that a fair amount of devouring took place. Then the humans spent time in the Nine Hells while Tiamat worked on them, which is not a particularly salubrious place for mortals.

Bahamut, being good, sent his minions out to seek volunteers. Often volunteers came by the family or the tribe, as a collective decision. Then the humans spent time in Celestia while Bahamut worked on them.

Because of the different processes followed, far more of Tiamat's dragonborn wound up non-evil in alignment than Bahamut's wound up evil. Therefore the majority of dragonborn are good aligned, as mentioned in the PHB. Also, there are more metallic dragonborn than chromatic, for reasons described above. Tiamat "recruited" more but "graduated" fewer.

So once Tiamat or Bahamut are done with a batch of humans (the processes can be ongoing), they return them to the Prime Material. And they return them in batches, which tend to become clans if they weren't a tribe or clan to start with.

For giggles and grins, I think that Bahamut would have different goals than Tiamat, and therefore the metallic dragonborn get +2 Con, +1 Wisdom rather than +2 Str, +1 Cha.

[BurgerBeast]

What were the vices and virtues, if I may ask?

[edit: writing this has got me looking up my old source materials. I also had names designated for each of the dragon deities - I added them in italics, and they're taken from real world names of demons and also probably from the Wheel of Time series of novels]

Belphegor Humility (Platinum) - Asmodeus Pride (Red)
Abraxis Charity/Kindness (Gold) - Chemosh Envy/Greed (Blue)
Ophaniel Patience (Silver) - MemnonWrath - (Green)
Valek Temperence/Chastity (Bronze) - Sammael Gluttony/Lust (Black)
Pazuzu Diligence (Copper) - Telemach Sloth (White)

These were the basis for the "old world" gods or primordial forces, somewhat akin to the idea in Greek mythology that fate and time were forces to which even the gods are subject.

The "echoes" of virtue are the five aspects of Bahamut and the "residuals" of vice are the five aspects of Tiamat. I never fully fleshed out the details but the goal was to fuse this into the 4e Cosmology.

Ironically, I hate the dragonborn as a fantasy race, and I only allowed them in the campaign because this player really wanted to play one. The result was that the dragonborn mythology and a Grey Warden / Dragon Age influence (from another player) was the backdrop for the entire campaign (which is still going but whittling out).

[M Placeholder]

Hi Playground, I was just wondering how you guys have handled the Dragonborn clans in your 5th edition games?

They are all in one place in mine, and they are called the dray. They have tails, long necks and were once human, but that was a long time ago. They dwell under the ruins of Guistenal, under the dark sun, waiting for the Day of Light, when the Dread King Dregoth slaughters the entire population of Raam and ascends to become the first true god of Athas.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Is there any actual fluff in any settings for Dragonborn Clans? It seems with every setting already written before 5E even existed that theres really no room for some of these races like DB and Tieflings outside of Planescape

[Ralanr]

Is there any actual fluff in any settings for Dragonborn Clans? It seems with every setting already written before 5E even existed that theres really no room for some of these races like DB and Tieflings outside of Planescape

I think there are some in forgotten realms...from another dimension.

Honestly introducing new races into older settings is always going to be ridiculous, I'd just go and make a new setting. Not easy, but why not?

[BurgerBeast]

Is there any actual fluff in any settings for Dragonborn Clans? It seems with every setting already written before 5E even existed that theres really no room for some of these races like DB and Tieflings outside of Planescape

There's a 4e book called Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn. I'm not sure about much else.

[Ralanr]

There's a 4e book called Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn. I'm not sure about much else.

That and a pdf known as "Ecology of the dragonborn"

Both pretty much go into detail of their relations to the dragon gods (The handbook goes into more detail with Io, even offering an epic destiny I think about your dragonborn being born with a shard of Io's power, an important piece in his Resurrection) and some details on their culture.

Honestly I never got why people didn't just write their own cultures for dragonborn rather than just complain about them being lame. What if elves were never a thing until recently? Actually that's just me being bitter :smallannoyed:, so I'm just gonna not go any further with that.

Sometimes I think dragonborn get a good amount of hate because of their role in 4e.

[BurgerBeast]

Sometimes I think dragonborn get a good amount of hate because of their role in 4e.

This may be true. For me personally, I think human and (dare I use the term?) demi-human races are what I like best as PC races. I don't like PC races that go into weird anatomy or physiology very much, and for me Dragonborn just seems childish. I have no defense for this view any more than I have a defense for liking the taste of tomatoes. I'm realizing more and more that I'm not even much of a fan of gnomes. Most of my settings will have the collective sub races of humans, dwarves, and elves as playable races.

Tieflings, Eladrin, Devas… just not my cup of tea.

[Ralanr]

This may be true. For me personally, I think human and (dare I use the term?) demi-human races are what I like best as PC races. I don't like PC races that go into weird anatomy or physiology very much, and for me Dragonborn just seems childish. I have no defense for this view any more than I have a defense for liking the taste of tomatoes. I'm realizing more and more that I'm not even much of a fan of gnomes. Most of my settings will have the collective sub races of humans, dwarves, and elves as playable races.

Tieflings, Eladrin, Devas… just not my cup of tea.

Yeah, dragonborn anatomy is weird and it does seem like a race that children might like. That's probably why I like them, I loved dragons as a kid.

Tiefling race look for D&D is honestly the ugliest thing I've ever seen as a playable race. The horns ruin it for me, they just look so...off. I think it would have been better if they were in the forehead rather than on the forehead.

Aren't Eladrin just elves with monocolored eyes?

[TrexPushups]

I am planning on making the dragon born civilization in my setting Rome.

Really need to flesh that out more.

[Marcelinari]

It's not a particularly comprehensive look at Dragonborn, but in my own campaign setting I've decided that the Dragonborn clans are segregated by colour, but don't actually emulate their draconic... forebear? mascot? totem? Who even knows.

Each of the dragonborn colours has one opposing colour-clan with whom they have a bitter rivalry. I picked the rivalries based on breathweapon-type, with like-typed metallic and chromatic sharing a rivalry. The Greens are in rivalry with the Brasses(?), to round it out. Other than that, dragonborn get along, chromatic or metallic. Clan-alliances can be made with up to 5 clans before rivalries start tearing it apart.

I feel like this paradigm would even work pretty well on a more advanced kingdom- or empire-scale level. Deeply held factionality can be fun to play with.

[M Placeholder]

Is there any actual fluff in any settings for Dragonborn Clans? It seems with every setting already written before 5E even existed that theres really no room for some of these races like DB and Tieflings outside of Planescape

Races similiar to Dragonborn existed in a few settings. In Dragonlance, they had the Draconians, created as the main army for the Queen of Darkness Tahkisis, and were statted as playable races (albeit with huge ECLS)

In Dark Sun, Dray were the servants and the chosen of Dregoth, the undead Dragon King of the city of Guisental. In the 4th edition, they looked exactly like the dragonborn in 4th, instead of smaller versions of the Dragon Kings of Athas, and were everywhere, just one of the reasons I think 4th edition (as well as the magic casting classes, the addition of Eladrin and Tieflings, and replacing the Half Giants with Goliaths) was a bastardization of the setting and felt like a standard 4th edition setting, rather than Dark Sun.

[Karl Aegis]

In 5e, the dragonborn have an emphasis on the clan and the family, even going so far as to use their clan name first when introducing themselves. The fact that nobody in the dragonborn's family found them after they were hatched, even with powerful divination magic available to them, means that nobody cared to look for them (meaning they were unimportant) or they were exiled before they hatched (making them some sort of abomination). A third option is they were someone important and the halfings were entrusted with the egg for them to raise without ever telling them the secret of their heritage. Maybe someone in their clan wants them dead or their very existence threatens the status quo of the clan. The takeaway from this is their clan doesn't want to see them or else they would have found them already.

[RedMage125]

I've noticed that a lot of the flavor text for dragonborn culture resembles fuedal Japan in many ways. Their code of honor is not unlike bushido.

In my world, there is a continent to the south, ruled by dragons in an empire called the Drakkensrad. Dragons rule as daimyos, and dragonborn are the people, ranging from commoners and merchants to the samurai. This continent is basically the "oriental adventures" area of my world.

In the history of my world, these two continents came into regular contact some few hundred years ago, and now there are dragonborn living in the north (where most of my games take place). Those that emigrated were often younger children of noble houses that stood to inherit very little, or merchants and commoners. in the north, some still keep to the tenents of bushido, some have adapted to the culture of their new home.

Dragonborn PCs in my world can either be emigrants from the Drakkensrad, one or two generations removed from emigrants, or descended from dragonborn clans that moved north centuries ago.

The handful of times my campaigns have ventured to the Drakkensrad, they found a culture with a heavy emphasis on honor.

[BurgerBeast]

I am planning on making the dragon born civilization in my setting Rome.

Really need to flesh that out more.

I think this is the default in 4e. After the fall. Legatus Dythan is a pretty big giveaway. They could've called him General Dythan.

Although someone else brings up the Japanese connection through honour and some of the art, so I think going either way is pretty cool.

[BurgerBeast]

...The fact that nobody in the dragonborn's family found them after they were hatched, even with powerful divination magic available to them, means that nobody cared to look for them (meaning they were unimportant) or they were exiled before they hatched (making them some sort of abomination). A third option is they were someone important and the halfings were entrusted with the egg for them to raise without ever telling them the secret of their heritage. Maybe someone in their clan wants them dead or their very existence threatens the status quo of the clan. The takeaway from this is their clan doesn't want to see them or else they would have found them already...

Or, as in my example, his family is incapable of doing these things because ether are imprisoned and enslaved. Locating maybe, making contact, no way.

[Ralanr]

I remember reading in the dragonborn handbook that after the fall of their empire many kingdoms that rose banded large gatherings of dragonborn. So many dragonborn clans fractured into smaller family sects and had to integrate into other societies.

I should know what real world culture had to do this. There is probably more than one, but I know there is at least one that had this problem and I cannot remember it.

[TrexPushups]

I think this is the default in 4e. After the fall. Legatus Dythan is a pretty big giveaway. They could've called him General Dythan.

Although someone else brings up the Japanese connection through honour and some of the art, so I think going either way is pretty cool.

Might be nice to let my players "visit" he gladiatorial arena.

[BurgerBeast]

Might be nice to let my players "visit" he gladiatorial arena.

Apologies in advance for a small derail here, but the most memorable campaign I ever played in was entirely based around a gladiator arena. We played 2e but with all the Player's Option books, particularly Combat and Tactics. It was brutal and gruesome, inspired by a PC Dark Sun video game (don't remember the name). The party was a Mul Gladiator specced in spear throwing, a Half-Giant Fighter with 24 strength (Dark Sun stats were 5d4 [and we had all sorts of roll-fudging shenanigans] and half-giants got +4 strength), a Wemic Ranger (who could pounce thirty feet and make two front paw and two sword attacks. Any time he hit with both front paws, he could rake with his back paws), a Githyanki Mage (whom we relentlessly mocked for his "colour spray and run" bread-and-butter).

Stories still fly around about that campaign from what must be 20 years ago now. The "O-rena" is the stuff of legend among my friends. I was an evil DM who would bring out wave after wave of enemies. One time the party was almost completely spent of resources, after three or four waves of battle, and I busted out the Manscorpion - I remember all of their faces as I proudly showed them the illustration in the 2e Monstrous Manual.

Dorthan the Mul Gladiator made a called shot for the Manscorpion's head. He won initiative and rolled a natural twenty, which meant excited anticipation from everyone as we consulted the Combat and Tactics critical hit tables and he rolled off the result. I wish I could find that book so I could re-read the effect, but it was something like: "Head destroyed. Instant death. Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma reduced to 3, permanently."

Oh, how we howled that day.

[Karl Aegis]

If you change "clan" to "family" you can make dragonborn Italian merchant princes. Strength and charisma don't really do anything for Genoese crossbowmen, but it does help with duels between families. If you didn't like the feudal Japan flavor of dragonborn, the conversion to Italy just needs one family to own a dilapidated colosseum to fit into most D&D Iron Age settings. They already have the mercenary force flavor for mercenary infantry groups if you want them to be Genoese and it isn't a stretch to give them trade routes to a far away place for the Venetian flavor.

[Ralanr]

If you change "clan" to "family" you can make dragonborn Italian merchant princes. Strength and charisma don't really do anything for Genoese crossbowmen, but it does help with duels between families. If you didn't like the feudal Japan flavor of dragonborn, the conversion to Italy just needs one family to own a dilapidated colosseum to fit into most D&D Iron Age settings. They already have the mercenary force flavor for mercenary infantry groups if you want them to be Genoese and it isn't a stretch to give them trade routes to a far away place for the Venetian flavor.

Well clans are usually made up of multiple families. And the draconic language (Not sure if the translator is a viable source but I used it for brands) doesn't have a word for "Clan" but they do have a word for "Family" which I guess means that they consider clans as close as families.

http://draconic.twilightrealm.com/ Is where I got this. I wish I could find more D&D language translators. Elven is too common, surprised I can't find dwarf, orcish is understandably no where, but nothing with demonic tongue which is somewhat saddening.