Improved dragonborn

[stewstew5]

So, dragonborn are underpowered. Everyone knows it, even some of the dev's have made unofficial fixes. But of the fixes, I never really see ones for my favourite feature (and what should be the main focus) the breath weapon.
As it stands it's only really worth the action at early levels, and later on only becomes really worth it for a rogue who can't sneak attack, a ranger, or maybe a barbarian when they dont crit.
So, does anyone have any/know any good fixes for it, particularly on a damage/uses front?
The best I can think of is either extra damage (2d6 instead of 1d6 scaling), OR making it based off proficiency or con mod for uses per day

[MagneticKitty]

Making it a bonus action is probably sufficient. Also I feel dragon born are one of the classes that make way more sense to have darkvision then elves for example.

Otherwise maybe make it on par with a cantrip and let them do it at will.

I made a homebrew version that let them pick a feature from a list, some of the features were like unarmored a.c. akin to lizardfolk some modified breath weapon. I can post it in a spoiler tag if anyone wants to see it.

I feel like kobold also got short changed. What does wizards have against dragon people?

[stewstew5]

Making it a bonus action is probably sufficient. Also I feel dragon born are one of the classes that make way more sense to have darkvision then elves for example.

Otherwise maybe make it on par with a cantrip and let them do it at will.

I made a homebrew version that let them pick a feature from a list, some of the features were like unarmored a.c. akin to lizardfolk some modified breath weapon. I can post it in a spoiler tag if anyone wants to see it.

I'd like to see it, personally

I agree with the cantrip one because it underperforms most spells with its usability, but outdamages cantrips

I think less races need dark vision tbh

[MagneticKitty]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13ksQSCUPOVDYSx2SO0eio9VfFJgIgif4BjJOH2bIc4s/edit?usp=drivesdk

Make this a year ago and haven't thought much about it since... so take it with a grain of salt. I went the cantrip route in it

Also the included fairy kobolds are designed after fairy dragons (the creature)

[Imbalance]

One of my players is a dragonborn fighter with an eye toward eldritch knight, which will add a lot of other potential weapons to his skill set. Since most fights have been martial, the lack of available breathing uses hasn't been a hindrance so far. What I'm thinking about instituting is a way to enhance the character's natural weapon through homebrew alchemy, aka the your-diet-makes-your-breath-stink plan. With the ranger's help, he can forage for various plants to eat, or the sorcerer may identify certain gems to grind into powder, or by harvesting consumable parts of magical monsters, or gaining insight from a kindly silver dragon, etc. whatever, in order to gain temporary damage bonuses, or extended belch range, or dragon-like recharges, or even damage types beyond his native acid breath. Dunno yet, but after coming to the same conclusion about this RAW race, I feel like there has to be something more. The player also requested wings, which was a UA racial feat, so I have at least laid the ground work for a quest to earn those at some point.

[stewstew5]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13ksQSCUPOVDYSx2SO0eio9VfFJgIgif4BjJOH2bIc4s/edit?usp=drivesdk

Make this a year ago and haven't thought much about it since... so take it with a grain of salt

Also the included fairy kobolds are designed after fairy dragons (the creature)

That's pretty good, I think. I'm more looking for a fix to the one feature rather than a total overhaul. I do like how you handled the stat increases

[Damon_Tor]

The dragonborn makes me wish 5e included the ability to take levels in your race in place of a class. So a dragonborn could go Paladin 5/fighter 2/dragonborn 3. The further investment would allow racial features to grow to be as useful as class features, so a designer would be able to make the dragonborn breath weapon progress on a track modeled after the warlocks spell progression.

[Sparky McDibben]

I was actually unaware the dragonborn was underpowered. I haven't played one yet. Can you link to any UA or interviews with the devs?

Why do you think it's underpowered?

[Glacius]

I found a version (all credit to the Author not me) that had the Breath weapon being Proficiency Bonus/d6s and usable Con bonus/LR (minimum 1). It had sub classes as well, giving different bonus'.

Plays well, ill try to find a soft copy to attach.

[Bjarkmundur]

Just take the average at will attack of your character, calculate its hit Chance, and turn it into a racial ability. That way it is always relevant.

You have a fifth level barbarian that can deal 20 damage with the attack action? Have his dragonbreath deal 20 damage on a single target as an action.
Have a Warlock that can shoot two bolts of Eldritch Blast for 1d10+4 each? Make his dragonbreath a small cone that deals the same damage. This would make it less good against single targets, but much more effective against tightly packed groups.
Have a sorcerer? Dragonbreath is a cantrip that requires only verbal components, and can be Quickened for 2 sorcery points. Nice!

It's not the perfect solution, but it fits your design goal, making it perfectly on par with the at-will attack of any character, at any level.

Other solutions could be "At 3rd level, choose one evocation spell. You can cast it twice per day as if using a 2nd level spell slot, without expending any components "

[stoutstien]

I was actually unaware the dragonborn was underpowered. I haven't played one yet. Can you link to any UA or interviews with the devs?

Why do you think it's underpowered?

Potentially Getting acid resistance is about the only redeeming part of the race.

[AdAstra]

One solution that I’ve seen from previous threads and advocate is to have the breath weapon be a cantrip-like effect that you can “overcharge” once per short rest.

Something like d6 damage with cantrip scaling, overcharge to do 2d10 per tier and half damage on a save, with the same area as base. Could probably fiddle with the numbers a bit, but the principle seems sound.

[BarneyBent]

Breath weapon as a bonus action solves the “it’s almost never a good idea to use the breath weapon” problem, which is IMO the biggest problem by far. It’s also by far the simplest fix.

[stewstew5]

I was actually unaware the dragonborn was underpowered. I haven't played one yet. Can you link to any UA or interviews with the devs?

Why do you think it's underpowered?

Well, you either get great resistance (yay fire) and deal a poor damage (wait, fire?), or vice versa, and it has less uses than features of comparable damage, especially at higher levels


I found a version (all credit to the Author not me) that had the Breath weapon being Proficiency Bonus/d6s and usable Con bonus/LR (minimum 1). It had sub classes as well, giving different bonus'.

Plays well, ill try to find a soft copy to attach.

Please do, it sounds mighty good


Just take the average at will attack of your character, calculate its hit Chance, and turn it into a racial ability. That way it is always relevant.

You have a fifth level barbarian that can deal 20 damage with the attack action? Have his dragonbreath deal 20 damage on a single target as an action.
Have a Warlock that can shoot two bolts of Eldritch Blast for 1d10+4 each? Make his dragonbreath a small cone that deals the same damage. This would make it less good against single targets, but much more effective against tightly packed groups.
Have a sorcerer? Dragonbreath is a cantrip that requires only verbal components, and can be Quickened for 2 sorcery points. Nice!

It's not the perfect solution, but it fits your design goal, making it perfectly on par with the at-will attack of any character, at any level.

Other solutions could be "At 3rd level, choose one evocation spell. You can cast it twice per day as if using a 2nd level spell slot, without expending any components "

A bit confusing/complex to do in-game, but it works a la rule of cool


Breath weapon as a bonus action solves the “it’s almost never a good idea to use the breath weapon” problem, which is IMO the biggest problem by far. It’s also by far the simplest fix.

yea, a good idea to be sure. Might just be what I go with

[Matt_Aries]

What about a breath weapon as a poisons cloud? This putrid cloud can give 1 round of disadvantage due to cover, then dissipates, and if hit by it does 1d4 necrotic damage for 1 round?

[BoringInfoGuy]

Breath Weapon is a great flavor for the race, but hard to justify using.

A low levels, you can see times where it could be better to hit multiple foes with your Breath Weapon instead of one hit with your weapon.

Breath vs Stab.

Any Martial character that gets Extra attack has a hard time finding a situation where using your Breath Weapon to attack is even comparable to using your action to make multiple attacks.

Breath vs Stab + Stab.
Breath vs Stab + Stab + Stab.

Making the Dragonborn breath weapon a Bonus Action is the go to idea. But last thread I saw on this topic, someone pointed out the unintended consequence that a Dragonborn Wizard could combo breath weapon and Burning Hands to get an amount of damage comparable to Fireball while at first level.

With that in mind, I like the idea of making Breath Weapon useable as part of the Attack Action. When martial get Extra Attack, they are weighing the merits for losing one weapon attack to use the Breath Weapon, instead of multiple weapon attacks.

Breath vs Stab.
Breath + Stab vs Stab + Stab.
Breath + Stab + Stab vs Stab + Stab + Stab.

Not a huge power boost to the class, and no extra benefit to Dragonborn Casters.

But it would mean that Dragonborn Martial characters can occasionally use their breath weapon without feeling like they are nerfing themselves for a turn.

[Citadel97501]

I also have issues with Dragon Born races, as they just seem weaker than appropriate for a base race. My personal idea is to give them the choice of where to add the +2 from their racial if placed in strength choose a +1 elsewhere instead of getting a +3, dark vision, with more adjustments to the Breath Weapon. All in all I think this allows a character that focuses quite a bit more on being Born of Dragons :).

Bonus Action to use: Favorite Stat modifier number of times per short rest.
DC: 8 + Your Favored Stat Modifier + Proficiency = save for 1/2
Damage: Drop the damage to 2d4, 5th: 3d4, 11th: 4d4, 16th: 5d4

Breath Weapon Feats:
-Strong Breath: +1 to Favored Attribute, Breath Weapon improves to d6. May be taken up to 3 times for d10's.
-Controlled Breath: +1 to Favored Attribute, Use the breath weapon as 5' 30' line or 15' cone.
-Wide Breath: +1 to Favored Attribute, Cone Breath is extended to 30', Line Breath is extended and widened to 10' by 50'.

Example: Drake of the Black Scales
Black Dragon: +2 to Constitution (Could have went anywhere...), +1 to Strength (20 Constitution due to feats.)
Fighter: Level 8
Feats: Strong Breath x 2, Wide Breath
Breath Weapon: 5 uses per short rest, Damage: 3d8 Acid, DC: 16, Size: 50' long 10' wide!

[NNescio]

Breath Weapon is a great flavor for the race, but hard to justify using.

A low levels, you can see times where it could be better to hit multiple foes with your Breath Weapon instead of one hit with your weapon.

Breath vs Stab.

Any Martial character that gets Extra attack has a hard time finding a situation where using your Breath Weapon to attack is even comparable to using your action to make multiple attacks.

Breath vs Stab + Stab.
Breath vs Stab + Stab + Stab.

Making the Dragonborn breath weapon a Bonus Action is the go to idea. But last thread I saw on this topic, someone pointed out the unintended consequence that a Dragonborn Wizard could combo breath weapon and Burning Hands to get an amount of damage comparable to Fireball while at first level.

With that in mind, I like the idea of making Breath Weapon useable as part of the Attack Action. When martial get Extra Attack, they are weighing the merits for losing one weapon attack to use the Breath Weapon, instead of multiple weapon attacks.

Breath vs Stab.
Breath + Stab vs Stab + Stab.
Breath + Stab + Stab vs Stab + Stab + Stab.

Not a huge power boost to the class, and no extra benefit to Dragonborn Casters.

But it would mean that Dragonborn Martial characters can occasionally use their breath weapon without feeling like they are nerfing themselves for a turn.

Or Breath as a bonus action when you take the attack action. Like most of the bonus action attack options.

(Also allow vanilla Breath as an action, for verisimilitude reasons.)

[Yunru]

At our table we made it at-will, but it only does one die of damage, but but it replaces an attack.
So you could attack, breathe and TWF, for example.
Or just breathe and breathe again.