What could we expect to find in a Dragonborn nation? Cultural and otherwise?

[Cyclops08]

In the players handbook Dragonborn are a scattered people.

What if they were native to an area and had a 1000 year old nation of their very own? That is a lot of time for culture and history to develop.

My first thought is Draconian is the native language and civilized Kobolds would also be citizens. Bahamut and Tiamat temples would be there as well representing the ying and yang of life.

Dragons might visit but would not stay there, uncomfortable with either the attention or the lack of obedience from their distant kin.

likely in the distant past they were conquerors with a slave run economy. I would see them as traders today. They would sail the seas with great ships. many cities would have draconian quarters originally started as trading communities, but now acting as good citizens in their new homelands.

But what would you see as unique to draconian culture?
Communal sulfur baths?
Kobold science labs?
Gelatinous Cube dips? The cubes are chemically reduced to a liquid consistency, you only take 1D4 acid damage but a scaly hide enjoys a deep cleansing.
Magic items that increase the potency of their breath weapons with leveling. 3D6 to 4D6, to 5D6 and so on...
~~or that could be a racial feat.

Please brainstorm with me. What would a thousand years of national status produce in a Draconian culture?

[Damon_Tor]

In the 4e "points of light" default setting the Dragonborn had once been a dominant race in command of a continent-spanning empire, so maybe dig a bit into the 4e lore and see what was established for them there.

[AdAstra]

Depending on how much they revere or even respect true dragons, you might see lots of open landing areas/parks, wide streets with long straightaways, and aeries on buildings. Of course, with so few actual dragons around to use them, they could be either overgrown/ill-maintained, or kept spotlessly clean and new, again depending on the level of reverence. Landing areas could function as public spaces, wide streets might allow for all kinds of exotic pack animals and street markets (a very good place to let players spend time due to the amount of interesting stuff you can put before them at once) aeries serving as large observation decks.

[Breccia]

I don't have a ton of help, but I'll throw in what I can.

I've played in a campaign where such a country existed. It was an tradition-minded benevolent monarchy with a strong military, and also, a powerful scheming group of spellcasters who believed they should be the ruling group -- to the point of trying to assassinate the queen and blaming someone else for it. It had a kind of Russian/Rasputin or possibly Aladdin/Jafar feel to it. The characters never went there, so, that's about all I have.

The country was basically a split Bahumat/Tiamat kind of thing, and a fair number of neutral dragonborn who didn't want to be caught in the crossfire basically just fled, a fair number of them finding work on docks of port cities.

In theory, the PHB-listed dragonborn sense of pride, honor, and quest for self-improvement by battle and/or craft would be a good reflection of samurai Japan.

Or, well, you could have a country ruled by actual dragons. I ran a campaign that had one of those, but, the country was run by evil/chromatic dragons, and not an available option for PCs to be from there.

Regardless, I would expect dragonborn to rely on their natural strength and determination to inhabit some of the tougher terrains to live on, such as rocky slopes, which other races would leave behind. If that were true, they would have a strong work ethic (it takes a lot to grow food on a rocky slope, and the irrigation methods would be either brilliant or comical). Everyone would be required to do their share, but their natural instincts might drive them to do more -- perhaps the culture would naturally have routine competition. Hard work for limited resources would make them, not distrustful exactly, but cool to outsiders who "come to eat our food and then leave" without working for it. And I'd expect the buildings to be a mix of sturdy and decorative.

Hopefully something in all that randomness helps. Regardless, let us know what you come up with!