I'm looking for an opinion since I don't find it in rules anywhere (if I missed it it feel free to point it out to me!)
It is my understanding that dragons have been known to hide in human form in the past but if a character is a "dragon-born" race would they be able to recognize a dragon in disguise? automatically? or with some work? or would the dragon be able to not be recognized??
RAW, dragonborn do not have any special affinity for sussing out disguised dragons. A given DM might decide otherwise based on what dragonborn are in their world, but there is no Official Rule to refer you to.
Worth noting: metallic dragons can disguise themselves as any form of humanoid including dragonborn, not simply 'human'. Chromatic dragons do not have the 'disguise' ability RAW, but many DMs allow chromatics to do it anyways. If dragonborn have an affinity for sniffing out hidden dragons, you may wish to consider whether kobolds do as well.
Unrelated: it's still super weird to me that kobolds are tiny dragons. I always thought of them as being doglike rather than lizardlike before D&D, it was a serious adjustment to try and get my brain wrapped around 'the Halfling version of dragonborn but with a shitty reputation'. Still don't like it. Blegh.
Unrelated: it's still super weird to me that kobolds are tiny dragons. I always thought of them as being doglike rather than lizardlike before D&D, it was a serious adjustment to try and get my brain wrapped around 'the Halfling version of dragonborn but with a shitty reputation'. Still don't like it. Blegh.
In older editions they were hybrid dog-rat people with sporadic scales, this whole “related to dragons” thing is new and took me some adjustment too.
Unrelated: it's still super weird to me that kobolds are tiny dragons. I always thought of them as being doglike rather than lizardlike before D&D, it was a serious adjustment to try and get my brain wrapped around 'the Halfling version of dragonborn but with a shitty reputation'. Still don't like it. Blegh.
In 3.0, kobolds went from being the dog-rat hybrids they'd been in previous editions to lizard-like humanoids, with a throw-away line in their Monster Manual entry mentioning that they liked to boast that they were distant relatives of dragons. It was obvious that in-universe, nobody considered this claim to be worth anything, least of all the dragons, who tended to regard kobolds the way a person regards a box of chicken nuggets. But apparently someone saw this and thought it was really, really cool if it were actually true so fast forward a few years when the 3.5 Draconomicon was released and suddenly kobolds really were related to dragons and got some draconic powers.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
RAW, dragonborn do not have any special affinity for sussing out disguised dragons. A given DM might decide otherwise based on what dragonborn are in their world, but there is no Official Rule to refer you to.
Worth noting: metallic dragons can disguise themselves as any form of humanoid including dragonborn, not simply 'human'. Chromatic dragons do not have the 'disguise' ability RAW, but many DMs allow chromatics to do it anyways. If dragonborn have an affinity for sniffing out hidden dragons, you may wish to consider whether kobolds do as well.
Unrelated: it's still super weird to me that kobolds are tiny dragons. I always thought of them as being doglike rather than lizardlike before D&D, it was a serious adjustment to try and get my brain wrapped around 'the Halfling version of dragonborn but with a shitty reputation'. Still don't like it. Blegh.
I'm looking for an opinion since I don't find it in rules anywhere (if I missed it it feel free to point it out to me!)
It is my understanding that dragons have been known to hide in human form in the past but if a character is a "dragon-born" race would they be able to recognize a dragon in disguise? automatically? or with some work? or would the dragon be able to not be recognized??
thanks,
Bryan
In game, no rules allow a Dragonborn any advantage to checks passive or active to spot a Dragon shapeshifted as a Human, or other species. In fact, even in the fiction (which is a place they might do this) I have never seen a Dragonborn get any special ability to notice this.
However, as a DM and knowing a Dragon is living somewhere causes enviroment changes to match the dragon's color, age, and power. And realizing that Dragonborn raised in their communities might be told about the environmental impact of dragons, I would give advantage to a dragonborn spotting the environmental impact of entering a Dragons territory. Which is important in a few stories, and something they may spot if they enter a city with a Song Dragon. Just saying the Garden area near that one Pub and Inn is always so nice, and the area around it is so Cottagecore it's crazy.
In the world of the Forgotten Realms, stories speak of “weredragons” or “song dragons,” which are variously described as “beautiful humans transformed into dragons” or as a distinct variety of metallic dragon. The world of Greyhawk has legends of similar dragons, called either Greyhawk dragons or steel dragons, which are said to favor life among Humanoids in the hustle and bustle of great cities.
That one bit in that chapter has always annoyed me, because Song Dragons are their own unique species of Dragon, and have traits of both silver and copper dragons. Meanwhile Steel Dragons and all the "Ferrous Dragons" fall in the neutral alignments and are really their own thing, and should never be thought of as a Misidentified Metallic Dragon.
They are legendary, and the people who don't know better might think a Song Dragon is just a strange looking Silver Dragon... Their bodies are shaped like a Copper Dragon, while their scales are silver, and when shapeshifted Human they are always women. They are believed to have been made by a deity like Selûne. They also tend to be Chaotic Good aligned, but some can be Chaotic Neutral. Unlike the more rigidly aligned Silver and Copper Dragons.
So in this 5th edition trying to retcon these classic dragons out of D&D is just wrong, and I often will place an Inn owned by a Song Dragon in my campaigns. The Song Dragon in question looks like a Tabaxi BTW. She and her wife run a really nice and comfortable lair... Bed & Breakfast Inn and Pub. They also have a baby monster rescue shelter. (Lots of cat monsters and dog monsters.)
---
I will point out, that I went with the God made her a song dragon origin for my Tabaxi, she's also Trans as all my personal characters are trans, and the character was my Tabaxi Eloquence Bard, but now a Song Dragon and owner of the cutest cottagecore inn.
Old thread but this kind of thing is left up to the DM. If the DM wants to grant advantage or even automatic success to a dragonborn who suspects a disguised dragon, that's trivial for them to do.
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Greetings all!!
I'm looking for an opinion since I don't find it in rules anywhere (if I missed it it feel free to point it out to me!)
It is my understanding that dragons have been known to hide in human form in the past but if a character is a "dragon-born" race would they be able to recognize a dragon in disguise? automatically? or with some work? or would the dragon be able to not be recognized??
thanks,
Bryan
A dragonborn has no better chance to see through the disguise than anyone else, by RAW.
In any given world, a DM may have developed different lore that might allow it, but that would be a house rule.
RAW, dragonborn do not have any special affinity for sussing out disguised dragons. A given DM might decide otherwise based on what dragonborn are in their world, but there is no Official Rule to refer you to.
Worth noting: metallic dragons can disguise themselves as any form of humanoid including dragonborn, not simply 'human'. Chromatic dragons do not have the 'disguise' ability RAW, but many DMs allow chromatics to do it anyways. If dragonborn have an affinity for sniffing out hidden dragons, you may wish to consider whether kobolds do as well.
Unrelated: it's still super weird to me that kobolds are tiny dragons. I always thought of them as being doglike rather than lizardlike before D&D, it was a serious adjustment to try and get my brain wrapped around 'the Halfling version of dragonborn but with a shitty reputation'. Still don't like it. Blegh.
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Thanks for the input everyone!! I really appreciate it. those are basically my thoughts as well!
Cheers!
In older editions they were hybrid dog-rat people with sporadic scales, this whole “related to dragons” thing is new and took me some adjustment too.
From the AD&D Monstrous Manual:
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
In 3.0, kobolds went from being the dog-rat hybrids they'd been in previous editions to lizard-like humanoids, with a throw-away line in their Monster Manual entry mentioning that they liked to boast that they were distant relatives of dragons. It was obvious that in-universe, nobody considered this claim to be worth anything, least of all the dragons, who tended to regard kobolds the way a person regards a box of chicken nuggets. But apparently someone saw this and thought it was really, really cool if it were actually true so fast forward a few years when the 3.5 Draconomicon was released and suddenly kobolds really were related to dragons and got some draconic powers.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ftod/dragons-in-play#ShapeShifting
In game, no rules allow a Dragonborn any advantage to checks passive or active to spot a Dragon shapeshifted as a Human, or other species. In fact, even in the fiction (which is a place they might do this) I have never seen a Dragonborn get any special ability to notice this.
However, as a DM and knowing a Dragon is living somewhere causes enviroment changes to match the dragon's color, age, and power. And realizing that Dragonborn raised in their communities might be told about the environmental impact of dragons, I would give advantage to a dragonborn spotting the environmental impact of entering a Dragons territory. Which is important in a few stories, and something they may spot if they enter a city with a Song Dragon. Just saying the Garden area near that one Pub and Inn is always so nice, and the area around it is so Cottagecore it's crazy.
That one bit in that chapter has always annoyed me, because Song Dragons are their own unique species of Dragon, and have traits of both silver and copper dragons. Meanwhile Steel Dragons and all the "Ferrous Dragons" fall in the neutral alignments and are really their own thing, and should never be thought of as a Misidentified Metallic Dragon.
They are legendary, and the people who don't know better might think a Song Dragon is just a strange looking Silver Dragon... Their bodies are shaped like a Copper Dragon, while their scales are silver, and when shapeshifted Human they are always women. They are believed to have been made by a deity like Selûne. They also tend to be Chaotic Good aligned, but some can be Chaotic Neutral. Unlike the more rigidly aligned Silver and Copper Dragons.
So in this 5th edition trying to retcon these classic dragons out of D&D is just wrong, and I often will place an Inn owned by a Song Dragon in my campaigns. The Song Dragon in question looks like a Tabaxi BTW. She and her wife run a really nice and comfortable
lair... Bed & Breakfast Inn and Pub. They also have a baby monster rescue shelter. (Lots of cat monsters and dog monsters.)---
I will point out, that I went with the God made her a song dragon origin for my Tabaxi, she's also Trans as all my personal characters are trans, and the character was my Tabaxi Eloquence Bard, but now a Song Dragon and owner of the cutest cottagecore inn.
Old thread but this kind of thing is left up to the DM. If the DM wants to grant advantage or even automatic success to a dragonborn who suspects a disguised dragon, that's trivial for them to do.