I am considering running a 5e game set in a home-brew world of my creation. I must be honest, the Dragonborn are my favorite race in DnD, but I am not a fan of their standard lore, because it makes them seem like a sanitized version of half-orcs in that they are Yet Another Proud Warrior Race in some contexts, and glorified servants of actual dragons in other contexts. As I personally prefer the traditional image of dragons as being emblematic of evil or destruction, I was considering emphasizing the greedy nature of dragons in order to distinguish them by having them be a mercantile race with each member trying to build his or her own "hoard", but this carries the risk of having some rather unfortunate implications. Hence, I was hoping for some ideas or suggestions on how to refluff their lore in such a way that makes them at least somewhat unique. Please be as detailed as possible when explaining the whats, whys, and hows of your refluffing idea.
There are some things to note: In my world that I am building for a campaign, actual dragons are simply nonsapient, animalistic carnivores. And also, in this particular world, only red, black, blue, green, white, and gold dragonborn varieties exist, but scale color has nothing to do with alignment. Also, in this world, they aren't literally born of dragons, they named themselves that way.
I'm kinda confused how you got "Yet Another Proud Warrior Race" out of the description in the Player's Handbook. What I got out of it is that much like dwarves, they mainly care about their clan and perfecting a particular skill or craft. I don't see the overlap with half-orcs at all.
You can go back to the 3rd edition of dragonborn. That they are created via a ritual, so any race can become one. Of course, that ritual is tied to Bahamut. But you could tweak it as you see fit.
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"Richness, in the final measure, is not weighed in gold coins, but in the number of people you have touched, the tears of those who mourn your passing, and the fond rememberances of those who continue to celebrate your life. " -Drizzt Do'Urden
If dragons are animalistic then, rather than dragonborn being randomly sapient beings descended from them, maybe make them a seperate people entirely that merely resemble them? Then you can have some dragonborn that do revere dragons as a kind of mythic ancestor/god, while others might try to distance themselves from their association with dragons, finding it insulting and racist, and others still who have to deal with the burden of that association, rumors in human villages that dragonborn steal children to feed to their dragon masters when really they're just trying to get by like anyone...
I'm not really a fan of the 3E version of the Dragonborn either. I prefer the interpretation of Dragonborn as being "natural" instead of artificially created. That, and I have actual Warforged in my setting as well, and I'm worried that would create another kind of overlap.
I was hoping for ideas regarding refluffing the nature of their society, and the reasons for it manifesting that way. Also, like I said, by "natural", I mean as "mundane" or "physical" as many of the other races. The "manifestation of nature" route isn't really "natural" by my standards, not to mention extremely vague. I was hoping for extensive specifics on these things.
If dragons are animalistic then, rather than dragonborn being randomly sapient beings descended from them, maybe make them a seperate people entirely that merely resemble them? Then you can have some dragonborn that do revere dragons as a kind of mythic ancestor/god, while others might try to distance themselves from their association with dragons, finding it insulting and racist, and others still who have to deal with the burden of that association, rumors in human villages that dragonborn steal children to feed to their dragon masters when really they're just trying to get by like anyone...
I feel like there's something there?
In all honesty, this is my favorite of all the suggestions far, but I think we could go even more in-depth, possibly.
In 4th Ed, Dragonborn were essentially remnants of a late-stage crumbled Empire that used to span the world. You could easily play them up as disaffected imperials who pine for the "good old days" and suffer from a noble narcissism.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
What if dragons came from dragonborn? Powerful dragonborn mages searching for more power amplified their more bestial aspects and ended up as dragons. Dragons would then be a shameful memory to dragonborn of unchecked power causing great destruction.
In 4th Ed, Dragonborn were essentially remnants of a late-stage crumbled Empire that used to span the world. You could easily play them up as disaffected imperials who pine for the "good old days" and suffer from a noble narcissism.
What if dragons came from dragonborn? Powerful dragonborn mages searching for more power amplified their more bestial aspects and ended up as dragons. Dragons would then be a shameful memory to dragonborn of unchecked power causing great destruction.
I confess to liking both of these ideas quite a lot. Both of them are amazing jumping-off points for ways to refluff the Dragonborn without apparently risking potential overlap with the lore of the established races, even on their own. However, I am getting the feeling that we could go even more in-depth, even more descriptive than we have been. While I do like these particular hypothetical ideas relating to the Dragonborn, I don't really want to stop there, as I feel other people should have a chance to pitch their own ideas for potential origins and cultural imperatives as well.
"To any dragonborn, the clan is more important than life itself. Dragonborn owe their devotion and respect to their clan above all else, even the gods. Each dragonborn’s conduct reflects on the honor of his or her clan, and bringing dishonor to the clan can result in expulsion and exile. Each dragonborn knows his or her station and duties within the clan, and honor demands maintaining the bounds of that position.
A continual drive for self-improvement reflects the self-sufficiency of the race as a whole. Dragonborn value skill and excellence in all endeavors. They hate to fail, and they push themselves to extreme efforts before they give up on something. A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal. Members of other races who share the same commitment find it easy to earn the respect of a dragonborn.
Though all dragonborn strive to be self-sufficient, they recognize that help is sometimes needed in difficult situations. But the best source for such help is the clan, and when a clan needs help, it turns to another dragonborn clan before seeking aid from other races—or even from the gods."
I hope this is accurate, but I'm very much getting some feudal Japan vibes from this. Devotion to their clan above all else, their conduct reflecting their honor, and severe consequences for dishonor were key aspects of that time period. I think I also remember that people were dedicated to mastering a certain craft.
Don't know about you, but a dragonborn samurai would be pretty dope.
I liked leaning into the 4e version of dragonborn, the ones that were created on Abeir and came to the Forgotten Realms during the Spellplague. They were created as slaves and served cruel dragon masters, but rebelled and got freedom before being plunked onto another world. They are literally born from dragons, but hate true dragons because of that history. Which is one of the reasons my dragonborn all hate dragons, even the "good" metallics. They've been told stories of the old lands, where dragons were tyrants.
This is a pretty impressive necro thread, but whatevs.
I'm a 2e grognard, so my recommendation would be to steal the old Krynn Draconian lore. Make Draconians Great Again!
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
In my world, Dragonborn are related to Kobolds like Hobgoblins are related to Goblins.
I was thinking something like that, especially after reading the story idea earlier in this thread about "dragonborn" being the originals, and "dragons" are dragonborn that have been corrupted by some attempt to gain more power. Although the thought that came to mind for me was the idea that the Dragonborn were originally LIzardfolk who used magic to imbue themselves with elemental power, thus the transformation into full dragons is just a furthering of that same initial transformation.
In my world, Dragonborn are related to Kobolds like Hobgoblins are related to Goblins.
I was thinking something like that, especially after reading the story idea earlier in this thread about "dragonborn" being the originals, and "dragons" are dragonborn that have been corrupted by some attempt to gain more power. Although the thought that came to mind for me was the idea that the Dragonborn were originally LIzardfolk who used magic to imbue themselves with elemental power, thus the transformation into full dragons is just a furthering of that same initial transformation.
That’s cool! It wouldn’t work as well for my world’s lore, but it’s very cool.
I am considering running a 5e game set in a home-brew world of my creation. I must be honest, the Dragonborn are my favorite race in DnD, but I am not a fan of their standard lore, because it makes them seem like a sanitized version of half-orcs in that they are Yet Another Proud Warrior Race in some contexts, and glorified servants of actual dragons in other contexts. As I personally prefer the traditional image of dragons as being emblematic of evil or destruction, I was considering emphasizing the greedy nature of dragons in order to distinguish them by having them be a mercantile race with each member trying to build his or her own "hoard", but this carries the risk of having some rather unfortunate implications. Hence, I was hoping for some ideas or suggestions on how to refluff their lore in such a way that makes them at least somewhat unique. Please be as detailed as possible when explaining the whats, whys, and hows of your refluffing idea.
There are some things to note: In my world that I am building for a campaign, actual dragons are simply nonsapient, animalistic carnivores. And also, in this particular world, only red, black, blue, green, white, and gold dragonborn varieties exist, but scale color has nothing to do with alignment. Also, in this world, they aren't literally born of dragons, they named themselves that way.
I'm kinda confused how you got "Yet Another Proud Warrior Race" out of the description in the Player's Handbook. What I got out of it is that much like dwarves, they mainly care about their clan and perfecting a particular skill or craft. I don't see the overlap with half-orcs at all.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
You can go back to the 3rd edition of dragonborn. That they are created via a ritual, so any race can become one. Of course, that ritual is tied to Bahamut. But you could tweak it as you see fit.
"Richness, in the final measure, is not weighed in gold coins, but in the number of people you have touched, the tears of those who mourn your passing, and the fond rememberances of those who continue to celebrate your life. "
-Drizzt Do'Urden
If dragons are animalistic then, rather than dragonborn being randomly sapient beings descended from them, maybe make them a seperate people entirely that merely resemble them? Then you can have some dragonborn that do revere dragons as a kind of mythic ancestor/god, while others might try to distance themselves from their association with dragons, finding it insulting and racist, and others still who have to deal with the burden of that association, rumors in human villages that dragonborn steal children to feed to their dragon masters when really they're just trying to get by like anyone...
I feel like there's something there?
What if you did something like the warforged?
I did NOT eat those hikers.
Didn't Matt Coville talk about doing something like that in a video? Where dragonborn had been created by a good king to keep the peace?
I'm not really a fan of the 3E version of the Dragonborn either. I prefer the interpretation of Dragonborn as being "natural" instead of artificially created. That, and I have actual Warforged in my setting as well, and I'm worried that would create another kind of overlap.
Hmm, what about some sort of manifestation of nature?
I did NOT eat those hikers.
I was hoping for ideas regarding refluffing the nature of their society, and the reasons for it manifesting that way. Also, like I said, by "natural", I mean as "mundane" or "physical" as many of the other races. The "manifestation of nature" route isn't really "natural" by my standards, not to mention extremely vague. I was hoping for extensive specifics on these things.
Well, what if their society is based entirely on status, which can be earned via. combat
I did NOT eat those hikers.
In all honesty, this is my favorite of all the suggestions far, but I think we could go even more in-depth, possibly.
In 4th Ed, Dragonborn were essentially remnants of a late-stage crumbled Empire that used to span the world. You could easily play them up as disaffected imperials who pine for the "good old days" and suffer from a noble narcissism.
What if dragons came from dragonborn? Powerful dragonborn mages searching for more power amplified their more bestial aspects and ended up as dragons. Dragons would then be a shameful memory to dragonborn of unchecked power causing great destruction.
I confess to liking both of these ideas quite a lot. Both of them are amazing jumping-off points for ways to refluff the Dragonborn without apparently risking potential overlap with the lore of the established races, even on their own. However, I am getting the feeling that we could go even more in-depth, even more descriptive than we have been. While I do like these particular hypothetical ideas relating to the Dragonborn, I don't really want to stop there, as I feel other people should have a chance to pitch their own ideas for potential origins and cultural imperatives as well.
"To any dragonborn, the clan is more important than life itself. Dragonborn owe their devotion and respect to their clan above all else, even the gods. Each dragonborn’s conduct reflects on the honor of his or her clan, and bringing dishonor to the clan can result in expulsion and exile. Each dragonborn knows his or her station and duties within the clan, and honor demands maintaining the bounds of that position.
A continual drive for self-improvement reflects the self-sufficiency of the race as a whole. Dragonborn value skill and excellence in all endeavors. They hate to fail, and they push themselves to extreme efforts before they give up on something. A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal. Members of other races who share the same commitment find it easy to earn the respect of a dragonborn.
Though all dragonborn strive to be self-sufficient, they recognize that help is sometimes needed in difficult situations. But the best source for such help is the clan, and when a clan needs help, it turns to another dragonborn clan before seeking aid from other races—or even from the gods."
I hope this is accurate, but I'm very much getting some feudal Japan vibes from this. Devotion to their clan above all else, their conduct reflecting their honor, and severe consequences for dishonor were key aspects of that time period. I think I also remember that people were dedicated to mastering a certain craft.
Don't know about you, but a dragonborn samurai would be pretty dope.
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InsiderI liked leaning into the 4e version of dragonborn, the ones that were created on Abeir and came to the Forgotten Realms during the Spellplague. They were created as slaves and served cruel dragon masters, but rebelled and got freedom before being plunked onto another world. They are literally born from dragons, but hate true dragons because of that history. Which is one of the reasons my dragonborn all hate dragons, even the "good" metallics. They've been told stories of the old lands, where dragons were tyrants.
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In my world, Dragonborn are related to Kobolds like Hobgoblins are related to Goblins.
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This is a pretty impressive necro thread, but whatevs.
I'm a 2e grognard, so my recommendation would be to steal the old Krynn Draconian lore. Make Draconians Great Again!
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I was thinking something like that, especially after reading the story idea earlier in this thread about "dragonborn" being the originals, and "dragons" are dragonborn that have been corrupted by some attempt to gain more power. Although the thought that came to mind for me was the idea that the Dragonborn were originally LIzardfolk who used magic to imbue themselves with elemental power, thus the transformation into full dragons is just a furthering of that same initial transformation.
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That’s cool! It wouldn’t work as well for my world’s lore, but it’s very cool.
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Hardcovers, DDB & You
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