Homebrew Dracon Species Details

The dracons consider themselves civilized, and have among themselves a stylized dueling code. Under this code, one challenges another, the challenged getting choice of weapons (swords, bare hands, etc.). The challenger then names the terms of the battle (to the death, to first blood, to half hit points, or to three falls, for example). Finally, the challenged names the place and time (within reason, though a dracon rhyme speaks of the Battle Eternal, in which heroes return each year to fight a single round of combat).

The dracons use these codes among themselves, but do not offer them to non-dracons. Should an individual outside the race offer such terms, the dracon would be honor-bound to adhere to them, within reason. (A single dracon will not accept a challenge from a mind flayer, unless said mind flayer pledges not to use its psionic blast.)

Dracon Combat

Dracons usually use thin-bladed long swords in combat, but are just as adept at holds and wrestling. Their long thumb-claws make them particularly dangerous; they use these to inflict 1-4 points of slashing damage with an Unarmed Attack. In addition to their swords, dracons like large, dagger like darts and halberds. The last is useful in space as a grappling hook, but is not used in most common combat. It is most often used in formal duels and as a ceremonial tool.

Dracons are adequate metalsmiths, the equal of elves but less skilled than dwarves. They carry armor on board, to be ritualistically donned before entering battle. It takes a dracon twice the normal amount of time to don or remove armor unaided, and any armor they wish to wear must normally be altered for their abnormal trunk, costing half-again the normal price. Magical armor will adjust automatically and does not warrant the additional fee.

Habitat/Society

The vegetarian dracons follow a strong herd instinct among their people, which carries through into space. A lone dracon is a rarity and a freak among its people, and the dracons prefer to travel in familial units, headed by the eldest dracon, male or female. Dracons separated from their family will take ill unless they find a method of recreating a familial unit, and individuals have been known to adopt non-dracons as psuedofamily members.

Sages assume that the most adventurous of the dracon species have traveled in the newest ships to new planets, but even so the dracons seem stuffy and passive, more content to retreat than fight. There are exceptions, in particular those dracons who have adopted humanoids into their family units.

The leader of a dracon herd is called a kaba. The choosing of a kaba is determined not by the strongest, nor the swiftest, but by means of a system of kinship relations that borders on the mystical. Dracons have a flair for genealogy, and through a long series of questions and answers can trace one dracon to another in a fashion that determines who rules the dracon herd. Cynical nondracons believe that the dracons make up such relationships on the spur of the moment, relating old slights and favors in their attempts to determine precedence. If such is the case, this method of dealing with leadership shows that the quick-thinking and the crafty will tend to survive.

The kaba of the herd is assisted by the shalla, or high priest. Each herd, no matter how small, has a shalla, usually with clerical powers. The shalla is the keeper of ritual, the advisor of the kaba, and the healer of the people, if they have such. The shalla is a cleric of level 3-12, with the more powerful shalla usually found with larger herds. An additional shalla will be present for every 30 dracons. Dracon shalla draw their spells from the following spheres: Animal, Combat, Creation, Divination, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Protection, and Sun.

The dracons' faith is a pantheistic religion that worships dracon equivalents of human, dwarven, and elven gods. They have gods of war, fertility, storms, and the sea. Unlike most human gods, the dracon gods are always pictured together in a huge herd, moving together and led by the Ub-Kalla, or Full Leader. The Ub-Kalla is a god of leadership and wisdom, and knows the correct course in every situation. To be called Ub-Kalla by a dracon is considered to be a high honor, for your decision-making is compared favorably with dracon thoughts.

When dracon herds meet, the first order of business is to determine who is the kaba of the entire group, empowered to make decisions. This is done in the odd fashion of relationships and favors exchanged between groups. There is no shame for a deposed kaba taken from his post by a new kaba that outranks him – the position is a duty, and the reward for such duty is that someone more powerful will come along and give you a rest.

Dracon Names

Dracon's given names are passed down through brood lines. The name given to a dracon yearling on its first birthday (they generally remain unnamed until then) is most often derived from that of the eldest member of the brood, helping maintain the cycle of stories and rememberence of the family line. This is frequently accomplished by adding a solidly alliterating syllable into the elder's existing name, like a descendant of Raxivus being named Raxivious.

Male Names: Gallax, Hungarand, Jaru, Marag, Mhenor, Nuroog, Thak, Tiom, Worreg, Zarn

Female Names: Alo, Byn, Eladi, Frill, Krae, Milla, Nif, Raf, Tiam, Ulloo, Yeemel

Dracon Traits

Your dracon character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Dracons reach maturity at around 15 years of age and live to be roughly 500 years old.

Alignment

Dracons are inclined toward neutrality, appearing grey or slightly violet in skin/scale color. Those dracons who bear the color of a given type of actual dragon tend to lean in alignment toward the alignment of that color of dragon.

Size

Dracons stand between 7 and 8 feet tall, with their draconic bodies reaching about 5 feet at the withers. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

Draconic

Your creature type is dragon, rather than humanoid.

Draconic Resilience

Your draconic nature grants you a powerful resistance from being injured by that which your ancestors wielded naturally. Depending on what heritage (Red, Silver, Shadow, Star, etc.) your dragon nature comes from, you gain Resistance to their noted type of damage or effect.

Charge

If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately follow that attack with a bonus action, making one attack against the target with your claws.

Claws

Your claws are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you may deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Draconic Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push or drag.

In addition, any climb that requires hands and feet is especially difficult for you because of your additional legs. When you make such a climb, each foot of movement costs you 4 extra feet, instead of the normal 1 extra foot.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.