Homebrew Dragon Lord (Aeryse) Species Details

The dragon lords of Zargosh claim to be direct descendants of the original Dragon Gods and their chosen mortal mates. The Dragon Lords take on the form of mortal races. By awakening the Divine Dragon blood within them, they gain extraordinary power. Not only can they take the form of a dragon, but they can exert influence and dominance over true and lesser dragons. Unintelligent Dragonoids cower and submit without challenge. Intelligent Dragons must use their willpower to attempt to resist a command from a dragon lord. The difficulty is dependent on the strength and commanding aura of the dragon lord. 

Dragon Lords today are born from families connected to “The Blood.” “The Blood” refers to the blood of the Divine Dragon Gods. Not everyone of “The Blood” becomes a dragon lord. Just being of “The Blood” does not grant one long life or immortality. The more individual dragon lords a family line produces, the higher their status is within the culture. It is not impossible for a bastard to become a Dragon Lord, but they are quickly adopted into the family their sire came from. 

You are of the blood, but have only now awakened. With time, you will learn to grow your draconic abilities. 

Stages of Life

Dragon Lords have a unique existence compared to the mortals they resemble. Their lives are practically immortal, never dying of old age. As such, dragon lords born of shorter lived races will see nearly all of their loved ones grow old in what seems like a blink of an eye. Those born of longer lived races notice little difference in the perspective of their parent race. The only change comes as they grow older and older, realizing the true meaning of their immortality. Dragon Lords can die from combat, disease, and starvation. They are only immortal when it comes to aging. 

The Awakening

A person born of “The Blood” is recognized as awakened after experiencing a surge of draconic power, whether through physically changing partly or wholly into a dragon, or through exerting their willpower over Draconic type creatures. A priestess of the Dragon Gods will come and hold a ritual to confirm the Awakened Dragon Lord. Dragon Lords dragon typing is influenced by their ancestry, but more so by their personality. There are Metallic, Chromatic, Gemstone, Elemental, Celestial, and even unknown anomaly type dragons. Grom, the third emperor, was an Iron Dragon. 

Awakened Dragon Lords are then given a mentor called an “Elder”. Custom says this Elder is chosen from their same house. If a house does not have an appropriate dragon lord, an Elder is chosen from another house with good relationships with the mentor’s house. 

 

Wyrmling

The Wyrmling stage is similar to that of the floundering youth of normal Dragonoids. The young dragon lord learns to channel their blood into the divine magic granted to them by their ancestors. Guided by their mentors, they learn not only their culture and history but also how to fight as both dragon and humanoid, how to channel their dominance over other Dragonoids, and their role in society. Most characters are made to be at this stage of their life. 

 

The Flight

After gaining control over their power, the dragon lord and their Elder take a journey through the empire on a flight tour. They are introduced to other influential dragon lords where customarily they are accepted as peers. Upon completion, the new dragon lord is then taken to one of the frontier regions of the Empire where they are to gain experience fighting in battles with monsters, bandits, and other threats as both humanoid and dragon.

The Errant Lord

Once the Elder feels the Dragon Lord has passed the trials of The Flight, they part ways. The Dragon Lord then must take the initiative to make a name for themselves on their own. Errant Dragon Lords often join the military as officers, using their natural charisma and power to great success. Others less inclined to violence turn to either magical pursuits, politics, stewardship, or adventuring.

 

The Domain Stage

Not all Dragon Lords are given a domain to rule and govern. Yet, all of them feel the call to establish a hoard and influence. Dragon Lords at this stage rarely adventure except in the service of being a mentor for a new Wyrmling. Dragon Lords at this stage will focus on building up themselves as well as the area around them. This is when the draconic influence over land and regions first begins to develop. Depending on the temperament of the Lord, and their dragon typing, the land itself changes to better fit its ruler. These Dragon Lords have the highest respect, many of them more than five centuries old. This stage is the longest stage where Dragon Lords remain in society. 

 

The Call of the Great Wyrm

This stage comes for all at some point. As a Dragon Lord grows in age, so too do they slowly grow out of touch with mortal life. They become more and more like those of dragons. The culmination of this creates a call, an intense desire to leave behind all and take a life of isolation, hibernation, and seclusion. Dragon Lords at this stage become great wyrms, sleeping deeply for centuries at a time. 

For a Dragon Lord to hear the call, preparations must be made. The Dragon Lord’s duties are to get their house in order. If they rule over a domain, they must find a replacement, or a steward until another Dragon Lord can take over. 

When a Great Wyrm finds a suitable location, they establish a new hoard, growing it until it is large enough for them to survive thousands of years off of its magic. Then, they sleep, hibernate for centuries at a time.

Great Wyrms stir from their slumber rarely, typically only during times of crisis or when under attack. Every millenia or so, Great Wyrms receive another call very much like the call they receive at the beginning of this stage. Every Great Wyrm is then pulled from their hibernation by this call and led to a single place somewhere in Aeryse, a great migration. When they arrive, the Great Wyrms hold a council called, The Council of Wyrms, which may last weeks, months, or even decades. They discuss the stage the world is in, their place in it, and the future of their race. Every council talk eventually turns to discussing restarting the war between the Titans and the Dragons. With the war still in a stalemate and ceasefire after thousands of years, who knows when the Dragons or Titans will resume the war. 

 

Dragon Lord Names

Dragon Lords have personal names given at birth and their house. Dragon Lords born outside of nobility are adopted into a noble house and will accept their new noble surname. As with some dragons, they will gain a title based on their deeds or personality. 

Example Names: Raz the Formidable, Grom the Iron, Zargunagash the Conqueror

 

Traits

 

As a Dragon Lord, you have these special trains.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.  In dragon form, your winged speed changes as you increases in level.  At 3rd level the Dragon Lord can unfurl their wings to glide from up to 100' in height.  At 5th level you wings have gotten strong enough to allow the Dragon Lord to fly at 10' speed.  At 9th level the Dragon Lord can now fly at 30' speed.  At 13th level the Dragon Lord's wings have reached full strength and they are capable of flying at 40' speed.

Draconic Ancestry

Your lineage stems from a the divine dragons. Choose a kind of dragon from the Draconic Ancestors table. Your choice affects your Breath Weapon and Damage Resistance traits as well as your appearance.

Draconic Ancestors

Dragon	Damage Type
Black	Acid
Blue	Lightning
Brass	Fire
Bronze	Lightning
Copper	Acid
Gold	Fire
Green	Poison
Red	Fire
Silver	Cold
White	Cold

Amethyst	Force
Crystal	Radiant
Emerald	Psychic
Sapphire	Thunder
Topaz	Necrotic

Breath Weapon

When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of magical energy in either a 15-foot Cone or a 30-foot Line that is 5 feet wide (choose the shape each time). Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 plus your Constitution modifier and Proficiency Bonus). On a failed save, a creature takes 1d10 damage of the type determined by your Draconic Ancestry trait. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage. This damage increases by 1d10 when you reach character levels 5 (2d10), 11 (3d10), and 17 (4d10).

You can use this Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. In Dragon Form, if you have no charges on your breath weapon, you may spend a bonus action to roll a d6. On a 5-6, you regain 1 charge of your breath attack.

Damage Resistance

You have Resistance to the damage type determined by your Draconic Ancestry trait.

Darkvision

You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Dragon Form (Polymorph)

You can naturally shift from your draconic form and non-draconic form though those are the only forms you can pick from. Doing so counts a bonus action and you gain your flying speed (as per level granted). Your equipment either merges with you or is dropped on the ground when you transform.

When in Dragon Form, you may use all class features, abilities, and spells. If a spell requires a material component, you may cast the spell as long as the component is in your inventory. You may not use weapons not designed for dragons in your dragon form.

In Dragon Form, if you have no charges on your breath weapon, you may spend a bonus action to roll a d6. On a 5-6, you regain 1 charge of your breath attack

Natural Weapons (Dragon Form)

While in Dragon Form, you may not use weapons. While in dragon form, you may use your claws or tail to make an unarmed strike attack. Your claws do 1d6+str slashing damage and your tail does 1d6+str bludgeoning damage.