Homebrew Draconian (Lightning) Species Details

Physical Appearance
Standing well over seven feet tall and often bedecked in shining plate mail, lightning draconians are striking to behold. They are larger and possess a more fundamentally imposing build than any other noble draconian. Their wings are huge, able to carry not only the individual’s considerable weight in the air, but also any armor he wears and weapons he wields.

Lightning draconians’ scales are varying shades of blue, darker at the edges and lighter toward the roots. The scales on some individuals are deep navy; others have hints of purple, the color of the sky a few moments after sunset. Some individuals’ scales are the duller, almost faded blue of the sky on a sunny afternoon.They all have two horns, extending five to eight inches from their brows, with a spinal crest between them. Their ears are easily visible just below the horns. Again, the eyes are the most striking feature of the face; lightning draconian eyes are a deep but radiant blue that flashes brilliant white when they manifest their lightning-related abilities.Many wear full plate armor, while others prefer chainmail or scale mail. Few carry shields, as they prefer two-handed weapons; greatswords are a favorite, but some carry massive mauls or halberds.

Psychology
Lightning draconians are consumed by a need to atone for the terrible crimes of their progenitor Cacophanax, who ravaged large regions of Ansalon during the War of the Lance and who remains the largest living female blue dragon on Krynn. Most are driven, morally certain, and some would say more than a bit fanatical; they are unbending in their crusade to thwart servants of the Darkness wherever they are found.While they confront evil uncompromisingly, they acknowledge and respect honor and nobility, even among their enemies. Lightning draconians firmly believe that, in order to champion the Light, one should not use the tactics of the Darkness; thus, many salute (in the Solamnic tradition) worthy foes, offer mercy whenever they are able, and are reluctant to resort to ambush and guileful tactics.Most Ansalonians are understandably terrified of any seven foot tall draconian; lightning draconians often take this rejection to heart, and it weighs on them. They try to bear the burden of thanklessly protecting those who hate and reject them with dignity and grace, but those who do befriend a lightning draconian will certainly notice an unmistakable sadness about them.

Social Structure
Lightning draconians are individual holy warriors at heart, fighting to defend Krynn’s people and oppose servants of the Darkness. Some live and work in the mountains, some in the wilds, some in cities; most lightning draconians experience a wide variety of locales over the course of their lives. As with most noble draconians, they live largely solitary and itinerant lives. Lacking the ability and inclination for the guile and subterfuge required to remain anonymous, they can usually stay in a locale only long enough to accomplish an immediate goal before being discovered and needing to move on to a new village or new city.A handful of times, lightning draconians have joined with a small number of kindred spirits to accomplish some great task. These adventuring lightning draconians are known to the people who have worked with them as extremely loyal and steadfast comrades.

Religion
In the years before the Chaos War, lightning draconians were holy warriors, granted special authority by Paladine to strike against servants of the Darkness in his name. They dedicated themselves to him in gratitude for their salvation from slavery at the hands of the Dragonarmies and for the opportunity to atone for the sins of Cacophanax.When Paladine and the other gods vanished after the Chaos War, lightning draconians found themselves alone for the first time. The early Age of Mortals was a very difficult time for lightning draconians. Each struggled to find a way to persevere, but most continued to revere Paladine in their hearts. Some, but not all, learned to manifest some of their paladin abilities through mysticism, almost certainly only possible due to their draconic heritage.The events at the end of the War of Souls were bittersweet. While lightning draconians mourned Paladine’s lost divinity, they took heart in his example of selflessness in the face of malignant evil. To carry on the fight, some were blessed by Mishakal or Majere, but most began to follow Kiri-Jolith.Lightning draconians tend to be much more overtly pious than other noble draconians. Their spirituality is usually not as intellectual as that of vapor draconians, but it is no less sincere or intense; they devote everything they do to their god and work tirelessly to defend their god’s people on Krynn.

Racial Relations
Lightning draconians are suspicious by nature. They usually assume that anyone they meet, of any race, has less than pure motives until proven otherwise. Lightning draconians view common people of any race as worthy of their protection from tyranny and aggression; they will not hesitate to help anyone in need, no matter what their race. Oddly, lightning draconians often befriend the fearless and accepting kender.Some races have proven themselves much more often than others. Lightning draconians have occasionally worked well with (mostly) human Knights of Solamnia; their shared faith in Kiri-Jolith brings them together, but lightning draconians have also observed that the Knights of Solamnia rarely live up to their own ideals, and human knights still must generally earn their trust.They frequently come into conflict with (again, mostly) human Dark Knights, ogres, minotaurs, and base draconians. They have taken special interest in the rise of ogre titans in Blöde and are keeping very close watch on the base draconians of Teyr.

DRACONIANS

In the Dragonlance setting, the followers of the evil goddess Takhisis learned a dark ritual that let them corrupt the eggs of metallic dragons, producing evil dragonborn called draconians. Five types of draconians, corresponding to the five types of metallic dragons, fought for Takhisis in the War of the Lance: auraks (gold), baaz (brass), bozak (bronze), kapak (copper), and sivak (silver). In place of their draconic breath weapons, they have unique magical abilities.

Draconian (Lightning) Traits

Your draconic heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other dragonborn.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.

Alignment

Dragonborn tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil (represented by Bahamut and Tiamat, respectively). Most dragonborn are good, but those who side with Tiamat can be terrible villains.

Size

Dragonborn are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Draconic Ancestry

You have Blue draconic ancestry. Your breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the dragon type, as shown in the table.

Draconic Ancestry

Dragon	Damage Type	Breath Weapon
Black	Acid	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Blue	Lightning	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Brass	Fire	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Bronze	Lightning	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Copper	Acid	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Gold	Fire	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Green	Poison	15 ft. cone (Con. save)
Red	Fire	15 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Silver	Cold	15 ft. cone (Con. save)
White	Cold	15 ft. cone (Con. save)

Breath Weapon

You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Damage Resistance

You have resistance to the damage type associated with your draconic ancestry.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.

Vestigial Wings

You take no damage from falls. Much like Sivak draconians, Lightning draconians have full wings and are able to fly, you have a flight speed of 50 feet.

Low Metabolism

You may double your Constitution modifier to determine how long you can go without food, and on Constitution saving throws when going without water.

Tail Sweep

When you use the Attack action during your turn to make a melee attack, you can attempt to trip the target of your melee attack and knock it prone as a bonus action. The creature cannot be more than one size larger than you. Instead of making an attack roll, you make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you knock the target prone.

Draconic Magic

You gain two cleric cantrips of your choice. At 3rd level you may cast detect good and evil once per short rest.

Death Throes

When you die, your body ignites in a charge of electricity that arcs to the nearest living creature within 10 feet. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d10 lightning damage. If the target fails the save, it takes full damage and the bolt arcs to the next nearest living creature within 10 feet of the previous target. The bolt will continue to arc in this manner until a total of 4 targets are hit. Creatures wearing metal armor or carrying a metal shield make their save at disadvantage. This damage increases to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 10th level, and 4d10 at 15th level. Damage is halved on a successful save and the bolt stops its arc with that target. Your body is completely destroyed by this process, as are all of your items (at your DM’s discretion).