Your race is the heart of your character. It is who they are at their core. Their thoughts, feelings, and upbringing are influenced by their race. This week we’ll be taking a look into the races of D&D and how they shape your character. Today we’ll be talking about dragonborn.
The history of the dragonborn is short but sweet. The race as it exists today didn’t show up until fourth edition. Before then there were creatures called dragonborn, but they were more draconic, more monstrous. They didn’t become more humanoid until fourth edition introduced them as a true playable race. As such, their history is sort of compacted. However, there’s quite a bit of backstory packed into this race. So much, in fact, that I could have an entire post dedicated to it. From the rise and fall of the Arkhosian empire, to their war with the tieflings, the history of the dragonborn is filled with valor and glory.
When you play as a dragonborn you take on this history, becoming one in a long line of draconic ancestry. As such, your personality tends to lead towards extremes. Dragonborn that take on metallic colors tend to be good to a fault, while chromatic dragonborn lean towards despicable evil. Even if your color doesn’t line up to your alignment, dragonborn still tend to take things to the extreme. They are prideful to a fault, and it is this pride that gets them into a lot of trouble. But that’s part of the fun of playing a dragonborn!
Dragonborn are raised in clans. These tribes mean everything to them. It is what pushes them to strive for greatness, to prove their worth to their clan and themselves. This leads to a lot of perfectionist dragonborn. Their competitiveness is unmatched by any other race, except perhaps goliaths. They want to prove their the best, even in trivial matters. This can lead to lots of fun encounters with your fellow party members.
The dragonborn race doesn’t have subtypes. Instead your choice comes to what color you want your dragonborn. As I mentioned earlier, this choice does affect your personality. It also affects your character’s stats. Your choice affects what type of element you can breathe out as an attack. You can breathe fire, or lightning, or even acid! You are also more resilient against the element you breathe too, of course.
Dragonborn are a fun race to play, and are a personal favorite of mine. Their rich history provides you with a strong start to your character. Their inherent character traits can make your character even more fun than other races. They push themselves towards greatness, and this struggle can make for some interesting character development. What character will you create? Will it be a dragonborn, or one of the other races that we’ll cover this week? Let me know in the comments below. Until then, keep those dice rolling high!
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