There are some good races to play in the beloved tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons, and then there are some great ones. Needless to say, dragonborn are one of the players' favorite options to play as when customizing a new character. Introduced as a playable character in the 4th edition of the game, dragonborn have quickly stolen fans' hearts.
While some of the dragonborn abilities lose their usefulness at later levels, they can be interesting to play for roleplay purposes, draconic flavoring, and they still work as an option for a few classes. Also, no one can deny the "coolness" of being a literal humanoid dragon.
10 Dragonborn Are Not A Human-Dragon Mix
Dragonborn were not born from the love-affair between a polymorphed dragon and a human. They are entirely their own race — and have been as such since the beginning, however uncertain their origin may be. In fact, they do not even worship "dragon gods" — as they do not believe there is anything such as a benevolent draconic god.
Dragonborn once served as slaves to dragon lords and did so for millennia. At the time, there were several revolutions, but to no real avail. Modern dragonborn who believed in "dragon gods" were shunned from society or even exiled.
9 Dragonborn Devote Themselves To Their Clan
Rivaling even their devotion to the gods themselves, dragonborn believe that their clan is the most important thing in life. Every dragonborn performs his or her duties rigidly and is bound to order. As a result, they put their clan names before their call names. This is considered to be a mark of honor.
Every dragonborn clan is comprised of, typically, groups of families that have allied themselves generations back. Clans may be bound by blood but can also be bound by rulers, goals, and patrons.
8 Tails Are An Uncommon Sign Of Deformity
Dragonborn resemble a combination between humans and dragons, standing a little over 6 feet tall and heavily built. They have draconic feet, with three claws, and the thumbs on their hands are replaced by additional rear claws. Despite their majorly draconic features, they do lack two attributes: a tail and wings.
In some cases, this isn't entirely true. A rare number of dragonborn are born with tails, but this is deemed as a deformity among their kind just like a missing limb or an extra finger might be deemed by humans.
7 The Origin Of Dragonborn Is Uncertain
There is plenty of myth surrounding the origin of the dragonborn. One presumption is that dragonborn were residents of Abeir and were created to serve the first dragons. Just like dragons, it is assumed that dragonborn were created from a combination of the Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos but that, like dragons, their nature favored the elemental.
Some also believe that dragons were created by Abeir's dragon lords to become slaves. Also, it is posited that dragonborn were made from the ancient Platinum Dragon. No matter their true origin, dragonborn did serve as slaves to dragons.
6 Their Draconic Ancestry Determines Their Breath Weapon
Dragonborn come with a very interesting built-in weapon: their breath attack. Depending on their draconic ancestry, their damage type will be different. Acid, lightning, fire, poison, and cold damage are all the different destructive energy variants your dragonborn can spew out. With this, you will have damage resistance according to your ancestry.
Your draconic ancestry does not need to determine the color of your dragonborn's scales, however. That is a myth. Typically, dragonborn scales will range between brass, bronze, rust, scarlet, and even copper-green.
5 Dragonborn Lean Towards Alignment Extremes
Either good or bad, dragonborn rarely tend towards a neutral alignment. While a lawful good dragonborn is probably more viable than a chaotic good one, there is no real barrier to your dragonborn's alignment. If your dragonborn is making a conscious decision as to what side they will take in the cosmic war, they may worship Bahamut for good or, vice versa, Tiamat for evil.
It tends to be that the majority of dragonborn are good. However, if you are looking to play a wicked villain, a follower of Tiamat can prove a fun option.
4 Dragonborn Develop Very Quickly
Although dragonborn live about as long as humans, they mature much faster. Within hours after hatching, they can walk around. They might physically and developmentally appear like a 10-year old human by the age of 3, and they are considered to be an adult by 15. Your dragonborn does a lot of growing and developing within a matter of a few very short years.
Due to the nature of their speedy development, your young dragonborn might be ready to tackle some of the bigger, scarier monsters your DM has to offer early on.
3 Dragonborn Are Bound To Honor
A dragonborn's word is its vow. Dragonborn, especially those that come from clans, are very bound to honor, and usually, when they say something, they mean it. (Although this may not be a good thing if you are playing a lawful evil dragonborn!)
Due to their sense of honor, dragonborn are proud and faithful to the clans, patrons, or parties that they serve. Dragonborn also hate to fail, so they will push themselves as hard as possible before they allow themselves to give up on just about anything.
2 Dragonborn Are Shunned For Openly Venerating Dragons
Due to their past of enslavement to dragons, dragonborn do not believe that there are any inherently good dragons. In fact, in dragonborn cities or clans, dragonborn may be shunned, outcast, or even harmed if they openly worship any dragon — whether that is a true dragon or not.
If you are a beginning player, you may want to consider keeping your mouth shut if your character worships a dragon or dragon-god. You might find yourself in some pretty hot water.
1 Dragonborn Came To Toril Recently
Toril and Abeir are the planets of the gods and the primordial, respectively. Magic on Abeir works a bit differently — cleric magic is essentially useless because the gods don't go there. However, this is the planet from where the dragonborn were "born." Because the fall of the dragons never happened on Abeir, dragons made dragonborn their slaves.
The dragonborn came to Toril during the Spellplague when a rift was opened allowing them to transcend the "dimensions." The dragonborn in modern times have not been in this new dimension for very long and are a more recent race.