More than a Color, 5th edition Dragonborn, Part 3

Image credit: WotC

“Draconians, also called dragonmen, are humanoid beings with dragonlike features created during the War of the Lance. They are originally made from the eggs of good dragons corrupted with dark magic. During that era Draconians served as assault troops and special forces in the Dragonarmies of Takhisis. After the war they scattered to various regions of Ansalon. During the Chaos War a small group of the draconians find eggs containing female draconians. After the females hatched those draconians form the nation of Teyr, establishing the draconian race. Draconians are split into five principle races; Baaz, Kapak, Sivak, Aurak, and Bozak.^[21] There are also noble draconians, which are formed from the eggs of evil dragons, and have a good alignment. There are flame, vapor, lightning, venom, and frost variants.”–Wikipidia list of Dragonlance creatures.

As with the more well-known evil draconians, noble draconians are born from a ritual performed over the eggs of chromatic dragons. Noble draconians are almost exclusively of good alignments, though some may fall into the neutral category. Their tendencies toward law or chaos is often reflective of their ancestry.

Flame (Red)

Flame draconians are born from the eggs of red dragons. They are filled with the primal rage of their parent, though they focus that rage toward the destruction of evil and the furthering of good causes. Flame draconians are almost exclusively dragonwyld barbarians, though a few fighters can be found among their number. It is also common for flame draconians of any class to take the Magic Adept feat, gaining access to the flame bolt cantrip and the burning hands spell.

Ability Score Increases. You Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 2. Your Wisdom score decreases by 2.
Size. 7′ tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 35′
Darkvision. You have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
Immunity. You are immune to disease.
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.
Vestigial Wings. You take no damage from falls. At 11th level, you can fly at a speed of 30 feet, but cannot hover. If you have not landed by the end of any round in which you use your fly speed, you must have descended at least one-half of the distance you traveled or you fall.
Resistance. Fire damage.
Vulnerability. Cold damage.
Death Throes. When you die, your body explodes, forcing all targets within 10 feet of you to make a Dexterity save (DC 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier) or take 1d10 hit points of fire damage. This damage increases to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 10th level, and 4d10 at 15th level. Damage is halved on a successful save. Your body is completely destroyed in the explosion, as are all of your items (at your DM’s discretion).

Frost (White)

Frost draconians are born from the eggs of white dragons. While they commonly inherit their ancestor’s meager intellect, they are significantly more social than their draconic kin. Dragonwyld path barbarians, sorcerers of the draconic bloodline, and rogues of the thug archetype are commonly found among frost draconians.

Ability Score Increases. You Constitution score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 2. Your Intelligence decreases by 2.
Size. 5′-6′ tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 35′
Darkvision. You have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
Immunity. You are immune to disease.
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.
Vestigial Wings. You take no damage from falls. At 11th level, you can fly at a speed of 30 feet, but cannot hover. If you have not landed by the end of any round in which you use your fly speed, you must have descended at least one-half of the distance you traveled or you fall.
Resistance. Cold damage.
Vulnerability. Fire damage.
Death Throes. When you die, your body freezes solid then explodes, forcing all targets within 10 feet of you to make a Dexterity save (DC 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier) or take 1d10 hit points of cold damage. This damage increases to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 10th level, and 4d10 at 15th level. Damage is halved on a successful save. Your body is completely destroyed in the explosion, as are all of your items (at your DM’s discretion).

Venom (Black)

Venom draconians were created from the eggs of black dragons. Though reclusive and brusk, the majority of venom draconians use their abilities against evil. Of all the noble draconians, venom draconians are extremely rare. Though they are introverted by nature, they can be quite engaging when befriended.

The majority of venom draconians are of the rogue (assassin) or rogue (thief) classes, though some are Dexterity-based fighters and rangers.

Ability Score Increases. You Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Size. 5’6″-6′ tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 35′
Darkvision. You have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
Immunity. You are immune to disease.
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.
Vestigial Wings. You take no damage from falls. At 11th level, you can fly at a speed of 30 feet, but cannot hover. If you have not landed by the end of any round in which you use your fly speed, you must have descended at least one-half of the distance you traveled or you fall.
Resistance. Poison
Poison (Male). As an action, you may coat a bladed weapon or up to 3 pieces of ammunition with your poisonous saliva. The weapon remains poisoned for 1 minute or until it damages an opponent. An opponent damaged by the weapon must make a Constitution save (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier) or take 1d6 poison damage. At 5th level, the target also becomes poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save. At 11th level, the damage increases to 2d6. Any creature affected by this poison may make a new save at the beginning of each round to negate the effect. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier before taking a long rest.
Death Throes. When you die, your body sprays into a pool of acid 10 feet in diameter. Any creature in the area must make a Dexterity save (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or take 1d10 hit points of acid damage. This damage increases to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 10th level, and 4d10 at 15th level. Damage is halved on a successful save. Your body is completely destroyed, as are all of your items (at your DM’s discretion).

Vapor (Green)

Vapor draconians are grown from green dragon eggs. They make use of impressive combat skills and innate druidic spellcasting abilities to defend both the creatures and territory under their protection. Intelligent and wise, vapor draconians are drawn to nature and woodland settings. They rarely take violent action, but will do so against creatures who threaten the greater good.

The majority of vapor draconians follow a spiritual path, whether as druids, clerics of nature, or as rangers. Though rare, barbarians of the dragonwyld path are also known.

Ability Score Increases. You Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Size. 5’6′”-6’6″ tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 35′
Darkvision. You have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
Immunity. You are immune to disease.
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.
Vestigial Wings. You take no damage from falls. You can fly at a speed of 30 feet, but cannot hover. At the end of your round you must have descended at least one-half of the distance you traveled or you fall.
Resistance. Acid damage.
Draconian Magic. You gain one bonus druid cantrip of your choice. At 3rd level, you may cast fog cloud once per long rest. At 5th level, you may cast pass without trace once per long rest.
Death Throes. When you die, your body disintegrates into a cloud of acid, forcing all targets within 10 feet of you to make a Dexterity save (DC 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier) or take 1d10 hit points of acid damage. This damage increases to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 10th level, and 4d10 at 15th level. Damage is halved on a successful save. Your body is completely destroyed, as are all of your items (at your DM’s discretion).

Lightning (Blue)

Lightning draconians derive from blue dragon eggs and fight for the cause of good as ferociously as their ancestors wreck havoc. They have been known to use armor, heavy clothing, and magic to disguise their identity, infiltrating the most violent and oppressive lands to battle for the gods of good. Lightning draconians are passionate creatures whether on the battlefield or when with friends, and they often seek acceptance among other races.

Lightning draconians revere the gods of good and have an instinctive link to the divine. The majority of lightning draconians take levels in either cleric or paladin, with a few becoming rangers of good deities or dragonwyld barbarians.

Ability Score Increases. You Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Size. 5’6′”-6’6″ tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 35′
Darkvision. You have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
Immunity. You are immune to disease.
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.
Vestigial Wings. You take no damage from falls. At 11th level, you can fly at a speed of 30 feet, but cannot hover. If you have not landed by the end of any round in which you use your fly speed, you must have descended at least one-half of the distance you traveled or you fall. [Note: As with sivaks, lightning draconians are normally the only chromatics that can truly fly. Granting them this ability in addition to their other powers would take them beyond the balance of other races. If you wish to grant lightning draconian PCs flight at 1st level, consider allowing other PCs in your game to gain either a bonus feat or Ability Score Increase as a balance.]
Resistance. Lightning damage.
Draconian Magic. You gain one cleric cantrip 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).

Further Playtest Options

In place of a flat increase to walking speed (35′) for draconians with wings, we are playtesting the following ability:

Winged Loping: Once per round, when you take the Dash action, you may move at twice your walking speed.

This means that a draconian that runs can move at 3 times their walking speed, but can take no other actions. This appeals to some of our playtesters as a more interesting option, while limiting the benefits to specific situations.

Playtesting

We’re always looking for playtesters for our races, classes, archetypes and other designs here at Tribality. Wizards had the benefit of 175,000 playtesters over 2 years to get their ideas to the table; clearly we don’t have that luxury. Each of our builds are as balanced as we can design with a small playtest group and over a century of collective gaming XP. And we are always excited to hear when players get these ideas on the table and provide us with constructive ways to make them better.