Dragonborn

Born of Abeir, the dragonborn are an honorable people who draw strength from the hardships of their heritage and their resolve to survive.

Description and Homelands

Dragonborn are a handsome fusion of dragon and human. Tall and muscled, gifted with incredible strength and great reserves of physical endurance, dragonborn are ideal warriors. Added to their physical prowess is their adherence to a disciplined life, giving them the will to excel at whatever they set out to do.

The dragonborn of Tymanther are a people displaced, brought into Toril during the cataclysm nearly a century past. In Returned Abeir, dragonborn yet toil for dragon overlords, living and dying at their whim. But those of Tymanther are descendants of dragonborn who broke the shackles of tyranny to fight against their dread masters. A portion of their hard-won land of free dragonborn merged with Toril, separating the Tymantherans from their kin. In the decades since, the Tymantherans have sought to forget the grief of this estrangement and have grappled with the realization that their relocation might have ultimately doomed those left behind to renewed servitude. Still, even with this knowledge haunting them, the dragonborn in Faerûn are free from the oppression defining their history and now look toward a bright future in a new world.

Playing a Dragonborn in Toril

The number of dragonborn who remember the times before the migration are minuscule, but nearly every dragonborn living today has a relative who suffered under the dragon despots of Abeir. Chilling tales told around family hearths and the recitations of oral histories in the gallery of the City-Bastion in Djerad Thymar instill in these doughty folk a deep and abiding hatred of all dragonkind. Even though the dragons of Toril had nothing to do with their appalling treatment, dragonborn bear a grudge that burns as hot now as it ever did before. In fact, those who take up a life of dragon-hunting are among
some of the most celebrated heroes in Tymanther.

Many dragonborn believe that waging eternal war against dragons cannot represent their true purpose. Tymantheran dragonborn have come to learn that Faerûn holds many new possibilities, new opportunities, without any of the prejudices of their past. Dragonborn are eager to explore and to extend the hand of friendship to their neighbors. Having no thirst for war, dragonborn work hard to achieve peaceful relations with those they meet and struggle to establish themselves as a viable nation in the tapestry of lands that make up Toril. Unfortunately for them, the strangeness of their customs and their uncertain origins casts many suspicions on the dragonborn and their motives, making establishing long-lasting alliances a challenge.

Dragonborn have always cleaved to a complex set of principles to guide their beliefs. Dragonborn society is highly ordered, with rigid castes and social expectations, but nowhere does the race's sense of honor reveal itself more than in combat. A dragonborn always shows his enemies respect, giving his opponents the greatest due regardless of the cause that makes them foes. Few dragonborn would sully themselves by using treachery to defeat their adversaries, and they give each opponent the chance to acquit himself in the same honorable fashion.

This adherence to proper behavior eclipses the race's views toward the gods. Since Abeir was without divine influence, at least in a way that most people of Toril understand, dragonborn regard the gods and their servants with suspicion, for they have ever held themselves accountable for their own actions and never to the expectations of others, especially to some remote god or other. Although a few dragonborn have found themselves in the service of traditionally wicked institutions, they cannot share the tenets and beliefs of the organizations they serve.

Dragonborn Characteristics: Driven, honor-bound, noble, perfectionist, proud, reliable, reserved, rooted in ancient history
Male Names: Arjhan, Balasar, Bharash, Donaar, Ghesh, Heskan, Kriv, Medrash, Nadarr, Patrin, Rhogar, Shamash, Shedinn, Torinn
Female Names: Akra, Biri, Daar, Harann, Kava, Korinn, Mishann, Nala, Perra, Raiann, Sora, Surina, Thava

Dragonborn Adventurers

Three sample dragonborn adventurers are described below.

Bharash, dragonborn warlord

Bharash is a dragonborn warlord who leads a group of adventurers in search of riches and glory. Inspired by tales of the ancient heroes of Abeir, he seeks his destiny in battle. He dreams of someday leading a mighty army against an orc horde or a hobgoblin host, but he is content in the meantime to coordinate strikes against the lesser forces of evil he encounters in dungeons and ruins. He reveres Bahamut as the god of honor.

Harann, dragonborn fighter

Harann is a fighter dedicated to the mastery of her chosen weapon, the bastard sword. She rises early every morning to practice combat maneuvers and constantly strives to master new techniques. Excellence with her weapon is symbolic to her; it represents excellence of character, the perfection of her spirit. When she has achieved perfect mastery of the bastard sword, she believes she will be perfect herself.

Donaar, dragonborn paladin

Donaar is a paladin of Oghma, the god of knowledge. He believes that the dragonborn race is destined to rise from the ashes of its ancient empire and to form a new nation carved from the wilderness. And he intends to be instrumental in that process. As a reminder of his heritage, he keeps a piece of the shell from which he hatched in an amulet around his neck. Although he sometimes thinks that pillaging dungeons is a waste of his effort, he occasionally unearths a remnant of the long-lost dragonborn empire. He believes he can put such items to use one day in forging a new empire for his people.

Dragonborn Racial Traits

Average Height: 6' 2"–6' 8"
Average Weight: 220–320 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Draconic
Skill Bonuses: +2 History, +2 Intimidate
Dragonborn Fury: When you're bloodied, you gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls.
Draconic Heritage: Your healing surge value is equal to one-quarter of your maximum hit points + your Constitution modifier.
Dragon Breath: You can use dragon breath as an encounter power.

Dragon Breath Dragonborn Racial Power
As you open your mouth with a roar, the deadly power of your draconic kin blasts forth to engulf your foes.
Encounter ✦ Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Poison
Minor Action Close blast 3
Targets: All creatures in area
Attack: Strength + 2 vs. Reflex, Constitution + 2 vs. Reflex, or Dexterity + 2 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Constitution modifier damage.
Increase to +4 bonus and 2d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 11th level, and to +6 bonus and 3d6 + Constitution modifier damage at 21st level.
Special: When you create your character, choose Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power. You also choose the power's damage type: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. These two choices remain throughout your character's life and do not change the power's other effects.

Play a dragonborn if you want …

  • to look like a dragon.
  • to be the proud heir of an ancient, fallen empire.
  • to breathe acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.
  • to be a member of a race that favors the warlord, fighter, and paladin classes.

Character Races
Player's Handbook DragonbornDwarvesEladrinElvesHalf-ElvesHalflingsHumansTieflings
Player's Handbook 2 DevasGnomesGoliathsHalf-OrcsShifters
Player's Handbook 3 GithzeraiMinotaurShardmindWilden
Forgotten Realms Player's Guide DrowGenasi
Character Races

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License.