The Dragonborn of Rakosha

[KaiserKris]

Dragonborn:
There seems to be no hope for the desert convoy, with an orcish raiding party coming closer. Just as the merchants and guards of the convoy make final preparations, however, a war party emerges on horseback, bearing strange and somewhat frightening looking creatures, bedecked in chainmail that glimmers in the sun. The orcish raiders, so determined and frightening looking before, start to break and flee upon the mere sight of these strange interlopers.

As they pass closer, you can see that the creatures appear to have an appearance somewhere between that of a human and a dragon, with bronze-red scales and speaking in a strange language. After a few further moments, with the orcish raiders taking advantage of their smaller, swifter horses to melt away in the night, the draconic warriors approach, dismounting and, in a heavily accented version of the common tongue, offer their protection for your convoy until you reach the next city.

Racial Attributes:
Languages: Draconic, Common
Bonus Languages: Elven, Dwarven, Human Vernaculars, Celestial
Size: Medium
Movement: 30 feet
Typical Classes: Fighter, Knight, Paladin
Attribute Modifiers: +1 Strength, +1 Charisma, -1 Dexterity

Racial Traits:
Draconic Lore: Dragonborn gain a +2 bonus to any Intelligence checks relating to their own history and culture, as well as lore related to dragons.

Draconic Potential: The vast majority of Dragonborn do not possess the more radical gifts of dragonkind, but a small number of their race possess additional abilities due to their draconic heritage, which are listed below. Dragonborn PCs cannot acquire these abilities without CK permission- only about 1-2% have any of them:

Dragon Breath: These Dragonborn possess the ability to use a breath weapon, twice per day. This attack creates a cone of fire five feet wide and twenty feet long, and functions as an melee attack, with Strength modifying attack and damage. It does 1d6 damage for a 1st level Dragonborn, 2d6 at 5th level, 3d6 at 9th level, 4d6 at 13th level, 5d6 at 17th level, 6d6 at 21st level and 7d6 at 25th level. Dragonborn Paladins can use this ability in conjunction with their Smite Evil ability.

Flight: These Dragonborn possess functioning wings, which allow them to fly at a movement speed of 50.

Immunities: These Dragonborn are immune to sleep and paralysis effects.

Natural Weapons: These Dragonborn possess sharper and stronger claws than is the norm, and can make unarmed attacks for 1d6 damage, doing either lethal or subdual damage.

Endurance: Dragonborn possess a +2 bonus to all saving throws against exhaustion or dehydration, thanks to being adapted to a desert environment. A Dragonborn character does not need to make a check against subdual damage from dehydration until three days have elapsed in a desert environment, or five days in a temperate one.

Fire Resistance: Dragonborn possess an inherent damage resistance of 5 to fire.

Natural Armour: Dragonborn gain a +1 bonus to AC thanks to their scaly hides.

Intimidation: The fierce appearance of Dragonborn make them especially skillful at intimidating others, and they gain a +2 bonus to Charisma checks intended to do this.

Twilight Vision: Dragonborn possess twilight vision in much the same manner as Elves do.

Appearance and Physiology: Dragonborn are large, usually between six and seven feet tall, with broad features and a rather draconic-looking head. The scales of a Dragonborn are usually a rusty red colour. They possess tails, which are roughly the length of their legs, and sharp teeth, though they are not typically used as natural weapons. Dragonborn live approximately twice as long as humans do.

Society and Culture: The Dragonborn live in isolated fortresses in the midst of the Great Desert that separates the West (Illyria and its neighbours) from the lands of the East, and in the modern era, function largely as guardians of the few winding trade routes that keep contact between those lands. In the past, it is known that the Dragonborn maintained an impressive Empire, but their empire collapsed amid the Planar War, as their territory was a major battleground between armies both mortal and immortal.

Dragonborn society is strongly Lawful Good, and four-fifths of all Dragonborn will possess that alignment, with most of the rest being Lawful Neutral. A minority even within their fortresses, the Dragonborn for the most part have accepted the downfall of their race and dedicate their energies to helping other, younger societies to grow and expand.

The Dragonborn are deeply spiritual, with a monolatric religion based on the worship of the Great Creator, the maker of the Universe. It is often assumed that the Dragonborn worship dragons- this is not quite correct, but it is clear that they have a great reverence for dragons, which they regard as living demigods.

To the Dragonborn, the gods of other races are but emanations, or perhaps servants of the Great Creator, and they respect them but find the material and cultural excesses of other religions a little tawdry. The Dragonborn do not build great temples, instead using their mess halls and other buildings for worship. There is no Church organization as such, and most typically religious services are led by elders in the community.

Virtually all Dragonborn are trained in the exercise of arms, and with the exception of a handful of craftsmen and other experts, all are in possession of one or two levels in a player class. Within the constraints of their Lawful Good mentality and religious duty to protect goodly beings, Dragonborn are quite ambitious and pursue personal excellence with great zeal.

History: The Dragonborn civilization is an ancient one, and predates human civilization, with elven historians reckoning the beginnings of their civilization to be around the same time that Dwarven civilization emerged in Khazaria. At this time, Rakosha was not a great desert with occasional oases, but was actually fertile grassland. The Dragonborn managed to push the original inhabitants of Rakosha, a plains-dwelling tribe of elves to the margins of their society and created a large and prosperous Empire, which grew rich off of the proceeds of trade between the West and East.

At its height, the capital city, Arakosh, was a metropolis of nearly half a million people, drawing tens of thousands of dwarves, humans, elves and others. It was probably the largest and wealthiest city in the world at that time, and the Dragonborn Empire continued to expand, occupying much of the eastern portions of Illyria proper and the foothills of Khazaria.

However, the Dragonborn civilization was increasingly divided by its very wealth and power. The simple, service-oriented ethos of their religion stood in contrast with their position as powerful imperialists, and many Dragonborn began to look towards increasing their holdings further and acting as imperious warlords. Tragically, this civil strife caught the attention of Asmodeus, the chief counsellor and right hand of Satan, the Lord of Hell. He saw an opportunity to create trouble in the mortal world, and commissioned many agents to spread the Lawful Evil ethos throughout the Empire.

The resulting strife erupted into a civil war, which was made exponentially worse by its precise coincidence with the Planar War, meaning that angelic and archon armies were more likely to directly intervene, as were the devils and demons. Caught between the forces of Heaven, Hell and other extraplanar regimes, the Dragonborn were decimated and their land, ecologically fragile despite its fertility, was devastated beyond repair.

The few Dragonborn that remained cast off any pretentions of imperial rule and devoted themselves to guarding their devastated land and protecting those goodly beings that would travel across it, while remaining all the time vigilant for any of their evil brethren, who may still exist somewhere in the vast desert spaces of Rakosha …

[Mark Hall]

Dragon Breath: These Dragonborn possess the ability to use a breath weapon, a number of times per day equal to their Constitution modifier. This attack creates a cone of fire five feet wide and twenty feet long, and functions as an melee attack, with Strength modifying attack and damage. It does 1d6 damage for a 1st level Dragonborn, 2d6 at 5th level, 3d6 at 9th level, 4d6 at 13th level, 5d6 at 17th level, 6d6 at 21st level and 7d6 at 25th level. Dragonborn Paladins can use this ability in conjunction with their Smite Evil ability.

I'd change this from "Constitution Modifier" to a flat number of times per day. Basing it on any stats modifier is a unique mechanic, and also tends to pigeonhole them.

I'd also detail what percentage of the population has one or more of these abilities. The race as a whole seems VERY powerful. Even without the Draconic Potentials, they compare more than favorably to half-orcs... their armor bonus applies no matter what they're wearing, they have unbalanced stat modifiers (+1 Str & Cha, -1 Dex v. +1 Str & Con, -2 Con), plus the other stuff.

[KaiserKris]

Dragon Breath: These Dragonborn possess the ability to use a breath weapon, a number of times per day equal to their Constitution modifier. This attack creates a cone of fire five feet wide and twenty feet long, and functions as an melee attack, with Strength modifying attack and damage. It does 1d6 damage for a 1st level Dragonborn, 2d6 at 5th level, 3d6 at 9th level, 4d6 at 13th level, 5d6 at 17th level, 6d6 at 21st level and 7d6 at 25th level. Dragonborn Paladins can use this ability in conjunction with their Smite Evil ability.

I'd change this from "Constitution Modifier" to a flat number of times per day. Basing it on any stats modifier is a unique mechanic, and also tends to pigeonhole them.

I'd also detail what percentage of the population has one or more of these abilities. The race as a whole seems VERY powerful. Even without the Draconic Potentials, they compare more than favorably to half-orcs... their armor bonus applies no matter what they're wearing, they have unbalanced stat modifiers (+1 Str & Cha, -1 Dex v. +1 Str & Con, -2 Con), plus the other stuff.

I give all races stat modifiers with an average of +1, taking a page from Paizo. Humans get +1 in any one attribute, Elves get Dexterity and either Intelligence or Wisdom depending on their type. Otherwise, I'd probably make them +1 Str, -1 Dexterity.

[Treebore]

With that history I may even allow the race into my games.

So that 2%, lets say I allow them that 2%, it should be a 2% chance per racial power, right? Meaning the Breathe, Flight, Immunities and Natural Weapons.

[KaiserKris]

With that history I may even allow the race into my games.

So that 2%, lets say I allow them that 2%, it should be a 2% chance per racial power, right? Meaning the Breathe, Flight, Immunities and Natural Weapons.

Yes, a 2% chance per racial power. Theoretically, one person could run the table and have all of them.

I know they're pretty powerful, but I don't think it'll be game-breaking or anything, especially past 1st level. I wanted to make sure to get some of the flavour of a half-dragon race- they should have some fairly major advantages.

[Treebore]

If I do this I would also separate the immunity to sleep and paralysis.

[Rigon]

With that history I may even allow the race into my games.

So that 2%, lets say I allow them that 2%, it should be a 2% chance per racial power, right? Meaning the Breathe, Flight, Immunities and Natural Weapons.

HMMM, interesting.

R-