Dragons Reborn! (5e Variant Rule)

Dragons REBORN!

An Explanation

You'd think with a name like Dungeons and Dragons that dragons would have greater importance in the game. Then again, if the big bads HAD to be dragons, I guess players would start to see that coming wouldn't they? Still, with this ruleset (When it's completed) I plan to completely overhaul the way dragons work, giving you as DMs MORE POWER over what dragons are like in your campaign. This involves several new species of dragonkind, and a rearranged sorting system to divide the list into Classes AND Types (Color or Metal). So what does that mean?

Well, firstly, there are three classes of dragon in this ruleset, lesser, normal (As seen in the Monster Manual for 5e), and greater. Some greater dragons already exist, such as the probably well known Bahamut and Tiamat, though through this ruleset, they won't be the only ones. Normal Dragons, or just dragons when referring to the list below (Which either doesn't exist yet or isn't finished, hold on and calm down), are dragons as they are depicted in the Monster Manual, but like in the Monster Manual, their alignment doesn't HAVE to be determined by the type of dragon. This ruleset first formed from the idea that I almost NEVER see metallic dragons in any other media, which if they had to follow DND rules, would mean that NONE of the dragons ever used could be good, which is some shenanigans. Dragons are sentient (Mostly, except for younger White Dragons for some reason) and therefore should be able to have any alignment regardless of their type. That said, default alignments will still be given on every creature of the list, as the normal alignment and tendencies of the type of dragon (Even if a dragon isn't its normal alignment, it will likely have some of the personality traits of its kind, possibly trying to subvert them or repress them in some way. Have fun with that one.). Okay, with that long winded explanation out of the way, let's get started.

Oh, and to be clear, lesser dragons, normal dragons, and greater dragons are separate races of dragons. All of them are Dragon type creatures, but their species are too far separated from each other to normally breed. They might be friendly to each other in the right circumstances, but they are as different from each other as Dragonborn are from other dragons.

Lesser Dragons

Lesser Dragons are a race of quadrupeds that are smaller and less powerful than other dragons, but can live longer, boasting immortality that other evil dragons hate and envy. Because of this, they are often hunted to extinction by other dragons. Unless if those other dragons don't exist on the world, lesser dragons might be extraordinarily rare and coveted as masters of survival or luck. If other dragons DON'T exist on the world, then lesser dragons might be some of the most widespread creatures on the planet, only outpaced by civilization-building creatures like humans and elves. In such cases, Lesser Dragons are likely both loved and feared, with many eyes always watching their every move for hostility while trying not to make that fact known. Because of this requirement, Lesser Dragons guard their eggs with fierce resolve, and are usually willing to sacrifice their lives (Depending on their alignment, evil Lesser Dragons may not be so bold) to protect the would-be hatchling.

Lesser dragons are adaptable, and carry themselves with greater dignity and more profound magical ability than normal dragons. Lesser dragons are playable characters, and can have classes of any type (Though they make their home with magic classes more smoothly than most other classes). They can manipulate tools with their mouths and front claws, though they would fumble around with any such items much more than other races. See the homebrew rule, Quadruped Races for more information on how their skill checks with tools and use of weapons works, as well as other information that can help make those types of creatures viable for player characters in game.

Lesser Lore

Lesser Dragon eggs incubate for a year, but don't hatch immediately afterward. A lesser dragon egg will only hatch in the presence of a creature that cares about the hatchling inside, and can stay unhatched indefinitely until this condition is met. The "care" that someone has for the creature inside the egg doesn't have to be profound, even curiosity from a creature that doesn't know what kind of egg it is or passive interest in the creature inside the egg can be enough to cause it to hatch, but it does make evil lesser dragons slightly rarer than others due to the feeling having to be genuine. Such eggs are also fairly tiny by comparison to normal dragon eggs, though this still makes them larger than most other types of eggs (Think, about ostrich egg size, though more oval shaped.).

Lesser Dragons are capable of complex thought (Akin to an adolescent human) from birth, and usually inherit some memories of their parents (Though a lesser dragon can avoid this if they want the young to make their own life without help, which sometimes happens). If they do inherit such memories, they usually translate directly into knowledge and skills, and can never be thought of as memories by the child, but additional instincts whose only apparent origin is if their parents tell them about what they did. A lesser dragon might have a seemingly unrelated skill to their class or a spell despite otherwise not being a spellcaster (Which uses Charisma if they aren't a spellcaster) that they can use practically without thinking, though only to the skill of their parents unless they refine it themselves (If they have a spell from this, it can be used once before the lesser dragon must take a long rest to be able to use it again. This is separate from the use of spellslots or other abilities that allow the spell to be cast, and is not considered to count against the number of spells they can learn or keep prepared should they have a spellcasting class.).

Types of Lesser Dragons

(Lol list incomplete.)

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