A bried history of the Dragonborn, for those unaware:
First introduced in a 3.5e book "Races of the Dragon", dragonborn were originally the product of a ritual by which a character could turn into a sort of half-dragon humanoid in the service of Bahamut. They were described as noble and "draconic" looking but they looked sort of like generic dragon-men in the artwork.
Years later, 4e rolled around and we got dragonborn as a core race in the first PHB. This time, they were a true-breeding race, decending from an ancient empire. Aesthetically, they were all some range of brown-red-gold in color and, other than some tendril-looking dredlocks, they were pretty standard looking as far as dragon-men go.
Now, the 5e PHB is approaching with dragonborn once again taking its place among the core races. As far as aesthetics go, this time the playtest says "Its features resemble its draconic parents’. A dragonborn with red dragon parents, for example, has red scales and the distinctive horns and cheek frills of a red dragon." Far from having a generic look, dragonborn now share the distinguished, iconic features of D&D's chromatic and metalic dragons. Instead of a sort of standard dragon-man, we have a race that actually looks like some of the most recongizable monsters associated with the franchise.
When you see artwork of a fantasy human out of context, you can't really tell if it's from dungeons and dragons or not. If you see a short, bearded dwarf, it could be from any number of fantasy franchises. If you're looking at an elf, it could be artwork from pretty much any fantasy game or novel ever put out. When you see a halfing, you could might be looking at a kid or short human or a hobbit. When you see an orc, that could be a Tolkein reference.
From here on out when you see artwork of a fantasty hero and his head looks like this guy:
you're going to immediately recognize that race and being iconic of the Dungeon and Dragons franchise specifically, more so than any core race we've had before.
My son will only play Dragonborn. Hence why he will not play any other fantasy game. He's tried them and hates them because of Dragonborn. He's even hoping they come to Neverwinter as he won't play that. Everything else I guess feels like Lord of the Rings but Dragonborn feel D&D.
I've seen dragon-people in other fantasy.
I've only ever seen giant-cockroach-people in D&D.
Therefore by your logic Thri-Kreen is actually the most iconic race in D&D!
Go, T'lak-pi'pok !!!
LOL.
not much more to add
Giant cockroach people and chromatic dragon people! Well played D&D. Well played.
The_Jester wrote:
Gatt wrote:
Chaosmancer wrote:
The addition of dragonborn to 5e wasn't well received by one of my groups. As such, for their campaign, dragonborn will be NPCs only. Most iconic? Not even close.
My older brother is fond of saying "It's not D&D until bugbears get involved."
If you look up "icon" on dictionary.com, the most specific non-religious definition is:
"a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it"
I think some people are making the mistake here of confusing their own dislike of dragonborn with the idea of whether or not it should fit the definition of "iconic". Iconic doesn't mean you have to like it or it's the most popular.
The unique aesthetics of the Chromatic and Metalic dragons of D&D are unique the the franchise. Dwarves, elves, et al, are not. The aesthetics of these dragons are more iconic of D&D than the other races we have, regardless of anyone's personal distaste for them.
GhostStepper wrote:
Mephi1234 wrote:
So pointy ear angsty xenophobe and clepto midget are for mature adults, but dragonmen and half devils are childish... This thread is amusing.