Editing Draconian (section)

==In A Nutshell==
Draconians are a race of draconic humanoids, resembling a blending of the humanoid frame with distinct reptilian traits. Although there was some early edition waffling over how human-like their features were, leading to the notoriously hideous artwork for the Baaz in the 3e Dragonlance Campaign Setting splatbook, the ultimate picture that has stabilized over editions is very much like the [[lizardfolk]] or [[dragonborn]], the latter of whom can arguably be said to descend from the draconian concept.

Draconian abilities vary widely, depending upon the dragon whose bloodline they originate from. Most species are winged, with only Auraks lacking them, but flight is generally beyond them, and all species have at least one or two innate magical traits.

The most prominent example of this is their "Death Throes" trait: when slain, a draconian undergoes a powerful eruption of raw magical energy, which usually has very nasty consequences for anyone else around them. This is born from <strike>[[Dark One]]s</strike> a mutation in the organ that, in a proper dragon, would provide a breath weapon; only the Auraks and the Flame Draconians have innate breath weapons, although in 3rd edition a feat allowed all draconians to develop a breath weapon.

Needless to say, going boom like this means draconians are very tough to revive - or even to ''Speak With Dead'' at. Only the high-level spells ''Resurrection'', ''True Resurrection'', and ''Wish'' can bring a departed draconian back to life. Takhisis keeps her secrets.

Draconians were born of evil magic, a ritual initially developed by an obscure Black Robes wizard named Brenn in the year 1015 Pre-Cataclysm. It wasn't until [[Takhisis]] secretly began plotting her return to Krynn in the Age of Despair that the ritual found its fruition. Through a blending of arcane and divine magic, united via the spittle of a malevolent chromatic dragon, unhatched dragon eggs could be transformed into massive groups of smaller, weaker humanoid dragons, which could then be used as more reliable slave-soldiers than the [[goblin]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[ogre]]s and [[minotaur]]s which the various evil armies depended upon. Thus Takhisis became ''the'' queen of Krynn's darkness, up to which (say) Hiddukel had to catch.

However, despite this start, draconians are also creatures with souls of their own. Though brought up as beings of evil, that was a matter of culture, and they can choose otherwise. Since the fall of Takhisis and her vaunted Dragonarmies, the draconians of Krynn have since tried to find a place for themselves as a species, refusing to vanish into the dust of ages with their now-hated creator-deity.

To reflect this, draconians have actually been a playable PC race since at least third edition, with Baaz and Kapaaks appearing in the corebook and the rest appearing in ''Dragons of Krynn'' - although that [[Level Adjustment]] is a killer, with breeds ranging from +4 LA to +12 LA. Baaz and Kapaks received a 4e update in [[Dragon Magazine]] #421, although much like the [[Dray]] it wasn't the best fit - at least they got mechanical variations that tried to emulate the original "feel" of the race.  

Draconians returned to [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] at long last in ''Fizban's Treasury of Dragons'', where their lore underwent its most drastic shake-up of any edition - even 4e only just added a few new draconian types!