Editing Draconian (section)

==Draconians vs. Orcs==
The comparison between draconians and [[orc]]s is something that has grown more obscure over the editions, but in the early days of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], the two filled much the same role.

See, orcs in those days were Lawful Evil in alignment, due to being the go-to mooks for dark clerics, evil wizards, and any other nefarious would-be warlord. They were aggressive and militaristic, but fell in line rapidly under those who showed off their strength, and served loyally until their "boss" was overthrown. (In later editions and in other settings, orcs would become more "the horde race", as Tolkien intended when there isn't a Dark Lord about; with [[hobgoblin]]s falling into "the evil army race" niche. That just goes to tell how First Edition ''Dragonlance'' is.)

Draconians fill this very niche in Dragonlance history. They are reliable, dependable, non-human troops that are associated with the forces of evil and used without care as expendable mooks by their masters. However, the draconians go about it in a very different way to their orcy counterparts on other worlds.

First and foremost, whilst orcs are (were) Lawful Evil as a general nature, draconians were only that way because they were brought up in the armies of the evil Takhisis. And even then it wasn't always successful - the "stealth operative" orientated Sivaks tended to be Neutral Evil, whilst the Baaz "grunts" usually quickly reverted to Chaotic Evil tendencies when let out from under their leaders' thumbs. Given the chance, many draconians gave up on evil and tried to find a new life for themselves, and modern generations are usually Neutral in some flavor.

Secondly, draconians, unlike orcs, are smart enough to hate being treated as disposable cannon fodder. The callous way they were treated by their creators bred dissent, and made draconians very quick to rebel or escape once the dragonarmies were broken. Finding out that their makers had planned to exterminate all of their females, dooming the race to die out, certainly didn't help.

Finally, with their innate magical abilities, draconians are just naturally far tougher and more dangerous than the standard orc.