Bad breath and psychic scales, learn how to play as a Gem Dragonborn with our detailed guide
What are Gem Dragonborn?
Dragonborn are humanoid creatures with traits similar to those of a dragon such as scaly skin and elemental breath abilities. Gem Dragonborn are those that trace their lineage back to Gem dragons, and in particular, the heirs of Sardior, the Ruby dragon and have a different gem associated with them; amethyst, crystal, emerald, sapphire and topaz.
Each type of Dragonborn has breath and resistance that exhibits a different element such as radiant for crystal Dragonborn, psychic for emerald Dragonborn and so on (you can see the elements associated with each Gem Dragonborn colour in the traits section below.
Dragonborn were originally released in the Player’s Handbook as one of the original races in D&D 5e. They’ve since been updated in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons which has made some vital improvements along with distinguishing the 3 types of Dragonborn a little more; Chromatic, Metallic and Gem. Our guide will help you make the most of your Dragonborn character.
Is a Gem Dragonborn the right character for me?
Dungeons and Dragons lets you take a flexible approach to building a character, but if you’re going to stick to typical culture and the best-optimised build for a Gem Dragonborn you might consider the following:
Choose a Gem Dragonborn if you like…
- Having deadly breath
- Speaking telepathically
- Flying
A Gem Dragonborn might not be for you if…
- Don’t want to get close to your enemies
- Hate dragons
If you think a Gem Dragonborn isn’t for you, not to worry, there are dozens of playable races for you to pick from, just check out our races guide to find out about all of them. For an alternative race with temporary flight, you could consider an Aasimar.
Racial traits
| Ability Scores | +2 to one ability score and +1 to another or +1 to 3 different ability scores |
| Creature Type | Humanoid |
| Size | Medium |
| Speed | 30ft |
| Languages | Common and 1 other |
| Traits | Gem Ancestry, Breath Weapon, Draconic Resistance, Psyonic Mind, Gem Flight |
| Resistances | Force, Radiant, Psychic, Thunder or Necrotic |
| Proficiencies | None |
| Darkvision | No |
| Innate Spellcasting | None |
| Book found in | Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons |
Tactics
A Gem Dragonborn’s abilities do provide a slight split in who they’re most useful for as breath weapons and resistances tend to be great for close combat specialists while flight helps ranged combatants most. I’d still say the ability split favours close combat and flight is useful for all classes, especially outside of combat or when retreating so remains a good option anyway. This does mean that a Gem Dragonborn is the best Dragonborn for spellcasters too if that’s a route you’re keen to go down.
Charge into the fray: Breath weapons are great! They do damage in a cone so you can target multiple foes at once (something most martial classes can’t do) and they get more powerful with your level progression too. It also doesn’t replace your attack action, just one of the attacks made with your action which is nifty for fighters and most other martials. You also get to choose your resistance as well making you a little tougher. So get close and personal with your enemies.
Choose your type with care: The challenging thing about all Dragonborn is that their resistance is the same as their damage type. Typically, this means picking a more common damage type will allow you to resist damage more often, but also means your breath weapon will be resisted more often too. This creates a bit of a conundrum. Fortunately, we’ve done a load of data crunching and it turns out, there are some damage types that are rarely resisted, but commonly used by enemies, these are force (amethyst), psychic (emerald) and necrotic (topaz) so these represent the best options for your Gem Dragonborn. You can read the full research on damage types here.
Flight: If you want to go for a ranged option, flight for an entire combat per long rest is great and can keep you much safer than being on the ground. Alternatively, use it for scaling tall areas, crossing chasms or any of the other adventuring stuff you might end up doing.
Which classes work well for Gem Dragonborn?
Below I’ve put together a score for how well each class works with a Gem Dragonborn based on how well the racial traits work with each class:
Artificer⭐⭐⭐
Barbarian ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bard ⭐⭐
Cleric ⭐⭐
Druid ⭐⭐
Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Monk ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Paladin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rogue ⭐⭐
Sorcerer ⭐⭐
Warlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wizard ⭐⭐
*Star ratings scored out of 5
Best classes for Gem Dragonborn
For most of a Gem Dragonborn’s abilities, they are of most use when the player is using attacks rather than spells making Spellcasters less effective in most cases (as most dedicated spellcasters have access to more powerful spells than a breath weapon, but most melee characters don’t have more powerful attacks than a breath weapon). Your damage resistances will be of most use when in the thick of melee combat too.
What’s even more helpful for your martials is that your breath weapon can be used as one of your attacks when using the attack action rather than taking up your whole action (if you have extra attacks that is like a fighter or barbarian). This is powerful as it always hits (if only partially on a successful dexterity saving throw) and can hit multiple targets as it fires in a 15ft cone.
Having said this, Gem Dragonborn don’t get a second breath weapon like Metallic Dragonborn (which makes Metallic Dragonborn more effective as martials). Instead, they get telepathy and temporary flight once a day. Both of these have lots of uses outside of combat and in combat, ranged classes will gain use from a minute of flight to get somewhere safe while they shoot arrows and lob spells into the fray. If you do want a ranged or spellcasting Dragonborn, then you’ll probably want to go with a Gem Dragonborn for this reason, but they are still better suited to martial classes.
With this in mind, your best class options for a Gem Dragonborn are:
- Barbarian
- Fighter
- Paladin
- Monk
These classes benefit especially from a Dragonborn’s breath weapon as they get few (if any) area of effect options for dealing with large crowds.
A case can be made for certain other classes and subclasses for Gem Dragonborn. Battle Smith and Armourer artificers enjoy an extra attack and often like to be in the middle of combat. College of swords and college of Valor bards, hexblade warlocks and rangers enjoy similar benefits.
Worst classes for Gem Dragonborn
Essentially, you’re looking at most dedicated Spellcasters, especially those with options for area of effect spells and that don’t get extra attacks. This is especially the case for sorcerers and wizards who have much better spells to use and would be unable to use a breath weapon alongside an extra attack. These classes are better of using spells like fireball to thin the crowd and focus on a different race.
About Gem Dragonborn
Appearance
While Gem Dragonborn are descended from dragons and have many attributes in common, Dragonborn are in fact humanoids standing upright on 2 legs. They retain the scaled appearance, jaws, tail and other aspects of their dragon ancestors, though stand a considerable amount smaller in height. Gem Dragonborn all take on powers and a skin tone based on different gems; amethyst, crystal, emerald, sapphire and topaz.
Personality
Gem Dragonborn are blessed (and cursed) with psychic energy. How these energies manifest depends on the type of Gem Dragonborn they are, but each Gem Dragonborn does have common among them some telepathic abilities as well as limited flight capabilities as well. This psychic energy does also mean that they are burdened with a continuous onslaught of emotions that they must attempt to master.
Most Gem Dragonborn tend to live in communities with other Dragonborn. Most seek mastery in an art or skill and are rarely satisfied until they’ve accomplished mastery of their chosen vocation. In fact, this is often the reason a Gem Dragonborn might leave their community; to go out into the world to develop their skills.
While Dragonborn are keen to attain self-mastery, this does not mean that they are unable to co-operate with others. In fact, they tend to disregard personal needs for the betterment of the group. Dragonborn take great pride in accomplishing their area of responsibility and feel a sense of shame when their contributions are subpar. This extends to an adventuring group they might find themselves with as well.
Names
Dragonborn tend to have names that use soft tones. Female names tend to start with letters near the beginning of the alphabet while male names tend to beign with letters in the middle of the alphabet.
Female Dragonborn names: Akra, Biri, Daar, Farideh, Harann, Havilar, Jheri, Kava, Korinn, Mishann, Nala
Male Dragonborn names: Ghesh, Heskan, Kriv, Medrash, Mehen, Nadarr, Pandjed, Patrin, Rhogar
A Dragonborn’s clan name is considered more important than their own name so Dragonborn will tend to use their clan name before their given name. Dragonborn clan names though can be long and tend to include both the clan’s name and events and significant accomplishments of the clan.
Dragonborn clan names: Clethtinthiallor, Daardendrian, Delmirev, Drachedandion, Fenkenkabradon, Kepeshkmolik, Kerrhylon, Kimbatuul
Roleplaying as a Gem Dragonborn
While all Dragonborn are different, many adhere to similar cultural and racial ways of thinking. Below are some ways you could approach roleplaying a Gem Dragonborn:
Loyalty to their friends: Most Dragonborn are extremely loyal to their friends and can be trusted, at least if that loyalty has been earnt. Respect deals and agreements made and back up your friends, even when the odds are stacked against them.
The path of self-mastery: Gem Dragonborn work in a huge number of vocations and specialties, but whatever their chosen vocation, they seek to become masters of. Be disappointed with failures in your area of speciality and seek to master your skills diligently.
Respect when earnt: Dragonborn have a great respect for others that are masters of their own craft. Consider showing respect for a worthy foe that gave an excellent fight, perhaps showing mercy another master of their art.
Psychic control: Gem Dragonborn have some psychic abilities making them more in tune with their emotions. As with most things, they seek to master these emotions and abilities, despite the often raging emotions occurring within their minds.
