Dungeons & Dragons Playtesting Some Major Changes to Dragonborn and Kobolds

Dungeons & Dragons is testing out some major changes to one of its core classes. Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast released a sizable Dungeons & Dragons Unearthed Arcana playtest filled with new Draconic Options. The new playtest completely overhauls the Dragonborn and Kobold player races, bringing them in line with the recent design changes started in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and providing several new useful abilities. The playtest introduces three new ancestries that serve as unofficial sub-races for Dragonborn. Chromatic Dragonborn have a breath weapon and can gain a temporary immunity to a specific kind of damage associated with their draconic ancestry. Meanwhile, Metallic Dragonborn gain a secondary breath weapon that can push creatures away from them and knock them prone or incapacitate them. Finally, the newly introduced Gem Dragonborn have limited psionic abilities and can temporarily gain the ability to fly.

The kobold already had its penalty to its Strength score removed, but the new playtest grants it the +2/+1 ability score modifiers standard to every other race. The kobold is also much more versatile - all of its existing racial abilities have been replaced with a Draconic Legacy that allows players to choose between several different options (such as advantage on saving throws, an unarmed strike with a tail, or an innate ability to cast a cantrip) and a new Draconic Roar ability that grants both the kobold player and its allies advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of the kobold.

The new Unearthed Arcana playtest also provides players with three new feats to test out, granting them various gifts bestowed upon them by one of the three types of dragons. There are also a number of new spells with draconic themes, many of which are named after famous dragons from D&D Forgotten Realms lore.

When coupled with previous Unearthed Arcana playtests, it seems that Dungeons & Dragons will be focusing on dragons in a major way in the next year or so. Not only does the playtest suggest that gem dragons will be making their full Fifth Edition debut (currently, only Sapphire Dragons have appeared in official Fifth Edition material), we could also see a lot more lore and player options tied to dragons in the very near future.

You can check out the full playtest here.