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DRACONIC SCION

VERSATILE HERITAGE

RARE

DRACONIC SCION

DRAGON

NON-PAIZO

Senses Low-Light Vision, or Darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.

Draconic scions are creatures with a connection to dragons, in a similar way to planar scions’ connection to beings from other planes. Possessed of great power, draconic scions blend the power and abilities of dragonkind along with the unique advantages of their own ancestry. Brimming with the barely disguised might of a dragon and yet neither dragon nor mortal, a draconic scion must find their own place between those worlds. Fortunately though, with the talents and skills they possess, this isn’t a difficult task, and others tend to be more likely to avoid draconic scions out of awe than any intentional bigotry. If you want to play a character who isn’t a dragon but who possesses many draconic qualities, you should play a draconic scion.

You Might...

  • Have a contradictory dual nature, which causes you to have complex motivations and unexpected dichotomies.
  • Experience urges related to your draconic lineage.
  • Seek knowledge about dragons in general, and the type of dragon to which you’re connected in particular.

Others Probably...

  • Are in awe of you and consider you powerful, glorious, and dangerous.
  • Assume one of your parents is a dragon, even though that probably isn’t the case.
  • Mistake you for a dragon using an imperfect disguise.

Physical Description

Draconic scions look like powerful, imposing members of their ancestry with features matching their draconic lineage, ranging from minor to extremely noticeable depending on the strength of their draconic scion heritage.

Patches of scales matching the scale coloration of their draconic lineage are common, as are manifestations of power such as glowing energy within the draconic scion’s eyes and mouth, but draconic scions might also possess horns, claws, a draconic snout and jaws, or even a tail or wings. These features shift and change as the draconic scion grows in power and chooses to accept more draconic abilities, granting them more and more draconic features. A truly powerful draconic scion might look more like a bipedal humanoid dragon than they do their initial ancestry.

Society

When it comes to the potential backstories for a draconic scion, humans, whose minds are perpetually fixated on such things, default to considering unusual romances between dragons in alternate forms and other ancestries. While it’s not impossible for such a pairing to result in a draconic scion child, matching the ancestry of the other parent and the disguised dragon, it is among the least common of the many rare circumstances that lend draconic essence to another creature. In cases of a draconic ancestor, the inherited draconic scion might also occur as an atavism, multiple generations removed from the original dragon. As a result, those who inherit their status as dragon scion from their parents typically are the children of two other dragon scions, who produce dragon scion offspring with relatively high probability, or perhaps a dragon scion and someone with thinner draconic blood, like a draconic bloodline sorcerer, or even two draconic bloodline sorcerers. As the generations pass and more and more inherited draconic scions arise from the interactions of other dragon-blooded ancestries, inherited draconic scions become more likely to possess a mixture of features from several dragon heritages, including scales of different colors, heterochromatic eyes, and other such variegated features. Nonetheless, when it comes to the power of the magic within them, there’s always one draconic heritage that finds the most resonance, no matter how mixed a draconic scion’s background. Inherited draconic scions are more likely to be associated with heritages of dragons who like to live among other ancestries and form attachments to them.

Tutelage and training can, on rare occasions, transform a truly dedicated disciple of draconic arts into a draconic scion, or render them with enough draconic power that their offspring might become draconic scions. This most traditionally applies for a creature who works extremely closely with one or more dragons, learning to emulate dragons, and such a student often takes the dragon disciple archetype as part of their path towards draconic enlightenment. The transcendence into a draconic scion could be gradual over time and many stages of understanding one’s self, or it might happen all at once in a sudden unexpected outpouring of draconic potential. A draconic scion forged in this fashion might gain their heritage later in life, retraining over time or all at once into new draconic abilities and learning how their life will be forever changed by their transformation. Enlightened draconic scions often learn at the feet of dragons who enjoy teaching and uplifting others, such as gold dragons, sovereign dragons, and even occasionally sky dragons who find someone worthy of sharing their hidden aeries.

Similar to enlightened draconic scions, transfigured draconic scions began their life as some other heritage and only later gained their draconic powers. The main difference between them is that enlightened draconic scions studied and trained to become draconic scions voluntarily through hard work, but transfigured draconic scions triggered the transformation through a deep exposure to draconic power, often accidentally or involuntarily. Transfigured draconic scions might come from a vestige hunter (Battlezoo Bestiary 158) who’s absorbed one too many draconic vestiges, a character with a powerful soul seed (Pathfinder Secrets of Magic) imbuing increasingly powerful dragon gifts directly into their soul, or someone with a similar tale who was given, stole, or accidentally inherited a piece of a dragon’s life force or soul within their own mortal shell. Transfigured draconic scions are equally likely to come from almost any draconic heritage, but they almost always have a triggering moment or crucial point in their backstory connected to a specific dragon. Perhaps a dying dragon gifted the last of their power to the new draconic scion and asked a special quest or prohibition in return, to carry out the dragon’s final wishes. On the other hand, the transformation could have come about due to research and experimentation, whether the eventual dragon scion was a willing participant or not, killing dragons in attempts to use magic, technology, or both to siphon their powerful energies into a non-draconic test subject.

Reincarnated draconic scions come about when a dragon’s soul is reincarnated into a new form, perhaps as the result of a reincarnate ritual, perhaps due to a magical experiment, or simply as part of the natural cycle of reincarnation. Depending on the source of the reincarnation, the new draconic might have all, some, or none of the memories of the original dragon. Most often they are able to access whatever memories they have as flashes in dreams, or when deeply drawing on their draconic powers. Reincarnated draconic scion is a good choice for a dragon character who was reincarnated into another ancestry during play, as it potentially allows the character to keep some of their dragon ancestry feats and establish continuity if those feats were important to how the character played. Dragon heritages more attached to the cycle of life and death, such as crypt dragons, are more likely to become reincarnated draconic scions.

Alignment and Religion

While their origins are diverse, draconic scions share a dual nature that often causes them to possess personality traits that are seemingly in contradiction: perhaps they are both generous and greedy, or both callous and caring. It’s not that the draconic scion vacillates between one and the other. They simultaneously embody both contradictory traits and are able to express them both at once through the same actions. Their alignments generally tend to be somewhere in between the usual alignments of their ancestry and the usual alignments of the dragon heritage associated with their draconic lineage. Enlightened draconic scions are especially likely to have an alignment close to the dragon who taught them, as they learned and accepted the worldview of their mentor in order to fully embody the teachings and power necessary to become a draconic scion. Similarly, reincarnated draconic scions are often, but not always, close to the same alignment as the dragon was before being reincarnated. Transfigured draconic scions are slightly more likely to be chaotic than other draconic scions, due to the unpredictable nature of their transformation, but this tendency isn’t as strong as the tendency towards the draconic lineage’s alignment.

Dragon scions are more likely than most members of other ancestries to worship dragon deities, but otherwise they worship all the same deities as other members of their own ancestry. A dragon scion might worship two patrons with extremely different, even contradictory worldviews, somehow finding a way in the scion’s own mind to satisfy the teachings of both deities. This sort of arrangement typically doesn’t work for dragon scion clerics, however, as in those cases, two conflicting sets of anathema may be impossible to avoid.

Names

Draconic scion names tend to vary based on their original ancestry and their origin. Enlightened and transfigured draconic scions have completely normal names for a member of their ancestry, unless they choose to discard their name after their ascension or transformation and take a new name. In those cases, they might pick a name in draconic or just a name they think sounds interesting. Reincarnated draconic scions’ names vary based on their identity. Depending on whether they have so many of the dragon’s original memories that they consider themselves to be the dragon, so few that they consider themselves to be entirely their new self, or something in between, they might either adopt one of the two names completely or else create a blend of the two. Finally, inherited draconic scions, born to their gifts, might receive names with more of a draconic flair from their parents. This also varies based on whether the parents included a dragon or draconic scion; two parents completely unaware of the possibility of a draconic avatism might be more confused by their child’s draconic features than anything, and potentially mistake them for something else entirely, leading to a mistaken identity as an aasimar, ganzi, geniekin, or tiefling and a name inaccurately attempting to channel those connections.

Sample Names

Blue Flame, Kallizandrex, Red Mask, Twin Hearts, Vorik, Whiteclaw

Draconic Scion Adventurers

Draconic scions are extremely likely to become adventurers, or to already be adventurers if they became draconic scions later in life. They tend to prefer the same sorts of classes as either their original ancestry, or as the dragon heritage that corresponds to their lineage (for more information about which classes are most common among dragons of a given heritage, check the lore entries starting on page 81). Draconic scion backgrounds depend on the source of their draconic power. Inherited and reincarnated draconic scions have been draconic scions their entire life, and so they might have had backgrounds related to the position of awe, respect, and fear others felt towards them, such as gladiator, guard, or noble. Reincarnated draconic scions with full memories of their dragon life might simply keep the background from their past life as a dragon. Meanwhile, enlightened draconic scions are likely to be acolytes, scholars, or other backgrounds involving learning or faith. Transfigured draconic scions could have come from any background, though those who had no choice but to be the test subject for experimental draconic imbuing might be a laborer, prisoner, servant, or even have the rare magical experiment background (Pathfinder Secrets of Magic).

Draconic Scion Settlements

Draconic scions tend to live in settlements alongside other creatures of their ancestry, or rarely, with dragons instead. Of the various origins, enlightened draconic scions are most likely to live among dragons.

However, extremely rarely, draconic scions form their own settlements, full of other draconic scions and strongly dragonblooded members of the same ancestry. Such confluences of draconic scions, rare though they might be, are by far the most likely sources of inherited draconic scions, since two draconic scions have a high chance to produce a draconic scion offspring together.

Aeternal dragon settlements tend to be especially accepting of draconic scions, and in areas where both an aeternal dragon settlement and a draconic scion settlement are possible, the two might combine citizenry to create a larger and more stable settlement together. For their part, aeternal dragons understand draconic scions in a way that few others do, aside from other draconic scions, and draconic scions understand and typically respect aeternal dragons as well. Due to both groups’ tendencies to produce adventurers, their shared settlements often wind up much higher level and wealthier than you might expect for their relative size. Woe betide any thief who thinks that the small town hidden deep in the jungle with buildings decorated in gold and jewels is ripe for the picking.

TABLE 2: DRACONIC SCION ANCESTRY FEATS
Ancestry Feats Level Prerequisites Benefits
Additional Unarmed AttackBAD 1 — You’ve directed magic through a part of your body, honing it into a powerful unarmed attack.
Draconic CantripBAD 1 — You’ve regained some of your innate magic, which you can use to cast a cantrip from the tradition associated with your heritage.
Draconic ResistanceBAD 1 draconic heritage with an associated damage type that deals energy damage, mental damage, or poison damage You have revitalized the magical pathways that protect your body from the type of damage you would normally use for your breath weapon.
Dragon BreathBAD 1 — You breathe in deeply and release the energy stored within you in a powerful exhalation.
Dragon LoreBAD 1 — You know stories of dragons from time immemorial, and those teachings fill you with a pride and presence that can awe other creatures.
Dragon’s ClawsBAD 1 — Your fingers grow into lethal claws.
Dragon’s EyesBAD 1 low-light vision You possess the full visual acuity of a dragon, allowing you to see easily in darkness.
Dragon’s JawsBAD 1 — Your nose and mouth extend into a draconic snout, complete with powerful draconic jaws, just like your dragon forebear.
Empower ScalesBAD 1 — You’ve directed magic to your scales, restoring a measure of their former sturdiness.
Empower WingsBAD 1 — You’ve sent enough magic into your wings to begin to restore their original function before the lux aeterna ritual, though it will be some time before they can carry a creature of your mass into the air.
Sturdy ScalesBAD 1 — You’ve taken an alternative approach to strengthening your scales, gaining incredible strength quickly akin to a suit of armor.
Draconic VerveBAD 5 — You’ve focused magic on restoring your ability to shake off torpor, making it harder for others to force you to sleep or paralyze you.
Dragon ScentBAD 5 — Magic wafts through your nose, restoring the acuity of your sense of smell so you can sniff out nearby thieves and other hidden creatures who don’t think to obscure their scent.
Dragon’s EnduranceBAD 5 — You briefly surge your magic through you as a protective force, preventing harm before it can reach you for a short time.
Soaring LeapBAD 5 — With a flap of your wings, you make a mighty leap.
Channel WingsBAD 9 — You channel your growing magical power into your wings, restoring full flight capacity for a time.
Deep BreathBAD 9 Dragon Breath You can breathe in deep to deliver a more powerful breath, though it takes you longer to replenish afterwards.
Dive and Exhale!BAD 9 Dragon Breath You launch briefly into the air and dive, releasing your breath around you as you do.
Dragon’s InstinctsBAD 9 — Your draconic instincts alert you to danger, making sure you are prepared to react first.
Dragon’s TenacityBAD 9 — You channel magic to increase your sturdiness, not only becoming more capable of absorbing punishment, but pulling adaptive potential from your destiny in order to avoid the first bit of damage you take each day.
EarthboundBAD 9 — You are keenly aware of your own limitations with flight without magic to keep your dense form aloft, but these magical insights make it both particularly easy and particularly satisfying to bring other fliers low.
Energize JawsBAD 9 draconic heritage with an associated damage type that deals energy damage, mental damage, or poison damage When you deliver a telling bite, your jaws leave behind lingering energy, mental aftereffects, or poison associated with your breath weapon.
Channel ScalesBAD 13 Empower Scales You channel powerful magic into your scales, increasing their power further as your scales thicken.
Corona of PowerBAD 13 draconic heritage with an associated damage type that deals energy damage, mental damage, or poison damage You surround yourself with a corona of energy, poison, or mental power.
Dragon’s FlightBAD 13 Channel Wings You’ve restored the power to your wings enough to fly at all times! This might not seem like as big a deal to traditionalist dragons, but it’s one of the more difficult feats for aeternal dragons, even as your other powers have expanded vastly beyond your original capacity.
Frightful PresenceBAD 13 — You surround yourself with power that terrifies any who dare approach you.
Harden ScalesBAD 13 — You send a wave of power into your scales, thickening and hardening them against the next few attacks.
Reflective ScalesBAD 13 — You concentrate energy into your scales, protecting yourself and storing power that you can use to unleash a powerful burst.
Summon Draconic ServitorBAD 13 — You call upon your connection to weaker dragons to summon a dragon to fight on your side.
Expanded ResistanceBAD 17 Draconic Resistance The lux aeterna ritual makes you more flexible and less focused than a traditionalist dragon, and so you’ve found a way to become resistant to just about every kind of energy, not just the kind dragons of your heritage usually can resist.
Recurring FearBAD 17 Frightful Presence You are able to stoke your frightful presence more often.
Ride the BreathBAD 17 — You concentrate your breath into a powerful line and then evoke your entire body into the energy or matter from your breath weapon, traveling along with the attack.
Ride the BreathBAD 17 — You concentrate your breath into a powerful line and then evoke your entire body into the energy or matter from your breath weapon, traveling along with the attack.
Spellturning ScalesBAD 17 — You quickly energize your scales with just the right magic to reflect your enemy’s spell back at them.