https://youtu.be/qxZ95BAj4_k

They were a part of Dragonlance from the very beginning. Draconians, or dragonmen, are the basic troops of the dragonlords as described in DL1 Dragons of Despair. But they grew to be much more in the story and in the imaginations of the fans. Let’s learn a little bit more about Draconians!

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Transcript

These truly original creatures born from the eggs of good dragons through an evil ritual prove that you are not always the result of where you come from.

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Draconians. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the Dragons of Krynn sourcebook for this information. If I misspeak or leave something out, please let me know in the comments below.

Discussion

They were introduced in DL1 Dragons of Despair as Draconians, or dragonmen, who are the basic troops of the dragonlords. But they evolved in the modules, novels and fans imaginations to be much, much more. There were four known types of draconians originally, but over time, even that evolved as the stories and even the species changed in the campaign world. Let's take a closer look at these fantastical creatures from their origins to their current variety. 

When draconians were first introduced to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, they were a pretty original amalgamation of different species traits. Even in the Dragonlance world, they were not the first ‘shock troops’ of the Dark Queen’s imagination. In the Age of Might, after the death of Huma Dragonbane, the Black Robes of the Third Dragon War had the freedom of experimenting on the creatures of Krynn. Galen Dracos created horrid undead dread wolves. Brenn of the Black Robes actually captured a Silver Dragon and her eggs, and began studying the essence of dragons and would experiment on the eggs with the intention of creating a human-dragon hybrid. His vile experiments were halted by Kaz the Minotaur. 

In the Age of Despair the evil dragons and bakali raided the Dragon Isles, and stole the good dragon's eggs, delivering them to the Lords of Doom. The red dragon Harkiel confronted the good dragons on behalf of Takhisis, demanding that they stay neutral in the coming war if they want their eggs back. The good dragons agreed. The plague mold of the Zhakar was used to create the first base version of Draconian called Traags. They were ineffective in battle however. Then the Sesks were created from the Silver dragon eggs, but they were unfit as soldiers. Both were shipped to Taladas and forgotten to perish on their own. Dracart the Black Robe, Wyrllish the priest of Takhisis and the Red Dragon Harkiel created the first true draconians. 

It may have taken the Queen of Darkness’ wizards and priests thousands of years to perfect the ritual, but when they finally came into being, they burst onto the gaming scene as formidable monsters to face off against the strongest of heroes. As described by Gilthanas and Silvara, having witnessed their creation firsthand under the Lords of Doom: “Joining hands,