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Dragon breath

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Dragon breath, or breath weapon,[1] known in Draconic as frahraek,[2] (svaerx in Tymantheran[3]) was a term used to refer to a special ability that was inherent to dragons and the majority of dragonkind,[1] even those who merely had draconic ancestry.[4]

Nature of Breath[]

Dragon's Fire AFR

A red dragon unleashes their fire breath upon an unwitting adventurer.

The “breath” aspect of "dragon breath" was a bit of a misnomer, as it was not discharged from the lungs through exhalation. Rather, its stream of energy was more accurately vomited.[5][6]

Depending upon the type of dragonkind or draconic ancestry, a breath weapon had different properties. There were nearly as many varieties of dragon breath as there were types of dragons. Though a number of dragons possessed the same type of breath and some possessed two distinct breaths.[7]

Biological[]

Themberchaud breath

The red dragon Themberchaud unleashes his own fire breath in glorious motion capture.

In true dragons, the elemental or magical energies that granted a dragon their breath weapon were said to be generated by the heart and suffused throughout their body within the blood. The source was previously thought to be a large blood vessel called the fundamentum,[8] or draconis fundamentum,[9] but that merely channeled energy from the heart to a chamber in the gizzard. This organ stored a dragon's magical energies until they were needed to be unleashed as dragon breath.[8]

Some breath types required an intrinsic temperature, which was maintained internally by the elemental or magical energy that flowed through a dragon's bloodstream. While other breath types, such as acid, didn't have any such necessities.[10] Additionally, dragon eggs were inherently resistant to harm from the breath weapon of their parents, though this resistance waned the closer they came to hatching.[11][12]

Magic[]

Dragon breath had an inherently magical nature to it.[6][13] Some believed that the magic permeating the Prime Material plane empowered it.[13] Others believed that the different species of chromatics,[6][14] as well as metallics,[6] were each imbued with elemental magic and their breath weapon was a manifestation of that elemental energy.[6][14]

Sometimes, a dragon's breath could be affected by the magic that permeated within their lairs. Such as clinging to and lingering on those afflicted by it or recharging at an incredible rate.[15]

Some individual dragons and creatures of draconic heritage were capable of channeling the destructive energy of their breath into some other magical or supernatural effect.[16] For example, with sufficient practice some dragons were capable of shaping their breath weapon into a bipedal, elemental creature known as an animated breath.[14]

There were a variety of spells that acted upon dragon breath. Such effects included compelling a dragon to exude their breath, diminishing a breath's effectiveness, suppressing a dragon breath entirely,[17] or altering its appearance and properties.[18] And some draconic spells—that being, spells unique to dragonkind—required the use of dragon breath to cast, such as dispelling breath.[19]

History[]

On Toril, some scholars from Candlekeep proposed the proto-dragon theory, claiming that the dragons of their world gradually developed breath weapons through evolution. This theory purported that a common ancestor, ignidraco, developed a digestive tract that allowed them to regurgitate their own intestinal gas and ignite it with an enzymatic, hypergolic reaction in the back of their throats.[20] The proto-dragon theory went on to claim that the ancestors of green dragons and black dragons developed their breath weapons from further modifying their digestive tracts.[21]

There were many detractors to the proto-dragon theory, who pointed out that it could not fully explain the myraid of other elemental and non-elemental breath weapons that dragons possessed.[21]

Notable Producers[]

True Dragons[]

  • There were a number of chromatic and metallic species of dragons that had similar types of dragon breath.[7]
  • Crossbreed dragons, those born through the mating of two different species, could potentially develop a breathe weapon that was a combination of both their parents'.[22]
  • The three-headed species dzalmus had a breath weapon that was a life-draining gas, though only one of its heads could unleash it at a time.[23]
  • Chaos dragons possessed two breath weapons, one that was confusion-inducing gas and another that was a line of energy. What this energy was always varied, with not even the chaos dragon knowing what it would breath out. Among the recorded possibilities were acid, cold, electricity, and sonic energy.[24]
  • Ethereal dragons had a breath weapon that was a cone of pure force, which uniquely could affect even creatures on the Ethereal plane.[25]
  • Hellfire wyrms had a breath weapon that was a cone of hellfire, a magical fire that was unique to its homeplane of Baator.[26]
  • Mist dragons possessed two breath weapons, one that was a caustic slime that induced nausea and another that was a scalding cone of mist.[27]
  • The radiant dragons of Mount Celestia possessed two breath weapons, one that was a line of pure force that they reserved for earnest battles and another that was a blinding cone of radiant light, the latter of which they reserved for situations they wished to diffuse without causing harm.[28]
  • The radiant dragons of wildspace had a breath weapon that was pure force, said to be similar to the spell magic missile but far more powerful. This could be exuded as one large, focused pulse or as six smaller pulses.[29]
  • Rust dragons possessed two breath weapons, one that was acid and another that was an extremely corrosive liquid.[30]
  • Salt dragons had a breath weapon that was a cone of sodium chloride crystals.[31]
  • Styx dragons possessed two breath weapons, one that was acid and another that was an intelligence draining gas.[32]
  • Tarterian dragons possessed two breath weapons, one that was a line of pure force and another that was a cone of gas which sapped the will of its targets, an effect similar to the spell crushing despair.[33]
  • The exceedingly rare time dragons possessed two breath weapons. One was a line of pure chronal energy, causing any creature or object struck by it to age, while the other was a wave that caused creatures to temporarily disappear, expunging them from time for a few seconds or even minutes.[34]

Lesser Dragons[]

  • Dragon turtles had a breath weapon that was a cone of scalding steam.[35]
  • The three-headed draken species could breath 60‑foot-long (18‑meter) bolts of lightning. They could do this twice per day from each of their heads, but only from one of them at a time.[36]
  • Dread linnorms, a two-headed species of linnorm, had a distinct breath weapon for each of its heads. One breathed fire, the other a freezing wind.[37]
  • Elemental drakes, with the exception of smoke drakes, all lacked a breath weapon.[38]
  • Faerie dragons had a gaseous breath weapon that induced feelings of euphoria.[39]
  • Smoke drakes possessed two forms of breath weapon, a blinding cloud of smoke and a hazy cloud filled with burning, white-hot embers.[38]
  • Space drakes possessed a similar breath weapon to the radiant dragons of wildspace.[40]
  • Stygian linnorms uniquely had a breath weapon that was a mixture of acid and water from the River Styx.[41]

Dragonkind[]

Chris dien dragonborn NWMMO

A male dragonborn using his fire breath.

Chimerabattle

A chimera's draconic head unleashes its fiery dragon breath.

  • The hybrid species known as chimerae,[42] dracimerae,[43] dracolisks,[44] gorgimerae,[45] mantidrakes, and wyvern drakes could all exude a breath weapon.[46] In the case of dracimerae, mantidrakes, and wyvern drakes this was dependent upon what chromatic ancestry they had.[43][46] Dracolisks, being hybrids of black dragons and basilisks, always exuded an acid breath.[44] And in the case of chimerae, their breath weapon was dependent upon what type of dragon their draconic head resembled.[42] Most commonly, a chimera had a draconic head that resembled a red dragon and thus exuded a fire breath,[47] while gorgimerae always had a red draconic head.[45]
  • Most dragonborn were capable of exuding some type of dragon breath.[48][49] The type of breath weapon was dependent upon what chromatic, metallic, or gem draconic ancestry the dragonborn had.[48] And some believed that, like dragons, dragonborn were imbued with elemental magic. Some dragonborn whom believed this would claim that the dragon deity Io had gifted them that power as a sign of his favor.[50] Regardless of its origin, it was typically as powerful as that of a wyrmling of the same type.[49] Dragonborn were very proud of their breath weapon, and they socially shunned those dragonborn that didn't developed one, as this was seen as a sign that their bloodlines were weakening.[51]
  • Most half-dragons were capable of exuding some type of dragon breath. Like dragonborn, the type of breath weapon was dependent upon the creature's draconic ancestry.[52]
  • Weredragons could exude a limited dragon breath whose effects varied depending upon what type of dragon they resembled.[53]

Magic[]

  • Rarely, weapons could be magically altered or enchanted to produce dragon breath.[54]
  • The bulwark of the Great Dragon allowed its wielder to exude a fiery dragon breath three times per day.[55]
  • Dragonfire adepts, people that had formed a pact of some kind with a powerful dragon or draconic deity, were capable of producing a close approximation of dragon breath.[56]

Undead[]

  • Dragons resurrected as lesser forms of undead lost their breath weapons, such as skeletons and zombies,[57][58] though some sources claimed that zombies retained a weaker version of their breath weapon.[59]
  • Dracolichs retained the breath they had in life,[60] but were required to eat in order to refuel it.[61]
  • The ghosts of dragons had their own unique form of breath that was a cone of gray mist, which sometimes took the form of a ghostly parody of the breath they had in life.[62][63][64]
  • Hoarder dragons retained the type of breath they had while alive, but with an added spray of pelting coins.[65]

Appendix[]

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Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 86. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  2. ↑ Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Kolja Raven Liquette (2006). Races of the Dragon. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 147. ISBN 0-7869-3913-3.
  3. ↑ James Wyatt (January 2010). Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 22. ISBN 978-0786953868.
  4. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 34. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
  5. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Richard Baker, et al. (November 2009). Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Edited by Logan Bonner, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-7869-5248-9.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 86–118. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  9. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 21. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  10. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  11. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  12. ↑ Richard Baker, et al. (November 2009). Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Edited by Logan Bonner, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7869-5248-9.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 James Wyatt (October 2021). Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Edited by Judy Bauer, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7869-6729-2.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 James Wyatt (October 2021). Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Edited by Judy Bauer, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 163. ISBN 978-0-7869-6729-2.
  15. ↑ James Wyatt (October 2021). Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Edited by Judy Bauer, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 65. ISBN 978-0-7869-6729-2.
  16. ↑ Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Kolja Raven Liquette (2006). Races of the Dragon. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 101. ISBN 0-7869-3913-3.
  17. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  18. ↑ Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  19. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 78–79. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  20. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 10. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  22. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 65. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  23. ↑ David Cook (November 1990). “A Hoard for the Horde”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #163 (TSR, Inc.).
  24. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 177–179. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  25. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 179–180. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  26. ↑ Ed Bonny, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter (September 2002). Monster Manual II 3rd edition. (TSR, Inc), pp. 125–126. ISBN 07-8692-873-5.
  27. ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 143. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
  28. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  29. ↑ Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Lorebook of the Void”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  30. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 186–187. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  31. ↑ Richard Alan Lloyd (June 1998). “The Missing Dragons”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #248 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 26–28.
  32. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 187–189. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  33. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 189–190. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  34. ↑ Mike McArtor (September 2007). “Time Dragon: A Wyrm For The Ages”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #359 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 36–41.
  35. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 119. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  36. ↑ Johns, Mathis, Detwiler, Bowers, Cates (June 1989). “The Dragon's Bestiary: All dragons, great and small”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #146 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 26–27.
  37. ↑ David Wise ed. (December 1994). Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One. (TSR, Inc), p. 28. ISBN 156076838X.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 152–158. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  39. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 158–159. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  40. ↑ Nigel Findley (1990). Skull & Crossbows. (TSR, Inc.), p. 63. ISBN 0-88038-845-5.
  41. ↑ Wolfgang Baur (August 2007). “Enemies of My Enemy”. In James Jacobs ed. Dungeon #149 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (149)., pp. 84–85.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 43. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 99. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 14. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 David "Zeb" Cook et al. (1989). Monstrous Compendium Volume One. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-8803-8738-6.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Gregory W. Detwiler (June 1991). “Crossing Dragons With Everything”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #170 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 19–20, 22, 24.
  47. ↑ Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 James Wyatt (October 2021). Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Edited by Judy Bauer, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 10–12. ISBN 978-0-7869-6729-2.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 James Wyatt, Rob Heinsoo (February 2001). Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn. Edited by Duane Maxwell. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 37. ISBN 0-7869-1832-2.
  50. ↑ Richard Baker and Robert J. Schwalb (February, 2012). Heroes of the Elemental Chaos. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 17. ISBN 0786959819.
  51. ↑ Peter Schaefer (June 2010). “Winning Races: Dragonborn - Bloodlines of Arkhosia: Dragonfear”. In Chris Youngs ed. Dragon #388 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 38.
  52. ↑ Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Kolja Raven Liquette (2006). Races of the Dragon. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 0-7869-3913-3.
  53. ↑ Ed Greenwood, et al (1989). Hall of Heroes. (TSR, Inc), pp. 36–37. ISBN 0-88038-711-4.
  54. ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
  55. ↑ BioWare (December 2003). Designed by Brent Knowles. Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Atari.
  56. ↑ Eytan Bernstein (2007-06-13). Swashbucklers, Marshals, Dragonfire Adepts. Class Chronicles. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2024-09-11.
  57. ↑ Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 106. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  58. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 193. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  59. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 197. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  60. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 148. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  61. ↑ Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 103. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  62. ↑ Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 104. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  63. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 162. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  64. ↑ James Wyatt (October 2021). Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Edited by Judy Bauer, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 203. ISBN 978-0-7869-6729-2.
  65. ↑ Eytan Bernstein (2007-03-07). Dragons of Faerûn, Part 2: New Draconic Monsters (Zipped PDF). Web Enhancement for Dragons of Faerûn. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-10-31. Retrieved on 2017-10-29.
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