4th Edition D&D Races

When D&D published the campaign setting Eberron I had to groan. They included the addition of a new race known as the Warforged.
The Warforged are player character constructs. There are constructs in the D&D world. I love the concept of infusing a soul into a construct. It’s been used in other games, most notably in Warhammer 40K (The Eldar infuse their Dreadnaughts with Eldar souls) and Starcraft the video game (Dragoons were infused with Protoss souls).
But the Warforged…they just came across as an uber-nerd’s wet dream. I’m not saying that Warforged are horribly imbalanced. I’m just saying that they are kinda lame. If for no other reason than they represent the type of gaming that I used to do (aka Power Gaming) when I was like, 15.
Enter D&D 4th Edition preview. While Warforged are mentioned, thankfully they are contained in the Eberron book which will be published at a later time. I skipped Eberron 3.5…I think I can manage to skip it again.
But wait…enter a new race. One that we’ve almost never encountered before…the Dragonborn!
I am so torn about the Dragonborn. And yes, they are dragon men. Horns, giant bodies, tails, scaly skin. The works.
I have always loved worlds where ‘monsters’ are not all evil. Where ‘monsters’ have their own societies and sometimes, those societies function along side or within humanity. Mageknight, the collectable miniatures game, did this a great deal, for example, and I really liked that. Trolls were part of the Elemental Faction and worked along side with elves and tree constructs. I really like that feel. Shadowrun has their Trolls and Orcs. Earthdawn (which is kinda the same world as Shadowrun) has their Obsidian Men (and their orcs).
So…why am I torn about the Dragonborn? Well…cuz they are the Warforged of the new D&D world. Regardless of their stats and benefits, they are just another uber-nerd’s wet dream. I know I love dragon men. I know that there were Draconium in the D&D world already. But I never played one. Why? Cuz I would feel dirty. I would feel like I’m being so cheap and twinkish for playing one.
So I think that the Dragonborn are kinda…nerdy and lame. Thrown in because somebody decided that they were cool. No really, that’s listed in the book as the Short Answer reason. Dragonborn are twinkish.
But god do I want to play one. I wanna play a Wizard Dragonborn or maybe a kick ass Dragonborn Fighter! Oooh…maybe a Warlock Dragonborn!!! Sweet!
And…I feel like I’m 15 again.
I’ve gamed for a lotta years. I’ve never played a Halfling. Or a gnome. I’ve played maybe 2 dwarves. 1 Elf, for a short lived campaign. Shouldn’t playing a Dragonborn be like getting a driver’s license? Shouldn’t you have to do the probationary period where you play other races so you can learn how to respect the ‘regular’ races, before you are allowed to try out a Dragonborn?
I just don’t know. I wanna play a Dragonborn. But I don’t want my friends looking at me like I’m just taking one to min-max my character. I can already hear one of my friends in his deep voice: shame...