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The D&D line of Races books have been, so far, pretty cool. Each one gave good background information on a few standard races and introduced some new optional race. Throw in a few new magic widgets and some prestige classes, and these are basically useful books that can add to your game without freaking it out.
Then Wizards comes out with Races of the Dragon. The closest thing in this book to a standard race is a kobold, and the other race options look like a monster manual. This book caters to those players who want extremely over-the-top characters, maybe who can breath fire or fly.
The first chapter covers the dragonborn of Bahamut. These characters are not actually born with any dragon in them, so the name is a little misleading. Instead, Bahamut chooses them to fight bad dragons, covers them in scales and gives them draconic superpowers. The powers are cool draconic abilities - choose breath weapon, flight or super senses. It obviously would take a very open-minded setting to allow scaled dragon-people to buy drinks at the local watering hole, but if the DM and players are willing to play that way, there is something to be said for being covered in hard scales and shooting fire out your nose.
Spellscales are the subject of the second chapter. These are offspring of sorcerers who display their far-reaching ancestral roots in dragonkind. These flamboyant and individualistic magic-wielding characters would look downright normal if they did not have small colored scales. The true power behind the spellscale character is the blood-quickening meditation, which allows the spellscale to adopt a different magical ability every day.
The third chapter is devoted to kobolds, and presents them as a highly underrated group of intelligent monsters. They may be small, but they are descended from dragons, and they possess many more weapons than most adventurers are likely to see. If you have ever played the old 2e Dragon Mountain boxed set, you may still have nightmares of what a hill full of kobolds can accomplish.
Half-dragons and draconic characters make up the fourth chapter, and are collectively called the dragon-descended. The difference between a half-dragon and a draconic character is bloodline. A half-dragon has a dragon parent. A draconic character is the descended from at least one half-dragon, and so his oddness is a little more diluted. The chapter presents both races as slightly pathetic and lonely, like angst-ridden goths, but with more scales.
The chapter on dragon-descended includes templates to convert nearly any race into a half-dragon or draconic character. There are several pages of abilities to give dragon-descended players, including breath weapons, water breathing and immunities.
The draconic prestige classes in chapter five are mostly intended for characters with scales. The Disciple of the Eye, for instance, uses his dragon hairy eyeball to intimidate enemies, then uses kung-fu to beat them. The Dracolexi, on the other hand, could be anyone, as it is essentially a character who travels the world learning the draconic language and using those words of power magically. There are three other prestige classes, all designed for the races presented in the first four chapters.
If you are really interested in playing a draconic character, the chapter on character options is the reason you need Races of the Dragon. Where else can you take a feat like dragon tails and wings, or the great subcategory of breath channeling feats? There are a lot of feats here, which can really make a part-dragon character a lot of fun.
Chapter seven, about magic and psionics, presents nearly ten pages of new spells, all meant to be cast by a character with scales. Dragon-based characters can still take normal spells, but why make some weak prayer when you could just summon an aspect of Bahamut and scare the bejeezus out of everyone who can see you? These spells tend to take advantage of the character's pre-existing draconic attributes, like Ghostly Tail (use your dragon tail to make attacks of opportunity) or Wings of Flurry (flap your wings to make wind).
The equipment in chapter eight is mix of gear. There are several items intended for dragon-blooded characters, like chitin armor (for kobolds) or dragonblood swords (for any dragonkind). The dragon grafts, which put dragon parts onto non-dragonkind, are like cybergear - not magical, just really cool.
Chapter nine discusses campaigns using dragon races. There are suggestions for incorporating dragonkind characters into existing campaigns, a few sample NPCs, and a handful of adventure seeds. There are even notes on meeting kobold NPCs, which notes are happily more than, 'See scaly cretin. Stab. Repeat.'
Races of the Dragon finishes with an appendix on dragon deities. If your campaign incorporates a lot of deities, this might be very handy; if you are either bored or overwhelmed by huge numbers of faceless gods, this section might just be padding.
The entire book is scattered with adventure seeds, maps, and NPCs. Even if nobody ever plays a dragonkind character, there are plenty of ways to use this book. Sure, it would be a lot more useful if somebody makes a flying half-dragon who can shoot lightning from his tonsils, but there is still a lot to do.
The art in Races of the Dragon is mostly excellent, with just a few pieces that fall below Wizards' generally outstanding art quality. Not much discussion is needed on layout or design - if you have read a D&D book, you have seen it all before. The writing is generally good enough to keep a reader interested, but can get a little dry in a few places.
Overall, Races of the Dragon presents new options for players and DMs alike, options that are more interesting and strange than most other D&D books. It is a slight departure for the Races line of books, but still manages to contain a wealth of excellent information.
Style: 5 - A very nicely illustrated book, with some really crazy ideas and lots of fun options.
Substance: 4 - Cover to cover solid rules, but it may be too wacky to appeal to many gamers.
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