JackOfAllTirades
Explorer
If you've never heard one of these played live, your life is tragically incomplete.
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D&D 5E Can Dragonborn play a flute?
- Thread starter leinadvirgo
- Start date
If you've never heard one of these played live, your life is tragically incomplete.
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Of course a dragonborn can play a flute. And an oboe.*
Dragonborn wonder how humans, elves, etc. can play plucked string instruments. How do you pluck the strings with your weird nubby fingers???
*I played the first in elementary, middle, and high school band, and the latter for my junior and senior years. I can absolutely say that any creature with sufficient lip muscles to speak a humanoid language--able to articulate plosives like p and b, and fricatives like f and v--would be able to play a flute or oboe. It might be slightly more difficult for them than for other species, e.g. needing to learn fine lip control, but (as my joke above alludes to) it's really not that much different from a human having to learn fine fingertip control to play a plucked instrument. If my semi-expert opinion doesn't get you over Reality Being Unrealistic, just go with the suggestion about the phorbeia--dragonborn flute-players use a leather face-strap to help make a smaller channel of air for blowing.
And now I'm imagining a neo-noire setting with an all-dragonborn jazz band. Potentially one that adds some pyrotechnics (or...uh...pneumotechnics, I guess, to account for varying breath type!)
Dragonborn wonder how humans, elves, etc. can play plucked string instruments. How do you pluck the strings with your weird nubby fingers???
*I played the first in elementary, middle, and high school band, and the latter for my junior and senior years. I can absolutely say that any creature with sufficient lip muscles to speak a humanoid language--able to articulate plosives like p and b, and fricatives like f and v--would be able to play a flute or oboe. It might be slightly more difficult for them than for other species, e.g. needing to learn fine lip control, but (as my joke above alludes to) it's really not that much different from a human having to learn fine fingertip control to play a plucked instrument. If my semi-expert opinion doesn't get you over Reality Being Unrealistic, just go with the suggestion about the phorbeia--dragonborn flute-players use a leather face-strap to help make a smaller channel of air for blowing.
And now I'm imagining a neo-noire setting with an all-dragonborn jazz band. Potentially one that adds some pyrotechnics (or...uh...pneumotechnics, I guess, to account for varying breath type!)
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Hussar
Legend
On my phone so no posrep, but thanks to all for the giggles in this thread. Excellent.
I wonder if dragon born bagpipes might look like this:
http://youtu.be/K-Op1Mng4oY
I wonder if dragon born bagpipes might look like this:
http://youtu.be/K-Op1Mng4oY
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The Grassy Gnoll
Explorer
Bit of an aside, but the Dragonborn PC in my game rolled the "pipe that blows bubbles" trinket at char gen. We've ruled that he likes to see his pretty green scales reflected in the bubbles, and the Player has bought into this vanity idea wholesale. His character now sports a bugbear's bejewelled eyepatch and some random earrings he's picked up and wedged between his scales, as well as a very dapper hat.
Bear in mind he's a Barbarian with 18 STR...
Once when rolling for stealth v a band of approaching orcs, I ruled that his natural 1 was a result of his getting bored waiting and blowing a few bubbles which then floated above the hillock they were hiding behind and alerted the orcs to their presence.
So, if he can blow a bubble pipe it's only natural he should be able to blow a nosepipe, too. I'll think about randomly scattering one in a treasure hoard sometime, see if it'll help him find the ladeez for the tribez...though I doubt it, the rate he's going he's more likely to marry a mirror!
Bear in mind he's a Barbarian with 18 STR...
Once when rolling for stealth v a band of approaching orcs, I ruled that his natural 1 was a result of his getting bored waiting and blowing a few bubbles which then floated above the hillock they were hiding behind and alerted the orcs to their presence.
So, if he can blow a bubble pipe it's only natural he should be able to blow a nosepipe, too. I'll think about randomly scattering one in a treasure hoard sometime, see if it'll help him find the ladeez for the tribez...though I doubt it, the rate he's going he's more likely to marry a mirror!
JiffyPopTart
Bree-Yark
Some facts
(arguable) 1. Dragonborn are reptiles.
2. Turtles are reptiles
3. Some turtles are able to "breathe" through their cloaca
4. Flutes are breath instruments
5. ?
6. Profit
DS
(arguable) 1. Dragonborn are reptiles.
2. Turtles are reptiles
3. Some turtles are able to "breathe" through their cloaca
4. Flutes are breath instruments
5. ?
6. Profit
DS
famousringo
First Post
Oh my God. It's an entire thread debating lizard lips.
That's it folks. The Internet has peaked. It's all downhill from here. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
But what if the dragonborn used some kind of mask to focus his breath? It would be tough to play a clarinet, but I think they could manage a flute. It would also change cone area breath attacks into a line. Trombone proficiency would be necessary to change a line breath attack to cone, IMO.
That's it folks. The Internet has peaked. It's all downhill from here. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
But what if the dragonborn used some kind of mask to focus his breath? It would be tough to play a clarinet, but I think they could manage a flute. It would also change cone area breath attacks into a line. Trombone proficiency would be necessary to change a line breath attack to cone, IMO.
baradtgnome
First Post
This. The DM should simply tell the player to come up with an interesting way it works. Lots of good examples here: special nose or tongue anatomy, special flute or nothing special at all because they envision the dragonborn as having more human like lips. Let the player make some fun.
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