Bards and Dragons share several things, a love of music, a love of arts and a love of money. But the biggest one is that everything that can be fucked will be fucked, no exceptions” ~Quote attributed to anonymous STALKER-scholar, Merger+2.

Dragons. Great flying beasts that breath fire. Flying monsters of destruction. Hoarders of immense wealth. Ancient lizards, wise and powerful. But with age comes boredom and with boredom comes exploration and, well, kids.
Dragon hybrids are created through one of several ways - either born when a dragon mates with another species (dragons are capable of breeding with most species observed so far) and the resulting child or children are born, born as the child of a dragon hybrid (as the genes are passed on) or born as one of the stable dragon-x hybrid species that thrive in the lands.

The first of these methods is the easiest to explain and also the root of the others so we shall look at it first. Dragons are capable of shapeshifting to a high degree and often take the form of other creatures. Sometimes they fall in love, or just get curious, and sleep around and inevitable some children are born. These are known as Generation 1 Hybrids, or Half Dragons. Typically these share traits from both races - the shorter stocky form of a Dwarf or the litheness of an Elf for instance, with scaled patches, claws, horns, tails, eyes, and sometimes wings. Other features have been noted too. These hybrids show a stronger connection to magic and a love of warmth and have a tendency towards hoarding, and tend to form strong connections with those close to them. Sometimes they may also present other draconic abilities such as the ability to fly, strong chest muscles, fire resistance and the ability to breathe fire.
Despite all this they are also an unstable species and the effects of the draconic blood typically dilute over generations, although there are exceptions. Typically the thinner blooded hybrids display less draconic or reptilian features and these can vanish entirely, although they may spring up again at some point later in the line.

Over time however, some stable species have established themselves and branched off from the jumble of hybrids and have been formally identified as self sustaining genus with a set genetic structure and traits. These are:

Drakekin: Drakekin bear the strongest resemblance to dragons out of the whole lot. Typically tall at 5’11” to 7’8” they have hulking forms, strong muscles and heavy patches of scales around the limbs, face and neck. They tend to have elongated faces, and all have wings and tales and are capable of limited flight. They are resistant to fire and heat and many can breathe fire at close range.
Most of them see themselves as the superior beings to other hybrids and none-hybrids (unscaled as they say). Their culture is clan based and heavily martial, showing a belief in strength and a disdain for the weak. They tend to form settlements away from other races and attempt to intimidate those they encounter. Typically these settlements are well walled and composed of high towers, all built of stone and decorated with metals.
Drakekin are cold blooded but do not like to admit this weakness, and prefer to sleep in fires when it is cold.

Dragon Newts: Dragon Newts are one of the most common species of hybrid encountered. Dragon Newts (or ‘Newts as they are called) are of an average height and build, similar to humans. They show their draconic heritage in their eyes, horns, tales, wings and scaled patches around their eyes, faces, body, shoulders and the ends of their limbs/hands.
Dragon Newts are sociable and intermingle with other races happily, being considered closer to “normal” than some of the other species in this line. Some do form settlements and communes away from other species, these resembling Elf and Dwarf villages, but those are rare.
‘Newts are notably cold blooded and do need warmth to help them keep active, leading to some very intimate encounters when adventuring in colder climes.

Proto-Drakes: A weaker line, Protos lack a lot of the draconic features, notably the wings. They do not have the same level of fire and heat resistance as their kin and tend to be less magically inclined. Bar that they are the same as any species, and are generally easy going around others, intermingling happily and not caring much. An exception here are the Drakekin whom they fear. In the more savage parts (IE, those without people) Drakekin regularly hunt for Proto-Drakes and kill them for sport, viewing them as weak and unworthy. Even in the more civilized lands Drakekin have a tendency to attack Proto-Drakes, and refuse to acknowledge them as equals.
Unusually among the hybrids Drakekin are not cold blooded, and capable of functioning as normal in cold environments. Thanks to this those that live in areas plagued by Drakekin tend to establish settlements above the snow line, weakening their hunters.


Wyvern-kin: Wyvern-kin are an unusual subset, and whilst technically not dragon hybrids are included here for completeness. Wyvern-kin are a line formed by Wyverns mating with other races in the ancient times. They resemble harpies in that they have wings instead of arms, and they tend to be moderately to heavily scaled with lizard feet. Wyvern-kin are not the smartest and show a tendency towards being bird brained. They like to play physical games and love games that involve kicking an object, such as football (soccer for you colonials) and chasing it about, especially when competition is involved. They also enjoy play-fighting and scrapping, but despite this are extremely friendly and like to form friendships which they consider near-sacred and lifelong. To break friendship with one a wyvern-kin is to leave the poor hybrid devastated as it attempts to work out what happened and puzzles over why its friend hates it now. This can lead to depression and extensive suffering.
Wyvern-kin form nests in mountainous areas and prefer cliffs or other such high places for security. They do not build physical structures but instead make nests from wood and plants, basic firepits and simple shelters. When they sleep they flop down wherever they like. Wyvern-kin are communal and share most things. They tend to prefer deserts and warm climes as they are cold blooded.
Around other races Wyvern-kin often have problems, being unable to understand why people don't want to play or take part in a hunt or why they cannot just come and go as they please, go where they like or why people are angry they took food, although most usually learn. It is not unknown for curious Wyvern-kin to kidnap other races and take them to the nest for the rest of the colony to explore. All Wyvern-kin are capable of flight and are strong enough to lift a fully grown Orc in full battle garb off the ground with ease, and if threatened they are capable of ripping a foe open with a single clawed kick.