So, as with many things in 5th edition, this ultimately comes down to the DM's ruling. Therefore, when we look beyond just the text of the dragonborn Breath Weapon feature itself, to the racial description and the description of true dragons, we find indirect support for both positions, but still no clear and unambiguous resolution. On the other hand, the fact that draconic breath weapons (and therefore also dragonborn breath weapons) are powered by their innate magical power could be used to further justify the conclusion that the breath weapon is not tied to any specific physical anatomy beyond a mouth with which to exhale the energy. If you decide that having the blood of dragons in your veins is a physical requirement for a draconic breath weapon, then a wild shaped dragonborn druid would not satisfy this requirement. A dragonborn druid that has Wild Shaped into a wolf no longer has the blood of dragons in its veins, since it is now physically a wolf.

These facts make things a bit more ambiguous.

(Note: this 'innate power' is the kind of background magic that isn't detected by Detect Magic or negated by Antimagic Field, as described in the Sage Advice Compendium.) The most relevant quote I can find here is:ĭragons are also magical creatures whose innate power fuels their dreaded breath weapons and other preternatural abilities. So we can also look for information on draconic breath weapons in the Monster Manual's section on dragons. However, the description of the dragonborn race makes it clear that they are 'born of dragons' and that the blood of dragons runs through them. If you are content to leave things here, we can answer the question in the affirmative: yes, you can use your breath weapon while wild shaped, because nothing says you can't. Beyond that, as Jeremy Crawford observes, 'no anatomy is specified.' Hence, nothing in the description of the dragonborn's breath weapon is explicitly incompatible with Wild Shape. Most if not all beasts have this ability. In the description of the breath weapon, the only explicit requirement is the ability to exhale. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation. You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the dragon type, as shown in the table.īreath Weapon. Choose one type of dragon from the Draconic Ancestry table. The dragonborn's breath weapon is clearly a 'feature from your race', so the question becomes, what is required for a dragonborn to be 'physically capable' of using their breath weapon? Let's look at the description:ĭraconic Ancestry. You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. The critical rules text from the druid's Wild Shape feature is (emphasis added): There is no rule that unambiguously prevents this

Breath of wild dragon