Cipher methods Symbols
Iokharic / Draconic (D&D)
Iokharic is the official script of Draconic (the dragon language) in Dungeons & Dragons, designed for the Rise of Tiamat supplement (Wizards of the Coast, 2014) and stabilised in the 5th-edition Player’s Handbook. It is the runic alphabet spoken and written by the chromatic dragons (Bahamut, Tiamat), the metallic dragons, and their servant creations: the Kobolds, Dragonborn, and certain lizardfolk.
The glyphs have an angular, sharp aesthetic evoking draconic teeth — that’s the signature visual detail of the system. The alphabet appears in D&D manuals (marginal illustrations), official modules (maps, plans), and set boxes sold in specialised hobby shops.
How does the alphabet work?
The cipher uses a monoalphabetic substitution: every letter of the plaintext is replaced by a glyph drawn from a fixed correspondence table. It is one of the oldest cryptographic techniques on record — already described in antiquity (Caesar cipher, ~50 BC) — and the most directly readable family for a beginner.
The table has 26 glyphs for the Latin letters + 10 glyphs for digits 0-9, i.e. 36 symbols in total. To encrypt, read the text character by character and replace each letter (and digit) with its glyph.
Cryptographic strength: weak. Because every plaintext letter always maps to the same glyph, the cipher falls to a frequency analysis in a few dozen words (in both English and French, E remains the most common letter, an immediate entry point). Monoalphabetic substitutions are therefore used today for their decorative, playful or pedagogical value — not to protect real information.
Historical and modern usage
- Dungeons & Dragons 5e (2014-) — official modules, manuals, collector dice.
- Forgotten Realms novels (Salvatore, Greenwood) — draconic chapters, inscriptions of Gold Hosts.
- DM (Dungeon Master) community — used for homemade handouts, campaign puzzles.
- Pedagogy — popular gateway to cryptography in tabletop RPG groups (the DM often prepares a grimoire in Iokharic for the party).
Related variants
- Dovahzul — see our dedicated entry (Skyrim, another dragon language).
- Wyrmish — older D&D variant, not covered here.
What are the weaknesses?
- Monoalphabetic substitution — immediate frequency analysis.
- Documented alphabet — public table in official manuals and Forgotten Realms wikis.
- Angular glyphs — some differ by a single stroke (E/F, M/N).
The 26 glyphs
The 10 digits
