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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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There is a Legacy version here.

Drake

Source Monster Core pg. 128
Ravenous, bestial, and driven by instinct, drakes are draconic monsters who bear a fraction of the terrifying might of the primal dragons they share evolutionary roots with. While they're weaker, slower, and less inclined toward reason than dragons, drakes are nonetheless a menace to creatures and settlements around them. Their propensity for forming raiding parties— small social groups fittingly called “rampages”—makes them all the more dangerous; a single rampage of river drakes can quickly lay waste to a waterside village, and roving rampages of desert drakes are a plague to caravan traders.

Drakes share a number of physical characteristics that unite them as one species despite their wide variety of habitats and abilities. For example, drakes lack forearms, leaving them with their formidable jaws and thick- scaled tails to use in close combat. Most drakes would rather avoid this, however, preferring to use their magical breath to wreak havoc in wide swaths from comfortable distances while flying overhead. Finally, all drakes have small reservoirs of their ancestral draconic power that they can tap into to perform incredible feats of speed.

Different species of drakes rarely come into conflict. Part of this is their distinct habitats, but drakes are open to negotiating simple agreements between rampages. This courtesy does not extend to dragonets, which drakes happily take as prey. Solitary tamed drakes are also excluded from such agreements and considered free game if their tamer isn't strong enough to protect them.

Drake Eggs

While drake hides aren't any more valuable than those of similarly sized creatures, drake eggs are prized commodities. They are used as components in powerful spells as well as eaten by various cultures, but the most common use for drake eggs is hatching and rearing drakes to serve as mounts and guardians.

A typical drake lays a clutch of 2d4 eggs every 5 years. Eggs hatch within 3 to 6 weeks, during which time they must be kept in conditions appropriate to their natural environment, perhaps the most difficult aspect of drake husbandry. While it is generally easy for breeders to incubate the eggs of desert or jungle drakes (which require mildly warm temperatures to hatch) or river drakes (which must be submerged in running water), the eggs of flame and frost drakes require extreme temperatures in order to hatch, which can be difficult to replicate safely.

A drake egg is an object with Hardness 3, 5 HP, and no Broken Threshold. The coloration of drake eggs varies only slightly from one species to the next. A creature must succeed at a DC 20 Nature check, or a relevant DC 20 Lore check, to identify the drake species of a specific egg.

Once a drake hatches, they imprint on the first creature that they see. A creature imprinted on in this way can use Nature to Train and Command that drake. The market price of a drake egg varies depending on the type of drake and the exact legal situation. Because drakes are dangerous and intelligent creatures, many societies do not condone the trade of drake eggs and criminalize those who engage in it.

It takes 2 years for a drake hatchling to grow to full size. A well-trained drake can make a fearsome mount or guardian, but many careless would-be drake trainers are devoured by their charges.

Members

Desert Drake (Creature 8), Flame Drake (Creature 5), Frost Drake (Creature 7), Jungle Drake (Creature 6), River Drake (Creature 3), Wyvern (Creature 6)

Sidebar - Additional Lore Drake Hunters

The allure of hunting a dragon is difficult to resist for many adventurers, but accomplishing such a task is fraught with peril. Unscrupulous adventurers have been known to instead hunt drakes and use trophies harvested from these creatures to deceive locals.

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Drake Resources

While every adventurer knows that dragon hide can be crafted into potent armor or weapons, drake hide holds no such intrinsic value. Nonetheless, drake scales and horns are physically impressive, and to the uneducated buyer, they might seem at first glance to be legitimate. Unscrupulous leatherworkers have been known to use drake hides to craft and sell counterfeit dragonhide armor, so potential buyers should remain on the lookout for scams.

Sidebar - Treasure and Rewards Drake Treasure

Drakes share dragons' interest in treasure but lack their discerning taste. A drake hoard will certainly contain coins, jewelry, gemstones, gear, and even the odd magic item or two, but the bulk of the hoard invariably consists of broken weapons, shiny rocks, bits of junk, and other doubtful pieces of refuse.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Other Drakes

The drakes presented on these pages are far from the only types that exist. Forest drakes have green hides, spit poisonous clouds, and can be found in temperate woodlands. Rift drakes, among the most powerful of their kind, spit clinging caustic vapors and dwell in badlands and regions scarred by devastating magical disasters. Sea drakes can be found in oceans across the world, lava drakes in volcanic crevasses, mist drakes along coastlines and in salt marshes, and spire drakes in ragged, rocky hills. Undoubtedly, many other types of drakes lurk in the far corners of the world!