Drake
Huge Dragon
Hit Dice: 8d12+32 (84 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft., fly 120 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 23 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +12 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+12
Attack: Bite +12 melee (2d8+5) or claw +10 melee (2d6+2) or wing +10 melee (1d8+2)
Full Attack: Bite +12 melee (2d8+5) and 2 claws +10 melee (2d6+2) and 2 wings +10 melee (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. for bite)
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Darkvision, immunity to sleep/paralysis
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +6
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 13
Skills: Jump +16, Intimidate +12, Perception +11, Search +10, Stealth +12
Feats: Fly-By Attack, Multi-Attack, Snatch
Environment: Temperate hills, mountains, forest
Organization: Solitary, pair, flight (1d2 drakes and 1d4 young)
ECL: Drake: 11; draken: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 9-18 HD (Huge), 19-24 HD (Huge)
Drakes are smaller cousins of dragons, closer to wyverns than their larger kin. They are often mistaken for young dragons, though they have no breath weapon. Their coloration ranges from charcoal gray to black, with the males being slightly darker than the females. Drakes mate once every five years, and the female lays a clutch of 1d10 eggs, which hatch a year later. The female cares for the young for the first two years of their lives, then they leave the nest and make their own way in the world. A full-grown drake is around 30 feet long (half of that being tail), with a 40-foot wingspan, and weighs in around 2 tons; the males are slightly larger than the females. Drakes live around 150 years.
Some humanoid races, like goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs, ride drakes into battle. These are uncommon, though, as a drake must be caught young (preferably before they learn to fly) and trained to take a rider (a drake egg fetches around 10,000 gp for the right buyer, and a young drake 5-6,000). Once trained, though, a drake is fiercely loyal to its rider.
Drakes and draken (see below) can speak a limited form of Draconic, but settle for hisses and roars when communicating among each other.
Combat
Drakes are vicious fighters and, though they are none too bright, they have a good deal of cunning – they can wait in ambush for prey, or glide down out of the sky and snatch it up in their claws. They tend to rely on their maneuverability when fighting creatures on the ground - or even most creatures in the air - wheeling about to attack from above and/or behind when possible. If forced to the ground, drakes fight with claws and bite, seeking to overwhelm their prey.
Draken
Drakes can (and have been known to) interbreed with evil dragons; the resultant offspring is called a draken, a creature with the size of the drake and the coloration, breath weapon, and energy resistance of its dragon parent (note, however, that a draken can use its breath weapon only three times per day). If a draken mates with a drake, the offspring is a drake; if it mates with a dragon of the same color, the offspring is a dragon of that type (different-color mating does not produce offspring). The table below lists the chromatic draken, their breath weapons, and the damage. The breath weapon's DC is 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Con modifier.
| Color | Breath Weapon | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Line of acid, 100 ft. long | 6d4 |
| Blue | Line of lightning, 100 ft. long | 6d8 |
| Green | Cone of chlorine gas, 50 ft. long | 6d6 |
| Red | Cone of fire, 50 ft. long | 6d10 |
| White | Cone of cold, 50 ft. long | 6d6 |
