Midgard: Book of Drakes (PFRPG)

Now all you need is the feat that lets a witch take a drake as a familiar and the monk fighting style. Plus they wasn't really concerns more observations. :)

I thought they were insightful observations, so I wanted to close the gaps you saw. :)

This article gives you the monk fighting style. Unfortunately, I don't have an option for a witch to take a drake as a familiar.

I hope you (as well as anyone else who checks it out) like the extra info.

So what you're saying is that you're almost done then huh? :)

In the section on playing pseudodragons, why is their poison DC so weak?

(injury; save Fort 1/2 class levels + Con bonus + 2; frequency 1/minute
for 10 minutes; effect sleep for 1 minute; cure 1 save).

The book explains that the limit on poison is there to keep it equivalent with the SLA's of the core races, but even the DC of cantrips start out stronger than that.

In the section on playing pseudodragons, why is their poison DC so weak?

(injury; save Fort 1/2 class levels + Con bonus + 2; frequency 1/minute
for 10 minutes; effect sleep for 1 minute; cure 1 save).

The book explains that the limit on poison is there to keep it equivalent with the SLA's of the core races, but even the DC of cantrips start out stronger than that.

Oops. Good catch. I left off the baseline 10 when I designed the poison DC. I intended to reduce the number of times a pseudodragon character could use poison, not the effectiveness.

The DC should be 12 (10 + 2 for racial bonus) + 1/2 class levels + Con bonus.

Mea culpa. I hope that helps.

No problem. I suspected that the 10 was missing. Now my squadron of pseudodragon alchemists can take flight at full power!

No problem. I suspected that the 10 was missing. Now my squadron of pseudodragon alchemists can take flight at full power!

I want in on that game. :)

Dragonborn3 wrote:

No problem. I suspected that the 10 was missing. Now my squadron of pseudodragon alchemists can take flight at full power!

I want in on that game. :)

Oh no, please don't tempt me to try and run a game with a party made of candle drakes and pseudodragons...

Question: The Drake Tamer alternate class does not list when, if ever, the drake made with feature points increases in size. Is a high level Drake Tamer meant to have an extremely pimped out Tiny Drake?

Adam Daigle wrote:

Dragonborn3 wrote:

No problem. I suspected that the 10 was missing. Now my squadron of pseudodragon alchemists can take flight at full power!

I want in on that game. :)

Oh no, please don't tempt me to try and run a game with a party made of candle drakes and pseudodragons...

Question: The Drake Tamer alternate class does not list when, if ever, the drake made with feature points increases in size. Is a high level Drake Tamer meant to have an extremely pimped out Tiny Drake?

Good question, and something that we didn't make clear. Use the listed CR of the drake in the Drake Tamer's table as a guide for the drake's size. Therefore, at 3rd level the drake would progress to Small (since it's a CR 2 drake), at 5th level the drake would become Medium (CR 3), and at 7th level, it becomes Large (CR 5). You may extend the progression if you wish, but the drake should be Large by the time your Drake Tamer reaches 11th level.

I have another quick question - the 'Chrysalis' item - how long does the effect last for (or is it permanent?) - I didn't see that anywhere, but I might simply have missed it. I suspect that it is a 24 hour duration, because a permanent 2 evo points for 10,000 gp seems to be quite strong.

Also, I am presuming that any given creature can only benefit from it once, right? Like, I couldn't put my Eidolon in the thing, get 2 evo points, and then put it in again the next day and get another 2 more - that too would seem crazy good for 10,000 gp.

I have another quick question - the 'Chrysalis' item - how long does the effect last for (or is it permanent?) - I didn't see that anywhere, but I might simply have missed it. I suspect that it is a 24 hour duration, because a permanent 2 evo points for 10,000 gp seems to be quite strong.

Also, I am presuming that any given creature can only benefit from it once, right? Like, I couldn't put my Eidolon in the thing, get 2 evo points, and then put it in again the next day and get another 2 more - that too would seem crazy good for 10,000 gp.

You are absolutely correct, Mr. T's Floating Head! The creature resets after 24 hours (by implication, but it would have more clear on our part to state it directly). So, you could put your Eidolon in day after day for 10 days, but it will lose the evolutions proived by the chrysalis after 24 hours. You could give your Eidolon the same evolutions each time, or switch things around, though.

I hope that helps, and you don't pity me.

MrTsFloatinghead wrote:

I have another quick question - the 'Chrysalis' item - how long does the effect last for (or is it permanent?) - I didn't see that anywhere, but I might simply have missed it. I suspect that it is a 24 hour duration, because a permanent 2 evo points for 10,000 gp seems to be quite strong.

Also, I am presuming that any given creature can only benefit from it once, right? Like, I couldn't put my Eidolon in the thing, get 2 evo points, and then put it in again the next day and get another 2 more - that too would seem crazy good for 10,000 gp.

You are absolutely correct, Mr. T's Floating Head! The creature resets after 24 hours (by implication, but it would have more clear on our part to state it directly). So, you could put your Eidolon in day after day for 10 days, but it will lose the evolutions proived by the chrysalis after 24 hours. You could give your Eidolon the same evolutions each time, or switch things around, though.

I hope that helps, and you don't pity me.

Thanks! That makes perfect sense - and since the duration is 24 hours, the issue of stacking bonuses never comes up. Nice. I don't pity you, but I do pity the fool who thinks he's going to get permanent bonuses out of this:)

One of my players is using the candle drake as a PC. We started a new campaign right after this came out, and it's working pretty well. Initially, I had some reservations about the spells she got access to right from level one, but while it does let her one shot 1 encounter per day (maybe), so does sleep, and that's a staple of the game. I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Buying this book for the Drake PC rules actually pushed me to buy more books from this line, it's that good.

One thing I, and my group, wonder. If someone wanted to advance as a drake, as opposed to a 'normal' class, what would you recommend? I was thinking Synthesist (Archetype) re-skinned if that's they way the PC wants to go all the way through, but for just a little advancement, maybe allowing either a feat to give Feature Points, or Favored Class Options?

How many points would you give for each?
Also, any thoughts on alternate racial traits?

I'd certainly drop a few $$$ on an add-on PDF. Your work is top notch.

This is great! I’m glad you’re enjoying the book and your group is getting good use out of it.

I admit, I’m not sure how to answer the question right off the top of my head. The drakes-as-PCs section was one that I was opposed to including when we were outlining the book, but Mike convinced me and promised to keep it reasonable. While we both worked on how we’d implement those rules, Mike took the lead on that section, so he might be best to answer this particular query. I’ll give it a look too, of course, but I may be slow because my brain is firmly planted in my current projects.

My first instinct is that it would be suggesting going the route of using one of the base drakes and the option to apply feature points applicable to the CR as mentioned in the Advancing Levels as a Drake PC section. But, if you’ve already got someone playing a candle drake, I think the simplest method would be to allow the player to either take a class level or get 10 feature points as if it gained a hit dice from the advancement mentioned in the Building Drakes section. I would set a cap on how many times they could do the feature point increase in a row, otherwise they could easily upset some balance. Things can get weird by combining the two different methods (actually increasing hit dice and then having to keep racial and class HD in mind), but if you keep your eye on it and it works for your game, then no worries.

You could also make up a feat that gives you 3 feature points, but keep that in mind considering what kind of class features the PC would be getting and the kinds of things you can get with feature points. Maybe 2 feature points for the feat might be a better fit.

I know some of this isn’t totally firm, but I hope it helps. And seriously, thanks again for picking the book up and getting some great use out of it. I want to play in y'all's games.

Thanks for tackling this, Adam. I know Adam and I were trying to let Paizo take the lead on monster-as-character advancement, so we didn't want to throw yet another system out there.

I agree that you'd want to advance the drake with class levels OR feature points (not both) to keep things from potentially getting out of hand. I'd cap the feat at 2 feature points as well, but you may find you need to alternate between 2 and 3 feature points (where the first feat would get you 2 feature points, and the second 3, then the third would reset to 2, etc.), if you want to keep things balanced. You may have to fiddle with it a bit.

I wish I would have designed some alternate racial traits, but that might just be something I could submit to KQ as a web enhancement. Thanks for the idea! :)

Also, I'm glad you've enjoyed our little book which served as a gateway to all the great offerings Open Design has.

You could also make up a feat that gives you 3 feature points, but keep that in mind considering what kind of class features the PC would be getting and the kinds of things you can get with feature points. Maybe 2 feature points for the feat might be a better fit.I know some of this isn’t totally firm, but I hope it helps.

I was thinking two or three per feat, so I guess I was on track. Thanks for that. It does help.

I want to play in y'all's games.

If you're ever in Baltimore, come sit in on a session. If you don't mind geckos.

I agree that you'd want to advance the drake with class levels OR feature points (not both) to keep things from potentially getting out of hand.

Yeah, I don't think a racial class is what anyone in my group would look for, but the feat seems solid.

I wish I would have designed some alternate racial traits, but that might just be something I could submit to KQ as a web enhancement. Thanks for the idea! :)

If you do, make sure you post here so I know about it!

What's your take on allowing feature points as favored class options? 1/2 per level? Too much? Too little?

Thanks for the replies and attention.

What's your take on allowing feature points as favored class options? 1/2 per level? Too much? Too little?

1/2 per level seems perfect. That would be 10 feature points over a 20-level "career", which seems pretty much in line with favored class options.

First things first: I love this book! However, I have some questions about the drake tamer's skill list. Of all the classes I've seen, it's the only one that doesn't have Craft, the only spellcaster that doesn't have Spellcraft, and the only spellcaster with flight spells that doesn't have Fly. Were these omissions intentional or accidental?

First things first: I love this book! However, I have some questions about the drake tamer's skill list. Of all the classes I've seen, it's the only one that doesn't have Craft, the only spellcaster that doesn't have Spellcraft, and the only spellcaster with flight spells that doesn't have Fly. Were these omissions intentional or accidental?

I went back over some notes to see if there was any reasoning or whatnot, but to me it looks like it was just an oversight. Mike might have a different take.

Glad you're enjoying the book!

qneiform wrote:

First things first: I love this book! However, I have some questions about the drake tamer's skill list. Of all the classes I've seen, it's the only one that doesn't have Craft, the only spellcaster that doesn't have Spellcraft, and the only spellcaster with flight spells that doesn't have Fly. Were these omissions intentional or accidental?

I went back over some notes to see if there was any reasoning or whatnot, but to me it looks like it was just an oversight. Mike might have a different take.

Glad you're enjoying the book!

Adam is correct--the omission was an oversight.

Likewise, I'm happy to see you like the book.

Question: What's the feature point cost to shapechange as the river drake?
(By the way, I'm loving the book)

Question: What's the feature point cost to shapechange as the river drake?

(By the way, I'm loving the book)

I'm at work and don't have the book handy, so I can't give you a specific answer. However, I do recall that I mention somewhere in the drake-building guidelines that some of the 20 pre-made drakes don't necessarily match up point for point with those custom built from the drake-building guidelines. Like building monsters, sometimes breaking a rule or two is what shines.

Another approach, since I'm pretty sure I don't mention a feature point cost for shapechange, is to find other special abilities or special qualities that are similar in power to shapechange and have a feature point cost, then make your own approximation of the value. Some details may color your decision such as what alternate form (or forms) are available from the special ability.

I'll check for some more detail when I get home. I hope this helps somewhat.

Thank you. Hope that in the next Bestiary Paizo uses a point system like yours for all features, it would make much simpler creating monsters!^^
I was startled reading about the plumed drake. A long time ago (2E's age) I had created my own monster, the "Swandragon", as an agent of the freedom & paradox goddess... and it was very similar to that. So you gave me the chance to make the swandragon revive!

Swandrake
A completely white variant of the plumed drake, with a cone-shaped sonic breath weapon instead of the fire line (doesn't blind or else) and a swim speed equal to its fly speed...

Thank you!^^

That sounds cool. I'm glad you're enjoying the book.

Thank you for the review, Brekkil! I'm happy you like the book.

Welham and Daigle, where have I heard those names before....?

They seem familiar from somewhere else on the boards, I swear they do.

I havea question!

The Drake Tamer's "Drake Apportation" seems to be usable at will, there's no X per day clause. Is this intended, and if not, what is the correct usage?

I havea question!

The Drake Tamer's "Drake Apportation" seems to be usable at will, there's no X per day clause. Is this intended, and if not, what is the correct usage?

Excellent question, Andrew! The Drake Tamer can use "Drake Apportation" once per day at 8th level, and 1 additional time per day at every 4th level beyond 8th (so, twice at 12th, three times at 16th, etc.).

I apologize for the omission, and I appreciate you bringing the question up.

Thanks for the quick response!

Congrats to Hugo Solis (our own Butterfrog) for nabbing an ENnies nomination for best interior art for this book! Go, Hugo!

I here tell some lucky bastard at PaizoCon might just have purchased the last hardcopy of this book. Least, that's what a talking badger told me.

Congrats to Hugo Solis (our own Butterfrog) for nabbing an ENnies nomination for best interior art for this book! Go, Hugo!

Huzzah!

Yup, printed copies are SOLD OUT!

Shelly was kind enough to save one for me *rubs it on Aberzombie*

BTW, don't forget to vote on the ENnies (for BoD of course ;))!

Congrats to Hugo Solis (our own Butterfrog) for nabbing an ENnies nomination for best interior art for this book! Go, Hugo!

Fantastic and certainly well deserved!

Yep, Open Design's store is sold out.

As best I can tell, there is exactly one copy in the Paizo warehouse, in a warded and trapped chest somewhere. It won't last long.

Bardess wrote:

Question: What's the feature point cost to shapechange as the river drake?

(By the way, I'm loving the book)

I'm at work and don't have the book handy...

Now you get to say "I'm at work and have EVERY book handy..."

;-)

A book by RPG Superstar Mike Welham and Paizo developer Adam Daigle is back in print.

I wonder if it is any good? :D

Yay!

Get 'em while the getting's good folks! :D

Woo hoo!

You also get an entire book of ENnie-nominated art by Hugo Solis. :D