Book of Drakes
by Matt Staggs
Book of Drakes, Open Design LLC, softcover, $19.99, ISBN: 978-1-9367-8105-8, www.KoboldQuarterly.com.
Dragons are great monsters, and a staple of fantasy roleplaying games. What they aren’t, though, are mysteries. Most gamers have run into their fair share of dragons, and pretty much know what to expect (probably a Total Party Kill). If you’re a gamemaster who has been looking for a new and surprising way to introduce a little draconic mayhem into the lives of your jaded players, then Open Design’s new Book of Drakes (an accessory, written for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game) is the perfect book for you.
Authors Adam Daigle and Mike Welham have taken the dragon’s underutilized, smaller cousin, the drake, and expanded it into a powerful, complex creature able to mystify, vex, and even protect characters of all levels. These drakes come in dozens of varieties—paper drakes, smoke drakes, even the garrulous alehouse drake—that will leave even longtime gamers scratching their heads in confusion…or laughing in amusement. In the hands of the authors, drakes step out of the darkness to be revealed as serious foes and valuable allies. Book of Drakes also introduces a new drake-oriented class, the Drake Tamer, as well as new spells and feats that involve these little dragons.
Book of Drakes features some of the best artwork I’ve seen from Open Design, with full-color depictions of drakes, from charming to sinister, and if you’re anything like me, by the time you finish the book you’ll probably want to own your own pet drake as much as you want to use one in your game.
If you enjoyed reading this, please consider subscribing to Realms of Fantasy.
