Ok, maybe you all know the answer to this but I did not even think to ask until my player last night tried to use his drake ability (innate spell: Flamethrower)

What force would this be at? Would I resolve it as I could any spell? Drain and all?

Thanks

I'm going off of memory, but I believe force=essence, and there is no drain for innate spells.

Very cool, thanks.

Can you remeber what book you saw that in so I can read it and have the player read it?

Critters. I think the SR3 sourcebook also mentions it in the Dragons & Spirits chapter under Innate Spell.

Thanks again, I will check it out.

I believe it's set at Medium damage as well, but that can still be staged.

If not otherwise specified, it is usually assumed to be base Medium.

~J

More good info, thanks again for the help.

now, here's my question, what skill do they use for staging up?

And if it's Sorcery, and the Drake doesn't have that skill can they use their abilities at all?

It uses its Essence instead of both Sorcery and Force, as per Critters p11.

thank you

<sigh> MOre to catch up with. Drakes? What are they? And - they're a PC race?

Aye. Lots of spiffy powers. However hounded, sought after, or owned by dragons (not fun).

Drakes are in Threats 2, pages 72-80.
And again in Dragons of the Sixth World, pages 183-185.

It appears that Dragons created drakes to serve them eons ago. These created drakes (called True Drakes) look like short (2 to 3 meters tall) Dragons, but are dual-natured servants who can take on human form. At some point Drakes started reproducing with people, and their genes were passed down through the centuries. Today (2063) the magic level is high enough that some people who carry the genes spontaniously turn into their Drake Form. With practice, such a "Bred Drake" can control switching between forms.

There are rules for Drake Player Characters in Dragons of the Sixth World. Their major drawback is that Bred Drakes are hunted by the real Dragons.

Apparently back during the Earthdawn period, the Fourth World, a young girl called Aardelea stumpbled accross some old magical tomes in a cave - muy suspicious IMO - which she read and somehow managed to get the Pattern of a Drake melded with hers. Which would make her the first bred Drake and mother of the racial sub-set as it were.

Probably a silly question, but why are the Dragons hunting the Drakes? Are they some kind of threat?

Partially, but only because they may fall under the influence of another great dragon. They dragons want them as pawns more than they want to see them dead.

Not that kind of hunt, usually. They want the drakes working for them.

~J

It's also not just *any* dragon. The books mention that it's the Great Dragons that want "pet" drakes. I get the impression that having a drake ally/pet/companion/hetero life-mate grants a dragon additional powers. There's no indication of what these powers might be. However, ya gotta figure that Dunkelzahn knew what was going on when he adopted Ryan Mercury. So, a PC drake isn't just being stalked by "run of the mill" dragons. Instead, they're contending with Lofwyr, Hestaby, Lung, Rhonabwy, et al.

IMO, that means you're going to have to be playing a very high powered game before they become viable PCs. Also, the Draco Foundation is looking for Drakes so that they can "take care" of them. YMMV on just what "take care" means.