Draconic Lore

[Messageboard Golem]

This book contains more than thirty new species of dragon with which to torment, tempt, and delight your players. Will they face the aw-inspriing might of the dire dragon or cower before the mind-destroying horror of the cthonian dragon? Perhaps one of them will be lucky enough to acquire the loyal and fearless guardian drake as a bodyguard, or ride across the planes of existance on the back of the regal planar drake.

The dragons in this bestiary were created to fill specific roles in your campaign. Whether you need a particularly challenging encounter to spring on your players of just want to add a touch of exotic flair to your world, Draconic Lore has just the dragon you need.

 

[johnsemlak]

Disclaimer--I haven't used any material so far. This is a review of the PDF version available in a secure ebook (DRM) format at DrivethruRPG for $5.

The book is rather short, only 66 pages, so it is a bit less than I expected (still OK at $5, but realistically, in the PDF market that's an average price-per-page value, if that). Among other DRM restrictions, the document has a cut-and-paste limit of 10 times per 10 days.

Its format is also very simple. The book is basically a compendium of varient dragons and dragonlike creatures--a very focused monster manual of sorts. There are no chapters on dragon culture, physiology, role-playing dragons, prestige classes, etc.

The PDF has no bookmarks, but there is a useful alphabetical listing of the creatures at the beginning.

The monster entries take up about two pages each, and each one has an illustration (all B&W). A few examples:

• Cavern Dragon: a varient dragon that permanently lives underground and is blind
• Cthonion Dragon: A horrible creature created from dragons by Mind Flayers
• Dire Dragon: a primative dragon reduced to basically a large lizard
• Dragonshark
• Dragoth: a race of humanoid dragons
• Entropic Dragon: a dragon whose breath weapon ages the victim
• Molten Dragons: dragons who live in molden lava in volcanoes
• Tome Lizard: a small magical lizard, suitable for a wizard's familiar.
• Vermin Dragon: a hybrid of blue dragons and various arachnids
• Wooly Dragon: a White Dragon varient living in even more extreme cold climes.

There are also several varients of drakes.

The book is 3.0 compatible. It could take a bit of work to convert if you're really precise about that sort of thing.

If what you are looking for is a compendium of varient dragons, this is a useful book. Other Dragon books (there aren't that many really: the Slayer's Guide to Dragons, Draconomicon, and Mongoose's later Dragons; any others?) cover the topic much more broadly.