Erzsak’s Drake Riders is a PDF publication by
Highmoon Media Productions. The publication includes ten pages of content (and one additional page for the OGL legal stuff). Written by Daniel M. Perez, and illustrated by Marcio Fiorito and Rick Hershey,
Erzsak’s Drake Riders is a two-color book (red and black). It retails for $2.25
The production value of
Erzsak’s Drake Riders is solid for the gaming industry. The information hierarchy is clear, even if some pages are crowded a bit by boxed sidebars. All in all, this decent presentation is only strengthened by the art, especially Fiorito’s rendering of Ludvel Erzsak (commander of Erzsak’s Drake Riders) and his mount. The PDF is fantastically indexed for such a small piece.
Erzsak’s Drake Riders details a mercenary company of soldiers, accented and made unique by the namesake firedrake cavalry. Story-oriented material includes the organization’s background, code of ethics, command structure, unit sizes and models, prices for services, and prerequisites for joining. Fourteen new feats provide some goodies for characters that favor mounted combat. Rounding out the content are statistics for an average drake rider, and average firedrake, and NPC statistics for the commander of Erzsak’s Drake Riders.
Conceptually, Erzsak’s mercenaries are a flavorful bunch. The idea of having a cadre of warriors specially trained to ride drakes also a good one. This is high-fantasy stuff that respects the medieval roots of D&D, but also diverges from the hidebound idea of knights on horseback. And knights are really what Erzsak and his band are. Yes, they hire themselves out, but Ludvel Erzsak is the final arbiter of any contract. He does not abide tyranny.
In fact, Ludvel is a centerpiece for this whole book--his nature and life-story define the shape and credo of the Drake Riders. It’s really too bad that more detail wasn’t given to other prominent members of the mercenary band. Such an addition would have served to give this unique group a few more quirks.
The writing itself is quirky in places, a little worse than that in others, and contradictory in still others. An editor might have helped with some of the minor errors and continuity problems. One of the feats, Destructive Charge, is so poorly worded it just barely misses reading as if a character with the feat can turn any charge into a critical hit. In another place, the text states a supplicant seeking to join the mercenary band must demonstrate "above-average" ability with martial weapons, but the requirements to join only ask for a +1 base attack bonus and skill with two martial weapons (a sword and a spear). Similarly, Ludvel’s mount, Fulminous, is described as an alpha male, but his statistics are those of an average firedrake including the inaccuracies of those statistics.
Imprecision in the firedrake is limited, but includes improper attack bonuses (size is not considered) and a Hide bonus that is slightly off (same problem). Other, minor statistical hitches are also present. Ludvel Erzsak, for example, has a Mounted Great Cleave, a feat he cannot use because he doesn’t possess either the Cleave or Great Cleave feats. It’s also arguable that Ludvel should have the Leadership feat and Fulminous should be a cohort, but that’s picking nits.
Despite those nits, a few of the new feats are pretty good. Mounted Casting follows Mounted Combat and Mounted Archery, allowing a spellcaster to more easily make Concentration checks on a moving mount. Great Trample allows one to trample more than one foe as part of a mounted overrun, and actually has the benefit of being a bit clearer in application than the Fell Trample maneuver that’s part of the Cavalry Charger feat in
Complete Warrior. Many other feats can be translated into something better, but see the Critical Fumble section.
Critical Hit
The firedrake is a cool monster, full stop. Large and relatively smart (when compared to any animal), these dragons make not only good mounts for Erzsak’s Drake Riders, but good monsters in general. With their intelligence, it’s a sure bet they can be used for wicked purposes as well as good. (Just change that inappropriate "
Always neutral" for alignment into "
Often neutral"--they’re as smart as ogres, after all.) Pyrophoric blood is an ability that could be added to other dragons, or mimicked in a general acidic blood for all dragons. Other drakes deserve some treatment in this manner, because such dragons are great for an unusual challenge without pulling out the full-fledged variety of scaly monster. Of course, those who have
Tome of Horrors don’t need the firedrake, which has the added sad note of making one of the more enjoyable parts of
Erzsak’s Drake Riders unoriginal.
Critical Fumble
Readily apparent in this publication, unfortunately, is a lack of familiarity with the 3.5 rules. From style of presentation to some rules themselves,
Erzsak’s Drake Riders is rife with references that would be valid only if the first page didn’t read, "This product uses updated material from the 3.5 revision." If it were limited to the firedrake having multiple attacks listed under (what would properly be called) the "Attack" embedded header, the use of "Face/Reach" in other stat blocks, or the mention of move-equivalent actions, the problem wouldn’t be such a big deal. Unfortunately, the language in a few feats relies upon the 3.0 version of the Ride skill, while another feat allows armed trip attacks while mounted and without a "tripping" weapon, such as a light flail.
Coup de Grace
Erzsak’s Drake Riders is an interesting take on a fantasy mercenary company, but the execution is only middling. So, while the "fluff" material is fine and even original in places, the mechanics lack 3.5 compliance and, at times, are unclear. Ultimately, this fact dings playability as much as the reality that most of the material here is for DMs. Taken in its current form, despite the good concepts,
Erzsak’s Drake Riders just doesn’t have enough packing.
Final Score: 3.3 :\
Erzsak’s Drake Riders is available at
RPG Now.
This review originally appeared at
d20 Magazine Rack.
