Puddle Drake
Medium Dragon (Water)
Hit Dice: 6d12+24 (63 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 40 ft.
Armor Class: 19 (+3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+9
Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d8+3) and 2 claws +4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Darkvision 90 ft., immunity to
sleep and paralysis, low-light vision, puddle jump, scent
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +6
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +9, Listen +8, Move Silently +9, Spot +8, Survival +1*, Swim +11
Feats: Alertness, Lightning Reflexes, Stealthy, Track(B)
Environment: Any aquatic
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 7-12 HD (Medium); 13-18 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +3 (cohort)
This human-sized creature has a mostly draconic appearance. Its two legs end in sharp claws. Two large frills project from its ears. A trio of sharklike fins run down its back, ending in a lobsterlike tail. Its coloration is dark indigo, nearly black on its face, while its eyes are red.
Although puddle drakes look incredibly dangerous, their temperaments are more akin to a dog than a dragon. Puddle drakes make excellent companions, and can be trained to perform most tasks that one might train a dog to perform: fetch, roll over, and so forth. They are fond of humanoids, and delight in serving as pets and traveling companions for people living near coasts, swamps, and other bodies of water. Although they can breathe air and move about on land, puddle drakes always prefer to move through water when possible.
Puddle drakes dine mostly on fish, but will supplement their diet with small water-dwelling mammals if fish are scarce.
A typical puddle drake is about 7 feet long from nose to tail, and weighs about 300 pounds.
Puddle drakes do not speak, but often hiss and bark while playing or to alert their companions to danger.
Combat
A puddle drake generally avoids combat, unless its master is threatened or it is trained to attack. When it does battle, it uses its puddle jump ability to strike with surprise, using its bite and claws to deadly effect.
Puddle Jump (Su): A puddle drake can travel between puddles as if by means of a
dimension door spell. This magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some body of water with a diameter of at least 3 feet. The distance is only limited by the puddle drake's line of sight. Puddle jumping is part of the puddle drake's move action, and counts as 10 feet of its movement for the round. Thus, a puddle drake can swim 10 feet, then jump to another body of water (costing 10 feet of movement), leaving it with 20 feet of its remaining swim speed.
Skills: A puddle drake has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line. *Puddle drakes have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.
Training a Puddle Drake
A puddle drake can be trained using the Handle Animal skill, but the DC of such checks are 5 higher than that of a typical animal. Puddle drakes are typically trained for fighting, hunting, or performance.
Puddle drake eggs are worth 3,500 gp apiece on the open market, while young are worth 7,000 gp each. Professional trainers charge 1,500 gp to rear or train a puddle drake.
Any chance of seeing a write-up of the Kromaggs?
