[SwampFox]

So yeah, my last character I built, I got it into my head that I wanted to play a Drake.  I'd built several characters before that had the Latent Dracomorphosis quality, but the GM never really took me up on that.  Looking at the BP cost, I just have to wonder if it was worth it.

[UmaroVI]

No, Drakes blow. The only reason to play one is if you really, really want to be a dragon, in which case you probably don't care how bad you are at life.

[Chrona]

*cough*Hydra*cough

[SwampFox]

You can't play a Hydra drake as far as I know.  Only the four drake subtypes: Western, Eastern, Feathered, and Leviathan.

[Tsuzua]

Even if you could play as a hydra drake and get all the heads, I'm not too impressed.

You can get 9 melee attacks as a complex action for 65 BP.  Or I could be a mage and just stunball then.  Or use a grenade.  Hell, I likely could make a suppressive fire master who's roughly as good and subtle as a hydraman for that much.

[BSOD]

For the BP not really in terms of mechanic, and on the RP side you have contend with Drakes being of general interest to magical researchers. Plus their possible connections to Dragons (great and not so) might garner them more attention. Then again their connection to Dragons (great and not so) could be really interesting RP/Story-wise.

[Chrona]

I and others statted a Hydra Drake quality and there was discussion on it here http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=3989.0 (whether you can make Drakes of other Dracoforms/morphs is discussed there too.)
In my opinion it'd be great fun to play in combat and out of combat, just because stunball is effective and convenient doesn't mean everyone goes mage right? Same for grenades, etc, it's just adding variety

As for the BP being worth it, part of the price is the uniqueness you could bring to a drake.

[UmaroVI]

Well, yeah, that's the idea. If what you really want is to be a dragon, and you're OK with being comparatively weaker to do it, go for it. If you want you can min-max in other ways to make up for being a drake, and if the rest of your group is playing characters of a similar power level it will be fine. If what you want is Real Ultimate Power, drake is very far from the path to it.

[Cthulhutech]

All I'm going to add to this discussion is this: Eastern drake with a big-ass machine gun.

Seriously, how could you NOT consider that just for the coolness factor?

[Charybdis]

All I'm going to add to this discussion is this: Eastern drake with a big-ass machine gun.

Seriously, how could you NOT consider that just for the coolness factor?

Personally I'm hanging out to see a western dragon with a minigun and a stogie...

Jesse Ventura/Predator style

[John Shull]

Well, yeah, that's the idea. If what you really want is to be a dragon, and you're OK with being comparatively weaker to do it, go for it. If you want you can min-max in other ways to make up for being a drake, and if the rest of your group is playing characters of a similar power level it will be fine. If what you want is Real Ultimate Power, drake is very far from the path to it.

There are many storylines that a Drake could have a whole different perspective on.  It is a valid character choice.  As a starting character it has shortcommings but so do all characters in one way or another.  Then you run, get karma, and get better.  Having a fun character for the journey is the best thing for your game. 

[Charybdis]

There are many storylines that a Drake could have a whole different perspective on.  It is a valid character choice.  As a starting character it has shortcommings but so do all characters in one way or another.  Then you run, get karma, and get better.  Having a fun character for the journey is the best thing for your game.

Step 1: be a phys-ad or Mystic adept... take some improved reflexes, critical strike and penetrating strike
Step 2: Get erased PG (Rating 2)
Step 3: Spend 15 Karma to change breath weapon to Blast or Sound (instead of Fire)
Step 4: Initiation (Masking Metamagic)
Step 5: Profit! and Hide!

[John Shull]

There are many storylines that a Drake could have a whole different perspective on.  It is a valid character choice.  As a starting character it has shortcommings but so do all characters in one way or another.  Then you run, get karma, and get better.  Having a fun character for the journey is the best thing for your game.

Step 1: be a phys-ad or Mystic adept... take some improved reflexes, critical strike and penetrating strike
Step 2: Get erased PG (Rating 2)
Step 3: Spend 15 Karma to change breath weapon to Blast or Sound (instead of Fire)
Step 4: Initiation (Masking Metamagic)
Step 5: Profit! and Hide!

I like the overall strategy but I am thinking storyline wise.  A being who has to feel its higher in the food chain than the majority of the billions walking about and has to find a way to prove it and maybe find a seat at the big game with all the other lizards.  Get him a girl dragon like donkey did.  Only way is information and magics gathering to ones self and that's Shadowrunning.  Kinda want him to have some cold reading abilities like The Mentalist or at least Shaun Spencer of Psyche; perception, analystics, kensics, etc and maybe be a good astral reader.  Like him having dollar store dragon ability to size people up.  Really confidant but always trying to improve himself and stay a few steps ahead. 

After you game with the same crew for awhile when you start a new campaign everyone makes new characters and they are all everything I did right last time and nothing I did wrong from last time, with the rare always kinda wanted to try this or I have to be stuck with the Hacker cause I made my character last.  I try and head that off and really work on each new character being something like a set of motivations the player will jump into and run with.  Give them something new and different they are trying to achieve with each character and make it something they are into playing out.  It is assumed everyone wants to blow stuff up but it kinda blurs together without making the characters unique but user friendly.  So that's why I like the Drake because he will always have some unique angle from a lot of other characters.  So with a Drake I can tell him he is the love child of Kyle Morgan and Perianawyr, always call her Penny in game to avoid spelling that name, or everytime the character is Drake form and catches his look in glass I tell them that he is certain he favors Big D/Ghostwalker line.  You just can't do that with alot of other characters.