It is a bike I am now leaping back upon - one change to the format is I will no longer be going alphabetically due to the incredible tedium of the 'D' doldrums (Demons, Devils, Dragons...ugh) and will instead be relying on the far more scientific methodology of having my girlfriend semi-randomly pick a monster or taking suggestions from the gallery. Without further ado....
The Guard Drake.
The lady of the house chose this with a singular extortion that it is 'pretty'. As a sort of canine dragon it combines the majesty of the dragon with the stolid loyalty of the canine in order to create a design that implies neither, really. The Guard Drake is a creature I've used only once in the same way I utilise rice - I chucked them into a concoction where they didn't really fit to bulk it out a little - the monster equivalent of a few extra calories.
Drakes in general bore me (I am not a fan of the 'little dragons' school of monster design) so the Guard Drake will need to hustle.
Art
The art for the Guard Drake gives us two specimens to work with, and I like how they work together: one more aggressive, raised, scenting the air - another more cringing and servile. They have a real character to them - especially the blue's baleful and mocking expression. This replicates the dynamics and personality of a pack of guard dogs. I think the artist has done well with a brief that essentially comes down to 'A rubbish dragon that's also a dog(?)'. It helps me fit Guard Drakes into a definite mold in the game-world.
The art for the Guard Drake gives us two specimens to work with, and I like how they work together: one more aggressive, raised, scenting the air - another more cringing and servile. They have a real character to them - especially the blue's baleful and mocking expression. This replicates the dynamics and personality of a pack of guard dogs. I think the artist has done well with a brief that essentially comes down to 'A rubbish dragon that's also a dog(?)'. It helps me fit Guard Drakes into a definite mold in the game-world.
Purpose and TacticsA Guard Drake seems unlikely to be the focus of an encounter or quest - they're a disposable threat with little intelligence or capacity to cause much havoc .
As mentioned above, the Guard Drake is a fairly dull addition to an encounter. As a low-level boss monster it is totally rubbish - its a bag of hit-points and damage your players will rapidly pinata to death - with fairly weak mental saves and an AC of 14 it will rapidly be disabled and slaughtered by any vaguely competent adventurers. Their damage output maxes out at less than 20 damage a round, so against level 2 characters there's no way they're seriously a party before dying.
Even the variants do not add very much - Resistances are circumstantial (and less likely to be relevant in low-level play) and the movement advantages require you to set the terrain against the players. If you're using a Guard Drake, give it an advantage in mobility and surprise with the variants. Having a White Guard Drake ambush from burrowing or a Black one use a body of swamp-water to target the softer Player Characters make them a more engaging foe.
Guard Drakes work best, as their name implies, as an extra body in a more complicated encounter. In this instance, a bag of hitpoints and multiattack can be useful to bulk out an encounter without adding complexity - a Red Drake climbing on a a cliff face with a Hobgoblin Devastator and some Hobgoblins can give them some extra muscle without any abilities you need to track or aim in particular. Like the Demon Hezrou, some simple muscle can be an excellent addition to an encounter where you're already remembering spell lists, rider effects and environmental complication. They are solid carbohydrates for your players to chew on whilst all the other nutrients do more exciting things.
I can only assume they gave the +2 Perception so that the Guard Drake has a good chance of catching adventurer's sneaking into some wizard's tower or necromancer lair and summoning the big guns - I do rather like the idea of a Red Guard Drake coiled up in the fire at its masters' side. They've even given them Darkvision despite the fact Dragons and Drakes don't possess it presumably so that the Guard Drake can perform that role.
The fluff makes them fairly easy to insert anywhere in that it is rather vanilla (fear not, I will not further burden you with food metaphors at this point) magic ritual that produces them - you could easily throw this out and make them breedable and subsequently sellable.
Fluff
Most of the fluff simply establishes that these are fairly useful guard-animals that learn quickly and imprint on a master - it is workaday prose which doesn't inspire me to use the Guard Drake and also another example of the quintessential 'made by an evil god' D&D trope. The best relationship in terms of hooks is the presumably complex and idiosyncratic one with a real big bad and plot relevant monster, the titular Dragons. Do dragons approve? Are they repulsed by this mockeries of Dragonkind? Are they engaged in the business of creating them? How do dragon cults view these creatures?
Unique among monsters is the idea that Guard Drakes are essentially a controllable resource - whilst Manticores and Basilisks are rampaging threats the Guard Drake has been tamed and created - a sort of scaly construct. This means quests and plot hooks probably revolve around controlling, trading and propagating Guard Drakes, rather than just giving one a kicking.
Plot Hooks
Kauldrvist, Death on Wings, Sovereign of Scales, Dragon-King of the Blood-Red Mountain has noted with horror and rage the proliferation of mockeries of dragon-kind to be used as beasts of burden by mere fleeting mortals. This transgression must be answered in blood - you must find the location from whence these beasts are constructed and excise this sin.
The Hobgoblin Legions have a secret weapon in their Guard Drakes: they greatly multiply their forces and sniff out anyone who tries to break into their fortresses by stealth. In the difficult terrain of the Wastes, they can climb bare cliff faces and plunge through toxic swamps - they burrow out of sight and strike with deadly efficiency. The Dwarves of Kuldunigrut would love to have the secret of breeding their own force of Guard Drakes, and would pay handsomely for it.
The Sorceror Montpellerien has a great menagerie of Guard Drakes in his harem, but has not been seen in many years and is broadly considered to be a mouldering corpse, still waited on by elemental servitors and guard by a force of scaly sentinels. Will you brave their jaws to plunder his wealth?
Verdict
An honest, serviceable, blue collar sort of monster. No-one's going to remember the Guard Drakes as the highlight of your campaign, but they are a perfect no-frilled roadbump - and what use are frills on a road-bump?
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