Proto Drakeborn [Drakeborn]

Proto drakeborn are not tall, but they are skeletal and gangly, with clawed hands, crocodilian snouts and coarse scales of metallic brass, a sign of the brass dragon eggs they came from. They were a forerunner of the more successful brass drakeborn.

They fight well with claws or weapons but are nervous, almost paranoid about their numbers and weaknesses. Unless forced, they attack only when numbers, surprise or a clever plan favor them, so their starting morale is just 8. Once melee actually begins (they use no missile weapons), a blood frenzy takes over: they stop checking morale for the rest of the fight, ignore casualties, and gain +1 on saves against fear spells such as scare and fear.

Their claws are good enough that they often skip weapons, picking one up only when it offers something claws do not, such as reach. A slain proto drakeborn bubbles and rots in a single round, leaving a puddle of slime.

They were among the first experiments to survive when evil lords began twisting good dragon eggs. Because they lived and fought well when they did fight, they were bred in great numbers for a while. Over time, though, problems mounted: cowardice, a tiny yield of viable young from each brass egg, and sudden berserk rages against anyone nearby. Rather than waste effort killing thousands, their makers dumped them in the ruins of a fallen ancient realm.

There they formed tribes of 1d100+50, each ruled by a 5 HD chieftain (THAC0 15, claws 1d8/1d8), living in abandoned villages and cities. Stronger, more numerous hobgoblins rule the open plains, so the tribes have fortified their ruins with traps, rockfalls, dead ends, hidden passages and secret sally ports. The tribal headquarters always sits at the center, reached by two or more routes, with camps the creatures call divisions spreading outward. Each division of 1d20+10 guards a post or hunts a set territory.

Having been made rather than born, they come in one sex, called male for convenience, and have no young or dependents. Every member is a warrior, making them the most fully mobilized people in the region, and this is slowly giving them the upper hand.

They are carnivores but mostly scavengers, unwilling to hunt the dangerous plains for long, so nearly all are underfed. Little wonder they will eat almost anything offered, hobgoblin included.