Pseudodragon [Dragonet]

Picture a red dragon shrunk to the size of a house cat and you are close. A pseudodragon's scales are fine and reddish brown rather than the rich crimson of its giant cousin, and its head bristles with little horns and needle teeth. The barbed tail is whip-thin, remarkably supple and roughly 2 feet long, which makes it longer than the rest of the animal.

It speaks mind to mind with a limited telepathy, and out loud it makes only animal sounds: a rough purr when content, a hiss when startled unpleasantly, a chirp when it wants something and a growl when angry. A companion can receive whatever the creature sees and hears from as far as 240 yards away.

The little jaws can deliver a nasty nip, but the tail is the real danger. It lashes out almost too fast to follow and gains +4 to hit. Anything it stings must save vs. poison or fall into catalepsy for 1-6 days, lying so still that onlookers will think it dead. When the trance ends the victim has a 75% chance to rise unharmed and a 25% chance to simply never wake.

Like a chameleon, a pseudodragon shifts its hue to match its background; in ordinary woodland it has an 80% chance to go unnoticed by anyone who cannot see invisible things. It has 60-foot infravision and sees invisible objects itself. Its considerable magic resistance can be lent to a companion through touch, which is one reason it loves to ride on a friend's head or drape itself over the shoulders and upper back.

These dragonets den in hollow trees or roomy caves deep in the forest. Only rarely do they bond with a human or demihuman, and anyone who calls one a pet will be firmly corrected. A find familiar spell can bring one, or an adventurer may meet one in the wild and talk it into the arrangement.

A pseudodragon looking for a partner trails its candidate unseen for days, reading thoughts and weighing whether the person's deeds are good or evil. A good candidate is then approached directly, and the creature watches the reaction: delight and a promise of tender care win it over, anything less sends it flapping away.

Many describe its temperament as feline. It will help so long as it is fed well, groomed and showered with attention, yet it can be haughty, fussy and reluctant. Full cooperation comes only when the companion treats it as the center of his world. Insults or rough handling make it leave, or stay and play pranks at the worst moments. It will never serve a cruel master.

Pseudodragons eat mostly meat, chiefly mice, voles and small birds, with some leaves, fruit and berries. Wild ones live alone and guard tiny hoards in their nests, sharing their larger kin's fondness for anything bright and shiny. Each early spring dozens may gather to mate, after which the sexes part. Females lay four to six speckled brown eggs that hatch in midsummer and raise the young alone. The creatures hibernate through winter, and the young depart the following spring to find mates. A pseudodragon lives 10-15 years. Eggs fetch as much as 10,000 gp and a hatchling up to 20,000 gp.