Drik, High

''A bipedal reptilian horror as tall as a beasthead giant, this creature sports a thick, horned carapace and rows of razor sharp black teeth that drip a vile ichor. Its hide is dark red, with thickly writhing veins protruding from beneath the skin and its jagged carapace is dark grey, flecked with sickly green.''

Tactics
In battle high driks are formidable opponents, making full use of their spells and natural abilities, to the ruin of many an enemy. They will typically use troops under their command to tackle their foes, supporting from a distance with their spells.

They do not shirk from melee combat, however, and relish going toe-to-toe with half-giants and other heavy opponents. High driks wield a variety of weapons in combat, including swords, clubs, spears and tridents – all appropriately sized for the drik grip.

In personal combat, a high drik favors damaging spells and will seek to incapacitate other spellcasters using its sorcery and then deal with warriors and their kin as swiftly as possible. All melee attacks are augmented with a poisonous bite wherever possible and a high drik often selects its spells purely to augment its melee abilities. In addition to this, high driks are known for harnessing the agonizing effects of defiling magic and using it as a strategic tool in combat and prefer class progressions that enhance this aspect of their spellcasting.

Description
The high drik is a hideous mutation, created from an unborn drik and a sorcerer-king‘s foul magic. Currently, Hamanu of Urik is the only sorcerer-king known to possess the lore to create high driks, but it is quite possible that another will uncover the secret of their creation – or that someone may have done so previously to Hamanu, their deeds and name lost to the sands of memory.

High driks are bipeds, but retain a shrunken form of the carapace common to their unaltered cousins. Their claws are three-taloned, as opposed to four, and they develop venomous saliva that complements their already ferocious bite. High driks are intelligent and the intense magical energies that they are subjected to in ovo give them a natural affinity for defiling magic.

A high drik stands 18 feet high and weighs 3,500 pounds.

High Driks as Characters
High drik characters are most often wizards or psions, with some complementing their natural combat potency with levels as fighters. When advancing as a wizard, however, the high drik retains the spell progression granted him by his racial Hit Dice and instead adds +1 caster level as a wizard (defiler) for each level of wizard that he gains.

High drik characters possess the following racial traits.
 * +16 Str, +4 Dex, +8 Con, Int +4, -2 Cha
 * Huge size. –2 penalty to Armor Class, -2 penalty on attack rolls, -8 penalty on Hide checks, +8 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits quadruple those of Medium characters.
 * Space/Reach: 15 feet/10 feet
 * A high drik‘s base land speed is 40 feet.
 * Low-light vision.
 * Darkvision out to 60 feet.
 * Racial Hit Dice: A high drik begins with eight levels of magical beast (augmented animal), which provide 8d10 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +8, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +6, Ref +6 and Will +2.
 * Racial Skills: A high drik‘s magical beast levels give it skill points equal to 11 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Concentration, Intimidate, Knowledge (any), Listen, Search and Spot.
 * A high drik‘s magical beast levels give it three feats.
 * Weapon Proficiency: A high drik is proficient with all simple and martial weapons.
 * +10 natural armor bonus.
 * Natural Weapons: 1 bite (2d6), 2 claws (1d8).
 * Special Attacks (see above): Poison, spells.
 * Special Qualities (see above): +1 wizard caster level per
 * Racial Hit Die.
 * Automatic Languages: Common, Drik. Bonus
 * Languages: Urikite.
 * Favored Class: Wizard.
 * Level Adjustment: +5.