So, for 75 Karma and a 10 karma permanent quality, you get 162 karma+ of abilities.... And you want to make that an "always on if chosen so" ability???
I'm guessing you missed the part where I trivialized the need for dracoform mastery; demonstrating how it's stupid add-on at best and an Idiot Tax at worst.
C'est la vie.
No, in my opinion, Drakes are too overpowered for what you get and what you have to deal with..... But that is only my opinion. Especially if coupled with the mage or Adept template where your magic rating is 6 starting... that's 12 combat turns (NOT initiative passes!) of hardened armor, buffed up stats (that can exceed your base race stats), elemental attack, natural weapon, and hardened astral armor.... Yea, MORE then worth it...
Actually, it says "Rounds"; not "Initiative Pass" nor "Combat Turn". Hurray for ambiguous rules text!
In my opinion, I think you grossly overstate how "overpowered" drakes are in practice.
First, the stat boosts are only in Drake-Form, and do NOT push beyond augmented metahuman maximums.
Attributes are added to a character’s standard attributes and can exceed their metatype maximum while in dracoform.
Zero mention of "augmented maximum", so I can only assume this refers to the BASE, UN-AUGMENTED metahuman maximum; making the boosts no better than those from cyberware, bioware, drugs or magical boosts.
While I'm the subject of Dracoform attribute bonuses, I want to put this into perspective:
Plain Kamikaze, a mundane street-available drug provides just as much of a stat boost as that "OP drake power" (+5) and under RAW, works longer without penalty EVEN WITH THE WORST POSSIBLE ROLL (10 minutes). The only benefit the drake gets over the drug is it can switch off to avoid the penalty, but I want to reiterate that regular STREET PUNKS can get hooked up with this kind of power, and for FAR LESS than 75-145 Karma.
Again, I maintain if combat exceeds 11 "rounds" (that's me being generous and assuming it's Combat Turns) let alone TEN MINUTES, you've done goofed.
Second, with the exception of Underwater Adaptation and Vestigial Wings the default drake powers are entirely combat-focused, making drake-form worthless outside of combat or pure RP scenarios.
Combat characters are normally the realm of 'ware, but you can't stack 'ware of any kind with drake powers; RAW says all that stuff turns off as soon as you turn on the drake.
Nor is the drake boost superior to regular ware', as it tops out at +2 to any one attribute. I can easily create Standard Runners sporting 'ware in excess of +5 to attributes at character creation and unlike Drakes, I can focus those boosts where I actually want them.
Any opportunities for 'ware upgrades will only further widen the gap, since drake-form attribute boosts are static and cannot be improved by any means.
I'll just state right here that the best drake powers are those you buy as options after paying off the initial investment (Critter powers and Flight mainly); stuff that is actually difficult or impossible to replicate easily with gear/'ware.
Third, while you could install 'ware for non-drake builds, by doing so you're paying essence and degrading the karma investment you already made for your awakened + drake powers. (and if you DIDN'T choose an awakened role with a solid magic score...woe is you, for reasons I already described). Between that and the fact that ware switches off when in drake form, regular Street Sam builds are out of the running for all practical purposes.
So how about Decker drakes? Rigger drakes? Face drakes?
Congrats, you paid 75-145 karma for a wad of combat stats/powers you largely won't use in your realm of expertise, instead of spending that karma on actually being good at what you do.
(Face Drakes are doubly boned, as they need Transcend Form to use any of their powers without changing. Call me crazy, but methinks face-to-snout negotiations is a great way of outing yourself as a drake and building heat on your head. Unfortunately, Transcend Form sucks rocks because you have to resist physical drain EVERY SINGLE TIME you want to get use a drake power without shifting. At that point, why not just play a regular spellcaster or adept instead?)
Adept/Mage/Mystic-Adept Drakes fare much better due to better build congruence, but I weep at what I could be spending 75+ Karma instead: Learning rituals, spells, bonding Foci, Initiation and boosting your MAG attribute.
(fun fact, you could self-initiate a minimum of four times for the LOWEST price of being a drake. Or initiate twice and upgrade MAG 6->7.)
So all those karma "savings" you banged on about? Unimpressive in practical context.
In fact, I'd be so bold to say that outside of the Adept or the almighty Mystic Adept, drakes are a
strictly inferior option to non-drakes.
So to answer your challenge...
Why WOULDN'T I make a drake in your game??
...It's because being a drake is HILARIOUSLY inefficient for the majority of roles in the game even if it's karma efficient on paper.
And all of this assumes the GM is being generous, lazy, or an idiot and completely ignoring the Sword of Damocles hanging over every free drake's head in that little Wanted quality.
I'm not saying Drakes can't become very powerful characters; they can and in unique ways to other characters, but only after they've sunk literal dozens (if not hundreds) of karma into improvements.
It's heavily back-loaded power, and hardly a "Why should I take any other option" scenario, even by SR5's wonky RAW rules.
And thus, I will probably ban them from my table (along with infected, which are already banned for different reasons)
That's your prerogative.
If your GM is stupid enough to ignore the fact that a runner is being
hunted by GREAT DRAGONS as soon as they stick their little drake-y snout out into the world, then by all means, take advantage of their foolishness.
I allow drakes at my table so long as the player understands that I do not fuck around with the consequences of being one.
Getting outed as a drake at my table entails:
-Bounty hunters looking for a fat 5 figure (minimum) paycheck.
-Agents of great dragons (including other, more powerful drakes) aiming to kidnap you.
-Dragon-slayers trying to kill you purely on principle.
There's also the one encounter I have no direct control over: Your fellow runners.
They might see you as an easy payday or way out of a bad situation, especially if their drake runner is the one getting the rest of them into that situation with all that aforementioned heat on the drake's head.
