A friend of mine is looking to include some less-typical fauna in their setting and has decided upon the prehistoric terror bird.
The only problem is, the existing stats are pretty lackluster.
We're looking for something that's in the CR2-3 range that feels unique without being needlessly complicated. Looking for comments and suggestions (apologies if the super abbreviated stat block is confusing. A lot of house rules going on, so let me know if something doesn't seem to add up or looks problematic):
N Large animal
Init +2; low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
AC 15, t11, ff13
26hp
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +3
Speed 50 ft.
Bite +7 (1d8+7) or 2 kicks +6 (1d4+2 and push)
Space 10ft.; Reach 10ft.
Powerful charge (bite 2d6+7)
Str 20, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 5
CMB+8 (+10 push); CMD20
Endurance, Run, Weapon Focus (bite)
Athletics +9*, Acrobatics +8*, Perception +10
*+4 jumping
Nah, just throw the JubJub Bird at them...
Whenever you can use a Vorpal beak, you should definitely DO THAT!
Regardless of level, always the JubJub... let them learn to run away...
Oh Brave Sir Robin, he bravely runs away!!!
The kicks seem unlikely to matter except in a situation that they're not smart enough to set up. Though they seem to be primary attacks which should be 1d4+5 damage, and two of those beats the bite when a full attack is called for.
The perception bonus doesn't seem to add up (I estimate +8 max). It might be another house rule of course.
Oh yes, the kick. I actually started with the stats of a heavy horse, which is where the half Str came from. Maybe just one kick, but it's a primary attack?
I was doing a little research, and it seems likely that these animals used their big ol' beaks for hunting, but would fend off attackers/scavengers with their kick, hence the powerful charge/push. I was thinking they'd charge at potentially prey with the bite and use an AoO to kick if anyone tried to close in with them.
Perception: I figured a giant bird of prey, even a flightless one, should get a racial bonus to Perception.
A few little adjustments:
N Large animal
Init +2; low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
AC 15, t11, ff13
34hp
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3
Speed 50 ft.
Bite +7 (1d8+6) or kick +6 (1d4+6 and push)
Space 10ft.; Reach 10ft.
Powerful charge (bite 2d6+6)
Str 19, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 5
CMB+8 (+10 push); CMD20
Endurance, Run, Weapon Focus (bite)
Athletics +9*, Acrobatics +8*, Perception +10
*+4 jumping
When I think of your monster, I kinda think of a large-sized Ostrich.
OstrichThis human-sized bird has a long neck and legs sprouting from a round body covered in fluffy gray feathers.
Ostrich CR 1
XP 400
N Medium animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 13 (2d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +1OFFENSE
Speed 60 ft.
Melee claw +4 (1d6+4)STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats EnduranceB, RunB, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+18 when jumping), Perception +8
SQ crouchSPECIAL ABILITIES
Crouch (Ex)An ostrich can hide in plain sight as a bush or shrub by crouching down and concealing its head and legs. It makes a Stealth check as normal, but anyone who observes it from within 30 feet automatically sees through the ruse.
ECOLOGY
Environment warm deserts or plains
Organization solitary, pair, pride (5–10), or flock (11–50)
Treasure noneAdult female ostriches average 6 feet tall and weigh about 220 pounds, with males averaging 7 to 9 feet and 250 pounds. Although they are likely to flee from predators when they can, ostriches are more than willing to stand and fight when trapped or defending their chicks; they’re known to kick even lions to death in defense of their young.
A trained ostrich has a market price of 80 gp, whereas an egg is worth 25 gp. Because it’s bipedal, an ostrich requires an exotic saddle.
Ostrich CompanionsAn ostrich can be taken as an animal companion by a druid. An ostrich companion possesses the following base statistics.
Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed 40 ft.; AC +1 natural armor; Attack claw (1d4); Ability Scores Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 11; Special Qualities low-light vision.
4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Speed 60 ft.; Attack claw (1d6); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex –2, Con +2; Special Qualities crouch.
===========================================
You might want to increase the Terror Bird's Move Speed to 60ft to put it more in line with an Ostrich. Also, the racial bonus to Jump for an Ostrich is much, much higher than yours. You might want to change that too? Other than those two things, looks good.
One thing that you may want to consider for beefing up the CR is increasing the Terror Bird's Str to 20-21, give it Intimidating Prowess Feat, and then in the Terror Bird's Special Qualities area is that he's Threatening; the Kick + Push comes with a Free Intimidate check to Demoralize for 1 round (Shaken).
Yes, a big, predatory ostrich. That's exactly what I was going for. The axe beak and terror bird stats just aren't doing it for me.
Hm. I didn't realize that the ostrich had a base speed of 60ft. But I guess that follows at least a little bit; they are a touch faster than horses.
I figured it might be reasonable to reduce the Str from 20 to 19 and add an extra hd; the heavy horse has some really wonky numbers because of that advanced template, so breaking away from that mold is probably a good idea. But maybe Str20 still isn't too crazy?
The ostrich has both Endurance and Run as bonus feats. If I gave this thing Power Attack, that's +6 (2d6+9) on the charge. Or I guess I could just give it Skill Focus.
And as for the bonus to jumping, the ostrich gets +12 for having a high movement speed, so it has no racial bonus at all. But that's probably all it really needs, especially when using a Str-based skill to jump. That would mean an average result of 31. That's actually really close to what an ostrich can do in real life.
You might want to do something about Terror Bird's AC too, now that I think about it. Most level 3 martials have +5 Str +3 BAB and Weapon Focus, not including things like Rage, Weapon Training, or Studied Target, so you're looking at +8 to +11ish vs. 15 AC. Maybe give it Natural Armor +1 or Dex 16-17, or do the Intimidating Prowess + Threatening thing upthread for -2 Att/Skill/Saves/Abils (Shaken)
I dunno. Most of the animal-type CR2-3 entries seem to have an AC of 14-15.
I'm not too worried about it; at least in the games we run, a lvl3 martial will typically have Str16 or 17 anyway.
The newest incarnation:
N Large animal
Init +2; low-light vision, scent; Perception +11
AC 15, t11, ff13
34hp
Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3
Speed 60 ft.
Bite +7 (1d8+7) or kick +6 (1d4+5 and push)
Space 10ft.; Reach 10ft.
Powerful charge (bite 2d6+7)
Str 20, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 5
CMB+9 (+11 push); CMD21
Endurance, Run, Skill Focus (Acrobatics), Weapon Focus (bite)
Athletics +9, Acrobatics +9, Perception +11