| The Great Avians |
| The great avians share few traits, be it personality, origin, or reason for their existence. However, all great avians become quite immense over time, and age at the same rate. Great avians include a variety of bird-types including the roc, the largest of the great avians, the great raven, the bird of Dyaramis, and the great hawks and eagles, protectors of the elves. Throughout their lifespans they continue to grow until reaching the age of elderly, upon which they stop growing and their strength begins to decrease. Great avians tend to die around 600 years of age. All great avians speak auran, and those with an intelligence of 10 or higher speak common. Great Eagle Great Hawk Great Raven Roc Great Snow Owl Combat A great avian attacks with its powerful claws and beak, and can also use special physical attacks, depending on its size. It prefers to fight on the wing, being able to move in and out of the opponent�s reach. Older, more intelligent avians are adept at sizing up the opposition and eliminating the most dangerous foes first (or avoiding them while picking off weaker enemies). The table below provides space and reach statistics for great avians of various sizes, plus the natural weapons a great avian of a certain size can employ and the damage those attacks deal. Great Avian Space/Reach, Attacks, and Damage Size Space/Reach 1 Beak 2 Claws 2 Wings Tiny 2-1/2 ft./0 ft. 1d3 � � Small 5 ft./5 ft. 1d4 1d4 � Medium 5 ft./5 ft. 1d6 1d6 � Large 10 ft./5 ft. 1d8 1d8 1d6 Huge 15 ft./10 ft. 2d8 2d6 1d8 Gargantuan 20 ft./15 ft. 4d8 4d6 2d8 Colossal 30 ft./20 ft. 6d8 6d6 3d6 Beak: Beak attacks deal the indicated damage plus the great avian�s Strength bonus. A great avian also can use its beak to snatch opponents if it has the Snatch feat. Claw: Claw attacks deal the indicated damage plus 1/2 the avian�s Strength bonus (round down). The great avian also can use its claws to snatch opponents if it has the Snatch feat. Claw attacks are secondary attacks, requiring a �5 penalty on the attack roll. (Many great avians choose the Multiattack feat to lessen this penalty to �2). Wing: The great avian can slam opponents with its wings, even when flying. Wing attacks deal the indicated damage plus 1/2 the avian�s Stength bonus (round down) and are treated as secondary attacks. Frightful Presence (Ex): Many great avians learn to frighten and unsettle opponents. The ability takes effect automatically whenever the great raven attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Creatures within a radius of 20 feet x the great avian�s age category are subject to the effect if they have fewer HD than the great avian. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 great avian�s HD + great avian�s Cha modifier) remains immune to that avian�s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Great avians ignore the frightful presence of other avians. Spells: A great avian may know and cast arcane spells as a sorcerer of the level indicated in its variety description, gaining bonus spells for a high Charisma score. Spell-Like Abilities: A great avian�s spell-like abilities depend on its age and variety. It gains the abilities indicated for its age plus all previous ones. Its age category or its sorcerer caster level, whichever is higher, is the caster level for these abilities. The save DC is 10 + great avian�s Cha modifier + spell level. All spell-like abilities are usable once per day unless otherwise noted. Damage Reduction: Many great avians have damage reduction. Their natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Spell Resistance (Ex): As great avians age, they become more resistant to spells and spell-like abilities, as indicated in the variety descriptions. Keen Senses (Ex): A great avian sees six times as well a human in shadowy illumination and thrice as well in normal light. It also has darkvision out to 180 feet. Skills: All great avians have skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) x (Hit Dice + 3). Most great avians purchase the following skills at the maximum ranks possible: Listen, Search, and Spot. The remaining skill points are generally spent on Concentration, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Sense Motive, at a cost of 1 skill point per rank. All these skills are considered class skills for great avian. (Each dragon has other class skills as well, as noted in the variety descriptions.) Feats: All great avians have one feat, plus additional feats based on Hit Dice just like any other creature. Great avians favor Alertness, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (claw or beak), Wingover, and any metamagic feat that is available and useful to sorcerers. Great Avian Age Categories Category Age (Years) 1 Hatchling 0�8 2 Young 9-20 3 Adult 21-40 4 Old 41-80 5 Ancient 81-200 6 Grand Avian 201-350 7 Elderly 351+ |