Roc feather 3 air elementals cores and an invisible stalkers heart to make an windcutter arming sword allows the blade wind cantrip 240 long range 60 short range. Deals 2d6 damage per hit allows multi attack including its cantrip and is a plus 3 weapon.
God help the adventuring party who has to deal with an Awakened Roc. A bird of prey that size with the intelligence of a person is quite aware of just what it can do besides instinctively hunting large prey. An Awakened Roc could easily become a demi god to a aerie of giant eagles, or some other primitive avian species. If it ever learned to cast spells it could easily become quite the competitor to even the most fearsome dragons in it's territory, launching lightning bolts or using control weather on the wing to turn most any fight in it's advantage. A Roc Cleric with access to the Air Domain would be equally as deadly causing massive hurricanes and tornados at a whim.
And all of the Kenku squawked in unison making a rather unpleasant sound then you feel the very air around you ripples and vibrate visibly you feel your bones go ice cold as a torrent of wind buffets the party seemingly out of no where.
When in doubt, consider what a creature was "bred for/created for." Since Rocs were created by Giants to aid in hunting Dragons, when the Giants are ready to fight Dragons, they bring along some Rocs and have them standby for when a Dragon starts to retreat. And it makes sense that a Roc would spend a turn flying back to a healer located far off the battlefield, then return to attack a Dragon and risk a Breath Weapon. I was thinking you could even set things up: A Giant hurls one of it's boulders into the air, a Roc swoops along at the top of it's arc, grabs the boulder, and proceeds to where it can drop that boulder on a target.
Perhaps a group of tinkerer and artificer gnomes got together with the finest dwarven craftsmen to make Roc ships... indistinguishable from a real Roc on the outside... but inside it’s a whole airship... combine that with spelljammer and you got yourself a Space Roc!!!! ✨🦅
Chultan or Jungle Roc - basically the Harpy Eagle of Rocs. The same body size as the typical Roc but with shorter wings to maneuver through the trees(lower flight speed, higher Dex), enlarged claws to help with controlling the snakes and crocs that are found in these habitats when hunting(+Dam, advantage on grapple), and an Immunity to poison due to generations of exposure to the toxins of both the flora and fauna found in jungle environments. Inner Sea or Shoreline Roc - the Stork of Rocs. Legs almost the length of the body for standing in water up to 40 ft deep while hunting small whales and sharks of the coast(80 ft. height when standing, Claw range 25 ft.), elongated neck to allow it to reach its feet to snatch prey out of the water(Beak range 30 ft.), with a more gracile and slender build that average Rocs(lower Con, higher AC). Osselander or Sand Skimmer Roc - desert Roc, not based on actual bird. Lower food and water reqs than normal Roc, smaller body size and enlarged wings to reduce energy expenditure while flying and gliding(higher flight speed, lower HP), Claws face backwards for raking the sand while flying to catch prey burrowed into the sand(no stat effect, just flavor to establish that it hunts creatures that sleep under the sand during the day), resistance to fire damage due to natural adaptations of desert living. Bug Eating or Tree Braker Roc - a Roc that wants to be a Woodpecker. Hunts giant insects by pecking rapidly at large trees, giant wasp/bee hives, and giant termite mounds to bore through them and expose its prey(2/3 Beak attacks per round, double damage to structures, Tremorsense to 30 ft., until start of next turn if it hits with a Beak attack), reduced size compared to normal Roc( - Con, + Dex, + AC, - Dam), doesn't fight using claws(no Claw attack). Miniature or Flocking Roc - Roc Finches. Greatly reduced overall size( 20 ft tall, 45 ft wingspan, lower flight speed, - HP, + AC, - Dam), forms flocks of up to 12 Roc(+ Int), works in groups to take down large prey or corral groups of smaller prey(pack tactics). Flocks are led by a female, which are larger than males(30 ft tall, higher stats). A flock will have only one female, who leads males on hunts and lays eggs. Favored males take part in hunts while lesser males care for eggs and young.
If you want some giant wading birds, I would recommend looking up the Ziz. To my knowledge, nobody's really done much with it because references to it are pretty few and far between, but at least one mention of it specifically talks about it wading in the deep ocean.
I like to imagine Anachrome as being populated mostly by Bird Races, with creatures like Rocs being worshipped as Ancestors but also feared because of obvious reasons.
I once saw one of the Auburn Golden Eagles catch a small bird ,with only one talon, that got into its cage and had been bothering it. It didn't eat it. It just slowly squeezed that little bird out like a feathery tube of toothpaste. Lesson: Don't bother eagles.
DM: "You look to your right and see a giant Roc flying at you from 300 feet away." Player: "Can I see who launched it?" DM: "Launched it? It's flying." Player: ? DM: "A Roc." Player 🤨...😶
Some of the first dnd art I remember seeing when I was wee, was the Roc from the 2nd edition monstrous manual. You could really see the terror in the eyes of that tiny elephant, if you looked close enough.
"When was the last time you've seen an elephant leap off a tall building and walk away?" I mean... Admittedly never, but I can't say that I've ever seen an elephant leap off of *any* building.
Hmm, never thought about using rocs as a sort of equalizer for wilderness encounters that are going badly for the party! That's a clever idea! Naturally it works best with larger monsters that would attract a roc's attention and appetite, but that's a useful trick for DMs to have in their back pocket!
I really like that idea with the Hill Giant. I may incorporate that into a game. Party gets set upon by a Hill Giant while camping only to have a Roc show up and kill it. Could be useful as a way of giving magic item to the party when needed and would probably scare the crap out of them!
I looked deep into these beasties when I was a teen when I learned that druids and rangers consider them part of nature. I came to the conclusion that they, like dragons, sleep most of the time. That way, they are not depleting the nature of all the fauna. They would also have a population explosion and a larger activity cycle if things they would hunt and eat also had a population explosion. I also tweaked some breeds to have a super-efficient metabolism akin to other monsters and giants, making them need far less food relative to their size that let them actually need far less food and drink. Put a Ring of Sustenance on the claw of one of them (and watch in fascination as the ring shows off its size-adjustment properties rather quickly) and you have a Roc that only needs the food and drink in time, mass, and cost akin to having a griffon. Rocs were mere animals to be killed in random encounters back then. I am glad they are real beasties now. I do love your sage videos here, AJ.
Rocs are cool, and I was really glad one appeared in Rime of the Frostmaiden; I just sort of wish it didn't seem like a greater threat than She did, and I'm uncertain how best to justify it NOT just grabbing one of the party,swooping off, and up sine distance, and either dropping them to their death, or into the frozen sea; taking them out of combat, regardless. I have long had a bit of an ambition to pull an encounter with a storm giant riding a roc, and using it as an out-of-range platform, from which to hurl rocks, or shoot lightning, and occasionally maybe do a grab & drop of a party member. They really seem like they could be a neat, dangerous encounter.
I've heard the Sinbad stories with Rocs in them, but I've only ever heard the name "thunderbird", never anything about them. How do they differ from rocs?
In my homebrew world I have a Roc as a legendary mount for my BBEG. Circe, the artificer queen of the Avariel Empire rides atop her massive rock named Storm Shadow. The massive creature has been given magic items by its master, and is incredibly loyal. The two make a terrifying team and I have it equipped with an item that allows Circe to teleport Storm Shadow to her side at will. If you thought you could ambush the queen and she'd bee alone, you were dead wrong. Any thoughts on this idea? Would love some feedback.
Pretty good but i say its shouldn't work in rooms ro small for the roc to fit. So she like open areas and large rooms so its possible to get her alone but it will warp the roc to the closes avaliable space and it trys to get to her desperately
@@jameswilliams2075 I love that idea, so if the players want to be tactical, they can try to manipulate her into going into a small room. Thanks, I hadn't considered that.
Got a strange request here: I've been doing a lot of research in how a dragon would actually behave in the wild and one of its predators was the roc. Funny thing is that because the dragon has a higher intelligence (like far higher), I see the dragon using bait and traps to take out the roc by forcing it into an area the roc cannot maneuver in so well and becomes easy prey the second it hits the ground. Remember, most dragons have underlings that work for it as well, and I don't see it ending well for the roc. And this is just one of many ways a dragon would beat a roc. It seems the roc is the dragon's prey, not the other way around. Is this assessment correct or am I missing some key information on how the battle would go?
Would you consider a puma, or a cougar, to be a human's prey? Only in as far as the danger is expected and prepared for. It is a danger due to size, and disposition. How prepared are you if you walked outside to go to work, and plan your day, for a you sized or bigger hunk of fearless hungry muscle to attack you out of the sky? Do you plan for that often?
The Roc would attack like any other bird of prey (mainly raptors). Swoop in from above and hit the dragon on the head out neck area stunning it so that it either does from the impact or falls to the ground then dies. Raptors know that they can't take many hits thus they use their superior speed and hit and run tactics to win the day.
@@neatmcneats4473 that’s different a dragon is more then prepared to take on any type of creature that suddenly jumps out at it it’s a apex super predator that’s also happens to be a genius and naturally good at magic while a roc is just a big bird not sure how they hunt dragons at all
Actually they have less hp than that in Volos, it has 10 in that book on average. But I’d argue that 15 is a good ish number given that this makes them much hardier than an average horse and 3x as tanks as a person
Hitpoints are not just how much physical damage something can take. Also measure the ability to avoid fatal wounds when it takes damage, pain tolerance and fight IQ, among other things. Cows might have big, tough bodies, but they can't (for instance) twist on a blade to get vital organs out of the way and take a flesh wound, thus surviving a stab that may have been a heart stab or gut buster.
@@johntheherbalistg8756 while I agree with the sentiment, a horse and a cow are equally good at avoiding damage I would imagine, it would still seem logical to me for a cow to have more
>sees thumbnail aww man, can I work that one dragon-seenzin-the-distance scene into a dragon vs roc scene? Idk if they have that kind of dynamic.. >1:20 YYYYYYYYEES!
Real world condors can cover 100 miles in a day, while the long distance record for a human hang glider is around 475 miles. I'd figure a roc could do at least 100 miles a day, and perhaps twice as much
Imagine a group of storm giants who used these things the same way Falconers use Falcons. Or a nomadic tribal people who take these things down as a right of passage and make weapons from the talons and beak. Maybe a village of desert people who have to leave elephants and camels out once a week to keep away the Roc that nests nearby. I’ve got some writing to do! Lol
@@cryamistellimek9184 I think he was expecting us to use our usual tactic of using a cubic gate to get out of there but I had dropped it (cause I thought it was funny and didn’t realized how much danger we were in) while trying to get into our shelter. DM was kind enough to not go all out using the dragon though.
Funny thing is that the Wood Elves, in certain parts of the lore like in Tolkien & WarHammer can have them along side Griffins & Hippogriffs, but like them they are often times classefied as semi sentient creatures, so yeah if you are visting a Wood Elf homesteads or colony, or hidden glade, be nice or these things will tear you in half, Now there feathers will shed mothly, and ar of value both to mages, druis, shaman and wood elf archers, and while yes you can tame one, they are on the no, no list for mounts, unless you are living with wood elves, the main reason is they are not the types to like stables, granted neither Griffins & Hippogriffs at first, the latter is easy being half horse while the other takes a couple if days to get used to it, Rocs on the other hand no, feeding them is easy you just have to teach them not to eat people, they are quick learners, if you by live the coast they can be very usefull by notyfing incoming ships if there is traffc jam in the port or its full, also they can dive for tuna, they mate for life btw.,
I still think such massive creatures should not be plentiful. Dragons are territorial not just of such rival animals but other dragons. So anywhere claimed by a dragon(and that should be pretty much anywhere there isn't a large population of giants) there should be precious few creatures that could possibly threaten the dragon. Maybe going in cycles as the dragon wakes up from naps. I can see populations of Rocs in giant controlled territory though. Even then I would assume they make sure to control the population size. Anyway the dragons large and powerful enough to claim territory should be their domains relatively free of the really nasty things. Same for the Giants. They would defend their territory and would want to be rid of, what would be to them, pests. So as such I would think the places that would have large numbers of the super predators would be places already much more ferocious than the prime plane. The outer planes where divine will could make a comfortable home for them. Or a convenient storage closet. Like Carceri.
Its crazy you just did a video about the roc! My favorite manga one piece has a main character that just recently used a move Thats inspired by this magical beast
AJ! I know it's not really what ya do but have you ever thought of doing a collab lore video? Just as example, like you and Mrrhex doing the whole lore dance together and bouncing ideas and information off each other. Not sure how well it would work but figured I'd put the idea there xD
Hello AJ, great video! I remember the original video, you had us flying over mountains & trees in the beginning of that video. Always enjoy the pictures you use in your videos. Was pleasantly surprised with the Giant Owl picture @7:50. Appreciate the bonus lore on the Roc's, two headed roc, king of roc's, feather uses. I like the idea of being fanned by a giant roc feather. Thanks AJ & have a wonderful day.
If it's on the ground, and fighting adventurers wouldn't it need the other claw just to stand. Now if it's swooping in, yes most definitely, double grapple away!
@@Amknownas_743great_explainer well yeah most eagle proportionally have talons as large as bears depending on the species. Harpies can get as large as grizzlies
I've had an artificer make a sword with balor bones planes hoping npc provided him with. It involved getting acquainted with the local temple of God an it's clergy. Was alot of fun.
Amazing video and you show how powerful the Roc is if it is understood. If i had the means i would ask for a video on the Falxugon but for now i will juat say your videos are a gift.
Had a few of these in the campaign I'm currently part of, they were attacking a coastal town's livestock and they hired us to take them out. My character almost died, but we managed to kill them and then the town had a huge bonfire feast that night with roc meat
@@AJPickett I raise chickens and I have seen a hawk miss a game hen and when she revised hes landed she beat him like there was no tomorrow then the rest of the flock joined in least to say it was a slow death
@@jameswilliams2075 jeeze, poor bird. I'm surprised you didn't try and stop them, but not surprised the chickens acted that way, mine act the same with snakes and pest predators
How long do you think it would take a Roc hatchling to develop it's first flight feathers? I've had the good? Fortune of feeling obliged to adopt one after carving one of my allies from it's mother's stomach ':)
You forgot the Star-bangled Bald Roc! Native only to Merica of Acheron, they rely heavily on the ability to conjure a rain of metal projectiles, and explosive eggs infused with the power of primal fire. Very prideful, and self righteous, they sometimes appear above battles they have nothing to do with and attempt to get involved.
Getting on it's back is easy...*staying* on it's back long enough to grind down it's hit points without the beast dislodging you from sheer wind-force alone, now that's a different matter. "Do a barrel roll, Fox!"
A magic item components series would be amazing. Now that artificers are official WoTC needs a components compendium
Indeed!
Roc feather 3 air elementals cores and an invisible stalkers heart to make an windcutter arming sword allows the blade wind cantrip 240 long range 60 short range. Deals 2d6 damage per hit allows multi attack including its cantrip and is a plus 3 weapon.
I've been writing something like this in my spare time and strongly suspect that it will never be finished 😆👍
Please! I got an alchemist in the party and I’m running out of ideas 😂
Hill Giant: I have you now puny manlings! Wait what's that sound?
KA-KAW!
The smart hill giant: "Where is my spear?"
@@durnsidh6483 smart is relative. humans aren't smart compared to some creatures. the women are the smart hill giants.
@@frankyflowers Ah, thanks for the clarification.
Fetty Wap will never have to worry about a giant attack.
God help the adventuring party who has to deal with an Awakened Roc. A bird of prey that size with the intelligence of a person is quite aware of just what it can do besides instinctively hunting large prey. An Awakened Roc could easily become a demi god to a aerie of giant eagles, or some other primitive avian species. If it ever learned to cast spells it could easily become quite the competitor to even the most fearsome dragons in it's territory, launching lightning bolts or using control weather on the wing to turn most any fight in it's advantage. A Roc Cleric with access to the Air Domain would be equally as deadly causing massive hurricanes and tornados at a whim.
Thanks for the BBEG idea!
And all of the Kenku squawked in unison making a rather unpleasant sound then you feel the very air around you ripples and vibrate visibly you feel your bones go ice cold as a torrent of wind buffets the party seemingly out of no where.
That lady's and gentlemen is called a thunder bird that's big time magic with the natives of america.
Imagine being a farmer and one day you see two grown cows be carried off and drops 1d6 feathers that are worth twice as much...
That is called Capitalism by happy accident.
Bitter sweet.
"Well at least he paid well..."
Thus begun the Fast Food industry. The farmer's name was Ronald.
@@Battleguild colonel Ronald McWendy, the king of Taco Bells.
When in doubt, consider what a creature was "bred for/created for." Since Rocs were created by Giants to aid in hunting Dragons, when the Giants are ready to fight Dragons, they bring along some Rocs and have them standby for when a Dragon starts to retreat. And it makes sense that a Roc would spend a turn flying back to a healer located far off the battlefield, then return to attack a Dragon and risk a Breath Weapon.
I was thinking you could even set things up: A Giant hurls one of it's boulders into the air, a Roc swoops along at the top of it's arc, grabs the boulder, and proceeds to where it can drop that boulder on a target.
I love that boulder interceptor idea!
In a world with airships, would rocs ignore them or have a big case of "**** off you, get out my skies?"
Poison tipped crossbow bolts and onboard balista should be enough to make Rocs reconsider.
Perhaps a group of tinkerer and artificer gnomes got together with the finest dwarven craftsmen to make Roc ships... indistinguishable from a real Roc on the outside... but inside it’s a whole airship... combine that with spelljammer and you got yourself a Space Roc!!!! ✨🦅
Rocs can be engulfed by the dreaded Papr but can easily defeat Scissr 🪨📜✂️
Chultan or Jungle Roc - basically the Harpy Eagle of Rocs. The same body size as the typical Roc but with shorter wings to maneuver through the trees(lower flight speed, higher Dex), enlarged claws to help with controlling the snakes and crocs that are found in these habitats when hunting(+Dam, advantage on grapple), and an Immunity to poison due to generations of exposure to the toxins of both the flora and fauna found in jungle environments.
Inner Sea or Shoreline Roc - the Stork of Rocs. Legs almost the length of the body for standing in water up to 40 ft deep while hunting small whales and sharks of the coast(80 ft. height when standing, Claw range 25 ft.), elongated neck to allow it to reach its feet to snatch prey out of the water(Beak range 30 ft.), with a more gracile and slender build that average Rocs(lower Con, higher AC).
Osselander or Sand Skimmer Roc - desert Roc, not based on actual bird. Lower food and water reqs than normal Roc, smaller body size and enlarged wings to reduce energy expenditure while flying and gliding(higher flight speed, lower HP), Claws face backwards for raking the sand while flying to catch prey burrowed into the sand(no stat effect, just flavor to establish that it hunts creatures that sleep under the sand during the day), resistance to fire damage due to natural adaptations of desert living.
Bug Eating or Tree Braker Roc - a Roc that wants to be a Woodpecker. Hunts giant insects by pecking rapidly at large trees, giant wasp/bee hives, and giant termite mounds to bore through them and expose its prey(2/3 Beak attacks per round, double damage to structures, Tremorsense to 30 ft., until start of next turn if it hits with a Beak attack), reduced size compared to normal Roc( - Con, + Dex, + AC, - Dam), doesn't fight using claws(no Claw attack).
Miniature or Flocking Roc - Roc Finches. Greatly reduced overall size( 20 ft tall, 45 ft wingspan, lower flight speed, - HP, + AC, - Dam), forms flocks of up to 12 Roc(+ Int), works in groups to take down large prey or corral groups of smaller prey(pack tactics). Flocks are led by a female, which are larger than males(30 ft tall, higher stats). A flock will have only one female, who leads males on hunts and lays eggs. Favored males take part in hunts while lesser males care for eggs and young.
If you want some giant wading birds, I would recommend looking up the Ziz. To my knowledge, nobody's really done much with it because references to it are pretty few and far between, but at least one mention of it specifically talks about it wading in the deep ocean.
@@brianroberts783 I will look into this.
Harpy eagles give me the heeby jeebies, they stare at you like you are a king size portion of monkey.
@@AJPickett Well....I mean....they aren't wrong. I am a essentially a hairless monkey with a diet high in fats and sugars, so I know I taste great.
Roc penguin that hunts whales and kraken.
What about a roc sized owl bear
A roc would make quite an impressive shoulder pet for the avatar of some greater pirate god
Odin, Moradin, Annam... yeah man, I can dig that :)
@@AJPickett well, Odin is more of a Raven person but the other two, certainly.
Prime time to have some elemental portals near a few roc eggs and then we got some real scary legendary birds. If only just to steal from pokemon
I like to imagine Anachrome as being populated mostly by Bird Races, with creatures like Rocs being worshipped as Ancestors but also feared because of obvious reasons.
your voice has become a common sound in my computer room and I love it, thanks again AJ!
Thanks Ryan :)
I once saw one of the Auburn Golden Eagles catch a small bird ,with only one talon, that got into its cage and had been bothering it. It didn't eat it. It just slowly squeezed that little bird out like a feathery tube of toothpaste.
Lesson: Don't bother eagles.
Impressive beasts :)
The party Goliath is that bird
DM: "You look to your right and see a giant Roc flying at you from 300 feet away."
Player: "Can I see who launched it?"
DM: "Launched it? It's flying."
Player: ?
DM: "A Roc."
Player 🤨...😶
🤣 the way it went over that players head is classic. How did it end?
Gives a whole new meaning to the statement, "Rocs fall, everybody dies".
Some of the first dnd art I remember seeing when I was wee, was the Roc from the 2nd edition monstrous manual. You could really see the terror in the eyes of that tiny elephant, if you looked close enough.
Wingspan of 200ft? The statue of liberty is 150ft lol
Awakened rock cleric with the strength domain.
"When was the last time you've seen an elephant leap off a tall building and walk away?"
I mean... Admittedly never, but I can't say that I've ever seen an elephant leap off of *any* building.
Hmm, never thought about using rocs as a sort of equalizer for wilderness encounters that are going badly for the party! That's a clever idea! Naturally it works best with larger monsters that would attract a roc's attention and appetite, but that's a useful trick for DMs to have in their back pocket!
I inform, I inspire 😎
I really like that idea with the Hill Giant. I may incorporate that into a game. Party gets set upon by a Hill Giant while camping only to have a Roc show up and kill it. Could be useful as a way of giving magic item to the party when needed and would probably scare the crap out of them!
I looked deep into these beasties when I was a teen when I learned that druids and rangers consider them part of nature. I came to the conclusion that they, like dragons, sleep most of the time. That way, they are not depleting the nature of all the fauna. They would also have a population explosion and a larger activity cycle if things they would hunt and eat also had a population explosion. I also tweaked some breeds to have a super-efficient metabolism akin to other monsters and giants, making them need far less food relative to their size that let them actually need far less food and drink. Put a Ring of Sustenance on the claw of one of them (and watch in fascination as the ring shows off its size-adjustment properties rather quickly) and you have a Roc that only needs the food and drink in time, mass, and cost akin to having a griffon.
Rocs were mere animals to be killed in random encounters back then. I am glad they are real beasties now.
I do love your sage videos here, AJ.
Nice work on the video- Roc On!
Rocs are cool, and I was really glad one appeared in Rime of the Frostmaiden; I just sort of wish it didn't seem like a greater threat than She did, and I'm uncertain how best to justify it NOT just grabbing one of the party,swooping off, and up sine distance, and either dropping them to their death, or into the frozen sea; taking them out of combat, regardless. I have long had a bit of an ambition to pull an encounter with a storm giant riding a roc, and using it as an out-of-range platform, from which to hurl rocks, or shoot lightning, and occasionally maybe do a grab & drop of a party member. They really seem like they could be a neat, dangerous encounter.
Ok, we have the flight speed for a golden eagle but, what is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?
African or European?
@@AJPickett i don't know that. *gets launched into a gorge*
One of the only predators of dragons... holy smokes!
I've heard from some tales that they may never actually touch the ground, and perhaps 'dip' in and out of aery realms...
Time to put pen to Paper, because this video is gonna ROCk!
See Roc.
Name it Dwane Johnson.
Smell what it is cooking.
I remember stories about Rocs being called that, because they would pick up boulders and drop them on creatures to kill them before they swoop in.
Actually *adjusts glasses* it's from the Persian 'Ruhk' which is why castles in chess are also called Rooks.
Now imagining teenage noble girls fawning over simurg feathers like those rainbow ink pens in middle school
Hear's "Simurgh"...Instant WORM flashbacks. Different thing, different lore, but fuck me that shit is terrifying.
Yay!
10 IQ: Roc
100 IQ: Big borb
let's hope this time it won't be taken down lol
Yep, no worries now.
New D&D group name for a party of bards:
Roc & Roll
I approve
one of my favorite monsters in the game.. great job
To think such a mighty beast can be brought down by simple, lowly paper...
great video! truly solid as a...
The giant bird from Arabian folklore I wish we got The Thunderbird from Native American folklore
I've heard the Sinbad stories with Rocs in them, but I've only ever heard the name "thunderbird", never anything about them. How do they differ from rocs?
Isn’t Thunderbird in DD?
@@flibbernodgets7018 North America folklore, the great spirit of haven and storm in the form of a giant eagel.
In my homebrew world I have a Roc as a legendary mount for my BBEG. Circe, the artificer queen of the Avariel Empire rides atop her massive rock named Storm Shadow. The massive creature has been given magic items by its master, and is incredibly loyal. The two make a terrifying team and I have it equipped with an item that allows Circe to teleport Storm Shadow to her side at will. If you thought you could ambush the queen and she'd bee alone, you were dead wrong. Any thoughts on this idea? Would love some feedback.
Pretty good but i say its shouldn't work in rooms ro small for the roc to fit. So she like open areas and large rooms so its possible to get her alone but it will warp the roc to the closes avaliable space and it trys to get to her desperately
@@jameswilliams2075 I love that idea, so if the players want to be tactical, they can try to manipulate her into going into a small room. Thanks, I hadn't considered that.
@@danielturner1249 ya but they better work quick or else a very angry roc is gonna tear the roof of the save is master. Let me know how it goes
Shoulda named her Snake Eyes, watch out for Hasbro copywrite lawyers😁
@@Jeremycook_ Beat me to the punch
See, now, THAT is weird. Literally used a Roc in my session yesterday. Ever the psychic, AJ.
WeeOoweee. 👽
Got a strange request here:
I've been doing a lot of research in how a dragon would actually behave in the wild and one of its predators was the roc. Funny thing is that because the dragon has a higher intelligence (like far higher), I see the dragon using bait and traps to take out the roc by forcing it into an area the roc cannot maneuver in so well and becomes easy prey the second it hits the ground. Remember, most dragons have underlings that work for it as well, and I don't see it ending well for the roc.
And this is just one of many ways a dragon would beat a roc. It seems the roc is the dragon's prey, not the other way around.
Is this assessment correct or am I missing some key information on how the battle would go?
I've been doing research on fake shit too.
That sounds possible. Dragons can take on a humanoid form act as a leader for a group of humanoids and then have those humanoids do the work for them.
Would you consider a puma, or a cougar, to be a human's prey? Only in as far as the danger is expected and prepared for. It is a danger due to size, and disposition.
How prepared are you if you walked outside to go to work, and plan your day, for a you sized or bigger hunk of fearless hungry muscle to attack you out of the sky? Do you plan for that often?
The Roc would attack like any other bird of prey (mainly raptors). Swoop in from above and hit the dragon on the head out neck area stunning it so that it either does from the impact or falls to the ground then dies. Raptors know that they can't take many hits thus they use their superior speed and hit and run tactics to win the day.
@@neatmcneats4473 that’s different a dragon is more then prepared to take on any type of creature that suddenly jumps out at it it’s a apex super predator that’s also happens to be a genius and naturally good at magic while a roc is just a big bird not sure how they hunt dragons at all
Why do cows have such low hitpoints they're big powerful tanky creatures
Actually they have less hp than that in Volos, it has 10 in that book on average. But I’d argue that 15 is a good ish number given that this makes them much hardier than an average horse and 3x as tanks as a person
Hitpoints are not just how much physical damage something can take. Also measure the ability to avoid fatal wounds when it takes damage, pain tolerance and fight IQ, among other things. Cows might have big, tough bodies, but they can't (for instance) twist on a blade to get vital organs out of the way and take a flesh wound, thus surviving a stab that may have been a heart stab or gut buster.
@@johntheherbalistg8756 while I agree with the sentiment, a horse and a cow are equally good at avoiding damage I would imagine, it would still seem logical to me for a cow to have more
@@craigbainton4173 I agree that they should have more than 10, but probably not much more. An adventurer should be easily able to one shot them
This and a cuppa tea to start my day, thanks AJ from Kansas
To dip into Spelljammer, odds that a Rocs could fly up and out to hunt Kindori? Possibly nest somewhere in the Tears of Selune?
Possibly.
>sees thumbnail
aww man, can I work that one dragon-seenzin-the-distance scene into a dragon vs roc scene? Idk if they have that kind of dynamic..
>1:20 YYYYYYYYEES!
A roc stole the corpse of a yeti my party killed. I was really looking forward to some yeti fur boots. :(
Tell your DM I salute them.
Yeti fur boots cost 5 times the amount of regular boots but they're bear proof
Real world condors can cover 100 miles in a day, while the long distance record for a human hang glider is around 475 miles. I'd figure a roc could do at least 100 miles a day, and perhaps twice as much
Imagine a group of storm giants who used these things the same way Falconers use Falcons. Or a nomadic tribal people who take these things down as a right of passage and make weapons from the talons and beak. Maybe a village of desert people who have to leave elephants and camels out once a week to keep away the Roc that nests nearby. I’ve got some writing to do! Lol
Giants rode them in the war vs dragons
Fighting a Roc and then an adult red dragon directly after is hard
Dm has dragon doing swooping attacks too. Made it so much worse.
@@john_mystery does your DM hate you?
@@cryamistellimek9184 I think he was expecting us to use our usual tactic of using a cubic gate to get out of there but I had dropped it (cause I thought it was funny and didn’t realized how much danger we were in) while trying to get into our shelter. DM was kind enough to not go all out using the dragon though.
@@john_mystery You could have used true strike, the dragon would have been dead in half a second. Rookie mistake.
@@cryamistellimek9184 party was of a fighter, a wizard low on spells at that points and my barbarian fighter. We didn’t even have a healer.
Other flying creatures that could be mounts for heroes or villians or, perhaps just mounts in variation across the editions be sweet vid/s.
I like Chaos Roc
I was just thinking about that!
_alchemists following Rocs around for their unsightly ammonia nitrate deposits_
*My name is a Dokutah Sutoon*
Imma find myself a yellow Roc and Imma invade Sesame Street.
It might be hard to find. I remember a bunch of singing kids kept asking me how to get to Sesame street.
I could see one hunting a behir like hawks hunt snakes
That's a spicy snek
Funny thing is that the Wood Elves, in certain parts of the lore like in Tolkien & WarHammer can have them along side Griffins & Hippogriffs, but like them they are often times classefied as semi sentient creatures, so yeah if you are visting a Wood Elf homesteads or colony, or hidden glade, be nice or these things will tear you in half,
Now there feathers will shed mothly, and ar of value both to mages, druis, shaman and wood elf archers, and while yes you can tame one, they are on the no, no list for mounts, unless you are living with wood elves, the main reason is they are not the types to like stables, granted neither Griffins & Hippogriffs at first, the latter is easy being half horse while the other takes a couple if days to get used to it, Rocs on the other hand no, feeding them is easy you just have to teach them not to eat people, they are quick learners, if you by live the coast they can be very usefull by notyfing incoming ships if there is traffc jam in the port or its full, also they can dive for tuna, they mate for life btw.,
i thought there was a diffrence between giant eagles and rocs?
@@thehillz726 Same species only size differs,
Wish you would do more vids per week hhaha ive binged all your content ive run out
I am but a mortal man...
I still think such massive creatures should not be plentiful. Dragons are territorial not just of such rival animals but other dragons. So anywhere claimed by a dragon(and that should be pretty much anywhere there isn't a large population of giants) there should be precious few creatures that could possibly threaten the dragon. Maybe going in cycles as the dragon wakes up from naps. I can see populations of Rocs in giant controlled territory though. Even then I would assume they make sure to control the population size. Anyway the dragons large and powerful enough to claim territory should be their domains relatively free of the really nasty things. Same for the Giants. They would defend their territory and would want to be rid of, what would be to them, pests. So as such I would think the places that would have large numbers of the super predators would be places already much more ferocious than the prime plane. The outer planes where divine will could make a comfortable home for them. Or a convenient storage closet. Like Carceri.
Thanks for another great video AJ.
Its crazy you just did a video about the roc! My favorite manga one piece has a main character that just recently used a move Thats inspired by this magical beast
Ooooh, that's what that comment was about... thanks Miggle Joe, you solved a mystery for me. (I should really watch One Piece).
I played a dwarf fighter in 3.5E who had a rideable baby roc once
flying, or was it a battle ostrich?
@@namekman01 Flying.
@@joshuajordan6278 nice
Haha, that’s not a rock, that’s a bird
AJ! I know it's not really what ya do but have you ever thought of doing a collab lore video? Just as example, like you and Mrrhex doing the whole lore dance together and bouncing ideas and information off each other.
Not sure how well it would work but figured I'd put the idea there xD
We did a live stream together with Jorphdan and Ted from Nerd Immersion last year, so, its not that far fetched and I am open to the idea :)
What :o ima have to see if I can find that when I get off work
Fun fact, Simurghs are actually based on another eagle of biblical proportions from mythology (I just don’t recall which mythology it’s from).
When my DM had me fight this I thought it was literally just a giant animated boulder
Do you smell what the roc is cookin?
Omelet.
Hello AJ, great video! I remember the original video, you had us flying over mountains & trees in the beginning of that video. Always enjoy the pictures you use in your videos. Was pleasantly surprised with the Giant Owl picture @7:50. Appreciate the bonus lore on the Roc's, two headed roc, king of roc's, feather uses. I like the idea of being fanned by a giant roc feather.
Thanks AJ & have a wonderful day.
Who are we kidding? Red dragons look at these things the same way we look at fried chickens.
Even red dragons think twice about getting a wing ripped off at 150 miles per hour.
If a party manages to beat one well time for some roc recipes maybe oven baked roc with herd garlic butter with a fine wine or a large mug of ale
Tastes like chicken!
@@tomkerruish2982 It really does.
@@AJPickett sounds delicious
If it's on the ground, and fighting adventurers wouldn't it need the other claw just to stand. Now if it's swooping in, yes most definitely, double grapple away!
Eagles are no joke in Hand to hand combat on the ground, wolves give them plenty of space.
We would be much more capable, as far as combat is concerned, if we had giant knives on the end of our fingers as well lol
@@Amknownas_743great_explainer well yeah most eagle proportionally have talons as large as bears depending on the species. Harpies can get as large as grizzlies
I knew harpies were large but wow. That's pretty epic in and of itself.
Pretty birds!
Peirs Anthony has a funny (imagine that) take on the Simurhg in several of his Xanth novels.
I've had an artificer make a sword with balor bones planes hoping npc provided him with. It involved getting acquainted with the local temple of God an it's clergy. Was alot of fun.
Amazing video and you show how powerful the Roc is if it is understood. If i had the means i would ask for a video on the Falxugon but for now i will juat say your videos are a gift.
Ah, the Harvester devil, good choice.
Rocs Fall Everyone Dies
*kisses fingers* perfect.
@@AJPickett I was originally going to post “is it a bird, is it a plane... it’s a plane sized bird”
But ^ is much more relevant
Had a few of these in the campaign I'm currently part of, they were attacking a coastal town's livestock and they hired us to take them out. My character almost died, but we managed to kill them and then the town had a huge bonfire feast that night with roc meat
ROC On TMG !!! 🤘🦅 Another Great Video 👍
Would a group of large animals like a heard of mega mammoths or dinosaurs be able to charge, ground and batter a ROK or is the bird to fast ?
I don't know, the Roc doesn't have a very high dexterity, so there is a slim chance.
@@AJPickett I raise chickens and I have seen a hawk miss a game hen and when she revised hes landed she beat him like there was no tomorrow then the rest of the flock joined in least to say it was a slow death
@@jameswilliams2075 jeeze, poor bird. I'm surprised you didn't try and stop them, but not surprised the chickens acted that way, mine act the same with snakes and pest predators
@@thehillz726 he had eaten my favorite silkie chicken i had no pity your not alowed to kill hawk in va but if the chickens did it 😅
@@jameswilliams2075 fair enough, if the hawk or osprey that killed my hens got caught by them doubt I'd be to quick to stop em
How long do you think it would take a Roc hatchling to develop it's first flight feathers? I've had the good? Fortune of feeling obliged to adopt one after carving one of my allies from it's mother's stomach ':)
Roc'k N Roll XD
Harpy Eagle's are pretty big and majestic almost like a mythical Roc
Can also be summoned in battle by the king of the pirates
wait did you say that anum created these to kill dragon?
oddly on point with one piece right now.
So I hear.
You forgot the Star-bangled Bald Roc! Native only to Merica of Acheron, they rely heavily on the ability to conjure a rain of metal projectiles, and explosive eggs infused with the power of primal fire. Very prideful, and self righteous, they sometimes appear above battles they have nothing to do with and attempt to get involved.
As American That Was Funy
Thanks.
I just got one for my fighter I just kept bothering my gm by sending him a certain song every day
this has been one of my favorites for 25 years, I've always wanted them to have a higher CR but oh well lol
Love this video!;First time I've heard of this creature was in Hero's ot might and magic
Have Ziz been done in D&D? Also, were there colossal Roks in previous editions?
This video had some awesome art!! I didn't know what I roc was for years. I kept thinking people were saying vrocks. Lol
Thanks, buddy. I needed one of these.
I just made a Seagull Roc statblock :P
This is perfect cuz one piece chp 1000 got everyone like "dah fuq is a Red Roc?!"
now i most do it ''the biger fish'' XD
If you get to their back with misty step [or something] ... it's more or less a Dead rok, no?
Getting on it's back is easy...*staying* on it's back long enough to grind down it's hit points without the beast dislodging you from sheer wind-force alone, now that's a different matter. "Do a barrel roll, Fox!"
Unless you fall off
Love this upload thanks man
Are Zakharan Giants considered children of Annam All-Father? Also could you do a video on Zakharan Giants?
Can you do a bit on Union? My second favorite planar metropolis... sorry QP.
Ya, see that Queen of Pain! I worshipped you for years and you never noticed.... With a lowercase "w"... I meant lowercase worship... Not THE FACE!
Centaurs must have a rough time
I would love to play as a High elf and have one of these as a mount
Why not play one of these and have a high elf as a mount instead? Lol
A large bird flies above you..he seems to have eaten recently..what is the white stuff falling from the sky?? Save vs death its roc droppings
The Roc drops the Hobbit's Claw on the giant.
How many coconuts could a Roc carry? Specifically a northern Roc?
Booooo....
I think they're non-migratory.