Cocatrice

Cockatrice

The Cockatrice is a fearsome and dangerous creature with a magical gaze that can turn other living things to stone.

Small Magical Beast

Hit Dice: 5d10 (27 hp)

Initiative: +3

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 60 ft. (poor)

Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 11

Base Attack/Grapple: +5/–1

Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d4–2)

Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d4–2)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Petrifying Gaze (30 ft.)

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision

Saves: Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +2

Abilities: Str 6, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 13

Skills: Intimidate +5, Listen +5, Spot +5

Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Weapon Finesse

Environment: Temperate plains, woodland

Organization: Solitary, pair, flight (3–5), or flock (6–13)

Challenge Rating: 4

Treasure: None

Alignment: Always neutral

Advancement: 6–8 HD (Small); 9–15 HD (Medium)

Special Abilities

• Petrifying Gaze (Su): Creatures hit by a cockatrice’s gaze attack must succeed on a series of three DC 12/13/14 Fortitude saves over the course of three rounds, or slowly turn to stone. The save DC is Charisma-based. Whenever a character succeeds on a save he or she has stopped the transformation for that round and may make another save against the next higher DC the next round. If the character succeeds on three successive saves, he or she has resisted the effect. Cockatrices have immunity to the petrification ability of other cockatrices, but other petrification attacks affect them normally.

• Undo Petrification (Su): A cockatrice may return any creature turned to stone by its own petrifying gaze to its former state at will.

Appearance

A cockatrice has the head and legs of a chicken, a serpentine body, and a pair of dragon-like wings. This creature also has a tooth-filled beak, glowing red eyes, a spiked tail, and a protective coat of greenish scales. A male cockatrice has wattles and a comb, just like a rooster. Females, much rarer than males, differ only in that they have no wattles or comb. A cockatrice weighs about 25 pounds. Though not much larger than a turkey, the Cockatrice is a close cousin of the Basilisk and the former creature is no less dangerous or sadistic than the later. In addition to its frightening appearance and petrification abilities, it is said that this creature has very foul-smelling breath (though nowhere near as toxic as a basilisk's).

Behavior

The cockatrice is a very territorial nocturnal predator that mostly eat rodents, snails, bats, spiders, frogs, and lizards. Any living thing that the cockatrice finds in its territory that's too big for it to eat is usually turned to stone via direct eye contact. The Cockatrice uses the victims of it's petrification stare to mark the boundaries of its territory and send a clear message to other monsters that share its forest habitat (such as Manticores, Cerberi, and Drakondas) to STAY OUT.

Trivia

• One of the most unusual things about the Cockatrice is its method of reproduction. Like many other creatures and animals, Cockatrices lay a single egg each season. However, instead of burying the eggs in rotting plant matter or sitting on them in order to keep them warm, the Cockatrice will place a live snake or toad on top of its egg until it hatches. This behavior baffles monsterologists, but the toad or snake seems to somehow help with incubation, as it's been observed that cockatrice eggs that DO NOT have a snake or toad sitting on them constantly will never hatch. This just raises even more questions. However, the snakes and toads do seem to benefit from this unusual relationship as they are the only animals that a cockatrice will neither eat or turn to stone.
• In very rare cases, the Cockatrice can be intimidated into undoing its own petrification stare. Victims of petrification wake up with a bad headache similar to a hangover and no recollection of being turned to stone, but are otherwise unharmed. However, when a cockatrice dies or is killed, the petrification spell immediately reverses on its own and any and all victims are returned to their original state.
• It is presumed that if the victim were damaged while they are petrified, the damage would become permanent and possibly even lethal. Luckily, there are no known instances of a petrified victim being damaged, as the stone that they appear to turn into seems incredibly hard and a Cockatrice's chosen territory usually has very soft ground.
• The Cockatrice's petrification stare requires direct eye contact with the victim in order to work. Looking at the creature though especially thick goggles or in a reflection has no effect.