Cocatrice

Cockatrice

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: 3

Treasure: None

Alignment: Always neutral

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

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.

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.

• Stare-Down (Ex): A cockatrice attacking someone with a gaze attack may be locked into a contest of wills. If the character succeeds on a Fortitude save against the gaze attack, he or she may try to stare-down the cockatrice the next round instead of making another save to resist the petrification effect. This is resolved by an opposed Intimidation check. If the character wins, he or she has subdued the cockatrice and may demand of it to stop the attack, or return another petrified character to normal.

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