Armor Class
11
Hit Points
27
(6d6 + 6)
Speed
20 ft., fly 40 ft.
STR
6
(-2)
DEX
12
(+1)
CON
12
(+1)
INT
2
(-4)
WIS
13
(+1)
CHA
5
(-3)
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages
--
Challenge
1/2 (100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus
+2
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw against being magically petrified. On a failed save, the creature begins to turn to stone and is restrained. It must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn. On a success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified for 24 hours.
Description
The cockatrice looks like a hideous hybrid of lizard, bird, and bat. It is infamous for its ability to turn flesh to stone.
This seems rather op
I am going to try to give it to my party
I made a cockatrice warlock and he is my actual favorite character I have ever played. He's going strong into level 13 soon! He was a normal cockatrice until he was captured by poachers. He was gonna be soled at an auction. The ship got attacked by sahuagin pirates and sunk though. Right before he was gonna drown, he was contacted by Slarkrethel (they were near purple rocks) and he struck him a deal. If he would become a warlock of Slarkrethel, he could continue living. Being a normal cockatrice, he just pecked at the contract, which counted as signing it. He woke up on the beach with an intelligence of 18 and warlock powers. He became skilled and trained, eventually joining an adventuring party. We were all level 3, but we are now level 12. He landed the final blow on the BBEG of that campaign with a decisive eldritch blast! He is celebrated and considered a gift from the gods by the church, along with the rest of the party! We reprised our characters. At first, Vel Rargav was a normal animal, then the laughing stock of a party, then a respected ally, then the face of the party, then a true hero. I'm so proud of my little chicken dragon lizard thing!
i luv my little chicken dragon boi
These things are fun and as long as you only put a few into a fight they are marvellous. I love them and am thinking of making a version closer to the actual cockatrice of Greek mythology.
I was informed by the spouse that they thought the pronunciation button was going to be the creature's roar a'la Pokemon and the fact that it is not is a disappointment
So he's a warlockatrice?
Cute
I really like the large beasts from the Witcher series, and the cockatrice there (with the griffin) is much stronger and larger. I feel that it should be physically stronger and larger.
No...he's a cockalock.
Me and my party fought 2 cockatrices and our halfling sorcerer got in the front and got petrified.
...but only for 24 hours? To me this is an fun tool to have a TPK that doesn't end a campaign. the party wakes up a day later in a dungeon or in a cockatrice nest miles away or something. The law might use them to catch criminals instead of hounds (a cock-a-cop unit), or BBEGs to bring back runaway captives.
I never think of these guys flying for some reason
I expected a Cockatrice would be more.... Intimidating. Thankfully, as a DM, I can adjust this for my players because yeesh
About to have my party fight a few flocks of these for a Thanksgiving oneshot.
I know what the first sidekick my PC's get is going to be.
can it talk because that whoud be cool
Op
Its CR is only 1/2. I know you're saying it's op due to its petrifying abilities, but look at its feeble damage and hit points. It's actually most likely realistic, if not UP, of the actual version in mythology. This thing isn't a threat- it has 27 hit points and a fly speed of 40 feet. On the other hand, the longbow has a range of 150/600 feet. If anybody in your party has a longbow, ANYBODY, then all you need to do is shoot at it from 145 feet away or so. Considering its speed, any character with even a semi-good Dexterity modifier and some luck can easily have this thing dead before it even gets to you. Plus, note if it actually manages you to bite you, its anti-petrifying DC is 11. That makes the DC 1 point higher than the DC for Easy Constitution checks, and saving throws are different because you can apply your proficiency bonus to them. Point given: minimal hit points, tiny DPR, fairly low saving throw DC.
This thing is nothing compared to a basilisk.
When looking for monsters to pit against my players, I saw cockatrice as a low level monster and thought the writers were nuts. Then I read through the description and laughed. Fifth edition has turned hard ball into T-Ball. A Cockatrice in the original game would strike fear into a player’s heart. Now, they are weak, grant multiple saves and have limited duration on their effects. The game has been dumbed down and there have been a bunch of training wheels added.
Having said all of that, the changes do make the game more survivable with easier rules to remember. This is probably a very good idea for luring in younger and newer players. I started up a game with a group of friends on line a few months back. All of us are over 50 and remember the old days, but appreciate the simplification of this edition, especially when relearning a game we haven’t touched in a few years. As a DM, I find that the rules do not explain certain features well enough, only to discovery that the subject had no complexity at all. That’s the learning curve...getting used to fewer rules.