a big boy

not big enough

Beasts as a whole seem to be kind of a mess in this edition, but this one in particular bothers me for three reasons:

-It should be larger in order to be considered a giant vulture. I assume the Large size implies a wingspan of around 10 ft (~3 m), and that's certainly large, but it's barely larger than the cinereous vulture (which is the largest Old World vulture irl) or even the griffon vulture, not to mention condors and teratorns. I'd either change its name (perhaps Evil Vulture or something like that, given its alignment and behavior) or make it larger.

-It lacks an unique language. It's a minor complaint, but it bothers me because of its inconsistency with the other aligned "giant" creatures: eagles, owls and even elk have their own languages, so why don't vultures get one too?

-Most importantly, the actions make no sense. Since they're scavengers and thus don't need to hunt prey in order to survive, vultures have tiny talons in comparison to other birds of prey that aren't useful as weapons, but strong beaks in order to tear carcasses. Giving a vulture a talon attack is like giving a tiger a headbutt attack, and this isn't the only creature in the edition with this problem. Of course, you could say that, since this is a fictional vulture that does attack prey in order to make it die faster, it makes sense for it to have sharper talons than the usual vulture, but still they shouldn't be stronger than their beak. I'd at least swap its damage with that of the beak and change the multiattack to two talon attacks and one beak attack in order to keep the CR. And yes, I know this is a fantasy game and all that, but if you want a "giant" possibly evil flying bird with strong talons and beak you can just use an eagle. If you're gonna use a vulture that's intentionally similar to a real-life one, do it right.

I generally assume large to mean its body, not its wingspan. Also its description gives some insight 

into why it has a talons attack. "A giant vulture has advanced intelligence and a malevolent bent. Unlike its smaller kin, it will attack a wounded creature to hasten its end. Giant vultures have been known to haunt a thirsty, starving creature for days to enjoy its suffering."

Can't argue the language point though.

Pack tactics? Arenas vultures loners? Huh...

This is slander against vultures; if you want an evil vulture then fine, be insultingly stereotypical, but acting like an intelligent vulture would obviously be evil is slander against wonderful birds! What do giant eagles and owl eat? Don't they need to always murder to eat?

"Giant vultures have been known to haunt a thirsty, starving creature for days to enjoy its suffering."

That is why there probably going to be evil

But WHY? Why do intelligent vultures inherently enjoy the suffering of others? Slander! Slander!

Because asking too many questions like that will unravel so much in this game, that's why!

Why are giant vultures usually evil and are claimed to inherently have a malevolent bent? Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition claims neutral or even good giant vultures are an exceptional sight in their universes I guess.

For the evil bit, honestly, I think they're just projecting.  It's a giant vulture.  It's going to need to eat more than a normal sized bird and that means stooping to depths normal sized birds don't have to stoop to.  Attacking a wounded creature so you can eat it is just being practical.  The poor thirsty, starving creature probably feels like the giant vulture is enjoying their suffering, but more likely the bird is just staying around on the off chance that the creature dies so it can get a meal without having to resort to killing anything.  Food is hard to come by in the desert, and there's no sense in wasting a possible opportunity.  If the giant vulture actually was enjoying the creature's suffering, it would cause additional damage instead of just hanging around.

So under-powered compared to the Giant Eagle

Quote from Deserai >>

But WHY? Why do intelligent vultures inherently enjoy the suffering of others? Slander! Slander!

 

Because asking too many questions like that will unravel so much in this game, that's why!

 This is a vulture for a fantasy game world.  These mystical worlds are littered with much worse than this.  Also, since vultures feed on carrion, a more sapient vulture would predict a creature's suffering and try to bring about it's demise.  To a vulture, another creature dead means another harvest.  They have an Intelligence of 6, meaning they are smarter than the common vulture, but their thought processes aren't complex enough to experience complicated humanoid emotions, or contemplate major dilemmas.  Giant Vultures are still ruled by their bestial nature, but their modicum of sapience makes them smart enough to know that if a creature dies, the vulture can feed upon it's corpse.  Thus, Giant Vultures want to see creatures fall.     

Does anyone here think that the Giant Vultures are generally evil because they don't have an ability to speak like the other giant birds? Maybe one of them would be glad to be given the ability to speak normally like a regular humanoid. A quest line could start when a person can understand the vulture and the vulture asks them if they can find a way to get them to speak. Maybe they can even come along while they figure out a way for them to speak and possibly act as an extra party member.

Quote from EnchantedNinja12345 >>

Quote from Deserai >>

But WHY? Why do intelligent vultures inherently enjoy the suffering of others? Slander! Slander!

 

Because asking too many questions like that will unravel so much in this game, that's why!

 This is a vulture for a fantasy game world.  These mystical worlds are littered with much worse than this.  Also, since vultures feed on carrion, a more sapient vulture would predict a creature's suffering and try to bring about it's demise.  To a vulture, another creature dead means another harvest.  They have an Intelligence of 6, meaning they are smarter than the common vulture, but their thought processes aren't complex enough to experience complicated humanoid emotions, or contemplate major dilemmas.  Giant Vultures are still ruled by their bestial nature, but their modicum of sapience makes them smart enough to know that if a creature dies, the vulture can feed upon it's corpse.  Thus, Giant Vultures want to see creatures fall.     

 Not sure why that's hard to fathom for people in this game about ...checks notes... defeating monsters.

That would be as evil as watching your popcorn cook in the microwave and enjoying the popping sound.

The thing is that it’s due to the unjustified bad reputation they’ve been given across the ages that makes newcomers perpetuate such stigma (same with hyenas, just because we don’t eat rotten meat doesn’t mean we should be mean towards them). If people knew how vital they are for keeping the ecosystem clean of corpses, corpses that will become spawning points for a plethora of diseases, contaminating whole rivers and lakes.

And tbh, it’s such a waste, (considering vultures won’t attack any creature at all, they could easily be reclassified as True Neutral), with their size, giant vultures would make the perfect mount for rescuers and undead-hunting paladins (they could smell the rotting flesh from miles away, and if some zombies are squatting in some dungeon, a giant vulture would smell them before the paladin’s “spider sense” warns them), and considering their role as natural controllers of diseases, they could be NG if they would specifically target plague-infested towns to remove the dead (they’re naturally resilient to the pathogens that are in corpses and in the air, so an immunity to diseases and a resistance to necrotic damage could be within reason, but perhaps add a vulnerability to poison damage and the poisoned condition, considering they’re being killed by the added hormones from beef livestock).

Just in case you wanted to know, the giant vulture is like 10 ft tall, with like a 25-30 ft wingspan based on it's mini. It's a big bord

vulture sound - Bing video

It’s not that deep