Armor Class
12
Hit Points
1
(1d4 - 1)
Speed
10 ft., fly 50 ft.
STR
2
(-4)
DEX
14
(+2)
CON
8
(-1)
INT
2
(-4)
WIS
12
(+1)
CHA
6
(-2)
Skills
Perception +3
Senses
Passive Perception 13
Languages
--
Challenge
0 (10 XP)
Proficiency Bonus
+2
Traits
Mimicry. The raven can mimic simple sounds it has heard, such as a person whispering, a baby crying, or an animal chittering. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check.
Actions
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.
Given that a raven does 1 point of damage when including its -4 strength adjustment, does this mean that the beak attack actually does 5 points of damage?
No, it is 1 + Str mod, as normal. However, the rules say that an attack deals never less than 1 damage on a hit. Although it is a bit weird, the attack seems to assume it is a dex based attack, which would mean it should do 3 damage... But then again, the monster stat blocks in 5e are full of weird inconsistencies.
Yeah. I think we can file that under “weird inconsistency.”
Quite frankly... ravens shouldn't have a lower intelligence score than a housecat. They should probably be a little closer to the baboon or ape in intelligence.
Ravens are known to be extremely intelligent birds in real life, after all!
What if you want your character to be a raven, how do you set the stats?
There's a race of raven people called kenku. I am not sure what to do if you actually want to play a bird.
I'm actually working on homebrewing an "Awakened" Raven race to use for a NPC that the PC druid created in my campagne during some downtime. I'm considering rolling for stats Normally, except for Int, which becomes 10 due to the spell. I'll further adjust it with a +2 to Dex, and a -2 to Str (my npc will liikely have a Str of 5). For a PC it might be tricky though... given that you have no hands. You might want to consider Mage Hand.
I'm also likely creating a bardic subclass for them also... Since I can see them using vicious mockery, and cutting words. I'm also considering an addapting Psychic Blades to work for their beak. As well as the Mantle of Whispers, and Shadow Lore. I'm however still contemplating spell casting (especially with material components).
You're thinking of Crows
Have you thought about using some stuff from the kenku race? I know they aren't ravens but it could be helpful to think about them for stats and whatnot.
"Crow" is the common name for the genus "Corvus", under which ravens fall. Ravens are a species of crow.
According to the Rules, this raven can carry 15 pounds.
2*15=30, /2 because it's a tiny creature = 15 pounds.
Battle hammer bombing?
Ravens are among the smartest of all birds. Therefore, I find the score of 2 for intelligence inaccurate. Would you kindly update this to be more accurate to the real-world?
I am surprised that people have such strong feelings on avian intelligence.
Now that I think about it though, smart ravens have been a staple since the Hobbit. Like trees, all sorts of birds were sentient on Middle Earth (they had their own rulers, diplomatic relations, etc), but ravens were one of the few smart enough to learn common.
Birds are our neutral evil overlord and i love them!
Thank you for the campaign premise. I will use it well.
how did that fact help you?
is it something related to the kenku deity that cursed is own creation and disappeared?
It being a self-evident fact is what helped me.
Kenku are outcasts banished to live among the grounders.
They are only a hint at the true Empire of Birds, which is coming sooner than we think.
Well, It was first precedented in the Norse Mythos, with Huginn and Muginn, Odin's Raven Familiars
Shouldn't a raven have MORE INT?
Must be smarter