Social Organization. Being intelligent, these crows can coordinate their actions to a high degree.
Shared Memories. Through mystical means, these crows can share memories with each other. They seem to remember things as a group, so that anything that happens to one individual is remembered by all the members of the murder.
Generational Memories. The crows seems to remember things that happened as long as 300 years ago. They pass that information along to their fledglings.
Flock. Using advanced tactics, the crows will systematically attack a target. They usually do this in groups of three, in which each crow will take on a different role in the attack. Their actions are generally distract or attack. Because of this, they get two extra attacks of opportunity.
Note: though the attacks are coordinated, they are not the sort made by a sentient creature. Think of them as instinctual or intuitive. The exception to this is the lair action Sitrep in which the entire murder can act strategically to ... well, the name says it all.
Big Beak Peck. Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., 1 target. Hit: 1 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.
Distraction. A crow may attempt a distraction while others attack. These attacks are listed below, along with saves and effects.
- Eye Strike. Attack on eyes. DEX save vs DC13 of blinded for one round.
- Weapon Hand Strike. Attack on weapon hand. DEX save vs DC14 or roll to hit and damage are disadvantaged for the following round.
- Existential Strike. Glowers at enemy making him aware of the pointlessness of existence. WIS save against DC13 of stunned for following round.
Three Crow Pile On. Because the crows act in groups of three, they get three opportunity attacks against a fleeing target.
Description
These are crows from the island of Yamato in the Eastern parts of the world. They are uncannily large, with wicked beaks. They are uncanny in their memory and intelligence. Though not a threat on their own, in a murder of 3 or more, they can do quite a bit of damage.
Because they are corvidae, they have an affinity for and the ability to interact with other species, such as ravens and kenku. Though they do not actually possess telepathy, they have the ability to share information to other members of their murder, and less effectively, with other crows and osine birds. They will do the will of a crow TENKU without question.
The stat block is for 3 crows attacking as a group.
Lair and Lair Actions
Public park or similar area with trees.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Huge Japanese Crow takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the crow can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Sitrep. Every crow in the area becomes aware of location and general actions of party. The effect is that all crows act as a single unit in terms of overall tactics, and will attack strategically for three rounds.
- Hitchcocking. Gathering together in one tree, the entire murder can focus their presence at a party, creating a sense of existential dread. WIS DC 15 or stunned for 2 rounds.
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