Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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I first heard of Rocs in the Arabian Nights stories (where Sinbad meets one). In D&D, they’ve been a thing at least since 1st Edition. Here, they are only on the Monster Manual along with some other familiar monsters.

The Lore

“Roc” here refers to a large group of related creatures, all of which are gigantic birds of prey with ties to the Elemental Chaos. They’re non-sapient beasts, and behave much like their mundane counterparts but on a larger scale.

Giants love rocs, and often train for use as pets and companions. This is one of the rare cases where the giant’s pet is larger than the giant itself - all rocs are Huge, which means their size is about that of a full-grown titan.

The Common Roc is the one you’ve probably read about in the Sinbad story. An extremely large eagle-like bird that nests in mountains and flies out to hunt cattle or similar prey. Despite their size they can be trained even by non-giants, and for this reason their eggs sell on the open market for a whopping 10,000 gp. Even with such a high price, few people feel it’s worth the risk to try and steal some roc eggs. You have to find the nest, get to it, and figure out a way to bring one or more fifty-kilo eggs home intact without momma roc spotting you.

Common rocs technically have elemental ancestry, but they’ve been in the world for so long they’ve become a part of it, much like hill giants. Their relatives are another story.

For starters, 4e phoenixes are a type of roc! Made of solid fire, they have an inexplicable hatred of undead despite being beasts, and are famous for their ability to self-immolate and be reborn from their own ashes. When a phoenix dies it might also leave behind a single scarlet feather (which is not made of fire). It can be used as a component of the Raise Dead ritual, allowing the caster to ignore its usual limitations: they can bring back someone who died up to a year ago, or grant 1 year of life to someone who died from old age.

Yeah, you heard that right, Phoenix Down is a thing. The book implies it’s only left behind by phoenixes when they die permanently, but if you want them to be a bit more common you could say it also happens even if they rise from the ashes.

You also have Thunderhawks, which are storm-themed rocs whose beaks and claws are infused with lightning, and who have some power over the wind around them. Storm giants love these things, and train them as a sport much like a human noble would train standard-sized falcons. Unlike a standard sized falcon, they’re quite useful in battle as well.

The Numbers

All rocs are Huge Beasts, with the common variety being Natural and the others Elemental. They all hop along at speed 4 on the ground, and fly at speed 10. They have trained Perception but no special ability to see in the dark, being daytime hunters. An owl roc with darkvision would be hella cool but is left as an exercise to the reader.

As usual for higher-level MM monsters, their damage is quite lower than it’s supposed to be and should be fixed if you intend to use them.

Common Roc

Common rocs (or just “Rocs”) are Level 14 Elite Skirmishers with 288 HP and standard traits. Their flight speed is tagged as clumsy, but that looks like an error to me given their main attack.

A roc’s basic attack is its Reach 2 bite, but what it really likes to do is a Claw Snatch. This maneuver allows the roc to fly its speed and make an attack vs. Reflex against a Medium or smaller target at any point in the movement. This does a little less damage than the beak, but a hit also grabs the target. The roc then flies the rest of its movement and drops the target prone on a space adjacent to its final position.

Now, with Claw Snatch it’s important to remember that diagonals are free in 4e movement. A flying roc that has just grabbed a target can climb 1 square for every square of horizontal movement it makes from that point on. So, when it drops the target at the end of the movement, they’re going to take falling damage. And if the fight happens as the party climbs a mountain intent on stealing some roc eggs, there will be lots and lots of cliffs and precipices around for Momma to drop the PCs into.

The size limitation being Medium doesn’t quite fit with the information that rocs hunt horses and cattle (which are Large). It’s an easy thing to change and shouldn’t impact fights much, since there are no Large PCs. It does mean the bird could lift a mounted PC with its mount, though.

Phoenix

Phoenixes are Level 19 Elite Brutes with 300 HP. This number is a little low, particularly when compared to the common roc’s total above, but that’s because a third of the phoenix’s total HP is hidden behind a gimmick, which we’ll see soon. They have 20 fire resistance, and Fiery Body aura 1 that deals 10 fire damage to peole who start their turns inside.

The phoenix’s bite is reach 2 and does physical damage with some ongoing fire damage (save ends). It can also use a Radiant Burst (close burst 5 vs. Reflex, recharge 6) that does radiant damage and dazes.

When first bloodied, the phoenix triggers its gimmick: Immolation. This causes an explosion (close burst 2 vs. reflex) that does fire damage, and kills the phoenix. At the end of its next turn, it rises from the ashes at full HP. This means phoenixes effectively have 450 HP. Immolation is a daily ability, so if the phoenix continues fighting after this it can be permanently killed in the usual way.

Thunderhawk

Thunderhawks are Level 22 Elite Soldiers with 420 HP. They have 20 resistance to lightning and thunder, which does indeed make them the ideal storm giant pets.

Their attacks are simple. The usual basic bite is reach 2 and does a mix of physical and lightning damage, with extra bonus thunder damage when used in a charge. As a minor action, they can cause a wind rush (close burst 2 vs. fortitude) that does no damage but knocks prone on a hit.

So after an initial charge, the thunderhawk will keep hovering just above its enemies, keeping everyone prone so its buddies can move in for the kill and biting as appopriate.

Sample Encoutners and Final Impressions

We have one sample encounter for each bird. You’re not really expected to fight them by themselves:

  • Level 14: 1 roc, 2 hill giants, 2 galeb durh rockcallers.

  • Level 19: 1 phoenix, 3 assorted fire archons. It’s only undead they hate - fire elementals might still tame them.

  • Level 22: 2 thunderhawks and 2 bralanis of autumn winds. It’s not just storm giants!

I’m a little surprised to see all big birbs share the same entry, but it makes sense. I liked the common roc’s “drag and drop” ability, and thunderhawks are cooler than I expected from my initial glance at their small stat block.

The phoenix is a bit weirder. I’d expect its immolation-and-resurrection act to happen when it hit 0 HP, not its bloodied value. I guess they didn’t do that because it would require a bigger exception (“the phoneix has 225 HP and no bloodied value”), but it doesn’t stop you from doing it in your home game if you wish. Not having a bloodied value is itself a kind if minor defensive ability, since it denies some PC their bonuses against bloodied enemies.