Blood Buzzard

Blood Buzzard
7 HP, 10 STR, 13 DEX, 7 WIL, beak (d8), claws (d6+d6)
  • Large predatory birds with sickle claws and serrated black beaks, wreathed in snow-white feathers stained with blood.
  • Greedy and ravenous, they will converge from miles around on the slightest scent of blood, gluttonously devouring whatever they find until their guts are too heavy for flight.
  • Feeding Frenzy. When any combatant takes Critical Damage, all Blood Buzzards present are driven to a mania--their attacks are enhanced, and they do not have to make Morale saves.

Found in all manner of deserts and badlands, Blood Buzzards are relentless predators with insatiable appetites. Though they thirst for blood, they will not harm their own kind--whether this stems from a sense of camaradarie between the beasts, or from the reportedly caustic quality of the meat is a matter of speculation. Regardless, if you find that travelers on the ways have suddenly become timid and polite beyond your expectations, keep one ear open and one eye on the sky--you will hear their shrieking calls before you see them, but by then it will be too late.

Commentary

I like the idea of a looming risk. 

I don't imagine a blood-buzzard as a standard encounter--I wouldn't put them on an encounter table. Instead, what I would do is make them a sure thing if blood is shed; all that I would randomize is how long will it take them to get here. 

So, you're crossing the wilderness in some form, you know these things are prowling nearby, and you know you need to avoid bloodshed lest you bring these things down on you en masse.

As for how you might mitigate this fear, there's a clue in the flavor text: how might a Blood Buzzard react to their own dead? Of course, you'll have to kill one first to figure that out... Or, you know... you could just be nice.


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