Eagle

An eagle stands about three feet tall with a wingspan of six or seven feet and feathered legs. Plumage is brown, darkest in golden eagles, which are nearly black, and somewhat lighter in bald eagles. Every eagle has razor talons and a hooked beak that bends sharply downward at the tip, and its cry is a thin, piercing shriek.

Talons and beak each deal 1-2 damage. An eagle's favorite tactic is the stoop: it folds its wings and drops on prey from high above. A dive of more than 100 feet doubles its flying speed and limits it to its two claw attacks, but those strikes gain +2 to hit and inflict double damage. Its superb eyesight means by day it has just a 5% chance of being surprised; at night, surprise works normally.

Eagles nest on high cliffs or in tall, sturdy trees and keep the same nest for life, adding to it each season until it is destroyed or the bird dies. A nest has a 50% chance of 1d4 eggs, or failing that a 20% chance of 1d4 young, and a 10% chance of a few shiny trinkets such as coins or gems. Eagles mate for life and appear singly or in pairs; because they return to the same site each year, their haunts are easy to find. In rare rich hunting grounds (5% of the time), 1d8+4 birds share an area.

Eagles hunt fish, rodents and similar small creatures and will also eat fresh carrion. Only a starving eagle would go after people, though tiny folk such as brownies risk being mistaken for rabbits. Training one to hunt succeeds only 25% of the time, yet eaglets and eggs fetch 60 to 100 gp each, and many adventurers prize eagle feathers and trinkets in the mistaken belief that the bird's courage will rub off on them.

Giant eagles stand 10 feet tall with wingspans up to 20 feet. They share the coloring and tactics of their smaller kin but claw for 1d6/1d6, and a dive of over 50 feet gives +4 to hit and double claw damage. They have their own language and also communicate through a limited telepathy. Their eyes are so keen that surprise is possible only at night or at the nest, and even then just 10% of the time.

They nest exclusively in high mountain passes with room to fly unhindered, one nest per pair, and they gather much more readily than their smaller kin; as many as 20 may share an area. A nest is 50% likely to hold 1d4 eggs or 25% likely to hold 1d4 young, and with eggs or young present the parents attack anything that comes within 50 feet. They distrust any creature near the nest regardless, since that is where they keep their treasure.

Giant eagles see dwarves and elves as less threatening than humans, and some individuals or even whole groups of those races count giant eagles as friends. Unlike common eagles they take well to training, and an egg brings 500 to 800 gp.