Rot Vulture
- Armor Class
- 8 [11]
- Hit Dice
- 2
- Attacks
- Attack (1d6)
- Special
- poison, paralysis, disease, fear, stench, see description, immune to sleep/charm/hold
- Move
- 3 Fly 36
- HDE/XP
- 2/30
Description
A Rot Vulture is an undead carnivorous bird that has the same general appearance as a large, healthy vulture at a distance, but up close it has major defects such as missing eyes, torn beak, and protruding broken bones. It stinks of horrible decay. It is ravenous and driven to attack. As with all undead, it can be Turned by a Cleric (as a zombie), and is immune to Sleep, charm, and hold spells.
A rot vulture attacks with a combined pecking, clawing, and wing-flogging attack that is rolled with one attack roll. Some rot vultures have certain special abilities (1–2 on 1d6 indicates such). The GM can roll randomly or choose the effect, and may add more types of horrors.
Rot Vulture Special Abilities
| 1d6 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | It emits a horrid stench in a gaseous blast of gooey rotten matter when slain, causing anyone within ten feet to make a saving throw against poison or drop anything in their hands, fall to their knees, and retch helplessly for 1d4 rounds. |
| 2 | A bitten victim must make a saving throw against poison or be inflicted by rot grubs. |
| 3 | Following a hit, a victim must make a saving throw against poison or suffer the effects of a disease similar to a giant rat bite. |
| 4 | It shrieks in the face of its victim (one only) so loudly and horrifically that the victim must make a saving throw against magic or suffer the effects of Cause Fear (reversed Remove Fear) for 1d6 rounds, as well as deafness for 1d6 hours. |
| 5 | A hit victim must make a saving throw or be paralyzed for 2d6 rounds, just like a ghoul's touch. Elves are likewise immune. |
| 6 | A victim must make a saving throw against magic or be inflicted by a horrid decaying odor for 1d6 days, attracting scavengers (at least one additional roll for wandering monsters during each interval). The stench also reduces the character's Charisma by 8 points (minimum score 3), greatly reducing stealth and making it effectively impossible against creatures with a keen sense of smell. |
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.