Cockatrice re-balance help?

[Archelon]

Hello everyone!

I'm a first time DM and I am getting ready for my party's first adventure. 3.5e rules. They are a party of 4 Level 3 characters. A Warforged Fighter, a Shifter Barbarian, a Human Sorcerer, and a Mechanatrix Factotum.

Anyways, they will be going into a cave consisting of 3 encounters. One of which being the cockatrices mentioned in my title. However, I and my players do not approve of save or die mechanics and so I came here looking for help altering the beasts so they are still a valid opponent for the party. I just think Cockatrices are such a neat little critter I had to use them at least this once.

Here is the cockatrice stat block for your referencing convenience:
Size/Type: Small Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 5d10 (27 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 60 ft. (poor)
Armor Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/-1
Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d4-2 plus petrification)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d4-2 plus petrification)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Petrification
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +2
Abilities: Str 6, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 9
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +7
Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Weapon FinesseB
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, flight (3-5), or flock (6-13)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 6-8 HD (Small); 9-15 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

Here are some of the ideas I have had so far:

1. Have 3 of the beasts and have the petrification attack change to DEX damage on their bite attack and make both their bite and the DEX damage be 1d6.

2. The same but their bite does the same damage as normal (1d4-2) but have 6 of the critters.

3. Have 2 Cockatrices and boost their AC, bonus to hit, and HP, while doing 1d4 damage + equal DEX damage.

So what thoughts does everyone have? I appreciate any help I can get. I don't wanna screw up on my party's first (second) encounter.

[awa]

Id add a slow effect save negates to the bite on top of the dex damage.
Personally i would lower there hp and increase there numbers but that's just me not caring for small critters that durable.

Id also make the dex damage d4-2 if there is no save.
If they are doing dex damage with every hit then most players will run out of dex long before hp so in practice the difference between d4-2 dam and d6 is not particular meanigful

[BWR]

Here (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/cockatrice.html#_cockatrice)'s the Pathfinder variant, which is pretty much what you've already suggested.

[Runestar]

PHB2 has a spell which slowly turns a target to stone over 4 rounds, with each failed save resulting in more penalties. Maybe base the petrification effect off that?

However, the problem is that take away the SoD ability, and you have a very weak enemy with negligible damage-dealing capabilities.

[Archelon]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm thinking that I like that pathfinder variant the most. I might make small tweaks here and there. Anyways, thank you all for your input! :smallsmile: