Ostrich/Emu stats

[TheElfLord]

In an upcoming game I am planing on creating a tribe of gnomes mounted on emus. Sadly niether emu's or ostrichs are in the Monster's Manual. Does anyone know of any stats for either of these two animals?

[Neo]

I use the stats for them here: http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/monsters.html , they're in Volume 1.

[SpiderBrigade]

You could also take the Fiend Folio's Terror Bird (diatryma) or the standard-issue deinonychus dinosaur and modify the attacks it uses. I'd say replacing the Terror Bird's bite with a single kick would be fair.

Or, if they're just meant to be mounts...use the stats for a light horse, with a kick attack.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Heh, emus couldn't hardly hurt a thing. CR 1/2, tops.

[SpiderBrigade]

yeah, good point VT. I have now looked at the Realms Bestiary pdf linked above, and like those stats v. much.

Also, OMG, that avvie creeps me out so much.

[13_CBS]

Beware of ostritches though; IRL, there have been reports of ostritches killing man-sized creatures in a single blow and other feathered fiends kicking off car doors.

[Dhavaer]

Emus, like most Australian fauna, are dangerous. Not so much so as cassowarys, but they still have a powerful kick.

[mikeejimbo]

Reminds me of a Discworld novel. Death gets a list of all the flora and fauna in an Australian-like continent that AREN'T dangerous: "Some of the sheep."

As for gnomes riding giant flightless birds: YES! AWESOME!

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Emus, like most Australian fauna, are dangerous. Not so much so as cassowarys, but they still have a powerful kick.

I've been kicked by emus a few times... nothin' but subdual. Even then it did it by accident.

Ostriches though... *shudders*

THOSE can kick a dent in a truck.

[The Orange Zergling]

As for gnomes riding giant flightless birds: YES! AWESOME!

Chocobo! "Wark!"

I'm sorry... couldnt resist.

[F.H. Zebedee]

Oh, I was thinking more old school when I read the OP.

Will their be a rival tribe of goblinoids that ride vultures? And I know they must get freaked the fuggah out when a pterodactyl comes along.

[TheElfLord]

Oh, I was thinking more old school when I read the OP.

Will their be a rival tribe of goblinoids that ride vultures? And I know they must get freaked the fuggah out when a pterodactyl comes along.

Sadly I don't understand the reference. Thanks for all the info folks. As a corellary, can someone point me in the direction of a class that grants characters specal mounts like the Palandin without being a paladin?

[SpiderBrigade]

Oh, I was thinking more old school when I read the OP.

Will their be a rival tribe of goblinoids that ride vultures? And I know they must get freaked the fuggah out when a pterodactyl comes along.

Is part of the campaign setting a volcano? So that there is lava constantly rising up to engulf the eternal struggle between gnomes and goblinoids?

[EaterofElves]

What no Dire Emus? Damn it...

[Pepper]

Sadly I don't understand the reference. Thanks for all the info folks. As a corellary, can someone point me in the direction of a class that grants characters specal mounts like the Palandin without being a paladin?

Druids and Rangers may attract animal companions big enough to act as mounts----DMG pg 204

[Rigeld2]

Chocobo! "Wark!"

I'm sorry... couldnt resist.

I hate you with the fire of a thousand suns, stabbing into your eyes. And the stabbing is on fire.

Chocobos were the worst idea ever imo.

[axraelshelm]

Guys a house cat can kill a commoner. So an ostrich killing people with a single blow is not that exactly big in stats in the d and d term

[Dark]

Sadly I don't understand the reference.

They're talking about the arcade game Joust, which was an act of genius comparable to the Sistine Chapel.

The game had a number of floating platforms, and a ground level with lava pools. You controlled a rider on a flying bird (so not an emu!). Pushing the stick left or right would build up speed in that direction; pressing the button would flap the wings -- once. You controlled altitude with the speed of your flapping. If you went up too fast, you could bounce off the bottom of the next platform for some zany action.

There was your rider, possibly another PC rider, and lots of enemy riders. Oh and they all had lances. So you'd joust by colliding with another bird, and the highest bird always won. If they were at the same altitude they'd just bounce off, which often happened when both birds were running on the ground. (If one of them timed a flap just right, though...)

If an enemy bird died, it would lay an egg which would bounce around the screen and then roll to a stop somewhere. If you didn't pick up the egg, it would hatch into a new bird (with rider!) after a while. The best trick was to pick up the eggs in flight, as part of the same jousting move that killed the original rider.

At higher levels, some riders were more powerful than others, but I forget how that went. Maybe you had to kill them a couple of times or something.

The bird flight had lots of funny little details, like the way they'd brake with legs extended (and a screeching noise) when making a high-speed landing.

And then there was the pterodactyl! It showed up occasionally. It was deadly, and moved in bursts of speed, but didn't go up or down much. The only way to kill it was to strike a lance into its open mouth; any other contact would kill you. Best avoided, but worth lots of bonus points if you got it.

Ah, memories...

[Rigeld2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joust_(arcade_game)

And you can play it free http://www.midway.com/page/ClassicGames.html <-- there.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Then we can have Moa for Dire Osteriches.

Acurate? Probably not. It is in fitting with other Dire Animals though.

[cupkeyk]

http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-...st2.pl?Axebeak

axebeaks from arms and equipment guide?

[TheThan]

They're talking about the arcade game Joust, which was an act of genius comparable to the Sistine Chapel.

Hahah Quoted!

Anyway everyone is forgetting that ostriches have CLAWS, so a kick would deal quite a bit of damage for a large animal (even considering the powerful legs). For some reason I find Ostriches more entertaining than Emus as a mount. That and I like the idea of a paladin summoning forth a celestial ostrich as a mount.