Last time in my DM Dave’s Daily Dungeons & Dragons Monsters (DMDDNDDM… okay, it needs work, I know) session, I covered the wondrous winged warriors of the Elemental Plane of Air, the aarakocra. Today, I’m adding three more variants to round out the group.
The Last Group of Aarakocra
The last group was pretty straight forward. There was the leadership variant common with most humanoid races, the aarakocra chief. Then, the elite kick-all-the-butts guy with the huracan. Finally, there was the other elite with the magic bow, the seeker of the rod.
Three Additional Aarakocra Variants
This group is going to introduce a Wisdom-based spellcaster and two aarakocra that are experienced in the ways of elemental magic: the aarakocra shaman, aarakocra stonebreaker, and aarakocra windwalker respectively.
Whereas the aarakocra chief is the eldest member of the aarakocra tribe, the aarakocra shaman is the second eldest. At least according to the lore I’ve read. Since aarakocra have higher than normal Wisdom and a strong Central Native American vibe, I thought it made since to make them druidic in scope. Therefore, their stats are similar to the druid NPC from the back of the Monster Manual, with a bag of spells that make sense flavor-wise. Aka lots of thunder/wind stuff.
According to the Monster Manual’s fluff, aarakocra are constantly at war with earth elementals at their borders. That means lots of petrification. So here’s an aarakocra who’s seen some shit and lived to tell the tale: the aarakocra stonebreaker. Having survived countless petrification attempts, this bird person is now covered in thick, stony feathers. While this has slowed the aarakocra down quite a bit in terms of speed and Dexterity, its given it quite the boost in AC and strength. Fair trade, in my book. Plus, its dive attack is way ramped up since its essentially a giant flying boulder. I thought it might be neat, too, to allow it to protect its squishier buddies with its rocky wings, hence its Wing Shield reaction.
Finally, I wondered what happens to the aarakocra that ascends beyond the tethers of the mortal coil. They turn into an air elemental, of course! Thus, the aarakocra windwalker. Part invisible stalker and part monk, these aarakocra move incredibly fast, can misty step as part of their multiattack, and deal a whopping 34 damage per turn. While I really like this creation for its flavor, it may conflict with the huracan since it already scratches the hit-and-run itch in my aarakocra variants.
All of these aarakocra variants are free for you to use in your own 5e campaign. Just not commercially. And the art isn’t mine. Borrowed!
If you notice a mistake or have a suggestion for improvement, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Aarakocra Shaman
Medium humanoid (aarakocra), neutral good
AC 12 (16 with barkskin)
Hit Points 22 (5d8)
Speed 20 ft., fly 50 ft.
Stats Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 10 (+0), Int 13 (+1), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 13 (+1)
Skills Medicine +4, Nature +3, Perception +6
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Aarakocra, Auran
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Dive Attack. If the aarakocra is flying and dives at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 3 (1d6) damage to the target.
Spellcasting. The aarakocra is a 4th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following druid spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, guidance, shillelagh
1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, fog cloud, speak with animals, thunderwave
2nd level (3 slots): barkskin, gust of wind
Actions
Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage.
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit (+4 to hit with shillelagh), reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage, 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage if wielded with two hands, or 6 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
Aarakocra Stonebreaker
Medium humanoid (aarakocra), neutral good
AC 19 (natural armor)
Hit Points 65 (10d8 + 20)
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft.
Stats Str 16 (+3), Dex 9 (-1), Con 15 (+2), Int 11 (+0), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 8 (-1)
Skills Perception +5
Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, petrified, poisoned
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Aarakocra, Auran, Terran
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Dive Attack. If the aarakocra is flying and dives at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 17 (5d6) damage to the target.
Actions
Multiattack. The aarakocra makes two slam attacks and one talon attack.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 +3) slashing damage.
Reaction
Wing Shield. When a creature the aarakocra can see attacks a target other than itself within 5 feet of it, the aarakocra can use its reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll.
Aarakocra Windwalker
Medium elemental, neutral good
AC 16
Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed 0 ft., fly 90 ft. (hover)
Stats Str 10 (+0), Dex 19 (+4), Con 13 (+1), Int 11 (+0), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 11 (+0)
Skills Perception +6, Stealth +8
Damage Resistances lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone restrained, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Aarakocra, Auran
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Dive Attack. If the windwalker is flying and dives at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 10 (3d6) damage to the target.
Unarmored Defense. While the windwalker is wearing no armor and wielding no shield, its AC includes its Wisdom modifier.
Actions
Multiattack. The aarakocra makes four attacks, each of which can be an unarmed strike or talon attack. It can also use its Air Walk once, either before or after one of the attacks.
Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +6, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +6, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage.
Air Walk. The windwalker magically teleports, along with any equipment is is wearing or carrying, up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully you enjoyed these three aarakocra variants. Tomorrow, I’ll be tackling the ugly, ancient aquatic BBEGs: aboleths! We’re going to get all Lovecraftian up in this mug!
See you then!