Arrowhawks are predators and scavengers from the Elemental Plane of Air. They are consummate fliers that spend their entire lives on the wing.
An arrowhawk has a sinuous, snakelike body with a long neck and tail. Its central body is bulbous and has two pairs of yellow, feathered wings, one on the top and another on the bottom. Most of the body is covered with iridescent blue scales, with tufts of yellow feathers at the base of the neck and tail. The head has a black, toothed beak and four eyes, one pair above the beak and the other below. The tail has alternating bands of feathers and rows of blue spines, with a mass of feathers and spines at the tip.
Arrowhawks are always in motion while they live. They can fly from the moment they hatch, and they eat, sleep, and mate on the wing. By twisting its body and varying the cadence of its wingbeats, an arrowhawk can fly at top speed in any direction.
Arrowhawk eggs have an innate levitation ability. Females lay clutches of eggs in midair and leave them to float until they hatch. The female guards the eggs and collects them if the wind scatters them, but otherwise leaves them alone.
A juvenile arrowhawk (one to ten years old) is about 5 feet long from beak to tail, with the body accounting for about a third of the length. Its wingspan is about 7 feet, and it weighs about 20 pounds. An adult (aged eleven to forty years) is about 10 feet long from beak to tail, with a wingspan of about 15 feet and a weight of about 100 pounds. An elder arrowhawk (aged forty-one to seventy-five years) is about 20 feet long with a wingspan of 30 feet and a weight of about 800 pounds.
Arrowhawk, Juvenile
Small elemental, neutral
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 13 (3d6 + 3)
Speed 0 ft., 60 ft. (hover)
Abilities Str 12 (+1), Dex 21 (+5), Con 12 (+1), Int 10 (+0), Wis 13 (+1), Cha 13 (+1)
Skills Perception +5
Damage Resistances fire, cold
Damage Immunities lightning, thunder
Condition Immunities prone
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Auran
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Flyby. The arrowhawk doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.
Keen Sight. The arrowhawk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage.
Electricity Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 45 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d6) lightning damage.
Arrowhawk, Adult
Medium elemental, neutral
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed 0 ft., 60 ft. (hover)
Abilities Str 14 (+2), Dex 21 (+5), Con 14 (+2), Int 10 (+0), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 13 (+1)
Skills Perception +6
Damage Resistances fire, cold
Damage Immunities acid, poison, lightning
Condition Immunities prone
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Auran
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Dive Attack. If the arrowhawk 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 9 (2d8) damage to the target.
Flyby. The arrowhawk doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.
Keen Sight. The arrowhawk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) piercing damage.
Electricity Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) lightning damage.
Arrowhawk, Adult
Large elemental, neutral
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 93 (11d10 + 33)
Speed 0 ft., 60 ft. (hover)
Abilities Str 18 (+4), Dex 21 (+5), Con 18 (+4), Int 10 (+0), Wis 17 (+3), Cha 13 (+1)
Skills Perception +9
Damage Resistances fire, cold
Damage Immunities acid, poison, lightning
Condition Immunities prone
Senses passive Perception 19
Languages Auran
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Dive Attack. If the arrowhawk 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 13 (3d8) damage to the target.
Flyby. The arrowhawk doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.
Keen Sight. The arrowhawk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Actions
Multiattack. The arrowhawk makes two attacks with its electricity ray.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.
Electricity Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +8 to hit, range 90 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) lightning damage.
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Art by Shutterstock (used with permission).
It’s instances like this where I think 5th edition could do with an ‘outsider’ type. To me, elementals are composed entirely of one or more elemental substance. They have no anatomy beyond features that resemble eyes, heads, arms, legs etc. Arrowhawks are clearly flesh and blood creatures that are adapted to live on the elemental plane of air – perfect for an outsider or magical beast from 3rd edition.
Not a criticism of your work, just an observation of 5th edition d&d.
I 100% agree. It was a pain to categorize. Part of me wanted to do monstrosity, but another part of me was like, “Well… they’re from the elemental plane of air and have a lot of resistances to air’ish stuff.” Outsider would be nice.