Ravens: Swarm and Giant

I know that there are some careful stat-proofreaders out there, so lend a hand, would you?

Raven Swarm
Tiny Animal (Swarm)
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 10ft, fly 40 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/-
Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Blinding, disease, distraction, theft
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, half damage from slashing and piercing, swarm traits
Saves: Fort 3, Ref 7, Will 3
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +6, Spot +8, Sleight of Hand +2
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Lightning Reflexes
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary, Conspiracy (2-3 swarms), Storytelling (4-7 swarms), Aerie (8-11 swarms), Unkindness (12-20 swarms)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: --

A wildly chaotic jumble of black feathers tumbles towards you in a homogenous, squawking mass of birds.

These glossy black birds are about 2 feet long and have wingspans of about 4 feet. They combine both claws into a single attack. The statistics presented here can describe a large flock of almost any non-predatory bird of similar size.
A raven swarm scrabbles madly to alight on creatures or objects in their space, scratching and pecking at exposed flesh, especially eyes, or at any visible, shiny objects.
Blinding (Ex): Any creature struck for maximum damage by a raven swarm must succeed at a DC 11 Fortitude save or lose an eye, suffering a -2 penalty to all Spot and Search checks. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Disease (Ex): Filth fever—swarm attack, Fortitude DC 11, incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d3 Dex and 1d3 Con. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Theft (Ex): The swarm of ravens makes a single sleight of hand check each round against each character whose space they occupy, stealing only shiny objects which weigh 5 pounds or less. Half of the object stolen by a raven swarm are dropped again 1d4 rounds later.
Skills: A raven swarm has a +4 racial bonus to Listen and Spot checks.



I don't know if there are already stats for a raven swarm, or even if there are clear instructions on building new swarms, but based on how the bat swarm compares to the bat and also on the stats for ravens in the SRD, I've built a raven swarm which I now post (without OGL) for your review and approval.

Any thoughts? Reactions? Glaring errors?

No glaring errors that I can see.
Like the imagery of this too.

Thanks for the feedback, Amadan. It's always good to have another set of eyes to check your work.

Raven, Giant
Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10+2 (17 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 20 ft. (2 squares), Fly 50 ft. (average)
Armor Class: 13 (+1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+2
Attack: Claws +4 melee (1d4+1), or bite +4 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Claws +4 melee (1d4+1), or bite +4 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Low-light vision
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +3
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +3, Spot +5
Feats: Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary, Conspiracy (2-3)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: 4-6 HD (Medium), 7-9 HD (Large)

Giant ravens are notorious tricksters and renowned opportunists. They closely resemble normal ravens, except for their tremendous size.
Giant ravens prefer to avoid combat, but will steal almost anything shiny they can carry, or anything suitable with which to line their large nests. They are trainable and, so long as they are well treated, will serve small riders as mounts with loyalty and aplomb.
Weighing in at over 100 pounds, a giant raven has a wingspan of 10 feet, and stand over 5 feet tall.
Giant ravens speak Common, Auran, and often speak one or more other languages as well.

Combat
If a giant raven is determined to engage in combat, it will generally land and use its bite attack with a leaping spring attack or use its flyby attack feat.

I designed both of these for a magic item, the Staff of the Raven:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=138499

As it stands, the giant raven, having 3 HD, should have two feats without bonus feats. Also, Spring Attack should be a bonus feat, because it doesn't meet the prerequisites. But why does it need Spring Attack, anyway? It already gets a similar effect from Flyby Attack, and its land speed is slow enough to not make Spring Attacking a very viable option.

Also, the grapple bonus and attack bonus should be the same, which is +4 (+3 BAB, +1 Str).

Demiurge out.

Thanks, demiurge. Clearly, math is not my forte. I dropped in improved inititative in place of spring attack as a sort of default everybody-can-use-a-better-initiative feat. Any suggestions for something more suitable?

I think Improved Initiative works just fine.

Demiurge out.

Thanks again, demiurge. Another set of eyes is helpful, but an informed decision is much more so.

Amadan, thank you, too. This is one of the few mediums of communication in which I sometimes feel somewhat insecure. It's easy to assume that when no one responds, they all hate your idea, which of course, is rarely the case. Thanks for the early feedback.

I've remembered both of you in the "Thank you" thread linked in my signature.