Pathfinder 1E What the heck do Roc eat???

[Gfreak2x9]

Hello all! I recently realized that my current campaign has the perfect environment for a pair of Roc to nest in! I was exited about adding these truly deadly creatures to my game, especially considering that the players have never heard of the monster. I did all the necessarily math making 100% sure they had tall enough peaks, enough room to hunt, fly, ect. However I came across a bit of a problem, the Bestiary didn't give any good examples of prey for the environment my game is set in. It clearly stated that Roc are known for carrying off large prey such as elephants, but said nothing of other types of prey! I would describe the current environment as being similar to Rohan from LOTR. Plains, Rolling Hills, Patches of forest, and Large mountains in the distance (where they would nest), do you know any large herd animals that live in that climate? I need something big, huge even! But also kinda docile. Basically I need something that the Roc can eat, that won't kill a low level party on contact...got any ideas? Because I am at a loss!

 

[billd91]

Just because they can prey on elephants doesn't mean they can't also scarf things smaller... like horses, deer, moose, elk, antelope, cape buffalo, bison, musk oxen, aurochs, giraffes, opkapi, bongos, gorillas, lions, tigers, bears, oh my, camels, dire wolves, ogres, cetaceans, sharks, hippos, rhinos, and dinosaurs. They may just need to eat a few more of them than they would eat elephants.

 

[Ryujin]

By the law of diminishing returns I would say that any animal smaller than a human would be safe, consequently anything human sized or larger would be a fair target. It would take the largest prey available, by preference, and so would make off with a nice tasty pack horse before the human who was leading it.

 

[BriarMonkey]

In addition to what's already been mentioned, I'd throw in mastadons. And if the climate is bit cooler, mammoths.

 

[Celebrim]

Hello all! I recently realized that my current campaign has the perfect environment for a pair of Roc to nest in! I was exited about adding these truly deadly creatures to my game, especially considering that the players have never heard of the monster. I did all the necessarily math making 100% sure they had tall enough peaks, enough room to hunt, fly, ect. However I came across a bit of a problem, the Bestiary didn't give any good examples of prey for the environment my game is set in. It clearly stated that Roc are known for carrying off large prey such as elephants, but said nothing of other types of prey! I would describe the current environment as being similar to Rohan from LOTR. Plains, Rolling Hills, Patches of forest, and Large mountains in the distance (where they would nest), do you know any large herd animals that live in that climate?

The original setting for Rocs was the Indian Ocean (stories by Islamic traders). Ergo, my assumption is that they eat whales, basking sharks, etc. - scaled up versions of the prey taken by most large eagles which tend to be fish eaters (harpy eagle being an exception).

Would you be willing to consider mastodons?

If not, bison and aurochs can be pretty large animals - equivalent perhaps to mice or lemmings to a roc (where an elephant is more like a rabbit), but they are abundent. Note that a Roc breeding pair and their young could probably eat 20-30 bison a day though (when not working so hard and feeding only itself, a roc could probably get by with 2-3). To limit the environmental impact, rocs might only brood a single chick (taking things down to like 8 bison a day). Still, that is probably more sustainable than eating elephants anyway, since elephants tend to take a rather long time to reach maturity and exist in much smaller herds.

I suspect Rocs would not normally consider medium-size animals worthwhile targets. The effort of stooping and carrying one back to the nest isn't worth the calories they provide. Humans are probably safe, but their horses might attract attention if other prey wasn't available.

And again, a herd of bison will probably kill low level characters 'on contact'. But just because something can kill doesn't mean it will. Most large herbivores are aggressive dangerous animals. Things like Cape Buffalo often kill more humans than the lions, and bison kill more people than even bears. But it's not like bison are looking for trouble. So, make your listen checks, try to be careful not to walk up on one, avoid thickets and other areas with limited line of sight, and don't otherwise be stupid and you won't get trampled to death.

 

[Warbringer]

I'd use the bald eagle as a proxy.

Bald eagle about 10ibs and consumes 1b per day, mainly fish (90%) and hunts and scavenge

Roc about 8000 lbs (3e srd) so needs about 800lbs per day. That's a small bison (800-2000lbs) or a light horse (800-1200 lbs). To avoid depletion of herds you're probably looking at hunting area of a radio us of 100 Miles's, or about 3000 sq miles

Forget things like elephants (10,000-14,000 lbs) they're simply to big (baby elephant maybe at 2,0000lbs) .

 

[GX.Sigma]

The 2e monster entry has lots of details about ecology:

"known for carrying off large animals (cattle, horses, elephants) for food"
"seizing pack horses and mules"
"The roc ranges for food three times a day; about an hour after sunrise, at noon, and an hour before sunset. If there are young in the nest, a fourth feeding, approximately two hours after noon, is added to keep the young strong and well-fed."
"attack civilized areas and the animals therein"
"As mentioned before, rocs do not nest too closely together, since such a high concentration of these hungry predators would deprive entire regions of its animal population. Rocs serve to keep down the number of large predators, as they are fond of ankheg, purple worms, and harpies. Thanks to the rocs' prodigious appetites, these creatures are not swarming about with impunity."

 

[Celebrim]

Roc about 8000 lbs (3e srd)...

Really, is that all? That's a third or less of what I assumed.

Checking out the SRD, they suggest body length of 30', which is about half of what I imagined (and consequently like 1/8th the weight).

For some reason I always assume Rocs are about the size of jet liners.

 

[Cleon]

Really, is that all? That's a third or less of what I assumed.

Checking out the SRD, they suggest body length of 30', which is about half of what I imagined (and consequently like 1/8th the weight).

For some reason I always assume Rocs are about the size of jet liners.

For some reason they halved the size in the edition upgrade. Rocs are 60 feet long in AD&D.

[Edit: that's Second Edition AD&D, in which Roc's are 60' long with a 120' wingspan. The First Edition Monster Manual Roc has a 60' wingspan like in 3E but doesn't quote a length.]

As for what they eat, I'd think any big animal would do - horses, bisons, smallish whales, et cetera.

Oh, by the way. According to the SRD rules, an average 3E Roc can fly with a load of up to 7456 pounds, so they could carry off a smallish elephant if they wished. (Str 34 = 932 pounds light load, ×8 for being Gargantuan).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Bison. Lots and lots of bison.

Make those plains look like the American West used to, and you have a perfect environment for a breeding pair of roc.