Giant Chicken, a funny encounter that can be quite deadly....

[DMauricio]

I'll have to think about this giant chicken of yours.
However, it does remind me of the dire squirell I placed in one game. (I'll have to dig up stats sometime)

 

[Prothall]

I heard once of a Gamma World game where the characters fought giant, one-eyed chickens shortly before facing the mutant moles that dwelt in a crater formed by something...

 

[sledged]

Imagine the cockfights.

 

[rrealm]

Large Animal (Augmented)
Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30ft.
Armor Class: 11 (+2 Dex, -1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 9
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Bite +6 melee +4 ranged
Full Attack: Bite 1d6+4, claw 1d6+4
Face/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: peck 1d6+4, wing buffet 2d6+4
Special Qualities: scent, lowlight vision, run
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +1
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 10
Skills: 7 Skill Points
Feats: 2 total feats from HD
Environment: warm plains/forests
Organization: solitary rooster, flock females
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: incidental
Alignment: always chaotic neutral
Advancement: ----
Level Adjustment: ---

This huge, 10 foot tall bird appears to be nothing so much as a giant chicken. It glares menacingly at you as it crows warningly....

No one knows where this strange creature originated. It is clear that it was once an ordinary chicken but magical experiments have turned this farm fowl into a monsterous bird, capable of causing real harm to the unwary.

Giant Chickens are aggressive and territorial and will attack anything they percieve as a threat. Which means, they will attack anything of their size or smaller on a whim.

COMBAT:
WING BUFFET: Giant chickens are flightless, but they can still deliver powerful blows with their wings, causing 2d6+4 hit points of damage

PECK: like all birds, giant chickens are able to peck their opponents, causing 1d6+4 hit points of damage

BITE: Giant chickens are able to bite their opponents, causing 1d6+4 hit points of damage

CLAW: Giant chickens have the ability to claw their opponents, causing 1d6+4 hit points of damage.

This was actually used by my brother in the DnD first edition as an encounter for a first level party. My character a wizard, magic-missiled it to death. We ate chicken for a week.... Ahhh good times....

A peck and a bite would be nearly identical. the point is, the dealing damage with it's beak only (as opposed to a combination of attacks like that of what big cats have).

Also, the wing buffet damage seems a bit much, maybe 2d4+str mod is a better idea. Even large dragons have fairly weak wing buffet damage when compared to their claws or bites. Maybe give the chicken a "knockdown" attack like that of many large dragons. When the chicken sucessfully wing buffets someone two sizes smaller, they make a reflex check or fall prone. Obviously its animal instint would tell it to make the wing buffet attacks first when it gets a full attack action, that way it can bite the prone victim. I think even a chicken would know this. I'd also make the CR a 2.

Good thing these things don't wander around the underdark.

How many GP of food does it take to feed this thing per day?

 

[Gez]

Chicken being omnivorous, it depends on what you feed it.

Normal-sized chicken eat insects, earthworms, little snails (especially the shell, rich in calcium, wich they need for their eggs), or bigger snails that are conveniently crushed, grains, grass blades, some plant's leaves (like salad), and will gladfully bite in whatever carrion they can find (even a dead chicken).

So, a giant chicken might eat ankhegs and carrion crawlers...