Magic item slots for birds?

[Shin Okada]

IIRC some book or articles contain item slots for non-humanoids. But I cannot remember which one was. Draconomicon has a section for dragon's item slots. But in this case, what I need is a rule for item slots of birds. Do anybody know where I can find such information?

Many of my PCs will get bird (Giant Owl) mount in the next session. But some PCs are too heavy for the bird to support and fly. So I wonder if Gauntlets of Ogre Power or other items work for them.

 

[blargney the second]

I think there's a magic saddle somewhere that lets a mount carry a heavier rider.

 

[Arkhandus]

I believe it is an article on the Wizards of the Coast website, from a few years ago or something, or around the time that Races of the Wild or something similar debuted? I forget, but you might try searching for it. Maybe it was called Magic Items For Your Mount?

I dunno. It might also have been the article that had the feat that granted an animal companion or something, IIRC.....but my memory's fuzzy on that.

 

[Shin Okada]

I believe it is an article on the Wizards of the Coast website, from a few years ago or something, or around the time that Races of the Wild or something similar debuted? I forget, but you might try searching for it. Maybe it was called Magic Items For Your Mount?

Thanks. I think I found it!

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031125a

Oh wait! This is for quadruped animals. Hmmm. How should I treat bird talons....

 

[evilbob]

Personally, I favor allowing any slots that seem reasonable rather than restricting them. So I rule that any creature with the appropriate body parts has slots for an item.

For a bird, that would include head, face, neck, shoulders, vest (I also rule that saddles take up vest slots), legs, feet, and 2 rings (toes).

A 'waist' slot would be hard to imagine, but it seems reasonable enough; either around the bird's body or perhaps where the tail meets the body. So a waist slot is ok. It would be a tougher call for an arm slot; you'd have to specifically have an item that attached to its wing without impeding movement if you still wanted the bird to fly. Maybe a type of feather or something... but generally, I'd rule no 'arms' slot. Birds would also have no 'hands' slot.

So, if you were going for a strengthening item, those are usually arms, hands, or waist. The easiest way to acomplish this would be getting a belt of +strength and fit it over the bird's body (or maybe the early part of its tail). That would count in my book.

I will freely admit that this is an extremely generous interpretation, however, and may not suit all GMs.

 

[KerlanRayne]

For avians, treat the feet and legs as hands and arms, and the wings as legs and feet. The creature can wear "leg" items on its wings or hind legs, but not both.

Does that help?

 

[blargney the second]

So boots of speed would go on its wings? Now that's a funny image.

 

[Shin Okada]

Does that help?

Thanks. At least, a gauntlet ogre power may fit on a giant owl's talons. One of it the PCs have is taken from a dragon. So that one is finger-less type.