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A Firebird is a creature from the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]

Overview[]

Firebirds are spacefaring apex predators who fill the same niche as that of a hawk or eagle, feeding on small pests. Unfortunately for star travelers, firebirds consider the crews of spelljamming vessels “small pests”. The advent of spelljamming has provided firebirds with tender pre-packaged meals that are fairly easy to catch. These giant raptors swoop down on unfortunate ships, snatching sailors off decks and igniting the ships' sails. They are particularly fond of gnomish vessels, and use a blowtorch-like flame to cut their way into the ships hull in search of both giant space hamsters and their gnomish handlers.[1]

Description[]

Firebird resemble giant eagles, just not as intelligent. They have a 10 to 20-foot wide wingspan, large claws, and a sharp hooked beak. They are enveloped in beautiful orange-yellow flames and their eyes glow a painfully bright blue-white.[1]

Combat[]

Like its terrestrial cousins the giant eagles, the firebird uses its claws and beak as its primary weapons. In a diving attack it inflicts double its normal damage as well as burning damage.

The envelope of fire that gives the firebird its name creates a zone of blast furnace-like heat in a 10-foot radius, making melee combat impossible without magical protection. The flame envelope also renders firebirds impervious to normal missiles, since the intense heat instantly vaporizes the object. Large missile weapons are able to injure a firebird but do half their normal damage. A firebird can only be injured by a magical weapon with a +1 or better enhancement bonus, and there is a chance that the intense heat will destroy the weapon.

A firebird also possesses keen eyesight, making it very difficult to surprise. Mated pairs of firebirds typically roost within their lair in shifts, so that at least one firebird will be on watch while the other sleeps.[1]

Society[]

Firebirds prefer to nest in asteroids, but are equally at home in the hulks of wrecked gnomish spelljammers. Using their flame tongue ability, they hollow out the stone or metal body, blowing the molten liquid into fantastic free-form nests with rapid beats of their wings. The nests are then lined with the shed feathers of the parents. These feathers glow like burning embers, providing heat for up to 4 eggs or hatchlings.

Like eagles, firebirds continually add to their nests until they die. Occasionally, firebirds link their nests into rookeries for mutual defense, generally in the vicinity of liveworlds or asteroid fields where potential prey is plentiful. Any objects found in a firebird's nest will usually be magical, since only magical items or devices will be able to stand the birds' extreme heat. There is a chance that up to 4 magic items may have been melted into the nest's structure. Due to the magical nature of the firebird's flame, the magic within the items will be transferred into the structure of the nest. For instance, a ring of protection melted into a nest will make it more resistant to damage.[1]

Signature Spelljammers[]

None. A firebird's internally generated fire envelope provides it with a means of propulsion, allowing the creature to achieve a ship's rating (SR) of 10, making a firebird one of the fastest objects in wildspace.[1]

Uses[]

A firebird's feathers can be used as ingredients in elixirs of life. Shed feathers can fetch up to 1,000 gp apiece, while a slain adult firebird may have has many 30 usable feathers.[1]

Appendix[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Newton Ewell, MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Firebird entry
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