Ravenkin

Ravenkin are an obscure monster from the Dungeons & Dragons setting of Ravenloft, consisting of huge ravens (5ft wingspan) with the intelligence of human beings and the ability to speak. They have some vague, unexplored connection with Andral, the lost Sun God of Barovia, and are mostly known for being one of the few inherently good races native to the Demiplane of Dread. They hold a particular enmity for Strahd von Zarovich, and are especially common in the domain of Barovia - in fact, they're only found in a handful of domains outside of Barovia, consisting of Falkovnia, Tepest and the Shadow Rift. It is suggested in Dragon Magazine #262 that they may have originated on Oerth.

They appeared in both the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix I for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and then Denizens of Dread for 3rd edition. Ironically, Ravenkin did not appear in the Curse of Strahd adventure, perhaps a deliberate attempt to marginalize them in favor of the arguably-less silly benevolent wereraven, with whom they have often been partnered.

As stated, ravenkin are mostly indistinguishable from ordinary ravens, apart from their sheer size. Their claws are unusually dexterous, and they can use them like hands, even wielding small weapons in them. They often wear small items of sparkling jewelry, especially if not trying to obscure their existence. The ravenkin are a long-lived race with many of their elders claiming to be “a hundred winters” old. As a rule, an individual’s name includes his age, so a recently hatched chick might be “Kareeka Twomoons” and a wise old elder might be known as “Shreeaka Fiftyautumns”. Weirdly, they are typed as Monstrous Humanoids in 3e, rather than the expected Magical Beast.

Ravenkin are slow breeders. It is believed that the evil of Ravenloft has been corrupting their eggs and making them sterile. Whether this is the case or not, fully 8 In 10 ravenkin eggs fail to hatch. A ravenkin community generally consists of 155 to 200 individuals (150+5d10). Of these, half will be females (who fight just as if they were males), and 10% will be young (who do not fight). They will nest in family groups, each claiming a copse of trees as their own territory, forming a community taht looks like nothing more than a collection of large nests spread over an area of several miles. In addition, the area around a ravenkin community tends to be filled with mundane crows, generally about 500 in number. While the ravenkin cannot directly command them, they are able to train the crows with great effectiveness and employ them as sentries and hunting animals.

Ravenkin tend to ignore travellers unless these actively seek out contact with the avians. In the latter case, they are wary and untrusting until the strangers prove themselves to be friends. Once someone has earned the trust of the ravenkin, though, they have won a great prize, for these creatures are able to provide a wealth of information about the evils of Ravenloft. The Vistani say that ravenkin can see through the eyes of every raven in the land; from the vast knowledge these folk seem to be able to amass on even the shortest notice, that seems to be only a minor exaggeration. Whilst this was mere rumor in AD&D, in 3rd edition, it's an ability they actually have; ravenkin possess a mystical ability to share spells with any raven within 5 feet, whilst ravenkin with 3 hit dice can channel Touch spells through any raven within 60 feet, and those with 13 hit dice can scry on any raven they touch.

The ravenkin exist on a diet of insects, beeries, and carrion. In short, they will eat almost anything put before them — truly proving themselves to be omnivorous. They find the act of hunting bothersome, however, and delight in the taste of slightly rotted meat, making carrion the main element of their diet.

If roused to do battle, ravenkin are surprisingly dangerous. Their weapons are small, but their go-to tactic is to flutter into their foe's face and try to peck out his eyes. They also possess some innate spellcasting abilities; in AD&D, they had the ability to memorize and cast three level 1 spells of their choice each day, preparing them as if a wizard, with some 20% of ravenkin having the ability to cast two level 2 spells and 5% casting one level 3 spell. In 3e, this was simplified considerably; all ravenkin have the spellcasting abilities of a 1st level sorcerer, as well as having Still Spell as a bonus feat.

Weirdly, whilst ravenkin are fierce opponents of evil and show little fear of the horrors of Ravenloft, they have many deeply held superstitions about atmospheric phenomena involving the moon and the moon's phases. Halos and rainbows around the moon are particular powerful omens.

Ravenkin PCs

In Dragon Magazine #262, an article called "Half-Pint Heroes" expanded upon the Complete Book of Humanoids by introducing five new Small sized PC races for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, consisting of the Buckawn, the Chitine, the Grippli, the Ravenkin and the Tasloi. Because 1d4chan is awesome like that, we present those AD&D stats here for your perusal.

It's worth noting that, in 3e, it's mentioned in their monster writeup that ravenkin have a Favored Class of sorcerer and a Level Adjustment of +2.

Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 3/17, Dexterity 8/18, Constitution 3/17, Intelligence 10/19, Wisdom 8/18, Charisma 3/18

Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, -1 Strength, -1 Constitution

Class & Level Limits: Fighter 11, Ranger 10, Cleric 7, Mage 9, Thief 12

Multiclass Options: Fighter/Mage, Ranger/Mage, Fighter/Thief, Ranger/Thief, Mage/Thief

Thieving Skill Adjustments: -10% Pick Pockets, -10% Open Locks, +5% Move Silently, +5% Hide in Shadows, +10% Detect Noise, +5% Read Language

Available Kits: Tribal Defender, Pit Fighter, Sellsword, Wilderness Protector, Hedge Wizard, Humanoid Scholar, Oracle, Wandering Mystic, Scavenger, Shadow

Natural Armor: 6

Cannot wear armor of any sort due to unusual body type

Base Movement Rate: Land 3, Fly 27 (C)

Ravenkin can make a peck attack, which only inflicts 1d3 damage (and ignores the ravenkin's Strength bonuses), but plucks out the victim's eye on a roll of a 19; an eye-pecked victim takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls per eye lost, and is blinded permanently if all eyes are removed, which can only be healed with spells like Heal or Regeneration.

Ravenkin can wield Small sized weapons in their claws, and can also wield a one-handed Medium sized weapon as a two-handed weapon.

+2 to Surprise rolls.

Ravenkin wielding a medium-sized weapon suffer a -2 penalty to their attack rolls.

Ravenkin cannot wield large weapons, bows, crossbows, or any medium-sized weapon that requires two hands.

Ravenkin cannot throw throwing weapons, even if wielding one sized for a small creature; their legs don't have that kind of dexterity.

Ravenkin PCs have lost the innate spellcasting abilities of their kind in favor of their training.

Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger, Knife, Javelin

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness, Ancient History, Animal Training (Crows & Ravens), Appraising, Artistic Ability (Jewelry), Astrology, Blind-Fighting, Changing, Danger Sense, Direction Sense, Etiquette, Gaming, Gem Cutting, Healing, Hiding, Information Gathering, Local History, Natural Fighting, Observation, Poetry, Reading/Writing, Reading Lips, Religion, Spellcraft, Ventriloquism, Voice Mimicry, Weather Sense

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