Common View
“It were like a big bird right, no, lizard, no, no, more like a snake. Yeah, a snake… with great big bat wings… and chicken legs… and a beak… aw, I dun’t know. It were wrong lookin’, alright!”
- Hoss Dreetz, Ex-Soldier of Wolfenburg.
“Listen manling! Ye’ll be wantin’ te keep yer gaze off o’ the thing. Whatever ye do, don’t look the thing in the eye. I don’t care wot any darn professor or big-wig whatnot’ll tell ye, them things’ll turn ye t’ stone jus’ by lookin’ at ye. Seen it ‘appen meself.”
- Turnik Ironside, Mercenary from Barak Varr.
“Taste like chicken.”
- Snortcoff Hakknspit, traveling Ogre chef.
The Scholar’s Eye
The Cockatrice is a rare beast, which is just as well given its well-earned reputation. Short and strong, the Cockatrice’s body is covered in a hodge-podge mixture of feathers and scales, tapering off into a long reptilian tail. It has long, bird-like legs, with each toe ending with a hooked, razor-sharp talon. Large, leathery wings propel the Cockatrice through the skies, and the same rough red skin forms ugly dangling wattles all over its head and under its wickedly sharp beak.
“Beast of Chaos, beast of Chaos. Everything’s a beast of chaos, according to Professor Drost. Me, I don’t really care what a Cockatrice really is, or where it came from. You see one, you run.”
- Brunhilde Hansbritter, laundry lady at the University of Nuln.
Even more disturbing than the Cockatrice’s unnatural form and physical weaponry is its seemingly innate ability to petrify its hapless victims with its awful gaze. Why it should want to turn its prey into stone is a matter of much debate, though a handful of scholars believe that the Cockatrice prefers the taste of rock to that of flesh.
“If it prefers the taste of rock, why doesn’t it just eat rocks?”
- Professor Samael Drost, of the University of Nuln.
Our Own Words
“Buk-buk Bukaaaark!”
Game Statistics
Skills: Concealment, Perception +10%.
Talents: Flier, Frightening, Keen Senses, Natural Weapons, Night Vision, Scales (2), Strike to Stun.
Special Rules:
Petrifying Gaze: A Cockatrice’s gaze can turn creatures into stone. It can target one creature it can see, within 10 yards, per round. Creatures can avert their gaze by succeeding a Will Power test, but if they do so, they take a -20% penalty to Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill tests until the Cockatrice’s next action. If the Cockatrice attacks a creature that has averted its gaze, the Cockatrice gains a +20% bonus to its Weapon Skill test. A target that is affected by the Cockatrice’s gaze must succeed on a Challenging (-10%) Will Power test or instantly and permanently be turned to stone.
Armour: None.
Armour Points: Head 2, Wings 2, Body 2, Legs 2.
Weapons: Beak and talons.
Slaughter Margin: Average.
“It were like a big bird right, no, lizard, no, no, more like a snake. Yeah, a snake… with great big bat wings… and chicken legs… and a beak… aw, I dun’t know. It were wrong lookin’, alright!”
- Hoss Dreetz, Ex-Soldier of Wolfenburg.
“Listen manling! Ye’ll be wantin’ te keep yer gaze off o’ the thing. Whatever ye do, don’t look the thing in the eye. I don’t care wot any darn professor or big-wig whatnot’ll tell ye, them things’ll turn ye t’ stone jus’ by lookin’ at ye. Seen it ‘appen meself.”
- Turnik Ironside, Mercenary from Barak Varr.
“Taste like chicken.”
- Snortcoff Hakknspit, traveling Ogre chef.
The Scholar’s Eye
The Cockatrice is a rare beast, which is just as well given its well-earned reputation. Short and strong, the Cockatrice’s body is covered in a hodge-podge mixture of feathers and scales, tapering off into a long reptilian tail. It has long, bird-like legs, with each toe ending with a hooked, razor-sharp talon. Large, leathery wings propel the Cockatrice through the skies, and the same rough red skin forms ugly dangling wattles all over its head and under its wickedly sharp beak.
“Beast of Chaos, beast of Chaos. Everything’s a beast of chaos, according to Professor Drost. Me, I don’t really care what a Cockatrice really is, or where it came from. You see one, you run.”
- Brunhilde Hansbritter, laundry lady at the University of Nuln.
Even more disturbing than the Cockatrice’s unnatural form and physical weaponry is its seemingly innate ability to petrify its hapless victims with its awful gaze. Why it should want to turn its prey into stone is a matter of much debate, though a handful of scholars believe that the Cockatrice prefers the taste of rock to that of flesh.
“If it prefers the taste of rock, why doesn’t it just eat rocks?”
- Professor Samael Drost, of the University of Nuln.
Our Own Words
“Buk-buk Bukaaaark!”
Game Statistics
Skills: Concealment, Perception +10%.
Talents: Flier, Frightening, Keen Senses, Natural Weapons, Night Vision, Scales (2), Strike to Stun.
Special Rules:
Petrifying Gaze: A Cockatrice’s gaze can turn creatures into stone. It can target one creature it can see, within 10 yards, per round. Creatures can avert their gaze by succeeding a Will Power test, but if they do so, they take a -20% penalty to Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill tests until the Cockatrice’s next action. If the Cockatrice attacks a creature that has averted its gaze, the Cockatrice gains a +20% bonus to its Weapon Skill test. A target that is affected by the Cockatrice’s gaze must succeed on a Challenging (-10%) Will Power test or instantly and permanently be turned to stone.
Armour: None.
Armour Points: Head 2, Wings 2, Body 2, Legs 2.
Weapons: Beak and talons.
Slaughter Margin: Average.