Vulture
Medium Beast · · CR 0
- Beast
- Medium
- Tier 1
CR 0 medium beast, unaligned — that's Vulture. Native to desert, grassland, and hill. Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 0
- Type
- Beast
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Desert, Grassland, Hill
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024)
Ecology
Vultures soar across deserts, plains, and battlefields across Faerun — Anauroch, the Shaar, the Western Heartlands. Carrion-eaters with stomach acid strong enough to kill anthrax. They locate corpses by scent and visual scanning from extreme altitude. A vulture spiral is visible 5+ miles away. They roost in trees or cliff ledges and breed slowly. Without vultures, plague would spread faster — they are an ecological cleansing service.
Behaviour
Patient, social over food, cautious near living predators. Vultures wait for confirmed death — they do not kill. They communicate by hiss, posture, and circling formation. Among themselves, hierarchy is established at the carcass: largest first. Their scent of decay clings to feathers, which folk wisdom considers ill omen.
Origin
The Mulhorandi death-god **Set** has vulture-aspects, and vulture-headed mummies guard certain pharaonic tombs. In Calishite folklore, vultures are messengers of the **Banite war-priests**, consuming the unworthy dead. **Giant Vultures** of the Anauroch are intelligent and speak Common — distinct from regular vultures, but flocks often mix, making it dangerous to assume any one bird is just a beast.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Vulture
- What is the challenge rating of Vulture?
- Vulture's challenge rating is 0. A party in this band suits early-tier-1 encounters.
- What type of creature is Vulture?
- Vulture is classified as a beast in D&D 5e, medium size.
- Where does Vulture live?
- The bestiary places Vulture in Desert, Grassland, Hill.