The Aarakocra are a nomadic bird people, with origins said to be from an elemental plane of air.
Save changes
At their heart, they are flyers, living much of their lives aloft, and only landing when they need to interact with those on the ground, to hunt, or to nest. Those nests, while technically on the ground, are usually high in trees, or in eyries at the top of mountains, cliffs or other areas away from would-be predators or nuisances.
Aarakocra, because they spend more time in the air, and don't interact very often with people on the ground, they are considered something of an oddity or topic of conversation among the land dwelling humanoids. Even other andromorphs consider them different.
| Detail |
Description |
| Size |
Medium (but topping out at around 5' tall and only 80-100 pounds) |
| Speed |
25' walk, 50' flight (light armor or less is required to fly) |
| Attributes |
+2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom (Alt +2/+1 in any stats) |
| Ability: Talons |
You can make unarmed strikes with your talons, doing 1d4+strength modifier slashing damage. You can do this from the ground, or as part of a flight action. |
| Ability: Wind Caller |
All Aarakocra can cast Gust of Wind, without requiring a material component, upon reaching 3rd level. One they do this, they are unable to do it again until they have taken a long rest. |
| Ability: Languages |
Common and any one other of your choice, including the availability of Aarakocran and Auran. |
Class Considerations
The primary consideration for Aarakocra is that they can not fly in medium or heavy armor, so they should consider classes that benefit from light armor, or go unarmored. This means that they are well suited to classes such as monks and barbarians, or a caster, who all benefit from going without armor. They are also suited to classes like the ranger or rogue, who benefit from light armor and improved dexterity.
For the monk, there is an additional consideration that while Talons does not stack with monk's unarmed strike damage, it does offer the opportunity to turn a given strike into slashing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.
An alternate class option is to take advantage of the wisdom bonus, and go with a druid or cleric class, and simply avoid the heavier armor types. Clerics whose deities include the Wind/Air domain are especially good choices. Druids having the inherent ability to fly without a wild shape, and being to change into non-flying creatures offer an especially interesting combination.
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