Giant Vulture 5e: Stats, Pack Tactics and Playing a Patient Scavenger

The giant vulture is a CR 1 Large flier with AC 10, 22 hit points (25 in 2024), a 60-foot fly speed and Pack Tactics: it attacks with Advantage whenever an ally is within 5 feet of its target. Unlike most animals it's evil and clever. It understands Common, and SRD 5.1 describes it haunting a starving creature for days and attacking the wounded to hasten their end. The 2024 rules change its type from Beast to Monstrosity, replace beak and talons with a single Gouge that Poisons, and give it Resistance to necrotic damage.

Table of Contents

• •Giant Vulture Stat Block (2014)
• •The Giant Vulture in the 2024 Rules
• •How Giant Vultures Fight
• •Running a Giant Vulture Encounter
• •How Players Beat Giant Vultures
• •Giant Vulture Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Giant Vulture Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 giant vulture from SRD 5.1:

Its offense is two attacks a turn: beak for 7 (2d4 + 2) and talons for 9 (2d6 + 2), both at +4. Against AC 15 each hits half the time, so a lone vulture averages 8 damage a round. With Pack Tactics giving Advantage, each attack hits about 75% of the time and the round averages 12. Three vultures sharing one target average about 36 damage a round, which drops most level 2 or 3 characters in one round.

Its defense is poor. AC 10 means nearly every attack hits it, and 22 HP is two or three solid hits. A giant vulture is a glass cannon with wings, and it relies on choosing when to fight.

The Giant Vulture in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 vulture does about half the damage. It trades it for a debuff: a Poisoned character has Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks during their next turn. A flock that gouges the fighter makes the fighter much worse at hitting back.

The type change matters more than the numbers. As a Monstrosity, the 2024 giant vulture can't be targeted by Beast-only spells, can't be chosen as a Wild Shape or Polymorph form, and Speak with Animals no longer works on it. See How Players Beat Giant Vultures.

How Giant Vultures Fight

Pack Tactics is the whole plan. A vulture gets Advantage only if an ally is within 5 feet of its target. So vultures land in pairs or threes around one character, never spread out across the party. The ally has to be on the vulture's side, like another vulture, a gnoll or a hyena. The party's own fighter standing next to the target doesn't count.

Pick the weakest target. SRD 5.1's description says giant vultures attack wounded creatures to hasten their end. Play that literally. They ignore the healthy fighter and drop onto the character with the fewest hit points, or the one who just went down.

Strike and fly off, carefully. A 60-foot fly speed means they can reach anyone on a battlefield, but they have no Flyby trait, so flying away from a melee character provokes an opportunity attack. Have a vulture leave only when it's already wounded, or when its target is down.

Use altitude to wait. On the ground a vulture moves 10 feet. In the air it's out of reach of most melee attacks. A flock that circles at 60 feet and refuses to land until someone is bloodied turns a quick fight into a long, tense one.

Talk to them in Common. They understand Common but can't speak it. A villain can give orders to a giant vulture flock, and a giant vulture can listen to the party's campfire planning and fly off to report.

Running a Giant Vulture Encounter

A giant vulture is 200 XP. Using the 2024 budget per character from SRD 5.2.1, for four characters:

• •Level 2 (Moderate, 600 XP): 3 giant vultures. This is the Pack Tactics threshold: with three, two can always share a target.
• •Level 3 (Moderate, 900 XP): 4 giant vultures, or 2 vultures supporting a pack of gnolls whose melee fighters give the vultures Pack Tactics.
• •Level 4 (Moderate, 1,500 XP): 7 vultures, or use them as the second wave after another fight.

That last option is the best use of giant vultures. Put them after a fight, not in it. A party that just finished a battle at half hit points, with someone on the ground, is exactly what giant vultures hunt.

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, three vultures (600 XP, ×2 for a group of 3-6) count as 1,200 XP, which is Deadly for four level 2 characters. Check your numbers in the encounter calculator.

How Players Beat Giant Vultures

• •Break up the pack. Pack Tactics needs a second vulture within 5 feet of the target. Kill or push away one vulture and the other loses Advantage. Thunderwave pushes Large creatures 10 feet on a failed save.
• •Hit them while they're on the ground. AC 10 and 22-25 HP. When a vulture lands to attack, everyone in reach should hit it. Almost everything lands.
• •Shoot them in the air. In the air they're out of melee range but still AC 10. Bows, crossbows and attack cantrips have an easy time. Area spells like Fireball catch a flock circling together.
• •Check the type before casting. Against 2014 vultures (Beasts), Dominate Beast and Speak with Animals work. Animal Friendship doesn't: the 2014 spell fails against a beast with Intelligence 4 or higher, and the vulture has 6. Against 2024 vultures (Monstrosity), no Beast-only spell works. Hold Person fails against both versions, since neither is a Humanoid.
• •Don't use necrotic damage on 2024 vultures. They resist it, so Chill Touch deals half.
• •Protect the wounded. Vultures target the hurt. Keep a downed character surrounded so vultures have to land next to the fighter to get at them.

Giant Vulture Encounter Ideas

The desert crossing. Four giant vultures follow the party across a three-day desert crossing. They don't attack. They circle and wait. When a character gains a level of Exhaustion, or the party has to fight something else, they land. A Wisdom (Survival) check can tell how long the flock has been following.

The bandit lookout. A bandit gang has trained giant vultures as lookouts. They understand Common, so the gang leader gives them simple orders: "watch the road," "circle the camp if anyone comes." Characters who talk about their plans within earshot of a perched vulture find the gang ready for them.

The battlefield. The party arrives at a battlefield the day after a skirmish. Giant vultures are feeding. They'll leave the party alone if the party leaves them alone. A wounded survivor is hiding under a broken wagon in the middle of the field, and the vultures know exactly where he is.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a giant vulture in 5e?

CR 1 (200 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 10 and 22 hit points in 2014, 25 in 2024.

Is a giant vulture a beast or a monstrosity?

It's a Large Beast in the 2014 rules and a Large Monstrosity in the 2024 rules. In 2024 that rules out Beast-only spells and effects, including Wild Shape, Polymorph, Speak with Animals, Animal Friendship and Dominate Beast.

How does Pack Tactics work for a giant vulture?

The vulture has Advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of that creature and the ally isn't Incapacitated. Against AC 15, Advantage raises its hit chance from 50% to about 75%.

Can a druid Wild Shape into a giant vulture?

Under 2014 rules, yes, from druid level 8 (it's CR 1 and has a fly speed). Under 2024 rules, no: it's a Monstrosity, and Wild Shape forms must be Beasts.

Can giant vultures talk?

No. They understand Common but can't speak it, in both editions.

What's the difference between a vulture and a giant vulture?

The regular vulture is a CR 0 Medium Beast with 5 hit points. The giant vulture is CR 1, Large, evil and understands Common.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.