War Eagle

About a year ago, I started making a few Dreamblade conversions at the suggestion of Brandes Stoddard on Twitter. A short lived tabletop wargame that had some very cool and unique designs for the miniatures, with some honestly pretty strange mechanics. Having read through the rules a few times it’s quite the unusual beast of a game, with the intention of it being a war in a sort of dreamscape, calling up manifested dreams that could be of different factions based on what kind of nightmare they were. Mechanically, it doesn’t convert into 5e or 13th Age with any kind of fidelity, but the miniatures and monsters are still really fun so I’m going to go into them again for some fun conversions.

The concept of my conversions will be put together with fluff establishing the monsters as manifested nightmares. The cause of this, and potentially the mastermind behind it I’ll leave blank, and if you do really like the idea it’s something you can go wherever you like with it. A more grim setting could have it that there’s simply no way to stop the nightmares from manifesting and the tone is just holding out as long as possible before inevitable death, a lighter setting could have victory be possible in a number of different ways. It’s really up to you, I’m just here to make a bunch some stats for a bunch of really aberrant monsters.

I’m starting where this all began, with the war eagle. A miniature that Brandes had, it’s an eagle with a sword for a head. Born from the collective war traumas of elves, they represent war coming to the highest reaches. War eagles are intelligent, to a degree, but like all nightmares they lack free will and are compelled to perform the fear inspired dreams that birthed them. Flights of war eagles will hunt high places, plucking people from trees, cliff tops, and even tall structures to throw them to their death below, and while this may allow them to be directed at certain locations, they don’t distinguish between any non-aberrant creatures. Any non-aberration is an equal target, meaning that those who try to recruit them will inevitably come into conflict with their supposed allies.

5th Edition

War Eagle
Large aberration, unaligned
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 112 (15d10 + 30)
Speed 10 ft., fly 80 ft.
Str 20 (+5) Dex 18 (+4) Con 15 (+2) Int 8 (-1) Wis 18 (+4) Cha 12 (+1)
Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +5, Cha +4
Skills Perception +7
Senses blindsight 500 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 17
Languages understands Common but can’t speak
Challenge 5 (1800 XP)
Dive. If the war eagle flies at least 40 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a blade attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 14 (4d6) slashing damage.
Drop. If the war eagle attempts to release a grappled creature that does not wish for the grapple to end, the target can attempt a DC 16 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check as a reaction, maintaining the grapple on a success.
Flyby. The war eagle doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy’s reach.
Actions
Multiattack. The war eagle makes two attacks: one with its blade, and one with its talons.
Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6+5) slashing damage.
Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage. If the target is Medium or smaller and weighs less than 270 pounds, the war eagle grapples the target (escape DC 13). If the grappled creature is Small and weighs less than 135 pounds, it is restrained and the eagle can fly at its full speed while grappling the target.

13th Age

War Eagle 
Large 2nd level wrecker [aberration] 
Initiative: +8
Face Saber +8 vs. AC – 10 damage
Diving Charge: The attack instead deals 20 damage on a hit if the war eagle first moves before attacking an enemy it was not engaged with at the start of its turn.
Talon Swipe +7 vs. AC – 12 damage
Natural Even Hit: The war eagle can grab the target. When a war eagle starts its turn grabbing an enemy, it can make a lift and drop attack against that target as a standard action that turn.
[Special Trigger] Lift and Drop +11 vs. PD (includes +4 grab bonus) – The war eagle pops free from all enemies except the target and flies up into the air. The target then pops free from the war eagle and takes 18 damage as it falls to the ground
Natural 18+: One other enemy that was engaged with the war eagle before it made this attack also takes 5 damage as the target falls on it.
Flight.
AC 17 PD 15 MD 12 HP 72