Headsnapper
“Terror Bird” © Trevor Crandall. Accessed at his ArtStation here
[The name I went with is an alias from the Hackmaster version. It’s another monster that appears only in the print on demand edition of Rustlers of the Night, as the Grim Giant Ostrich.]
Headsnapper CR 7 N Magical Beast This flightless bird looks like an ostrich, but it is nearly twice the size. Its naked head and neck are stained with gore, and its beak is serrated and shaped like a headsman’s axe.
Headsnappers are carnivorous flightless birds with a penchant for eating the brains of their prey. Their metabolisms require large amounts of fat in order to keep their speed and power going, and brains are among the finest sources of pure fat available. Headsnappers will often devour their prey’s head, strip out the abdominal fat, consume some internal organs and leave the rest of the carcass behind. As such, they are often followed by scavengers, albeit at some distance. Seasonal resources such as calving seals or fatty fruits like avocados and olives are also prized, and their taste for fat may lead them into conflict with humanoids and their livestock.
Regardless of the source of prey, the typical tactics of a headsnapper are to dart close to an opponent, grab one creature by the head and slice at the neck until the prize snaps away from the rest of the body. They are not afraid to attack whole groups, but usually open these combats by trampling; knocking over opponents and stopping close enough to a possible meal to snap at them as they try to pull themselves off the ground. Headsnappers are resistant to normal weapons and can avoid area attacks with ease. They are a magical creation, an improvement on the axebeak through arcane mutation. Unfortunately, as with so many creatures created through wizardry, they have escaped the bonds of their creators and now roam free. Unlike the ostriches they resemble, they are usually solitary—only large food supplies can draw multiple headsnappers together, and even then they do not cooperate over prey. Cannibalism is not uncommon when food is scarce.
