Messenger birds?

[candidus_cogitens]

In the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, they use ravens for long-distance communication, rather like messenger pigeons. I like the idea.

Is it realistic (not that it has to be) for ravens to be trained for that purpose?

In D&D, how much would it cost to buy a trained raven? If you wanted to train one yourself, would that be considered a single trick (DC 15)?

 

[fafhrd]

Training an animal for a purpose(messenger) might be a better fit.

 

[Umbran]

Is it realistic (not that it has to be) for ravens to be trained for that purpose?

I think in the real world, ravens sit in an odd place for it. You can train a pigeon for messenger service, and pigeons are dumb as stones. Ravens are prety bright birds. Bright enough to be easily distracted, and to have hteir own "ego" with which you'd have to contend. You don't want a messenger that decides that deliverig the message just isn't what it wants to do...

 

[LostSoul]

What's interesting about ravens in fantasy worlds is that they can speak a language (just have a look at raven famliars). You might create a specific sub-species of ravens that have this ability. I'm not sure if you'd want to leave them as Animals, or change their type to Magical Beasts.

You could also open up the spell Animal Messenger and put it on all the spell lists (except Paladin). That would duplicate this sort of thing, although it is even higher-magic than the first suggestion.

 

[The Amazing Dingo]

I've read the Song of Ice and Fire series and loved how Martin uses them in that function and how they always seem to be important to things and established in the world. I had actually planned to install a similar system in my own homebrewed world.

Now, concerning the history of such practices, I am not aware of any. I do know that, as mentioned, ravens are very intelligent birds and I remember reading about how some research proved them capable not only of using tools, but actually of being able to make them, which is on par with most primates.

Something else I know is that the pigeons used for messages are not so much trained as taught that a certain place is its home. Then the bird is moved from there and then used as a carrier pigeon. The pigeon merely believes it is going home while it is carrying a message. So, in terms of reality, if a pigeon (or messenger bird) is bought, its destination will be limited to only one place.

Of course, in fantasy, a smarter bird is possible. I know another term for a raven is "corvid" which I plan to use to name my birds should I use them. Just adds a slightly different flavor and makes it seem like I'm not stealing "everything" from George R.R. Martin...though I'm probably going to use a lot more then just that.

 

[Turjan]

Is it realistic (not that it has to be) for ravens to be trained for that purpose?

Well, I suppose Umbran is right in this point. In reality, ravens are too bright for this purpose and would see their own business as more important than what you want them to do. They are able to speak (i.e., repeat words or a sentence), although jackdaws are a bit easier to train in this regard (this was pretty common in Europe before parrots took this role over).

For D&D, I would not see a problem here, though . Just go ahead .

 

[Dagger75]

Well you could always use pigeons as easier and cheaper to train but not reliable over long distances. Plus there is a greater chance of not getting the message through.

Raven, are harder to train and cost more but are smarter. Are able to go father and have a better chance of survival because they are smarter.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Is it realistic (not that it has to be) for ravens to be trained for that purpose?

No. GRRM himself has answered this question in an interview at one point. He liked the image of ravens as messengers, so he used it. In the real world, they aren't suitable for this task.

 

[Umbran]

I know another term for a raven is "corvid" which I plan to use to name my birds should I use them.

"Corvid" is actually the name of the family of birds to which the ravens belong. The Corvidae include ravens, crows, jays, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers and choughs. The entire family is known for being bright and curious birds.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

Well, in one sense, it might be "realistic" in D&D terms, because higher level characters who have focused their Handle Animal skill can do some extraordinary things.

I could see a high level druid or ranger deciding to use his incredible ability to train animals (ie; his massive skill ranks in Handle Animal) to teach a raven to be an infallible, trustworthy messenger. If this was done in the campaign history's past, that could very easily translate into a new species of messenger ravens, all bred true from that first trainer's stock.

For flavor, you could make these ravens rare and expensive, the kinds of things given as gifts to the most trusted servants of the kingdoms, and that sort of stuff.


Heck, you could have multiple types of these superior messengers, like falcons, owls, eagles, etc, each the breed of a specific kingdom or group. That way, you could do fun things like have the characters get a peak at an NPC's hidden aviary, and see 13 different types of special messengers - a good clue that maybe the NPC is playing all sides, and isn't to be trusted.

Patrick Y.