05-19-2012, 07:58 AM | #21 |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Odense, Denmark (Northern Europe)
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
I'd play with the idea of letting surprised animals roll a fright check instead of just giving them mental stun, mostly because animals tend to get scared instead of just surprised in surprise-situations. Or perhaps just take their margin of failure on the PER roll (the one to avoid getting surprised in the first place) and use that to look up on the fright check table, and treat <4 as 4. Unless the margin of failure is very big, it'll mostly yield results such as "stunned for 1 second, then recover/roll vs will". A crit fail on the PER check could be a 1d+"margin of failure" or something. Tweak to taste.
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05-19-2012, 01:47 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
If the reason for not giving them combat reflexes was because they froze for extended periods when surprised, there would be no problem. Give them no combat reflexes and let them be frozen. But the OP didn't like that solution.
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05-19-2012, 02:08 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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Mule deer will often stop and watch you if you don't get too close. When fleeing, they will often stop after some distance and look back. If you surprise them up close, they invariably bolt. My guess as to why deer freeze in headlights is because they do not know what it is. Whatever "this is a predator" flag they have in their brains isn't tripped. So they stare at it to evaluate the situation, trying to figure out if it is better to run or stand their ground. And of course there are lots of other non-predator animals other than deer. Mice and rats run as soon as they are disturbed. Grasshoppers hop. Ground squirrels run for their burrows (even if this takes them right on top of the predator - or under the car's wheels). Tortoises withdraw into their shells. Iguanas madly dash up trees. Horses panic and run. And so on. Luke |
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05-19-2012, 02:22 PM | #24 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
Armodillos have a "I have no idea" active reaction, unlike deer. Unfortunately it's "Leap straight up", which tends to take them right into car grilles.
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05-19-2012, 02:32 PM | #25 | |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: MI
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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Deer run from humans, but I've seen them freeze from dogs, cougars, and bear. Mice and rabbits freeze up from cats and dogs. Sheep, cattle and antelope are well known for freezing up in the presence of lions and wolves when separated. I think most animals recognize humans as dangerous, but carnivorous predators as terrifying.
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05-19-2012, 02:40 PM | #26 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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05-19-2012, 03:01 PM | #27 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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05-19-2012, 03:57 PM | #28 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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05-19-2012, 04:07 PM | #29 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
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05-19-2012, 04:32 PM | #30 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: Surprise Rules for Animals
How does Will help one quickly process a situation that is overwhelming one's comprehension to the point of stunning? Besides, we already have Fright Checks resisted by Will.
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Tags |
animals, bestiary |
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