08-28-2018, 02:35 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Animals and Perception
In GURPS a problem arose that IQ rolls were used for sensing things, but animals, usually with low IQs, had difficulty noticing things unless loaded down with advantages. 4e fixed this with a separate Perception statistic, but at some expense in complexity.
TFT retains low IQs for animals. In the original edition it generally avoided making an IQ roll a surrogate for simple NOTICING of a sound or smell, instead reserving it for more complex things, such as identifying something as worth noticing. An IQ 6 deer fails a roll to spot a trap or see an illusion because it doesn't understand what a trap or illusion _is_ rather than because it doesn't sense the trap itself. I think the current edition should make sure this distinction is maintained. It might be important to say that IQ rolls don't govern listening, etc. - instead you use the rules for Noise (which measure distances in hexes). I mention this because GURPS has so established the use of IQ for sense rolls that people may unconsciously apply the same to TFT, and if we start doing that we'll end up needing all sorts of special rules boosting IQ for animals in these circumstances!
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08-28-2018, 02:45 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Re: Animals and Perception
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Who knows how a real animal would perceive a real illusion. Make up whatever rule you want. Perhaps, just as an expedient way of addressing this in-game, you could roll against the animals DX rather than IQ. |
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08-28-2018, 02:50 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
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Re: Animals and Perception
That sounds like a reasonable interpretation. And in cases where the animal does need to make a perception roll, the GM should be able to modify it appropriately. For example, a bloodhound might get a reduced roll of 2D6 IQ when tracking someone hidden, unless the person in question has taken steps to conceal their scent. These might be better spelled out as specific animal "talents" related to the species in question to make GM'ing more consistent, and so players know what to prepare against.
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08-28-2018, 02:59 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Idaho Falls
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Re: Animals and Perception
People can sneak up on animals
I say, stop giving animals unusually low IQ statistics (why would you do that anyway) For regular animals, dogs, cats, horses and such, stay within 7 to 11 for magical animals, slimes and oozes, go crazy and assign them any IQ you want them to have I once had to deal with an IQ12 slime, it outsmarted me every step of the way. |
08-28-2018, 03:28 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: Animals and Perception
Or use the animals DX as they're working more from senses and instincts than what we would think of as "intelligence."
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08-28-2018, 03:43 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: Animals and Perception
This is a tricky one and doesn't have a simple answer. I'd be interested to hear what the designer has to say...
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08-29-2018, 06:42 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Carrboro, NC
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Re: Animals and Perception
You don't have to have a stat, just use a value that makes sense for the species. Wolves catch your scent on a 14 or less. Deer hear you coming on a 13 or less. (Though this one may be better played with the hunter rolling on his IQ or DX to avoid making noise.) A hawk would spot you on a 15 or less because it sees well, not because it's smart.
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08-29-2018, 07:01 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Re: Animals and Perception
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08-29-2018, 07:43 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Carrboro, NC
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Re: Animals and Perception
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Not always consistent, but it worked well enough for our play style, and we didn't have to write any rules. (A plus for us, a flaw for others, I'm sure.) |
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