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Old 07-07-2019, 10:24 PM   #1
phayman53
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

I am hoping to run a somewhat typical fantasy campaign with a semi-monster hunters premise and am looking for how to handle knowledge of the various levels of "the other" by the PCs.

The setting is one in which there are multiple sapient races, normal animal life, monstrous animals, and accursed and/or evil creatures like vampires, demons, lycanthropes, etc. It is possible it may even be in the Banestorm setting (though that is yet to be determined), so for the sake of this post, assume a world very similar to Banestorm. It is, therefore, not Low Tech Monster Hunters because everyone knows there are other races, monsters, and magic. That said, most people interact with "civilized" races and (mostly) law-abiding magic users, so fighting monsters, necromancers, and demons is not the norm. However, the PCs are going to specialize in being hunters who see themselves as protectors of civilized people from the monsters of the world. This means, as opposed to being normal soldiers, they specialize in fighting things like orcs, ogres, necromancers, sphinx, demons, and other monstrous or harmful-to-civilization creatures.

Like in Monster Hunters, I want the PCs to have various specializations in what kind of enemies they know about, but I am unsure of the best way to handle it. Some things I think I can simply copy from Monster Hunters, such as Hidden Lore categories for things like Demons, Lycanthropes, the Undead (possibly with different categories for vampires, restless dead, etc.), and Dragons. These are sufficiently removed from most people in the setting's every day experience to justify being under "Hidden Lore", though with Occultism working at a penalty for basic knowledge. But what about the monstrous, or just non-human, races that have a significant population, like orcs, reptile men, ogres, elves, dark elves, etc.? Basic set has Expert Skill (Xenology) as IQ/H, and that is supposed to cover general knowledge about all the races in a multi-race setting. That seems a bit broad though, would a further specialization of Expert Skill (Xenology/[Specific Race]) for IQ/A would be more appropriate? Or would that multiply skills too much? And what about more rare or non-sapient monsters like Sphinxes? Should that be covered just by Naturalist (Yrth)?

I am thinking of a 200-250 CP range as a power level, so heroic, but not Monster Hunters powerful.
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Old 07-07-2019, 11:02 PM   #2
mr beer
 
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Depending on what game mechanics I'm going for, I might just make them all Hidden Lores, e.g. Hidden Lore: Elfkin, Hidden Lore: Hybrid Monsters (e.g. sphinxes) etc.
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Old 07-08-2019, 12:10 AM   #3
dcarson
 
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

The Style Familiarity perk can be used to know the combat style of races so you don't suffer Familiarity Penalties. I'd expand it to cover things like where vitals and such are and any special vulnerabilities.
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Old 07-08-2019, 12:54 AM   #4
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

For "elves, orcs, reptile men, and others" Banestorm p.183 suggests using Cultural Familiarity (B23) to be familiar with that race's habits. I might require Cultural Familarity plus an ordinary Tactics roll to suggest something like a likely cultural response to a battle scenario, with a higher margin of success providing more accuracy and detail. Same as would apply across Christian/Muslim/Sahudese lines, I suppose.
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Old 07-08-2019, 03:51 AM   #5
WingedKagouti
 
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by phayman53 View Post
Basic set has Expert Skill (Xenology) as IQ/H, and that is supposed to cover general knowledge about all the races in a multi-race setting. That seems a bit broad though, would a further specialization of Expert Skill (Xenology/[Specific Race]) for IQ/A would be more appropriate? Or would that multiply skills too much?
You're missing Anthropology, History, Physiology and Psychology which are directly referenced by Expert Skill (Xenology). These 4 skills are what you use when you need more specialized knowledge.
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Old 07-08-2019, 09:09 AM   #6
malloyd
 
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Naturalist or Survival should give you as much information about monsters as it does about similarly common animals - not very much, but enough to identify the hazardous or useful ones and have some idea of how they are threatening. For details on a particular kind of monster you want a Biology/Zoology specialty.

For details on intelligent races you'd want "Anthropology" specialized in that species (renaming it Sophontology [species] is probably a good idea). For an overview either create a Sophontology [comparative] specialty on the model of Theology and the like, or use Expert Skill (Xenology).

For a setting in which there are people who make a living fighting monsters, Expert Skill (Monster Hunting) is something that is pretty likely to exist too. Likewise if there are accessible environments that are overflowing with monsters generally found nowhere else, it's legitimate to have new specialties like Survival (Dungeons) or Survival (Helltouched Lands) that provide more detail on the things found there.
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Old 07-08-2019, 09:52 AM   #7
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by phayman53 View Post
These are sufficiently removed from most people in the setting's every day experience to justify being under "Hidden Lore", though with Occultism working at a penalty for basic knowledge.
My Method is a three 'layered' set-up:

Occultism covers anything that isn't "normal" and is influenced by or influences the supernatural (or is supernatural itself). However, Occultism is a poor substitute for actual 'niche' study on a subject (Hidden Lore (Specific)) and is not only at a -4, but can come loaded with "folksy nonsense". Does garlic really ward of Vampires? Occultism says it does...

More specific skills (Anthropology, Naturalism, Theology, etc) can cover niche areas of knowledge; Theology often touches on the Dead, Undead, and Otherworldly. So while the proper Theology can cover a subject (at a -2 as it's not often a proper covering) it too often comes with it's dose of "theological nonsense". Can Navajo yee naaldlooshii really mind control someone just by 'locking eyes', or is this bunk?

Hidden Lore (Specific) is at no penalty and has no attached nonsense junk.
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Old 07-08-2019, 10:15 AM   #8
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Does garlic really ward of Vampires? Occultism says it does...
The way I like to put that: Occultism tells you "Here's what the legends say about skinwalkers," "This is how hauntings happen in the ghost stories," "Here's what people believe about vampires," etc.

Hidden Lore says, "Here are the historical figures who actually were vampires, and here's the shocking truth of what vampires really want."
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Old 07-08-2019, 10:22 AM   #9
phayman53
 
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Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustin View Post
For "elves, orcs, reptile men, and others" Banestorm p.183 suggests using Cultural Familiarity (B23) to be familiar with that race's habits. I might require Cultural Familarity plus an ordinary Tactics roll to suggest something like a likely cultural response to a battle scenario, with a higher margin of success providing more accuracy and detail. Same as would apply across Christian/Muslim/Sahudese lines, I suppose.
I missed that, thanks. It would make a lot of sense to have cultural familiarity with the different races cost 2 points I would think, as they can be quite different. The write-up for cultural familiarity on B23 doesn't say anything about Tactics, but I think since Criminology is listed, Tactics, Strategy, and Intelligence Analysis all make sense.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WingedKagouti View Post
You're missing Anthropology, History, Physiology and Psychology which are directly referenced by Expert Skill (Xenology). These 4 skills are what you use when you need more specialized knowledge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
Naturalist or Survival should give you as much information about monsters as it does about similarly common animals - not very much, but enough to identify the hazardous or useful ones and have some idea of how they are threatening. For details on a particular kind of monster you want a Biology/Zoology specialty.

For details on intelligent races you'd want "Anthropology" specialized in that species (renaming it Sophontology [species] is probably a good idea). For an overview either create a Sophontology [comparative] specialty on the model of Theology and the like, or use Expert Skill (Xenology).

For a setting in which there are people who make a living fighting monsters, Expert Skill (Monster Hunting) is something that is pretty likely to exist too. Likewise if there are accessible environments that are overflowing with monsters generally found nowhere else, it's legitimate to have new specialties like Survival (Dungeons) or Survival (Helltouched Lands) that provide more detail on the things found there.
Anthropology, Physiology, and Psychology all seem too scientific for TL3, even the odd advanced TL3 of Banestorm. I was looking for something less scientific but still practical. For instance, a professional African big game hunter has an understanding of the anatomy and behavior of his prey, but I doubt that equates to Physiology or Biology (Zoology) depth of knowledge (and you are RAW not supposed to specialize Biology below TL6, but I guess this can be ignored). I would think this would be something more like Expert Skill (African Big Game), though I guess it could be Biology (Zoology/African Big Game) as an IQ/A specialization of the Biology (Zoology) specialization even though this hunter is not a biologist. That said, I have had far too little actual experience playing GURPS due to a lack of group and time, so I do not have a good feel for what is fair or fun for players when it comes to knowledge skills (combat skills are easier for me to intuitively grasp).

I guess I will probably go that rout, Biology (Zoology) [IQ/H] or Biology (Zoology/Monstrous Predators) [IQ/A] for more depth of knowledge than Naturalist would give (even though Naturalist is IQ/H). As for Anthropology, I guess something like Anthropology (Comparative) [IQ/H] would be appropriate to tell the differences in how different sapient races would react on major issues without knowing too much depth about each race, and something like Anthropology (Orcs/Warfare) [IQ/A] to know specifics about a races fighting culture but not much else.

Does this seem reasonable for Banestorm (or Banestorm like setting)? If you were a player would you find that a fun level of specialization for knowledge in a monster hunting game? Would you prefer different skills to get this kind of information?
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Old 07-08-2019, 11:36 AM   #10
WingedKagouti
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Default Re: Knowledge about fantasy races and monsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by phayman53 View Post
Anthropology, Physiology, and Psychology all seem too scientific for TL3, even the odd advanced TL3 of Banestorm.
Anthropology is simply the name for studying how a certain group acts/have acted. You'll pick up at least a default by paying attention to how a certain culture has acted over a long time. Someone studying Dark Elves and learning about their rituals is studying Anthropology (Dark Elves), regardless of the purpose for which they're learning these things or what TL it happens at.

Physiology would be picked up by anyone messing around with living or dead bodies on a regular basis. Physiology as a science dates back to at least Ancient Greece where it was known under that name. Having an objection to Physiology being available to a TL3 society seems silly to me, unless that society possesses some sort of quirk that would make them avoid this field of study.

Psychology is another field of science that can trace its roots back to the time of the Greek philosophers. Egypt and China among others also boast studies of the human mind during those times.

The scholars of the time almost certainly did not have the same understanding a modern professional in any of those fields would have, but that doesn't mean those fields did not exist nor that they weren't taken seriously.
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