07-24-2019, 11:27 AM | #11 | |
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
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I mean we live in a world with wild predators that are large and dangerous. If you were attacked by an elephant, would you know anything useful to take it down? Would you know how to move close to one without aggravating it into violence? |
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07-24-2019, 03:30 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Feb 2013
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
Everybody knows the way you stop an elephant from charging is to take away his credit cards. No roll needed.
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07-24-2019, 04:00 PM | #13 | |||
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
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07-24-2019, 05:12 PM | #14 |
Join Date: May 2010
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
As far as I'm aware, elephants don't have any fantasy monster weaknesses that can be accurately expressed in a sentence the way "only fire or acid can kill trolls" can be. This could easily be common knowledge on the level of "elephants are herbivores that cannot fly" is. And if troll regeneration weren't common knowledge, you force players to wonder whether the word "troll" means the Poul Anderson regenerating kind, the Tolkien "turns to stone in sunlight" kind, the Dresden Files "faerie court muscle" kind, or what. If stories of trolls turning to stone don't exist in your setting, it's silly to leave players wondering about that due to their out-of-character knowledge.
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07-24-2019, 05:24 PM | #15 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
There's basic stuff about behavior and capabilities that is good to know, but is probably covered by Survival, as you're probably either trying to avoid a hazard or hunting it.
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07-25-2019, 12:52 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
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I do think there are things that you do know without a roll but they'd be very specific and GM's discretion. If you were born in a town at the edge of a forest full of Dryads you'd be warned about following strangers into the deep wood. If you live in a haunted swamp you may know a bit about the different types of undead, or maybe you just generally know that anyone who died should not be conversed with or let into the home. But in general this would be very basic and very general information geared towards survival rather than combat. |
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07-25-2019, 01:47 PM | #17 | ||
Join Date: May 2010
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
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07-25-2019, 02:26 PM | #18 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
It's also not particularly specific to elephants, it's more lore (shotguns).
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07-26-2019, 08:25 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Identification rolls for mundane foes
I think more comparable is the issue that shooting a charging elephant in the face [1] without specialized equipment is largely a lost cause - even more than shooting the body in a random location. The instinct when dealing with a large animal is to shoot in high value locations like the head, and an elephant doesn't have horns; a horned animal can be expected to have an extra-thick skull, but an elephant doesn't have horns to queue you in so the reinforcement in the skull can be a bit of a rude shock. Even more so if you're dealing with a modern elephant, which has short or no tusks [2].
That said, I'm sitting here with absolutely no need to shoot an elephant and I know this. I suspect I have a Dabbler perk giving me a dip into Naturalist but still... [1] And really, with the size of an elephants head and head appendages, a charging elephant is a shocking amount of "Face". [2] Guns have put a very strong selection pressure on elephants to not have tusks. However, tuskless bulls still have the head architecture to carry huge tusks, along with the heavy bones to carry the big muscles for grinding food, and just generally having a ridiculously big head so having a ridiculously big skull.
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