[DF] Stat Challenge: The Drop Bear

[Anders]

We have stats for many beasts, but we still lack stats for perhaps the most feared and dangerous animal on a continent filled with dangerous animals - the dreaded Drop Bear (thylarctos plummetus).

How large is it? How do you model it's unique attack? How do your delvers protect yourselves against this animal?

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by Anders

... How do your delvers protect yourselves against this animal?

Use a 'Hat of dancing corks' to distract it, it's in the magic items table in DF: Down Under, IIRC.

[Anaraxes]

Drop bears are usually unstatted, since they're more of a plot device. Some people might insist on stats for purposes of calculating the CP value of Allies and so on -- but then, a drop bear would be a Patron to a DF character, and once it crosses that threshold, then the exact point values again don't matter.

Of course, it's your game. If you want to have nerfed drop bears just so the PCs can kill them, have at it. AD&D 1e notoriously had actual dragons (right there in the name of the game) that weren't that tough, and in fact were even cowardly and servile enough to give up at a fraction of their HP total thanks to the dragon-specific subdual rules. Some people were okay with that; others though it was ridiculous. So whether or not you want to do a similiar disservice to the drop bear is a matter of taste.

[TGLS]

I'd go with Affliction (Disadvantage (Delusion: Drop Bears are incredibly dangerous but X will protect me)) with extended duration to taste.

[DanHoward]

Drop bears aren't really related to koalas. They are more like an arboreal bunyip.

[Varyon]

Going off of this, ideally we'd take the stats of a koala and boost them up. Sadly, while Animalia has a listing for koala's, there are no stats for the little buggers.

Still, we've got some data. The things are SM-1 (being around 1.5 yards long) and 260 lb, giving them roughly ST 13. I'd give them a further +3 Arm ST. They probably having Clinging and/or a Racial Bonus to Climbing. Perception and Will are probably both decently high - they're good at finding prey and are quite patient - but they're still just animals, so IQ is unlikely to be above 3. DX and HT 12 don't seem inappropriate. I'd give them Brawling-14, Wrestling-14, Attack From Above (Brawling/Wrestling)-14, and Targeted Attack (Brawling Bite/Neck)-12. They have Intolerance and Dread - the former toward those who don't speak with an Australian Accent, the latter toward whatever folk remedies the GM deems appropriate.

Note this is something of a "Fodder" interpretation. The above would give a typical human serious trouble, but your typical DF character would make short work of it.

EDIT: Forgot, as an ambush hunter, it's going to have some Stealth and/or Camouflage. Each at 14 is probably appropriate.

[The Colonel]

[mobile infantry]Drop bears? What drops? [/mobile infantry]

[ericthered]

Don't forget to give them catfall as well -- It'd be sad if they died as a result of missing their prey. I'm also tempted to have them target prey with something other than brawling on that first attack.

[ed_209a]

In another game, Drop Bears are the result of Koalas getting the same magical virus that turns Humans into Vampires.

They are faster, stronger, they regenerate and they hunger for your blood!

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Don't forget to give them catfall as well -- It'd be sad if they died as a result of missing their prey. I'm also tempted to have them target prey with something other than brawling on that first attack.

I'd rather give them some Falling-only DR or IT:DR. They're stated to fall from up to 8 meters high, which gives them a velocity upon hitting the ground of around 14 yards per second. With their 13 HP, that's around 2d-1 cr, so Falling DR 10 will insure they almost never take damage, while still doing full damage to the foe (normal GURPS tendency is to negate an average hit, so DR 6 is sufficient for that). Catfall presumably would cause your prey to take less damage, as it basically results in a lower-speed collision.

Purposefully dropping yourself onto a target is a Slam, so I figured any skills that let you do that should be used here. Alternatively, as the intent is to land on a specific area, Jumping or Acrobatics could also be appropriate as the skill. For the drop bear you could argue for an Optional Specialization on Jumping, as it's only used for falling, but Jumping is already an Easy skill, so you'd end up just going with Jumping.