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Old 12-28-2016, 09:49 AM   #1
Joe
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Default [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

So I'm putting together a ridiculously huge serpent as a boss monster for Dungeon Fantasy play. For complicated reasons, the serpent needs to be about 110' long and 6' thick.

What would be a reasonable* ST score for such a monstrosity?

Thanks in advance for all thoughts offered!

*Assuming Dungeon Fantasy values of "reasonable," of course!
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Old 12-28-2016, 09:56 AM   #2
simply Nathan
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

ST 5 per yard x 36 yards = 180. Don't forget there's nothing stopping a DF snake from being both a venomous biter and a constrictor!
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Old 12-28-2016, 10:25 AM   #3
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

If we approximate the snake as a cylinder, it has a volume of around 88 liters. 88 liters of water (living things tend to have comparable density to water) would result in a weight of nearly 90,000 kg, or roughly 100 tons. That corresponds to an ST around 115, but of course the snake isn't really 6' wide its entire length, so I'd go with ST 100 and around 60 tons.
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Old 12-28-2016, 12:07 PM   #4
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

I would find its SM, then x1.5 per SM
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Old 12-28-2016, 12:24 PM   #5
Sam Baughn
 
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

Varyon's numbers roughly agree with mine and with scaling the python from the Basic Set up, so I'd go with around ST 100.
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Old 12-28-2016, 02:33 PM   #6
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

For a bulky critter 5 ST per yard is reasonable. For something like a snake it's a bit high (a 6' long snake isn't really very big and certainly isn't as strong as a human). 1 ST per foot (3 per yard) is credible, and gives 110 ST; might actually be a bit lower depending how bulky the snake is.
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Old 12-28-2016, 04:19 PM   #7
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

When dealing with fantastical monsters, there's no one to tell you you're doing it wrong.
Real snakes can't get that big, and certainly not do so and while maintaining the ability to move on land.
And Gurps Strength is about what's left over after what it takes to move around. So that really allows nearly any final number you want.

If you want a nod toward realism, then you could check out the largest snake species that ever lived, titanoboa. Mine its description for ideas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanoboa
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Old 12-29-2016, 08:25 PM   #8
Joe
 
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

Right - thanks all. So it looks like the rough consensus view is somewhere in the ST100 region, which sounds like the right ballpark to me.

Now for the next problem. Obviously I'm going to give the serpent pretty modest skill levels, to compensate for its insane damage - ST 100 gives this ridiculously huge serpent 11d thrust damage, 13d swing!

This does begin to seem just a little over the top for a group of standard 250pt DF characters...

How to make this work as a fun fight without reducing the serpent's ST too much? For various reasons, the PCs are likely to be able to blind the beast pretty easily, which helps - the serpent is almost certainly going to be making Telegraphic Attacks, which is good, since it's more fun to have PCs save themselves from mega-damage via their active defenses than it is to have the monster missing constantly.

But still, I'm casting around for some good ways to make a fight of this kind fun and tactically rich, without actually reducing the serpent's ST, which is kind of necessary for complicated plot reasons. No-one wants to do a fight in which the monster just misses and misses until it gets a lucky crit and auto-brains you - that's not very satisfying....

Any musings on how to make this work appreciated!
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Old 12-29-2016, 09:20 PM   #9
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe View Post
Right - thanks all. So it looks like the rough consensus view is somewhere in the ST100 region, which sounds like the right ballpark to me.

Now for the next problem. Obviously I'm going to give the serpent pretty modest skill levels, to compensate for its insane damage - ST 100 gives this ridiculously huge serpent 11d thrust damage, 13d swing!

This does begin to seem just a little over the top for a group of standard 250pt DF characters...

How to make this work as a fun fight without reducing the serpent's ST too much? For various reasons, the PCs are likely to be able to blind the beast pretty easily, which helps - the serpent is almost certainly going to be making Telegraphic Attacks, which is good, since it's more fun to have PCs save themselves from mega-damage via their active defenses than it is to have the monster missing constantly.

But still, I'm casting around for some good ways to make a fight of this kind fun and tactically rich, without actually reducing the serpent's ST, which is kind of necessary for complicated plot reasons. No-one wants to do a fight in which the monster just misses and misses until it gets a lucky crit and auto-brains you - that's not very satisfying....

Any musings on how to make this work appreciated!
You could allow attack maneuvers that reduces damage in exchange for a better chance to hit. Humans trying to swat a fly won't be focusing on putting their weight behind their blows for more damage, but will instead focus on maximising their chance to hit.

For humans, such a bonus to hit would probably be rather modest unless you take extra time with your attack, but it might be plausible that such a giant snake would benefit more.

Alternatively it would probably be realistic to get a larger improvement to how hard your attacks are to defend against in exchange for reduced damage. Adjusting your attacks midway to compensate for your opponent's defense attempt can be very effective in that regard.
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Old 12-30-2016, 06:21 AM   #10
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Default Re: [DF] ST of a 110 foot snake?

Dungeon Fantastic did an article on tactics for high SM foes. The short answer: Defensive Attack.
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