[Bestiary] Should predators be tacticians?

[Kraydak]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

The only problem with this interpretation is that Survival is never a teamwork skill. It's based on individual efforts, and the Basic description only uses it for trapping animals, whereas Tactics is a skill that is about small-unit and personal combat. If the animal is a solitary hunter, Survival might apply equally well, but if the animal is operating as a group Tactics really ought to be the obvious choice. Tactics even prescribes what happens as being similar to the pack hunt scenario--success means you are in an advantageous position, such as a pack predator lying in wait while others drive the prey into him.

The Hidebound and Bestial should factor into familiarity, but clearly being Hidebound does not hinder a wolf's ability to hunt game as large as deer, since this is instinctive behavior. That's why I think Tactics with the (Hunting) specialty is the way to go--it means that animal hunters will be at a severe disadvantage against human hunters, but also that soldiers won't necessarily have as much luck as a dedicated hunter.

Of course, the appropriate skill for anything involving animal psychology (such as driving prey) is, in fact, Animal Handling (seriously, Tactics? what?). Give wolves Animal Handling (Cervid) IQ-1 [1] (skill level 3), Technique (Driving Prey) IQ+1 [2], and acknowledge the bonuses for multiple hunters to get up to effective skill 8. Skill 8 lets you heavily fatigue your target about 25% of the time, which I think is about right for wolf-hunt successes? Ignore any crit-fail issues, as such rules are fundamentally cinematic in nature.

A human hunter, in comparison with wolves, could hunt alone moderately effectively, and in groups casually wipe out entire herds. This is boring from a gaming perspective, but anything that people rely on for day-to-day survival in all but the most extreme of circumstances is boring from a gaming perspective.