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Old 03-13-2016, 07:42 AM   #1
Anders
 
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Default Has anyone else tried "Knowing your own ST" and animals?

I did and I got some funky results. Using the formula given for "Assigning ST"*, most pack animals have ST in the 20-25 range, giving them a Base Lift of 200-600 lbs.

I use fairly small oxen in my games, weighing in at 1 000 lbs. Even at that very modest weight, they have ST 23, giving them a BL of 400 lbs. That's 3 times as much as in the Basic Set (ST 27)! This means that they are unencumbered by the wagon in the Basic Set (1680 lbs. - divide by 10 for a wheeled vehicle). Strikes me that using two oxen to pull such a wagon is overkill. You can use horses instead, it doesn't really matter.

Also, when you look at the damage these animals dish out, it is... a lot. A lion (500 lbs.) has ST 19 and gets a damage bonus from Brawling. This means they do 3d+2 cutting with their claws. I don't doubt that lions are ferocious animals, but do they really tear through heavy plate (DR 9, from Low-Tech)? Maybe I should give non-crushing attacks Armor Divisor (0.5)? Or should I keep BL constant and assign ST according to that (giving the lion ST 14 and a more reasonable 1d+3 cutting?

Edit: I also got ST -8 for my 1 lb. bat, which is reasonable (log ST can go negative), but doesn't go very well with GURPS rules.

Edit2: Tried it out, and as long as you change the dice adds for high skill to +1 or +2/die, using an armor divisor actually works rather well. Gives animals a reason to not use the cutting attacks all the time. Of course, the grizzly bear now does 4d+1 crushing damage with its paws but together with the rules for hurting yourself it may work out. He will hurt his paws if he strikes full out at a warrior in plate.

*ST=10xlog(weight in lbs./6) rounded nearest. This works out to 10xlog weight in lbs.-0.78
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Last edited by Anders; 03-13-2016 at 08:39 AM.
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Old 03-13-2016, 09:34 AM   #2
Bruno
 
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Default Re: Has anyone else tried "Knowing your own ST" and animals?

This is in some ways a side effect of modifying ST/Damage but not armor, much the same way things with weapons get odd since the weapons haven't been updated either.

Doesn't help with the BL part, of course. What kind of efficiency are you using for the ox collars?

But I find the increase in BL and damage an asset for my games - I run Dungeon Fantasy so my needs are not generic. Making loot hauling forms better and large predators more threatening encourages the Druid to do shapeshifting (which I don't see enough of in my games). It also incentivizes getting a pack animal or two to facilitate getting the loot out (Which adds a vulnerable NPC to take care of) without getting an entire mule train (which IMO ends up with a logistical nightmare). Finally, upping thrust damage means that I can credibly use "animals" as threats without them being magical mutant animals or whatever, which gives me a greater variety of interesting hazards to work with - and again, more things for the Druid to do.

None of these needs have anything to do with realism of course :)
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Old 03-13-2016, 09:57 AM   #3
Anders
 
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Default Re: Has anyone else tried "Knowing your own ST" and animals?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
Doesn't help with the BL part, of course. What kind of efficiency are you using for the ox collars?
Full strength, Just the rules on p. B353 without modification. Oxen would use the shoulder yoke from LT 28 so BL would be halved. Maybe you need two oxen after all. Hmm...

No, I don't really need reality either, but it's fun to do these things. And giving teeth, horns, and claws and armor divisor of (0.5) matches up well with using them as materials for weapons in Low-Tech, so that's a bonus.

That grizzly bear can still rip a full plate to shreds, of course.
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