Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary

[vultur]

If you're still taking requests, what about a hippopotamus, one of the more reasonably sized sharks (like a blacktip or sand tiger, something in the generally humanish size range), and maybe a giraffe? (Weregiraffe sounds like a cool idea...)

[Deadmanwalking]

I am ALWAYS taking requests. Often begging for them. It's just an assumption you should make. 

And yeah, I can and will do all those.

[KOFFEYKID]

I request a Komodo Dragon! Yeah baby, those things are sweet (and have saliva loaded with bacteria!)

[Deadmanwalking]

High Concept: Giraffe
Other:
Really Goddamn Tall

Skills:

Great: Alertness, Athletics,
Good: Endurance, Survival,
Fair: Fists, Might, Rapport,
Average: Discipline, Empathy, Presence

Powers:

Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]
Hulking Size [-2]

Total Refresh: -7

Stress:

Mental: OO
Physical: OOOOOO(OO)
Social: OOO
Armor: 1.



High Concept: Hippopotamous
Other:
Far More Deadly Than You'd Think
Curious And Temperamental

Skills:

Superb: Endurance,
Great: Fists, Might,
Good: Athletics, Intimidate,  
Fair: Alertness, Survival,
Average: Conviction, Discipline, Presence,

Powers:

Aquatic [-1]
Claws [-1]
Supernatural Strength [-4]
Supernatural Toughness [-4]
Hulking Size [-2]

Total Refresh: -12

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOOOO(OOOO) (+1 Mild Consequence)
Social: OOO
Armor: 2.




High Concept: Tiger Shark
Other:
Always Hungry
I'll Eat Anything

Skills:

Superb: Fists
Great: Athletics, Endurance, Intimidate,
Good: Alertness, Might, Survival
Fair: Empathy, Discipline, Stealth,
Average: Conviction, Presence, Rapport,

Powers:

Aquatic [-1]
Claws [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]

Total Refresh: -7

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO(OO)
Social: OOO
Armor: 1.



High Concept: Komodo Dragon
Other:
Ruthless Patience
Hunter And Scavenger

Skills:

Great: Athletics, Fists
Good: Endurance, Might,
Fair: Alertness, Stealth, Survival,
Average: Conviction, Discipline, Intimidation, Presence, Rapport,

Powers:

Claws (Venomous) [-3]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]

Total Refresh: -6

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO(OO)
Social: OOO
Armor: 1.

[Jeckel]

Nice work, I'm now trying to figure out a way to work a Komodo into 1878 Arizona. 

A few ideas for animals have popped to mind, White-tail Deer, Elk, Squirrel, Rat, Raccoon, or Parrot.

I've been trying to think of a little animal, on level with Toot in size, that is worth stating and Squirrel or Rat is the only ones I've come up with. Ignore any of these that don't spark your interest, just some suggestions.

[Deadmanwalking]

I do this thread in my spare time (which I have rather a lot of over summer break, I'm a student) specifically to have fun, and I have fun statting up almost anything. If I don't want to stat something (and I can't imagine why I wouldn't), I'll say so and probably apologize. Barring that, I'm always happy to recieve suggestions.

So, in other words, those'll be coming right up. 

And I'll also be throwing in a Rattlesnake, because that seems needed.

[CMEast]

For small creatures, how about swarms of wasps/hornets/bees, locust swarms, armies of ants and rat or spider swarms. I can see these being summoned up by spells or encountering them in abandoned city areas. Perhaps with different swarm sizes? Thanks DMW

[Deadmanwalking]

High Concept: White-tail Deer
Other:
Prey, Not Predator

Skills:

Great: Athletics, Survival,
Good: Endurance, Fists,
Fair: Alertness, Rapport, Stealth,
Average: Discipline, Empathy, Intimidation, Might, Presence,

Powers:

Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Speed [-2]
Herd Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -6

Stress:

Mental: OO
Physical: OOOO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.

Note: Do you know more hunters are killed every year by deer than anything else? And think about the fact that wolves only hunt deer as a pack. Deer are quite frightening, really. Well, if they don't flee or get shot, anyway. Bucks sometimes have Claws as well as the listed powers due to having antlers.



High Concept: Elk
Other:
Weak Against Disease
Very Adaptable

Skills:

Great: Athletics, Fists, Survival,
Good: Endurance, Intimidation, Might,
Fair: Alertness, Rapport, Stealth,
Average: Discipline, Empathy, Presence,

Stunts:

No Pain, No Gain (Endurance)

Powers:

Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Speed [-2]
Herd Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -7

Stress:

Mental: OO
Physical: OOOO (+1 Mild Consequence)
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.

Note: Like deer, male elk sometimes have Claws as well as the listed powers due to having antlers.



High Concept: Squirrel
Other:
Hoarder Of Food
Bird Fighter

Skills:

Great: Survival,
Good: Alertness, Athletics,
Fair: Burglary, Fists, Rapport,
Average: Conviction, Discipline, Presence, Stealth,

Stunts

Infuriate (Intimidate)

Powers:

Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Speed [-2]

Total Refresh: -5

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.



High Concept: Dirty Rat
Other:
Dangerous Vermin

Skills:

Great: Survival,
Good: Alertness, Fists,
Fair: Athletics, Intimidate, Stealth,
Average: Burglary, Discipline, Presence, Rapport,

Powers:

Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Speed [-2]

Total Refresh: -4

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.

Note: This represents a BIG rat, maybe 9 to 12 inches long. One big enough to be dangerous even to cats. A 'junkyard rat' if you will. Smaller rats (or  mice) will have worse skills.



High Concept: Rattlesnake
Other:
Ruthless Patience
Providing A Polite Warning

Skills:

Great: Alertness, Fists, Intimidate,
Good: Athletics, Discipline, Stealth,
Fair: Endurance, Might, Survival,
Average: Conviction, Presence, Rapport,

Stunts:

On My Toes (Alertness)

Powers:

Claws (Venomous) [-3]
Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]

Total Refresh: -6

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.



High Concept: Parrot
Other:
Uncanny Mimic
Smart And Long-Lived

Skills:

Great: Athletics, Survival,
Good: Alertness, Rapport,
Fair: Discipline, Empathy, Fists,
Average: Conviction, Endurance, Presence, Scholarship, Stealth,

Powers:

Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Wings [-1]

Total Refresh: -3

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.

Note: The parrot has Scholarship to represent it's 'linguistic' traing, though it likely doesn't truly deserve it.

[Deadmanwalking]

For small creatures, how about swarms of wasps/hornets/bees, locust swarms, armies of ants and rat or spider swarms. I can see these being summoned up by spells or encountering them in abandoned city areas. Perhaps with different swarm sizes? Thanks DMW

Hmmm. I'll have to consider how to build a swarm...but with Cassius's snae swarm as a baseline I should be able to manage something. Give me a bit of time and I'll whip something up.

EDIT: Oh, and for reference, the Raven entrry has been edited. I normally don't announce Edits when they're just skills the critter NEEDS being added or typo correction, but this is an actual change.

[Ala Alba]

I'd like to suggest ferret/weasel/stoat and rabbit/hare, if you could.

[Mal_Luck]

Velociraptor might be fun to see stated up, in zombie-form the could be as old as Sue and rip a horde of zombies apart in a small pack. Plus weren't they the dinosaur equivalent of a genius? I think they might even have the Killer Blow stunt from when they gut you with their claws 

[Jeckel]

Had a good session last night. Started with the player killing some coyotes that were attacking one of the cows. The player got some good rolls and was able to take out two of them with his rifle, his dog Scooter used its 'Big Doggie' aspect and was able to kill another of the coyotes and the last coyote gave up and was able to escape with a few good athletics rolls.

Later a pack of wolves attack while the player was traveling. The wolfs attempted an ambush, but the player's horse rolled good and alerted its rider. The player decided to escape, and pushing the horse to the most (a series of endurance rolls for the horse and survival for the rider). Both rider and horse gain a little stress and as did two of the wolves, but the dice were kind and both rider and horse survived.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable session and having premade animal sheets kept rp moving along and allowed me to spend time beforehand preparing my NPCs instead of the animals. Good work Deadmanwalking, me and my player both thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Been going through the animals one by one, while converting them to html, and have a couple questions.

1) On the 'Silverback Gorilla', what is the stunt 'Defend My Tribe'?

2) What kind of animal is 'Savage Jungle Cat'; jaguar, panther, some other type, or any type?

[wyvern]

Some dinosaurs could, in fact, be fun, though one should be wary about the differences between a velociraptor, a deinonychus, or a utahraptor - common usage often says "velociraptor" when we really mean one of the latter two.

Fox might be nice, though it'd be trivially easy to re-purpose one of the existing small predators you've posted, so no actual need there.

However, my main request is a bit more detail on the ones you've posted; in particular, the Echoes of the Beast power has some definite options to it - most notably the extra skill trapping or skill bonus from "beast trappings", though there might also be some variation in which senses are affected by "beast senses".
For example, a default bat wouldn't get the beast senses bonus to sight, and would have a skill trapping of echolocation, while a fruitbat *would* get a sight bonus off beast senses, and would probably use the beast trappings bonus to get an extra +1 to vision in dimly lit conditions.  (Or possibly the ability to identify how ripe fruit is by smell, but that seems a bit too narrow a bonus for beast trappings.)

[Deadmanwalking]

Good work Deadmanwalking, me and my player both thank you.

You're very welcome. And it sounds like you're making good use of the critters.

1) On the 'Silverback Gorilla', what is the stunt 'Defend My Tribe'?

Check Moe in OW, in short, it gives +2 Stress on attacks when defending his tribe.

2) What kind of animal is 'Savage Jungle Cat'; jaguar, panther, some other type, or any type?

Tiger, actually, It's a Calvin and Hobbes Joke. I'll go back and shift that to a non-High Concept Aspect to avoid confusion. I'll do the same with the Lion. There's a reason I've gotten less cute with High Concepts as the list grew longer.


As for dinosaurs: I'll consider it. I'm actually familiar with the distinctions between velociraptors and their larger cousins...I just don't want to get too far afield from mundane creatures people might run into. This thread is quite focused, and that's to the good, I think. Maybe another thread...

Foxes, Weasels, and Rabbits will all be done.

As for more details on Echoes of the Beast: I'd consider it, but I think it's almost better left open so the GM can just use it whenever the creature in question should really get a bonus.

[Deadmanwalking]

High Concept: Cute Little Rabbit
Other:
Prey, Not Predator

Skills:

Great: Alertness, Survival,
Good: Athletics, Rapport,
Fair: Fists, Stealth,
Average: Empathy, Presence,

Powers:

Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Speed [-2]

Total Refresh: -4

Stress:

Mental: OO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.



High Concept: Weasel
Other:
Blood-Mad Killer
Guile And Trickery

Skills:

Great: Athletics
Good: Alertness, Fists,
Fair: Deceit, Stealth, Survival,
Average: Burglary, Conviction, Discipline, Presence,

Powers:

Claws [-1]
Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Speed [-2]

Total Refresh: -5

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.



High Concept: Fox
Other:
Clever Creature

Skills:

Great: Alertness, Athletics,
Good: Deceit, Fists,
Fair: Might, Stealth, Survival,
Average: Burglary, Conviction, Discipline, Endurance, Presence,

Powers:

Claws [-1]
Diminutive Size [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]

Total Refresh: -3

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OO
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.