Author Topic: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary  (Read 54443 times)

Offline Tush Hog

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2010, 02:30:10 PM »
And thank you. For the kind words.  :)


Anyone have anything else they'd like statted?
Well, since you're asking  :)

Horses and their ilk. Riding horse, courser, draft horse, mule, donkey, etc... Whatever you think is worth doing. I would really like to see a large war horse type though.

American Buffalo

Large eagle (like bald or golden)

Badger - Wolverine

Some ice age creatures to populate the Winter Faerie land, maybe including -even though not an actual creature -the spiders Harry fought.




Offline neko128

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2010, 02:43:52 PM »
I really want to ask for a Blue Whale and an Orca, just to see what you come up with.  :-P

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2010, 11:16:35 PM »
Sure, I can manage all hat. I'll at least start late tonight or tomorrow.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #18 on: May 15, 2010, 07:57:49 AM »
Here are some. Whales are forthcoming, but I'm still figuring out how to go beyond Mythic Strength for things like a Blue Whale, so I'm gonna think about them first.

High Concept: Dolphin
Other:
Social Creature
All Too Human

Skills:

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

Stunts:

No Pain, No Gain (Endurance)

Powers:

Aquatic [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Pack Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -6

Stress:

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

Note: Scholarship is too reflect that dolphins may well be as smart as humans. They certainly behave enough like us, with all the good and bad that implies.



High Concept: Camel
Other:
Ornery Cuss
Just Keeps Going

Skills:

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

Stunts:

No Pain, No Gain (Endurance)
Need No Water  (Endurance) (+3 Endurance for the sole purpose of going without water.)
Go Native (Survival)

Powers:

Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]

Total Refresh: -6

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO (+2 Mild Consequences)
Social: OOO
Armor: 0.


High Concept: Capybara
Other:
Delicious Food Animal

Skills:

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


Powers:

Aquatic [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Pack Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -3

Stress:

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

Note: I actually had a bizarre premonition I'd be asked to do a capybara...
« Last Edit: May 15, 2010, 08:06:30 AM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline aumshantih

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #19 on: May 16, 2010, 08:23:18 PM »
Awesome thread!
It reminds me pleasantly of Ars Magica 5th Edition, where Atlas Games has a "Book of Mundane Beasts" available for download:
http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/ArM5Beasts.pdf

It would be neat to see if we could PDF this up and make it available as a general resource.

Offline Jeckel

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #20 on: May 17, 2010, 06:38:20 PM »
Note: I actually had a bizarre premonition I'd be asked to do a capybara...

FATE works in mysterious ways. :p

And thanks man, those are just bloody awesome!

It would be neat to see if we could PDF this up and make it available as a general resource.

I was thinking a group of web-pages would be cool, but a single PDF file would also be super useful.

What do you think Deadmanwalking, would you be alright with compiling your work, with credit of course, into other forms? If so, I'm happy to volunteer to do the HTML version, would be a nice break from my current project and shouldn't take more then a few days to get up and running.
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Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #21 on: May 17, 2010, 10:41:30 PM »
Absolutely!  :) Go for it, as long as I'm given credit I'm very definitely on board with the idea.

Though, thinking long-term you might want to wait a bit for me to have a few more beasties statted before compliling.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #22 on: May 27, 2010, 09:39:40 AM »
Sorry for the delay, but here are some of the requested critters. I'm not going above Orca on whales, anything bigger should be a plot device. Donkeys and other beasts of burden may be forthcoming. Other requests are welcome.

High Concept: Riding Horse
Other:
Faithful Steed

Skills:

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

Stunts:

Fleet of Foot (Athletics)
No Pain, No Gain (Athletics)

Powers:

Claws [-1] (Hooves)
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Herd Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -7

Stress:

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

Note: I considered Inhuman Speed, but it felt wrong. Wild Horses would likely have slightly enhanced skills, such as Survival.



High Concept: Trained War Horse
Other:
Doesn't Like Strangers
Good Soldier

Skills:

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

Stunts:

Fleet of Foot (Athletics)
No Pain, No Gain (Athletics)

Powers:

Claws [-1] (Hooves)
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Herd Instincts [-1]

Total Refresh: -7

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO (+1 Mild Consequence)
Social: OOO
Armor: 0 by default but up to 3 with barding.

Note: Basically a Riding Horse with more skills. But more skills make a hell of a difference. War Horses are actually trained not to panic, to kill people, and even to be quiet on command.




High Concept: Killer Whale
Other:
Playful And Friendly
Mercy? What's Mercy?

Skills:

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

Powers:

Aquatic [-1]
Claws [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Supernatural Strength [-4]
Mythic Toughness [-6]
Hulking Size [-2]

Total Refresh: -15

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOOOO(OOOOOO) (+1 Mild Consequence)
Social: OOOO
Armor: 3.

Note: Being underwater negates the Stealth penalty to Hulking Size. This is just a general rule, but worth noting.



High Concept: American Bison
Other:
Agressive As Hell
Herd Animal

Skills:

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

Powers:

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

Total Refresh: -9

Stress:

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

Notes: Yeah, Bison are scary. Bad at Dodging and thus very killable with guns, though.



High Concept: Bald Eagle
Other:
Hunter And Scavenger

Skills:

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

Powers:

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

Total Refresh: -5

Stress:

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

Notes: Not as friendly or impressive a bird as legend would have it be.



High Concept: Wolverine
Other:
I'll Eat Anything
Scarier Than You
Never Back Down

Skills:

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

Powers:

Claws [-1]
Echoes of the Beast [-1]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]
Arctic (Wolverines take no penalties of any sort from cold, and ignore barrier values based on snow and ice.) [-1]

Total Refresh: -5

Stress:

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

Notes: A Badger would likely have lower skills, but about the same powers, except for Arctic. The Wolverine uses it's Deceit to steal food from traps.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2010, 05:46:31 PM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Crion

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #23 on: May 27, 2010, 12:55:48 PM »
Deadmanwalking, once again my hat is off to you. Thanks for posting these, as this helps me get a better feel for statting out various critters if/when I ever need to do so.

Keep up the good work!

--Crion
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Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #24 on: May 27, 2010, 01:17:46 PM »
Happy to help.  :)

I enjoy statting out critters, mechanics are easy for me and I don't have to write out a background (which, for me, is the hard part of character creation...not coming up with it mind you, but writing it out).


Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it: Questions and critiques of all sorts are eminently welcome. I'm sure I've screwed up somewhere and having people point it out is always nice.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2010, 01:25:27 PM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Crion

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #25 on: May 27, 2010, 01:39:38 PM »
Happy to help.  :)

I enjoy statting out critters, mechanics are easy for me and I don't have to write out a background (which, for me, is the hard part of character creation...not coming up with it mind you, but writing it out).


Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it: Questions and critiques of all sorts are eminently welcome. I'm sure I've screwed up somewhere and having people point it out is always nice.

Once I finish my coffee, I'll take a deeper look into what you have posted and see if I find anything amiss. From what I've skimmed, it looks fitting so far. Then again, I also don't have a full grip upon the mechanics of this game just yet, but I thoroughly enjoy the Aspects and background portions (which is why is getting me into this in the first place). Let's see what happens. . .
"Smilies exist because no one has bothered to make a sarcasm font." Lost_Heretic
"I don't care about whose DNA has recombined with whose. When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching--they are your family." Harry Dresden

Offline Tush Hog

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #26 on: May 31, 2010, 09:06:28 PM »
Superb job! The horses are going to get used this weekend :)

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #27 on: June 03, 2010, 04:33:21 AM »
So, how did the horses work out?


And does anyone have any other creatures they wish to see created?

Offline John Galt

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #28 on: June 03, 2010, 01:06:24 PM »
Dolphins really shouldn't have average scholarship.  The idea that they are as smart as humans or even close is an old wives tale.  They aren't.  They're barely as smart as dogs and harder to train.  In fact, the smartest dolphin I've ever seen was half killer whale, and I'm still more impressed when I interact with my Uncle's yellow lab (I paid $400 so my little brother and I could swim and interact with dolphins at Sea Life Park).  Most PC characters don't even have average scholarship, and you're claiming every dolphin does.  That's beyond a little silly.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!: A Dresdenverse Bestiary
« Reply #29 on: June 03, 2010, 03:31:29 PM »
I'm a Psych Major and actually had a class on Comparitive Psychology (ie: animal psychology), as well as having looked into the various data on dolphin intellect. By all the tests we have they are just about the smartest animals we've ever run across. They also demonstrate an ability to understand actual sentence structure (something very rare in animals, and approaching an actual understanding of our language...which would require Scholarship). I'm not actually saying they're as smart as humans, I'm saying all evience seems to point at them being closer than anything else, and giving them something to reflect it.

Now, I wouldn't dispute the 'harder to train' bit, but then humans are harder to train than dogs, too. And one brief encounter doesn't seem to me to be a good barometer for a species' intelligence, it's an anecdote not scientific data (which exists, and all points at them being damn smart).