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Post by grivel on Jan 20, 2009 22:05:55 GMT -5
I don't get much play time because of RL, so this is actually the first chance I got to make some forum comments. I've been playing a druid named Kali for a little while and have had some excellent RP from many people. Kali's problem is that when she goes into the Bramble woods the animals attack her on sight. As a druid, she isn't used to that and even with her ability to control one she ends up killing another. She's convinced that this is unnatural behavior and that someone is causing it by poisoning the water source or other means. If there is a DM that would like to pick up on that, it could be a theme that involves the other druids on the server. Maybe once the problem is solved, you could make the animals in the Bamblewood screens not hostile. If someone wanted to hunt them for food or other resources they still could. Let me know what you think and thanks for a great server.
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Post by Munroe on Jan 20, 2009 22:26:34 GMT -5
I don't get much play time because of RL, so this is actually the first chance I got to make some forum comments. I've been playing a druid named Kali for a little while and have had some excellent RP from many people. Kali's problem is that when she goes into the Bramble woods the animals attack her on sight. As a druid, she isn't used to that and even with her ability to control one she ends up killing another. She's convinced that this is unnatural behavior and that someone is causing it by poisoning the water source or other means. If there is a DM that would like to pick up on that, it could be a theme that involves the other druids on the server. Maybe once the problem is solved, you could make the animals in the Bamblewood screens not hostile. If someone wanted to hunt them for food or other resources they still could. Let me know what you think and thanks for a great server. The description of the Wild Empathy druid class ability in the PHB 3.5e (which replaces the Animal Empathy skill from 3.0) indicates that domestic animals are normally indifferent while wild animals are normally unfriendly. Wild Empathy (and its predecessor Animal Empathy) allows the druid or ranger to make a check to change the animal's disposition toward the character. It goes on to say that influencing an animal with Wild Empathy takes about a minute but it may take more or less time depending on the animal. In order to make a Wild Empathy check the character must be within 30 feet of the animal and the two must be able to observe one another. I think it's reasonable to say that this ability is not meant to influence large groups of animals at once and an animal may decide to attack or flee before the time to make the check has passed. In short, wild animals are wild animals, and being a druid doesn't mean you're going to be well liked by wild animals by virtue of being a druid, it just means you have the chance to win their favor. Edit: Oh yeah, welcome to the server. I've seen you in Isinhold a few times, had no idea what class Kali was. |
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Post by grivel on Jan 21, 2009 1:37:45 GMT -5
Thanks for the information and the welcome. I understand what you said about 3.5 and I read it as well. My problem is that in RL most wild animals will avoid humans unless they are sick, starving, or protecting an area or their young. When my druid walks through that area, all the animals attack and she is forced to kill some even when she doesn't need the food or skins. It seems a waste. Just my two cents.
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Post by ashaffer on Jan 21, 2009 3:49:36 GMT -5
Welcome to the server... I suggest you read this thread:
It's all about the exact issue you bring up here... There was a lot of great discussion on it, and perhaps you'll find something helpful to your character. |
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Post by grivel on Jan 21, 2009 21:00:31 GMT -5
Thanks. There was a lot of good discussion but nothing was really resolved. I'll just try to adjust the way I play my character. Maybe do the OOC kill thing.
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Post by ashaffer on Jan 21, 2009 21:54:20 GMT -5
We all agreed that badgers are evil... That was something.  ;D
There are several ways to RP the issue of natural animals attacking people on sight IG... All nature friendly PCs have had to figure out how to deal with it. You just need to find the one you're comfortable with.
Killing natural animal spawns OOC is perfectly valid, and is one a lot of us use. |
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Post by EDM Entori on Jan 21, 2009 22:22:52 GMT -5
We all agreed that badgers are evil... That was something. ;D
There are several ways to RP the issue of natural animals attacking people on sight IG... All nature friendly PCs have had to figure out how to deal with it. You just need to find the one you're comfortable with.
Killing natural animal spawns OOC is perfectly valid, and is one a lot of us use. I'll make a point of the OOC kill thing, as I see some players mildly abusing it. an OOC kill is an OOC kill, where the character has managed to pass the creature unnoticed in some way, or avoid the creature/send it off. in some manner. Animal empathy acts on one creature, not a pack. some people rp sending off a bunch of wolves etc. -this is not my big iffy, my big one is when characters do not notice, wolf/bear/tiger, and then once they are attacked and defend themselves they'll shout //OOC. nooo.. you were surprised by the creature, defending yourself (even as a druid) is ok? your god does not expect you to die to preserve a creature intending on making you his next lunch. the best way to deal with this is to find a way to get around said /wolf/tiger/ bear, then double back. Or use an item or emtoe, like "lights a small redbow on fire". animals are terribly afraid of fire, then you claim you scared them off. my whole point, is that use it within reason, and ability of your character. Some really good ways I've seen druids Rp this, was once they have defended themselves, they've skinned and salvaged every part of the creature as to make use of it, so its death was not in vaine. my two cents but I think its valid. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 22:26:05 GMT -5
Play a druid of Malar. ;-)
~Sioladuil
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Post by soulfien on Jan 21, 2009 22:52:17 GMT -5
well, if we are to have these animals attack us and roleplay that they are animals then them attacking is OOC to remove lag which was said already in the other evil badger thread.
Animals don't charge humans for food on a regular basis. A wolf will not charge a human in loud fullplate with a flaming sword.
So if an adventurer is "suprised" by the animal that ooc attacked him in the first place then there is no reason for it to not be an ooc kill- in my opinion
Anyone who has spent a lot of time camping in wild areas will agree that animals aren't the vicious killers people think they are.
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Post by soulfien on Jan 21, 2009 22:54:43 GMT -5
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Post by Micteu on Jan 22, 2009 10:47:58 GMT -5
Animals, especially the kind that like to eat adventurers, aren't nearly so thick in the real world.
It would take a lot of small critters to feed a pack of wolves. Or two or three or four packs, as may be found in some woods. Where are all the herbivores that run away on sight? Did the wolves eath them all? Are the wolves starving now? Is that why the wolves attack adventurers?
I guess having the time static in the same year over and over helps with covering plot holes, because maybe that was a bad year for wolves and bears and dire bears and panthers and, well, practically any critter that eats meat and is larger than an adventurer.
It just seems like ecologically, the woods are unbalanced.
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Post by EDM Neo on Jan 22, 2009 10:56:50 GMT -5
Animals, especially the kind that like to eat adventurers, aren't nearly so thick in the real world. It would take a lot of small critters to feed a pack of wolves. Or two or three or four packs, as may be found in some woods. Where are all the herbivores that run away on sight? Did the wolves eath them all? Are the wolves starving now? Is that why the wolves attack adventurers? I guess having the time static in the same year over and over helps with covering plot holes, because maybe that was a bad year for wolves and bears and dire bears and panthers and, well, practically any critter that eats meat and is larger than an adventurer. It just seems like ecologically, the woods are unbalanced. This is one of the excuses my druidess most commonly uses when questioned about having no issue with killing carnivores. There are too many of them, and not enough prey animals, and so some need to be culled or they'd all starve. |
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Post by Spirit of a Phoenix on Jan 22, 2009 13:17:32 GMT -5
well, if we are to have these animals attack us and roleplay that they are animals then them attacking is OOC to remove lag which was said already in the other evil badger thread. Animals don't charge humans for food on a regular basis. A wolf will not charge a human in loud fullplate with a flaming sword. So if an adventurer is "suprised" by the animal that ooc attacked him in the first place then there is no reason for it to not be an ooc kill- in my opinion Anyone who has spent a lot of time camping in wild areas will agree that animals aren't the vicious killers people think they are. I kind of think that behavior like a wolf attacking a warrior in full plate even if you think of it as an OOC act there really isn't much you can do because of game mechanics to control how a creature can properly act. If you consider animals attacking warriors OOC then it could branch out to a lot of other creatures doing ooc behavior. For example goblins/kobolts/bandits wouldn't ever target a group that outnumbers them, but due to game mechanics there really isn't anything that you can do about it. The creatures will spawn see something then attack not much you can do about it. This is a fantasy game and you should probable figure that with a world with magic and dragons that unusual things will happen. It would be best to just say it was a IC kill and that the animal was pissed, because its territory was invaded or something. |
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Post by Dachshund on Jan 22, 2009 15:26:52 GMT -5
*looks at dead badger lying infront of epic badass cleric*
"Hmm, it must have been rabid. Good thing we killed it."
*walks on*
A sudden plague has hit the wildlife of Cormyr. Thousands of animals are showing signs of being rabid. Apparently it happened overnight.
~Article in the Cormyr Gazette.
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Post by Vlad on Jan 22, 2009 15:55:01 GMT -5
I have always appreciated the epic badass cleric's way of dealing with the wildlife. |
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Post by EDM Entori on Jan 22, 2009 16:37:08 GMT -5
The other side of things is anything marked...
"dire"
are seen as creatures, that are twisted and changed/ corrupted. I do not recall 100%
I'm sure someone has an "offical resource"
the phrase I received is this:
"Dire animals are larger, tougher, meaner versions of ordinary animals. Each kind tends to have a feral, prehistoric, or even demonic appearance."
We've a lot of dire animals, perhaps that helps.
and gods help if you see the hullack wildlife, phew! better get yerself a 44, cuz dem ones eh big ol' 'ogs
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Post by Micteu on Jan 22, 2009 19:08:48 GMT -5
.44 would be too small for some of those wolves. Maybe a .45-70 would be good. Actually, no. Those wolves are bigger than buffalo.
Anyways. On other servers I've seen a couple things implimented.
First, there's a chance creatures will run upon sighting you, which depends on level and a bunch of stuff. Of course, the servers I saw with that had clean-up scripts for critters.
Second, on another server, I've seen druids and rangers get an Animal Empathy widget, which they can use to target an individual animal. The animal will then turn neutral towards both the PC and other animals nearby during a conversation in which the PC can pick whether to have the animal join the party, go hostile, or leave and "go home," where it will be limbo'd and removed, which means the spawn is cleaned up. No bloodshed. Boom.
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Post by Munroe on Jan 22, 2009 21:21:37 GMT -5
The other side of things is anything marked... "dire" are seen as creatures, that are twisted and changed/ corrupted. I do not recall 100% I'm sure someone has an "offical resource" the phrase I received is this: "Dire animals are larger, tougher, meaner versions of ordinary animals. Each kind tends to have a feral, prehistoric, or even demonic appearance."We've a lot of dire animals, perhaps that helps. and gods help if you see the hullack wildlife, phew! better get yerself a 44, cuz dem ones eh big ol' 'ogs The quote you quoted is the description of dire animals from the Monster Manual. They're not warped or twisted or changed/corrupted, they're just megafauna. Think of them as prehistoric giant mammals, except in D&D they never went extinct. Mastodons, dire wolves, and sabre-toothed tigers would be three examples of creatures dire animals are based upon. The name of D&D dire animals comes directly from the dire wolf. Dire animals are big, vicious, and will eat you (or perhaps just trample you in the case of the herbivores), but they're just animals not any kind of magical beast. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_wolf |
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Post by Pookey on Jan 22, 2009 21:49:52 GMT -5
Malar beasts, however, -are- twisted and evil.
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Post by Munroe on Jan 23, 2009 1:20:07 GMT -5
Malar beasts, however, -are- twisted and evil. Malar beasts and worgs and winter wolves, for that matter. |
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Post by EDM Neo on Jan 23, 2009 1:27:54 GMT -5
Just out of curiousity... canonically, how rare are dire animals supposed to be in Faerun?
Not referring to how many are actual scripted spawns on FRC, but for an average non-adventuring Faerunian, would hearing of a dire animal sighting, or seeing one for themselves, be a rare occurance or commonplace?
EDIT: Dire animals and, while I'm at it, magical beasts such as winter wolves, worgs, etc.
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Post by Munroe on Jan 23, 2009 12:25:01 GMT -5
Just out of curiousity... canonically, how rare are dire animals supposed to be in Faerun? Not referring to how many are actual scripted spawns on FRC, but for an average non-adventuring Faerunian, would hearing of a dire animal sighting, or seeing one for themselves, be a rare occurance or commonplace? EDIT: Dire animals and, while I'm at it, magical beasts such as winter wolves, worgs, etc. I'm not aware of anywhere this information would be found "canonically." |
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Post by EDM Entori on Jan 23, 2009 12:31:31 GMT -5
WOw you stumped munroe
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Post by Munroe on Jan 23, 2009 12:39:15 GMT -5
Hmm... It's possible that it might be published in a 2nd Edition book, but I can't think of any 3e FR books with that information. I'm just guessing, but I'd say it might be worthwhile to check some of the old Elminster's Ecologies. The chance that any of them deals with dire animals or those specific wolf-like magical beasts is unlikely though. |
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Post by EDM Neo on Jan 23, 2009 13:14:02 GMT -5
Right, I kind of expected there wouldn't be anything... I was just asking out of curiousity. Oh well. If not in Faerun in general, should average common folk on FRC be used to dire animals, or consider them a rarity?
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Post by Pookey on Jan 23, 2009 23:13:04 GMT -5
Average common folk in FRC should consider any non-natural non-humanoid creature a rarity.
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Post by Munroe on Jan 24, 2009 2:57:15 GMT -5
Didn't someone say that dire animals weren't in the Monster Manual before 3e? I thought someone posted that. Maybe I'm just losing my mind.
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Post by ConcreteSequential on Jan 24, 2009 10:28:27 GMT -5
Didn't someone say that dire animals weren't in the Monster Manual before 3e? I thought someone posted that. Maybe I'm just losing my mind. Odd, thought I did. Must've fallen through one of those holes in the space time continuum. Scoured the 1st and 2nd edition source I have laying around again, and the only dire animals mentioned are wolves. Other than the dire wolves mentioned, there were giant versions of, but no dire animals in any of the 1e/ 2e manuals I have, and no dire template. *edited a pre-coffe oops* Thanks Micteu. |
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Post by Micteu on Jan 24, 2009 12:14:25 GMT -5
Second edition MM: The dire wolf is an ancestor of the modern species. Though larger in size, they are otherwise similar to their descendants. Same thing for the other dire critters, maybe? There are giant versions of many animals, though. Maybe the word "dire" replaced them for 3.0? |
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Post by Munroe on Jan 24, 2009 16:08:35 GMT -5
I don't think dire versions are the same as giant versions. I'm not sure which books they're in, but I have miniatures for giant eagles and giant owls that are from the miniatures line during the 3x period.
Dire isn't a template in 3x, it's just a classification of a group of large animals that have similar characteristics.
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;D
