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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 7:14 am 
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Crossed my mind the other day, having animals around should be expanded upon. I think there are so many uses from the high perceptions of dogs and even horses, the night vision of horses (I think I read it on wiki) as well as other roles. Perhaps some pet bird of prey can do some good in distracting the enemy. Lovely work reading about horses in one of those recent books I don't recall the title of, but perhaps it could be expanded upon on its role in gameplay. Thoughts?

Maybe some section on animal training and basic skills?

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:17 am 
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Interesting topic.

I am personally interested in seeing more pets and familiars accompanying NPCs and PCs in campaigns. Imagine the villainous wizard Karakas and his cobra familiar Slith. Or the barbarian plainsman Huruk from the Khanates with his trusty mount Shamsin. Or even a non-speaking NPC unicorn acting as a guide to the party on a quest.

However I am at this moment not too inclined towards adding more rules. I would be satisfied merely to say that the owl familiar/pet of the PC Mystic Skillion will grant him +2 Perception when nearby, plus a small assortment of capabilities like being able to send the owl to scout ahead 1 km, etc. I would be more focused on how the pet or familiar can add to the RP of the character and the general dynamics of the party.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:25 am 
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Perhaps not so much rules, that can be just some attribute bonuses or using the higher perception in the rules. But some fluff on animal behaviour, tendencies, the time it takes to bond and create loyalties.

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:23 am 
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The old man passed on in the wee hours of Sunday morning. One moment, he was sitting in front of the fireplace in the Common Room of the Jolly Pig surrounded by the village children telling his stories of heroes of old. The next moment, he had fallen off his chair and laid face-down on floor. The call rose for Ol' Megan the village healer who was rushed to the inn. After a short examination, she pronounced him dead.

Gudrun the Innkeep, grumbling good-naturedly, walked up the creaking stairs to clear out the old man's room, to clean it up and prepare it for new tenants. Among the old man's meagre possessions, he found an old leather bound book that lay at the bottom of his chest. Brows furrowed in curiosity, Gudrun picked it up, brushing off the dust that had covered it. The book was bound in black leather, with embossed silver lettering on its cover - Silvanus' Treatise on Familiars - Feasibility, Usefulness, and How to Acquire One. Flipping through the book yielded pages upon pages of scrawling script in some ancient unreadable language, accompanied by hand-drawings of various animals - bats, owls, rodents, snakes, wolves, etc.

Unable to make head or tails of the book, Gudrun shrugs and tosses it onto a pile of other similiar books, parchments and scrolls. Whistling an old marching tune, he continues his cleanup of the room...


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

Some Sorcerer or Druid needs to write this book and add it to the Dragon Warriors magical lore and traditions! :)


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:26 am 
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Kharille wrote:
Lovely work reading about horses in one of those recent books I don't recall the title of, but perhaps it could be expanded upon on its role in gameplay.

The article of which you're thinking is "My Lovely Horse" on the Dragon Warriors wiki (http://dragonwarriors.wikifoundry.com/p ... vely+Horse). This article was republished in the Players' Guide, which may also be where you've read it. It basically busts a lot of myths around horses that are peddled in cheap fantasy fiction and Hollywood films - if you want a more realistic depiction of horses in your games (which are arguably the most common animal companions that adventurers will have), then this is the article to read!

Also entomed within the Players' Guide are rules for demonologist familiars, which lend themselves more to the role-playing elements of having a familiar than just as a means to give the demonologist or sorcerer a quick boost to his stats. The rules make it clear that familiars are NPCs controlled by the GM, not extensions of the demonologist - familiars have personalities and objectives of their own to fulfill on behalf of their dark master so whilst they are bound to the demonologist, he would be careless to think this gives him the right to treat the familiar as an unfailingly loyal extension of his will.

As for other animals, knights, certainly, would typically engage in hunts and falconry, and probably have the skills to train such animals. Of the two, dogs are probably more likely to accompany a knight on an adventure, but given some of the trap-laden devil-filled underworlds in which the knight will find himself, I think their life expectancy would be low (plus they can't climb, eat a lot of food, drink a lot of water, may get spooked in underworlds and run off, may give away the party's location with a stray bark, etc.). Consider also that the facilities and downtime between adventures a knight would need to train a new animal each time he lost one. I wouldn't stop one of my players from having their character take a dog with them on an adventure, though, and I think it would be an interesting role-playing challenge that could create some interesting dilemmas and dramas.

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 12:42 pm 
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Cool thread...

Any DW info on domestic or wild cats, rather than big cats would be greatly appreciated. I wasn't going to have have a sorceress with a thing for cats until the first thing she encountered was freaking rats of every variety including ROUS and other more complicated rodents. Now she has a Ferromanii merchant family compound full of pampered alley cats as a defense against things that go squeek in the night and a future as a gattara* beckoning.

Other than considering trying to come up with a variant of Wolfcall (Catcall? Name needs work...) and having a courtyard full of 'furry tripwires' to act as a footing hazard to would-be assassins and burglars, and to eat the usual sort of rats as is traditional, what advantage might a sorcerer gain from a companion cat?

If the tomb paintings of Ancient Egypt are a valid reference, spotted tabby cats the size of modern domestic felines were apparently once used in the hunting of waterfowl (Or are just wild cats being opportunistic hunters when presented with a wounded duck as an easy kill?). They are less inclined to hunt like dogs, but they do have a group structure that might be used to human advantage.

OK, few adventurers would eat rat unless starving, but small avians up to duck or chook sized birds, rabbits and other small mammals, small reptiles and even fish have been reported as 'Gifts' from cats to their owners, sometimes still alive and more or less unharmed. The ginger cat who treed a young bear in their backyard territory would probably not have survived an encounter at close range though.




*The Italian equivalent of 'Crazy Cat Lady' without the connotations of 'Crazy'.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:18 pm 
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Our cat left a half eaten rat on our back step only a couple of weeks ago. The head and front half was gone but there was still the rear end and a bloody mess and what looked like the liver a short distance away. Then he vomited up what he had eaten and I had to clean it all up. I was not fond of the little bastard that day, although it makes a change from all the doves he normally kills.

On the subject of animals that would be useful as adventurer's companions, I think dogs and horses are probably the most plausible candidates in most situations, as suggested earlier. I watched the movie Green Room recently and [SLIGHT SPOILER] was struck by how effective the attack dogs were in the film. There's something about the speed, fearlessness, and tenacity of a killer dog that could be a wonderful asset in the right kind of adventure, even if the rules perhaps don't do a great job of reflecting that. Alternatively, a bloodhound (or equivalent) could be extremely useful in some scenarios; much better than some poxy old assassin etc with tracking skill.

D&D/World of Warcraft style adventurer's familiars don't do it for me much however, I'm afraid. It feels hackneyed and cheesy. As much as I love playing Torchlight, its a different type of world to Legend.

Cheers,

-Kyle


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:33 pm 
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Maybe it would add character to a bad guy npc. A prized warhorse might be more useful than a +3 weapon, especially if it can somehow carry unconscious players out of the battle. Might be interesting to have them charge in as a response to a whistle. Or maybe a bird of prey can do some messenging function and help move armies around a map. Just thoughts.

And of course you can always let your dog try the bottle labelled 'healing potion'....

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:56 pm 
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Kharille wrote:
And of course you can always let your dog try the bottle labelled 'healing potion'....

An interesting assumption that potions work the same on animals as they do on humans... As a GM, you could have some fun with players that use animal companions as potion-testers just by challenging that assumption :twisted:

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:15 pm 
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Kharille wrote:
Or maybe a bird of prey can do some messenging function and help move armies around a map. Just thoughts.


Are birds of prey suitable for sending messages? Homing pigeons have been used to carry messages for thousands of years (they're not very convenient to carry around on adventures however) but that's because humans have exploited the natural tendencies of pigeons. I've not heard of raptors being used that way.

Cobwebbed Dragon wrote:
An interesting assumption that potions work the same on animals as they do on humans... As a GM, you could have some fun with players that use animal companions as potion-testers just by challenging that assumption


Make sure your healing potion doesn't contain chocolate before giving it to your wardog!

Cheers,

-Kyle


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