Hats off to the Wolves

[danielmn]

However a mt lion or bear WILL shred that primitive smelted iron clanking suit like a tin can.

[Pelham]

I was looking around the server, checking the areas immediately adjacent to the main settlement to try and get my bearings. I considered this a not particularly risky activity given that I was staying to the roads and the roads were well established (ie: not moss covered, deserted, foreboding). However, I discovered the ecology somewhat more hostile than the setting suggested and lost a character. Fine. I carry that meta knowledge forward to the next character. I'm trying out BG now (want to see the whole range that's available) and I go nowhere without others.

I had played on TSM with a character for a couple weeks, on and off. Some of the characters that I encountered, I had Vielhek speak with--some not. It's an unsettling thing for a person in a strange land to encounter multiple drow at night, so I don't know if avoidance in that case counts as antisocial behavior or good sense appropriate to the setting.

The basic thing is that the essential lay of the land and its hazards are not well understood unless you've lost a few characters or get that information from someone who's lost a few characters, and the dialogues available from NPCs (I went into just about every store) are basic and led in my case to a sense of disorientation and ignorance. The available missions--for example the "patrol the roads" mission--suggests danger on the roads, but the nature of that danger is not well established. Clearly, civilization has not placed its stamp on the north enough to have adapted the wildlife to stay away from humans and their like, even though civilization clearly has established at least one major settlement (perhaps Silverymoon gets its provisions from downriver?)

Some more overt use of /tells could have established Vielhek in a party sooner, but I took a chance that a less meta approach might at least allow me to enter a party less eating from the hands of the established players. And I also wanted Vielhek's participation in a party to be on the character's terms, not just out of loneliness.

But the bottom line is that--yes, indeed, not partying up leads to getting eated by a wolf. A badass wolf. So, play D&D. And playing D&D means a party.

John
Pelham
aka Pel-el

[mr duncan]

I'm trying out BG now (want to see the whole range that's available) and I go nowhere without others.

Hope you like the city! I havent been there myself, but I think BG is just as deadly as TSM. The lesson of not going out alone should be just as helpful there

It's an unsettling thing for a person in a strange land to encounter multiple drow at night, so I don't know if avoidance in that case counts as antisocial behavior or good sense appropriate to the setting.

I understand that. Id like to mention though that theres no way you could meet multiple drow that night. Theres only one on the server

Clearly, civilization has not placed its stamp on the north enough to have adapted the wildlife to stay away from humans and their like, even though civilization clearly has established at least one major settlement (perhaps Silverymoon gets its provisions from downriver?)

Im in agreement here. I dont really think we should have hostile animal spawns. Most animals, even the big scary ones, really want to be left alone. Being attacked by an animal should be really rare like a sick or starving one, or a mother freaked over her cub. I still think you should have been attacked in the Evermoors however, just not by wolves

I think the only hostile spawns we should have are intelligent things with hostile intent. Bandits, goblins, orcs, gnolls, etc. Monsters that are just out to eat you too, those are good too but it would be nice if we did away with the natural animal spawns and had things with a reasonable intent to harm whatever PC they find.


J

[johnlewismcleod]

Im in agreement here. I dont really think we should have hostile animal spawns. Most animals, even the big scary ones, really want to be left alone. Being attacked by an animal should be really rare like a sick or starving one, or a mother freaked over her cub. I still think you should have been attacked in the Evermoors however, just not by wolves

I think the only hostile spawns we should have are intelligent things with hostile intent. Bandits, goblins, orcs, gnolls, etc. Monsters that are just out to eat you too, those are good too but it would be nice if we did away with the natural animal spawns and had things with a reasonable intent to harm whatever PC they find.


J

While I understand what you're saying about wild animals, I think you're using a 21st century filter. You don't have to go back very far in our own histroy to reach the point where these animals still considered humans to be good grub, but since we're in Faerun all RL bets are off anyway

I do like the idea of converting most to intel things though...for two reasons:

1) Wild natural animals incredibly deadly .

2) They don't give any chance for loot if you're lucky enough to defeat one .

+1 for Mr Duncan

P.S.: Someone did recently remind me about a script in NWN1 (Brother, I think) that he called "blue, to Red". The effect was that when a PC got near a wild animal it would be nuetral at first, but over time begin to howl/growl and steadily become more vocal and uncomfortable until it went to red and charged. It was a brilliant script. If it is available somewhere in the vault for NWN2, it could address some of the realism issues raised by Mr. D.

[Mikayla]

I had Vielhek speak with--some not. It's an unsettling thing for a person in a strange land to encounter multiple drow at night

Yeeaah... so far as I know, I'm the only drow on the server. PC anyway.

As for animals .. it occurs to me that I spent months and months of my time over the course of 4 years, trudging around the Alaska wilderness with the Army in places where wolves, bears, elk, etc. all make their home, and I rarely saw such animals, and when we DID see them, they NEVER attacked, not even the wolves or the bears - they went the other way. And we were not allowed to shoot them or anything so it wasn't like we were chasing them off (though .. err .. we did once try to use an improvised explosive against a coyote that was constantly trying to steal from a hide-site we had once in the desert - nothing about that attempt went right, and the coyote got away, but thats a story for another day).

Anyway, yeah, most animals, even the predators, run from loud scary people.

Note: this does NOT apply to polar bears, which I found to be the creepiest, scariest creatures ever because I got the impression that they were actively stalking people - probably because they were. Hmmph.

[The_Righteous]

I agree with Mikayla.

[johnlewismcleod]

I'm just feeling disagreeable today ...I don't even agree with myself

This does begin to sound like a brainstorming thread though...anyone agree with that?

Hey..what comes after Gelatinous Cube anyway?

[hollyfant]

Coffee, brandy and a cigar.

[DMyles]

the wolves are nothing compared to the necrotaurs ...... but danger is what makes the game fun and exciting

[ElCadaver]

A brief instruction video on what to avoid on TSM. Makesure you watch it until the end.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers

[oldgrayrogue]

I don't think its a stretch to believe that a pack of wolves (three?) will attack a lone traveler in the wilderness, even if he is in armor. Especially at night. And its probably pretty hard to swing a sword well with one wolf on your ankle, one trying to bite you in the ass and the other growling at you. =p A lone wolf attacking ? Maybe if its hungry enough. I tend to think that wolves have the nasty reputation they do through our own middle ages because they ate more than lambs and chickens. =)

The overpowered uber HP wolves are a different story. There are timberwolf models available I believe which are larger than normal wolves. The uberness should be saved for those as "pack leaders" or dire wolves etc to give PC's fair warning.

[Ithildur]

Several months ago I was unlucky enough to encounter wolves in Silverwood...
I did around twenty damage to one in self-defense before reaching 3/4 of its total health, leading to the following conclusion: "Don't fight wolves."

Kest, I don't know if they've been toned down since then or what; none of the wolves I've seen have had more than 30 HPs. Of course, that's still about a 4-5HD critter, pretty darn tough and will kill a lvl 1-2 without breaking a sweat.

[Riotnrrd]

none of the wolves I've seen have had more than 30 HPs. Of course, that's still about a 4-5HD critter, pretty darn tough and will kill a lvl 1-2 without breaking a sweat.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wolf.htm

vs 13 HPs for a 'normal' wolf, CR 1 (i.e. a decent challenge for a party of 4 level 1s)

Northern Wolves, indeed...

[HEEGZ]

So are you suggesting that there actually might be a problem with the spawns on TSM? I thought this was all idle chatter until the last two posts.

[Brokenbone]

A wolf CAN advance up to 4-6hd, but it also jumps a size category with all the attendant pluses and minuses (okay, mostly plusses!) to ability scores and other combat relevant statistics. I.e., 2hd is normal, 3hd is a "medium" advancement possibility, 4-6 HD is a "large" advancement possibility. As you climb HD you obviously get BAB changes, a skill point a level for these poor dumb animals, save improvement for reflex/fort faster than for will and at 4th you'd get a feat. But it's as you become "large", you look at -1 BAB, but +8 STR, -1 AC, but +3 Natural AC, -2 DEX, and +4 CON.

Still, this'd mean a 6hd wolf has at most 19 CON, i.e., 6d8+30hp, which should mean 48hp max. It'd have a BAB of +3 (should be +4, but for the -1 due to Largeness), but all of a sudden having a 21 STR (+5) means actual AB of +8, and some fairly scary damage from the bite, which it already has weapon focus in (so "Bite +3 melee (1d6+1)" from a medium wolf's jaws becomes "Bite +8 melee (1d8+5)" from the large wolf (note changing 1d6 wpn to 1d8 wpn is on purpose, bigger jaws!).

Anyhow, relevant links for improving monsters and what size category changes mean are all here:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/moveme ... esInCombat

If there are 80hp wolves around, well, they must be something other than vanilla wolves of the highest possible advancement. I.e., homebrew, which is okay I guess, but still more than one should be conditioned to expect if used to monster manuals and stuff and no other telltale clues like the bony protuberances that a Dire critter should have, etc.