Final Thoughts on "Bear Week"

[sorry, folks...as I mentioned, I have company in town so I've been out and about all day. I've got a few free moments right now for a quick post and I'm taking advantage of it]

Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy game filled with fantasy monsters, and normal animals like bears may seem out-of-place as antagonists and challenging foes. But sometimes we forget (or younger folks may not be familiar with) the rich literary tradition that is the foundation of the "stuff" in D&D...it's a lot less fantastic than one might think.

Tigers, bears, crocodiles, and snakes (constricting and poisonous, both), these are the "monsters" many sword & sorcery heroes faced when not fighting their main enemy: other humans.

I think we often lose sight of this...it's easy to draw a map and stock room after room with "fantasy monsters" - orcs and bugbears and dopplegangers and carrion crawlers and whatnot - and while we might write an adventure so that it makes sense from the POV of "Gygaxian Ecology," it may be so fantastic as to be alien to our "real" adventurous history. When Lewis & Clark opened the passage to the west, a grizzly bear was a pretty serious threat, as their own accounts tell...and they were traveling in a large party and armed with modern firearms. Sometimes we take for granted the power and majesty (and threat!) of real life nature.

Yes, S&S heroes like Conan fought the occasional fantastic creature...the frost giant daughter's brothers or the naga-like man-snake. But most of his foes were extremely natural. Even Tolkien, "high fantasy" that it is, isn't filled with supernatural encounters/combats. What are goblins/orcs but "twisted elves," and what are elves but more sophisticated men? Take away all the battles with orcs and how many real "monsters" are encountered in The Lord of the Rings? A troll, some undead, a giant spider, a balrog. And the usual reaction of the heroes to ALL these threats is "run away! run away!"

A very different set of heroics compared to that of your average D&D party.

So give nature...and natural "monsters"...their just and well-earned due. A mountain lion or panther or wild boar or (God knows) BEAR can be plenty challenging to an adventuring party...especially low-level ones. True, they might not be found in your average "dungeon" or tomb/haunted crypt (animals are notoriously wary of the supernatural) but getting to and from the adventuring site can be fraught with peril without involving anything "mythical" or "fantastic" at all.

Just think about it, okay?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to write something up about demons and giant frogs and assorted craziness.

; )

New DM Mascot

My buddy called me up today and asked what's with all the bear stuff lately. I explained it's "Bear Week" and then realized I'm pretty much out of steam. Part of that is due to the usual exhaustion and part of it is...well, I think it's all pretty much due to exhaustion. I still like bears, but I'm going to end this series early.

I DID want to show one of the miniatures I picked up over last weekend, however...check it out:

Now THAT is pretty awesome. While the current adventure I'm running has ZERO bears in it, I find just having a beast like that on the table conveys most of what I need to say about my attitude towards the game. Because of the relatives staying with us this weekend, I won't have time to paint the new critter for awhile, but maybe I'll have a chance to finish it up before we head to Mexico.

Oh, man am I tired...my eyes are burning right now. I'm shutting off; talk at y'all later!

: )

Circus Freaks

While black bears can grow very large, they average only around 135kg or so (about 300 pounds), and while capable of killing or injuring humans, in general they do NOT attack humans, except perhaps over food (and unlike the brown and polar bear, human is not really considered fair game for black bears). While they have been hunted themselves for food and sport, black bears have the closest thing to a live-and-let-live relationship with humans as one finds within the bear kingdom. Exceptionally intelligent and dexterous, they can open latches and lids and unscrew the tops of jars; tests have found they learn some things faster than chimpanzees.

It is because of their intelligence and temperament that black bears end up as trained animal acts, circus performers, and mascots more than any other type of bear (Smoky, Yogi, and Winnie were all modeled after black bears). They are also relatively easy to hunt and trap (rather than hunt and kill) compared to other bears.

For a fantasy game like D&D, who doesn’t want a trained attack bear?

B/X doesn’t give stats and prices for trained animals, though one CAN retain the services of an animal trainer (500gp per month, Cook/Marsh Expert set page X21). Now while some wealthy adventurers might decide it’s worth the cost to hire a "Bear Master" to wrangle their furry mercenaries, most adventuring parties are just looking for a single bruiser that knows the command “Kill!” Let’s talk about BOTH.

Animal trainers cost 500gp per month, specialize in a particular type of animal, and can handle up to 6 animals at a time providing on-going training (as well as, I presume, feed and care). There’s no mention of whether or not animals need to be purchased separately or not…I would figure that in a large enough (or strange enough) fantasy city, one could find a bear master with a string of black bears ready for adventure. While the 500gp per month covers the price of the handler’s services, one has to consider the cost of the animals.

A black bear eats 30+ pounds of food per day, and one that it is in captivity is not out hunting/grazing, rations will need to be provided for it. Even considering a poorer quality of rations than the average adventurer consumes, I’d still budget 50gp per month per bear for food (standard rations are 5gp/week x52 weeks /12 months x4 times the normal weight, then reduced for quality). A bear master (if available) will already possess 1D6 black bears in his care; in addition to the bear master’s fee, the employer must pay the food costs of all bears in the handler’s care (the bear master will not voluntarily part from any of his bears). Fees of course are subject to market demand.

The bear master himself is a normal man, albeit one with maximum hit points (4) from his rough and tumble lifestyle. He will try to avoid combat if at also possible, but will direct his bears to fight for him (or as his employer commands).

Purchasing an additional wild bear for the bear master is a matter of finding a bounty hunter or trapper skilled in the live acquisition of large game (perhaps for the local gladiatorial games). Such an animal would 400-800gps depending on size and scarcity, and would require at least one month’s work with the bear master to learn even the simplest commands. A young black bear would be worth 2 to 5 times that amount (D4+1), both because of their extra trainability, and the danger involved of confronting an angry mother bear in its den!

A young black bear can be trained for domestication from an early age. Sold in adulthood, such an animal requires no bear master but costs 2000-4000gp, again depending on size and scarcity. For the character wishing a “pet bear” without hiring an animal trainer, this is the only option other than using magic.

A black bear trained from an early age and purchased as an adult will be only moderately useful to its new owner, knowing the commands “attack,” “stop,” “come,” and “stay.” Regular feeding and care will eventually ingratiate the bear to its master (in 2D6 weeks); prior to that, the owner will need to make a Reaction roll every time a command is given (Charisma modifiers apply as usual). The DM can further modify the reaction rolled based on circumstance as normal (a half-starved bear is more likely to “attack,” but less likely to “come” unless food is being offered).

PC adventurers are NOT animal trainers, and no PC can ever own/handle more than one bear at a time. Such a “pet” counts against the maximum number of retainers a PC can have (based on Charisma). However, a bear companion can become a loyal and lifelong friend. Bears never gain XP or grow in “level;” they heal at the same rate as adventurers (D3 hit points per day, though bed rest is NOT required and light activity does not interfere with healing), and can be affected by curing and blessing spells. As a domestic creature, the owner WILL need to provide it with sustenance at the standard 50gp per month rate (see above).

Black bears are excellent climbers and very fast (25-30mph at a dash…fast enough to chase down that pesky goblin running for help!). They cannot wear armor (at least, nothing that would improve their AC; they can still be “decorated”). With regular food and activity, a domesticated bear will spend much less time in hibernation (if any time at all), though they will still be lethargic during certain months.

: )

Sometimes the Bear Eats You…

Just watched David Mamet’s film The Edge last night, thinking about Bear Week. I’ve long been a fan of Mamet’s work (American Buffalo, Glengary) and The Edge is certainly exceptional, but yesterday was the first time I remember seeing it all the way through. Yes, I’ve caught it a half-dozen times or so on TV but I always seem to come in right around the last half-third of the film (or I miss a big chunk in the middle).

Somehow I seem to have missed the scene where the bear eats the buddy. Wow!

While a blogged about the abomination of monsters eating people before, sometimes one forgets that those cute, cuddly bears we love to protect from extinction do sometimes eat human beings (yes, I HAVE seen the film Grizzly Man; no comment on Mr. Treadwell at this time). To be fair to bears, they eat everything…including each other and their own young!...when they’re hungry enough, and they require quite a bit of sustenance to keep them going. I don’t consider bears to be an “abomination” as I do orcish or goblin cannibals. When all is said and done, bears are still a part of nature and are just doing that “natural thang.”

Eating.

What’s more interesting (to me) is the idea of the “man-killer” bear…that a bear that has killed (and eaten) a human develops a “taste” for man-flesh. Or (to put it another way) that an animal normally not overly-concerned with human interaction has now redefined its relationship with people as “predator and prey.” I have no idea if this is simply an urban myth or if it the reason why bears who have killed humans (like the grizzly that killed Treadwell) are in turn destroyed by wildlife rangers. After all, I don’t think we’re killing the bear as a form of “punishment” or “capital judgment;” bears know nothing of human laws, only obeying the law of nature. Why then destroy an animal that has done that which “comes naturally?” I can only guess that there IS something to the “man-killer myth”…or at least there is a FEAR that there is something to the man-killer story.

For the purpose of a fantasy RPG like D&D, I say “err on the side of myth.” Duh. When you’re dealing with dragons and harpies and ochre jellies, of course you’re going to take the mythic/Hollywood angle!

According to the Moldvay Basic set (page B24), unintelligent monsters will cease pursuit for dropped ration 50% of the time (a roll of 1-3 on a D6). This is actually a pretty simple, easy-to-use rule and I’m inclined to use it as is, though I’d add +1 to any roll involving a grizzly/polar bear and – 1 to any roll with a black bear. Here’s what the roll can mean for a pursuing bear:

Roll 1-3 (stops for food)

- Bear is hungrier than it is upset/aggravated and will stop to eat food
- Bear only attacking because it’s hungry; food good!
- Bear only defending territory; combo of party’s removal from territory and food (positive) incentive is enough to break off attack

Roll 4-6 (ignores food)

- Form of rations dropped doesn’t appeal to bear
- Bear enraged beyond reason by party presence/encroachment
- Bear is a man-killer and will only stop to eat dead adventurer

And regarding that last one, if a party flees after a member has been “downed” (i.e. killed) it should count as the party dropping rations. That is, the DM should make the same roll as if the party were throwing food to the bear…in a very real way, they ARE. Something as big as an adventurer should be worth a +2 to the food roll (only a bear enraged beyond reason would pass up such a large meal).

However, even should a party evade the pursuit of a man-killing bear they’ve got a bigger problem: the bear may very well decide the party is prey worthy of being stalked.

Even after eating the party’s dead companions, a bear may continue to hunt a party within its territory, though it probably won’t get hungry again for a few hours. A male bear’s range is LARGE, hundreds of square miles, though they won’t travel any faster than a normal unarmored man on foot (probably a maximum of 6 to 12 miles per day through a forested, mountainous region like Alaska). Bears can smell for miles, and will track the scent of food and blood (wounds) looking for a kill to scavenge. Unless, the party can reach civilization (bears will generally avoid large groups of people) or find some horses, chances are a man-killer bear is the only “wandering monster” the party will need to worry about once it’s picked up its trail (with an automatic daily or evening encounter).

Black bears, by the way, are much less aggressive than other types of bears, and will often attempt to climb trees or run from encounters with large groups of humans (unless hungry and food is present and available). In general, I would avoid including “man-killer” black bears…only brown, polar, and cave bears have the temperament to come looking for trouble (brown bears will even hunt the smaller black bears, as well as stealing/scavenging their food). If a black bear is encountered as a wandering monster in the wilderness, it probably shows us during a party’s “meal break.” Use common sense here.

Okay, back to the mean ones…REGARDING PURSUIT, a brown bear has an overland movement speed of 30-35miles per hour at a dash. This means it’s faster than ANY adventurer not using magical speed enhancement. Polar bears are just as fast, though it’s slower (in general) to run over snow…polar bears can also swim around 30km/hr. I have no stats for a cave bear, so I’d probably just use the speed listed in the Basic set.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? It means that a party that runs from an aggressive bear withOUT leaving food for it WILL be brought down from behind. Find the slowest member of the party, and make your attack rolls on that poor sucker, including the +2 attack bonus from behind and no shield penalty. If in doubt of who’s the slowest, I use the character with the shortest legs (dwarves, usually). Bears generally won’t split their attacks…they are a predator that focuses on bringing down one animal (for the purpose of eating, usually). Once it does manage a kill, it will most likely focus on eating/protecting its meal, unless the party continues to piss it off.

Bears are good climbers and have no problems running down hills or swimming, but a closed door will usually be enough to deter them if they can’t smash it open with a single blow (heavy iron-bound oak with a cross-bar is good for this).

However, if you feed a bear (either by throwing it rations or leaving a dead buddy on the ground), it is LESS likely to leave you alone in the future. Dropping food for a bear is a short-term solution to pursuit…it will continue to come back to the gravy train whenever it gets hungry. Stay in a locked cabin or barricaded cave long enough and it will get bored and wander away (probably to look for other food), but it will continue to come back as long as the adventurers are in its territory (see above) and it thinks it can get some kind of meal out of them.

Regarding crowds: bears will be discouraged from attack by large numbers of VISIBLE people. When a wandering bear surprises a party, or a pursuing bear chases a group into a populated area, a DM should check morale before making any kind of attack if there are a bunch of humans/demihumans milling about:

Black bears: more than two to three people
Brown bears: more than four to five people
Grizzly/Kodiac*: more than six to seven
Polar bears: more than eight to ten
Cave bears: don’t need to check morale to attack

*Any brown bear with 30 or more hit points can be considered to be a North American grizzly; these monsters attack and do damage as a polar bear rather than a standard brown bear; they award XP as if they had 6HD.

Bear Hug My Ass

From the Tom Moldvay Basic rules (page B31):

If a bear (of any type) hits with both paws on the same victim in one round of combat, the bear has hugged its victim and will cause 2-16 (2d8) additional points of damage in the same round as the attack.

Okay, let’s get something straight right now: bears don’t hug.

They just don’t; look it up. There’s no known documentation of a bear ever hugging someone as a form of attack. It is a pretty silly idea.

A “bear hug” is a move in Greco-Roman wrestling in which the arms are wrapped around an opponent, the hands are locked, and the opponent is held tightly to the chest. It is also something I give my wife when she’s been out of town for a few days and I’m meeting her at the airport.

The only way in which the term “bear hug” has ANYthing at all to do with bears is that it has the word “bear” in its title. It is not something bears do when fighting…neither to humans, nor each other.

And yet it’s been such a part of D&D lore that every edition (with the exception of Holmes) features some form of bear “hugging attack.” The first mention of “hugs” I can find is in Supplement I in which it is noted both werebears and owl bears may “hug” for an additional 2D8 damage. By the 3rd edition Monster Manual, this has morphed into something called an “improved grab” attack. As with most things in D20, it’s ridiculously complex.

[you know, I was actually thinking of taking a stab at running a D20/Pathfinder game the other day? Yeah, really. But then I remembered what a PAIN IN THE ASS it is to DM the game due to the bullshit stat blocks of monsters and quickly came to my senses!]

Now to me, a bear is a dangerous animal. While I can buy the heroic fantasy of a knight in magic armor and a flaming sword besting one in combat, bears should be capable of killing your average two to three warriors on foot, plate mail or no. The hug attack has been a great way to model the sheer destructive force of a 1700 pound beast (both brown and polar bears are capable of that size, by the way, though the polar bears ON AVERAGE are the larger of the two). In wrestling, the bear hug is a “take down” move, designed to bring a foe to the ground. While bears don't hug opponents, they are plenty strong enough to overbear opponents (from which vantage point they can readily maul the poor target). It is not, then, my goal here to remove the "extra damage" attack from the game of D&D.

I just want to clean it up a bit.
; )

Here's how I'd re-work the bear hug for B/X:

If a bear (of any type) hits with the same opponent with both paw attacks in a single combat round, the beast bears its opponent to the ground and inflicts an additional 2-16 (2d8) damage as it mauls its victim.

It would, of course, be assumed that any character surviving such an attack would scramble away and regain its feet for the following round. If the victim does NOT survive the attack, well...it might be time for the rest of the party to sneak away and leave the animal to its meal.

Werebears would have the same mauling ability (when in bear form)...owl bears have a "tear and rend attack" that works much the same way should they get their talons on an opponent.

But let's leave the hugging out of the mix, huh?

Kicking Off "Bear Week" at B/X Blackrazor

That's right...I'm sure y'all have heard of "Shark Week" on the nature channels; this week is going to be Bear Week at Ye Olde Blog. I keep bringing 'em up here and there, so I figured I might as well devote a series of posts to the bad boys.

I could find no reference to bears earlier than the AD&D Monster Manual, though they do appear in G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. There's no mention of bears (other than were- and owl-) in Holmes, and the only reference I find to them in the LBBs is under the description of hill giants where it says they may have 3-18 bears as guards (not sure what Gary & Dave had in mind for use as stats...werebears?). If they are found in any of the first four supplements, I can't locate 'em.

So I'm content to accept that the 1977 Monster Manual is the official first source of "bears" (statistically speaking) in D&D. The MM has only three variety of "normal" bears: Black, Brown, and Cave. While all three are neutral in alignment, they are each described as being of different temperament:

Black bears are usually not aggressive, brown bears are, and cave bears are quite aggressive.

All have the ability to "hug" for damage (as first given for werebears and owl bears in Supplement I) and AD&D is the only place we see different bears' "hugs" doing varying amounts of damage until D20 and their overly complicated "improved grab/grapple" mechanic. In all other places (OD&D, B/X, BECMI/RC, the AD&D owl bear) we see damage set at a standard 2D8.

[the whole "hug" thing requires its own post, which we'll get to tomorrow]

B/X is the first to introduce polar bears (a personal favorite) as well as what is perhaps my favorite monster description in any edition:

Bears are well known to all adventurers.

They are, huh? Well, if they're not they should be...your campaign really hasn't kicked off till some poor dumb party member has been mauled by a bear.

Interesting that B/X actually gives a treasure type to bears. Apparently, bears like their shiny bits and they have a small chance at carrying a few pieces of copper, silver, gold, and jewelry as well as the possibility of sporting a magic item (probably left over from some dead adventurer). Cave bears (a prehistoric version of the animal) have a chance at electrum and platinum as well...perhaps they have more discerning tastes in picnic baskets? Regardless, it's a pretty small XP bump to a monster that can be damn hard on PCs. We'll be talking tactics for "bear-fighting" a little bit later, but it's quite possible that the threat a bear poses outweighs any possible reward that might justify a combat encounter.

Yes, you read that right. It may be smartest to NEVER FIGHT a bear. At least in B/X where XP for monster combat is pretty wimpy (a 5HD Grizzly nets your party 175 XP...a 6HD polar bear will bring in 275 XP...but trying splitting that six ways (or however many survivors you have after a fight with a bear).

But as I said, we'll get to that (I hope).

All right, that's as much as I have time for right now. Besides, I'm thinking of maybe breaking out some paint today and icing up a few minis for Thursday's game. But stay tuned as we delve into the furry juggernauts of the fantasy world.

Raawr!

: )