Animals as Individuals	-	General Tendencies	-	Understanding an Animal
Going Without Food or Water: Effects on Animals	-	Fatigue and Exhaustion:  Land-Based Mounts and Pack Animals	-	WSG

A large variety of land-based animals can be used by characters
as mounts and beasts of burden. Nearly every type has a distinctive
“personality,” with traits that set it apart from the others and
which may make the animal relatively more or less useful in certain
circumstances.

The movement rates and encumbrance capacities of the most
often employed mounts and pack animals are described in the
section on Encumbrance and Movement. In this section are provided
various pieces of information concerning those animals’
behavior, proper care and feeding, and some of the special factors
that characters may have to contend with when employing a
certain animal.

Ape, gorilla	Bear, brown	Camel	Dog, sled	Donkey
Elephant	Horse	Mule	Pony	Ram, giant
Sheep	Yak	-	-	-

Yak: This animal is similar in most respects to a giant ram, except
that its range of terrain and temperature is even smaller. A
yak can only be used in mountainous terrain, and only in arctic or
subarctic climates where the temperature does not climb above
30 degrees. Note that it is possible for normal terrain to occur in a
mountainous area, and such terrain might be flat or sloping at
only a very gentle incline. Such terrain does not preclude the use
of a yak, since the animal is still being kept inside a mountainous
area.

A yak needs six rations of food and four rations of water per day
to remain at full strength.

NORMAL LOAD:
MAXIMUM LOAD:
NORMAL:
RUGGED:
VERY RUGGED:
FIRE:
WEATHER:
NOISE:
ODOR:
OTHER:

ANIMALS AS INDIVIDUALS

The animals that accompany a party of characters on a trek
through the wilderness can be “bit players” in the adventure, if
the DM and the players choose to regard them in
that way. They are more or less taken for granted; as long as you
keep them fed, don’t work them too hard, and don’t try to take
them where they can’t go, they will serve capably and uncomplainingly
from the start of an adventure to the end.

But, taking things one small step further, it is not difficult and
can be very interesting to treat each mount and pack animal as a
unique sort of NPC. When animals are consid-
ered in this light, each one has a distinct personality and will react
differently from other animals in the same situation. The sooner a
character gets to know the quirks and traits of his animals, the
better off he and they will be.

Sometimes a character can gain valuable information about a
mount or a pack animal from its former owner, assuming the
seller is reputable and honest in his dealings with the purchaser.
This information can be used by the Dungeon Master to modify
the general characteristics of an animal, taking into account the
individuality of the creature. For instance, if a horse is known to
be “very sure-footed, but hates to get his feet wet,” the animal is
less susceptible to going lame and might be able to move at a
slightly faster rate in rugged or very rugged terrain than a normal
horse - but he will not willingly enter a swamp or ford a river, and
if he is forced to move in such conditions he will either travel at a
slower rate than normal, or he might balk or even panic.

If an animal is captured in the wild, trial and error is the only
way for a character to find out what its personality is like (short of
magical means such as a speak with animals spell). If you aren’t
sure how an animal will react in a certain situation, it is best to expose
the creature to the situation under controlled circumstances.
For instance, to find out how an animal feels about
getting its feet wet, lead it into a stream just before breaking
camp in the morning when the animal is calm and well rested;
don’t wait until you’re being chased by a gang of hobgoblins and
you must ford a shallow river in order to get away from them.

General Tendencies

Just as characters do, animals appreciate calmness && stability
(even though they might not realize it). They don’t like to be xposed
to conditions that are unpleasant or potentially harmful;
they don’t like being startled or upset by something they didn’t
xpect; and they may behave irrationally when something out of
the ordinary happens.

All normal (non-fantastic) animals have an instinctive fear of
fire. To varying degrees, they have an innate ability to sense
when a drastic change in the weather is about to occur. All of
them can be startled by a loud noise, or bothered by an unpleasant
smell. As a general rule, an animal’s sense of smell and
sense of hearing are more acute than those of a human or a demihuman:
When an animal appears to be nervous or excited, it may
be because the creature has perceived something that the character
riding it or leading it has not yet noticed. Most animals are
not intelligent enough to be capricious; when they seem to be
bothered, it’s a good bet that they aren’t acting that way just because
they feel like it.

Table 42: REACTIONS OF ANIMALS

-	Fire	Weather	Noise	Odor	Other
Ape, gorilla	8/10/12	6/12/	8/12/	9/11/12	8/10/12
Bear, brown	4/8/10	6/11/12	6/11/12	5/9/11	5/8/11
Camel, any	6/9/11	6/10/12	6/11/12	4/10/12	6/10/12
Dog, sled	4/9/11	6/10/12	4/10/12	4/10/12	5/10/12
Donkey	4/10/12	6/10/12	6/10/12	6/10/12	6/10/12
Elephant, any	4/9/11	7/12/	8/12/	8/11/12	8/11/12
Horse, draft	5/11/12	8/10/12	4/10/12	7/10/12	6/10/12
Horse, wild	4/10/12	5/11/12	6/10/12	7/10/12	5/9/12
Horse, other	4/9/11	5/10/12	4/10/12	6/10/12	6/10/12
Mule	6/11/	6/12/	6/11/	7/12/	6/10/12
Pony	4/9/11	5/10/12	4/10/12	6/10/12	6/10/12
Ram, giant	6/10/12	8/11/12	8/11/12	6/12/	6/10/12
Sheep	4/10/12	7/10/12	8/10/12	8/10/12	6/10/12
Yak	7/10/12	7/10/12	8/11/12	6/10/12	7/10/12

Each entry on the above table consists of two or three numbers,
each of which represents a possible result on a roll of ld12.
When an animal is exposed to one of the given conditions, the
DM should roll ld12 and ascertain the animal’s reaction
as follows:

A result equal to or greater than the leftmost number indicates
that the animal has noticed the condition, sometimes before any
characters have perceived it. The animal will be noticeably nervous
or excited; it will pace or prance skittishly and will make vocal
sounds (whinnying, braying, trumpeting, snorting, etc.) for no
apparent reason.

A result equal to or greater than the second number indicates
that the animal may become agitated. Unless a character takes
steps to calm or control the animal within two rounds of when it
becomes excited, the creature’s abnormal behavior will become
more pronounced. It will refuse to move, or will proceed very cautiously,
if it is being forced to travel toward the threat that it perceives.
If a character has not figured out what is bothering his
animal by the time it becomes agitated, it is nevertheless a good
idea to trust the animal’s instinct: Don’t force it to move in a direction
it doesn’t want to go, or, better yet, allow it to move in a direction
of its choosing.

A result equal to or greater than the third number (if one is
given) indicates that the animal may become panicked. Unless
the animal is calmed and brought under control within two rounds
of when it becomes excited, it will begin to behave in a manner
that seems utterly irrational (but is in fact motivated by the animal’s
instinct for self-preservation). It will do everything in its
power to move away from the threat it perceives and will be utterly
uncontrollable by normal (nonmagical) means for the next
2d3 turns or until it has moved sufficiently far away from the
threat, whichever amount of time is greater. If no third number is
given, this indicates that the animal will not become panicked.

Fire frightens an animal more than any other force or source of
energy found in nature. Even an animal that has never seen a fire
or felt the heat of one will know instinctively that flames are to be
avoided. (This also applies to non-flaming natural heat sources
such as flowing lava, and to magical fire that produces heat, but
not to a flamelike phenomenon that does not give off heat, such
as a faerie fire spell.) An animal can become accustomed to the
nearby presence of a small fire, such as a campfire, if it learns to
associate the fire with something good: Tie your horse to a tree at
the campsite, build your campfire, and then feed the animal or allow
it to graze. It will quickly realize that the start of a campfire
means that feeding time is soon to follow, and after a few days’
repetition of this sequence it may actually look forward to the time
when a pile of wood is ignited at the end of the day’s labors.

However, no animal will ever be comfortable in the vicinity of
any blaze larger than a normal campfire, regardless of how many
times the creature is exposed to a large fire without being harmed
by it. An animal may be able to sense the presence of a bonfire or
some similarly large blaze (a burning building, a wallof fire spell,
etc.) from as far away as one-quarter mile. It can sense the existence
of an even larger conflagration (a forest fire, or a grass fire
covering a large area) from as far away as one mile - usually
long before a character is aware that the fire is nearby.

Weather changes are noticeable to animals in many cases before
the signs of change come within sight range of characters. In
some instances, an animal can instinctively “know” that severe
weather is on the way, even when the only thing a character sees
is a mass of approaching storm clouds. A character has no way of
being sure whether those clouds are carrying just a moderate
amount of rain, a roaring thunderstorm, or even a tornado - but
an animal can tell the difference between an impending storm
that will simply soak an area with water and a storm that has the
potential to cause damage to characters or structures.

Sometimes an animal can perceive drastic changes in tht?
weather even before any visual evidence is apparent. A fastmoving
storm may be still beyond the horizon, but an animal can
sense the drop in air pressure that precedes the disturbance. An
animal will become excited when it senses any upcoming significant
change in the weather (the approach of a moderate rainstorm,
for instance), but it will only become agitated or panicked if
the change is very drastic and very imminent, such as an approaching
lightning storm or tornado. If an animal exhibits extremely
unusual behavior and no other cause is obvious, a
character might logically assume that potentially hazardous
weather is on the way.

Noise in this context refers to a sound that is loud enough and
sharp enough to startle a nearby animal - a shout, a crack of
thunder, the clang of a sword striking a metal shield. An animal
can become accustomed to a particular noise if it is exposed to
the sound frequently; to make a horse less likely to panic during
the commotion of melee combat, expose it to simulated combat
(complete with whoops, growls, and clangs) while it is being
trained.

An animal with exceptionally sensitive hearing (compared to
that of a character) will not become agitated or panicked when it
detects a sound that is inaudible to its rider or owner. It may become
excited, however, and a character with proficiency in animal
lore might be able to ascertain the nature of what the animal
is reacting to.

Odor will only produce an extreme reaction from an animal
when the scent is strong and pungent, which usually means that
it can be smelled by a character as well. An animal with an exceptionally
sensitive sense of smell will not become agitated or panicked
by an odor so faint that a character cannot perceive it,
unless the animal associates the odor with something harmful or
unpleasant.

Other covers a wide range of stimuli - some “little thing” that
may go unnoticed by characters and most animals, but causes a
certain animal to become excited, agitated, or panicked. Here is
an opportunity to “personalize” an animal by giving it a quirk that
its owner might not find out about until an inopportune moment. A
donkey may plod along through a mosquito-infested swamp oblivious
to bugs that light on its snout or its flanks - but it will fly
into a bucking, braying frenzy if one of the critters gets inside its
ear. An elephant may be a hard worker, able to carry an enormous
load on its back - but it will absolutely refuse to walk
through a shallow stream unless it is relieved of the entire burden.

A quirk can be beneficial in some circumstances: A lead sled
dog that refuses to run across snow with a light crust, because it
doesn’t like “falling through,” might be difficult to deal with most
of the time. But the same dog could be a lifesaver if it reacts the
same way when asked to travel across a patch of thin ice over a
body of water. A horse that has had a bad experience with a bear
won’t tolerate one being used as a pack animal in the same party
- but if any wild bears try to approach the group’s campsite at
night, that same horse will sound an alarm long before the bear
comes within view of a character on guard duty.

Another way to individualize animals is simply to modify the
general characteristics described in this section and the section
on Encumbrance and Movement. Not all humans are equally
strong or equally fast; the same goes for horses, camels, and elephants.
As characters get to know the animals they have chosen
to accompany them on their adventures, they will discover they
they have strengths and weaknesses and idiosyncrasies - not at
all unlike the characters themselves.

Calming an Excited Animal

Any character can try to soothe an animal that has become excited.
Someone with proficiency in animal handling (see the section
on Wilderness Proficiencies) has a reasonably good chance
of doing so, assuming that he has an above-average wisdom
score. A proficient character can make a new attempt every
round if his previous attempt failed, or if more than one animal is
excited. A character without proficiency in animal handling has a
straight 20% chance of bringing an excited animal under control,
and can only make two such attempts (in successive rounds, if
desired) on the same animal. Any character who attempts to calm
an animal can take no other action in the same round except for
movement, if necessary. If an animal is in motion when it becomes
excited, it will remain in motion; if it is stationary, it will either
remain still or begin moving (50% chance of each
occurrence). A character attempting to soothe a moving animal
must either be riding it or be able to keep up with it as it moves
along.

If an animal becomes agitated or panicked, only a character
with proficiency in animal handling has any chance of calming
the beast. His Proficiency Check is made with a +2 modifier to
the die roll if the animal is agitated, or +4 if it is panicked.

Even if an animal is calmed, there is no guarantee that it will not
become excited again in the following round. If the condition that
caused it to become upset is still evident (to the animal, not necessarily
to the character), then the animal may become excited
all over again and require the constant attention of an animal
handler to prevent it from doing something drastic.

Understanding an Animal

A character with proficiency in animal lore (see the section on
Wilderness Proficiencies) has the ability - partially innate, partially
learned -to make at least an educated guess about why an
animal is acting a certain way, even if the reason for its behavior
is not obvious to the character.

A character without this proficiency may still be able to draw
logical conclusions based on what his physical senses tell him. If
he hears the rumble of thunder from an approaching storm and
his horse seems unusually skittish, he may justifiably assume
that the thunder is the cause of his mount’s uneasiness. But it’s
also possible that the horse is upset by something that his master
hasn’t yet noticed: A nonproficient character can guess, but he
can’t always know, what’s bothering his mount. In contrast, a
proficient character can usually determine the cause with certainty
- which, of course, also has the effect of ruling out any
other possibilities.

Going Without Food or Water: Effects on Animals

    Of course, animals in the care of an adventuring party must be
fed and watered regularly if they are to survive and do their jobs
properly. (For details on how much food and water various
animals need to remain in good condition, and their tolerance levels,
see the section on Mounts and Beasts of Burden.)
<Note that this info is presented in the individual entries for each animal.>

    If an animal's tolerance level for lack of food or water is exceeded,
it becomes weakened with effects as follows: Movement
and carrying capacity are both reduced to one-half of normal
levels, and if the animal is forced to work hard (move faster than a
canter, carry an encumbering load over rugged or very rugged
terrain, etc.) for longer than <three> turns in any single day, it will
immediately become incapacitated at the end of the <third> TURN of
such activity. In any event, regardless of how little activity an animal
is forced to undertake, it will become incapacitated if it goes
without food || water for a number of days equal to 1 1/2 times its
tolerance level (rounded down).

    An incapacitated animal can still MOVE under its own power
but it will die if it is forced to expend any appreciable amount of
energy (moving faster than a walk, supporting an encumbering
load even while standing still, etc.) for as little as <one> TURN.
Even if an incapacitated animal is completely unencumbered
and stationary, it will die after being in this condition for <one> day.

    Fortunately, animals can recover rather quickly from food || water
deprivation. If a beast is given a full meal or a full ration of
water after having become weakened, it will return to full strength and
be READY to travel again after 13-24 hours of REST (1d12+12). If it is
moved before this time expires, the animal will remain weakened
even though it has taken nourishment. If an animal is given a full
ration of nourishment after becoming incapacitated, it will be merely
weakened if it is allowed to REST for 13-24 hours afterward,
and then that condition can be treated as described above.