Talking Animals [Archive] - Wizards Community

Talking Animals [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nogitsune_Teumessia
01-06-08, 09:08 PM This may be elsewhere but a quick search didn't reveal very much that was helpful. How would Talking Animals (such as in Narnia) be able to be handled in a D&D setting?

The problem (as I see it) is not one of giving animals intelligence (the Awaken spell can do this) but one of logistics. How do you handle the fact that a Talking Horse could batter in a door but not be able to turn a doorknob? They'd constantly need to rely on their companions to put on or take off their armor (unless they are monkeys or somehow have opposable thumbs). What exactly would they do with treasure? Would they even value it the same way humanoids do?

I guess what I'm looking for is suggestions how to incorporate Talking Animals into a setting, given their attack abilities but limitations to fine manipulation (as well as access to humanoid areas - a Talking Horse would more likely be in a stable next to the inn than inside it, for instance).
JLaurHughes
01-06-08, 10:44 PM There are many problems facing the introduction of talking animals into a campaign setting. Not the least of which is the wide variety of animals there are. It's incorporating them into their own society, history, and personalities. I see this more as a template than a race. +1/+2 LA perhaps. Nothing about the animal would really change except that it would be able to talk in the language common in the region and the Int score would go up. Also it could take Class levels. Only certain animals, those with claws or talons, could be able to turn a doornob, or hold a door handle set at the appropriate height.
celestialkin
01-06-08, 11:13 PM It all depends on the role-player playing the animal.

There are tricks items which give animals the ability to manipulate objects like humanoids can. In Savage Species there are magical gloves which give any creature wearing them the ability to use their claws, talons, tentacles, etc. like hands (However they are ridiculously overpriced. I would just give them to the player myself). There is a belt which has an attached arm that functions as another limb somewhere.

However, I feel that playing an awakened animal is more about the role-playing, so I don't see why they should try to be more humanoid.

Then again there are probably some animals that would work better as PCs/NPCs than others. For example, one of my favorite characters of all time was an awaken posion kitty called Ghost. Most fun I have ever had role-playing. The party never did manage to figure out why all those freak "convenient" things kept happening during their adventure, or why bad things occasionally happened to certain players (usually a while after one messed with or annoyed the cat). Even took levels in Mindthrall, and ended up with quite a few "converted" enemies. :D

In fact, I am currently running my first game as a DM, and Ghost is the one who actually recruited the party for their quest. He's still following them unnoticed.

So yeah, it could be extremely fun. You just need the right group.

As for needing another player to do stuff for them, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Throughout the campaign there would always be one party member who new his little secret, and they would "adopt" him. He carried a bag of holding hanging from his collar, and his "master" would always put his share of the loot in there (the clients usually knew the cat was smart, so they paid him). He also had a glamored mithral chain shirt that changed to look like fur.
Crixon
01-09-08, 02:46 PM Thats ausome,if i ever start running a campaign again i think i might do something like that :P
Keenath
01-09-08, 03:18 PM I'd suggest using one element from the Narnia series -- talking animals are less "extreme" in size than their natural cousins. I think it's in Magician's Nephew where it talks about it, though there's examples as early as Caspian. (Obviously I'm using the original publishing order -- I think starting the series with Magician's Nephew is stupid, because that book just sort of assumes you already know about the setting; LW&W doesn't, and explains this new world's rules as you go along.)

For example, tiny or smaller creatures increase by one size category, and huge or larger* creatures decrease by the same amount, with the appropriate STR and DEX adjustments.

That'll tend to give you more "playable" animal races -- a talking mouse like Reepicheep would be a Tiny creature rather than Diminutive (Reepicheep was described as a bit over a foot tall, as I recall) and a theoretical talking rat would have to be larger than him.

*The only reason I left "large" alone, even though it would push more creatures into the human range, is because talking horses in the books are clearly physically identical to normal horses -- they don't look like ponies.

Interesting note: In the original books, there were no gryphons. The gryphons were added to the movie versions of LW&W and Caspian, presumably replacing the giant birds because giant birds don't "read" well on the movie screen -- unless they're standing next to (or carrying) a human, they don't actually look giant and exotic; they just look like regular birds. Gryphons look exotic even against an open sky.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nogitsune_Teumessia 01-06-08, 09:08 PM	This may be elsewhere but a quick search didn't reveal very much that was helpful. How would Talking Animals (such as in Narnia) be able to be handled in a D&D setting? The problem (as I see it) is not one of giving animals intelligence (the Awaken spell can do this) but one of logistics. How do you handle the fact that a Talking Horse could batter in a door but not be able to turn a doorknob? They'd constantly need to rely on their companions to put on or take off their armor (unless they are monkeys or somehow have opposable thumbs). What exactly would they do with treasure? Would they even value it the same way humanoids do? I guess what I'm looking for is suggestions how to incorporate Talking Animals into a setting, given their attack abilities but limitations to fine manipulation (as well as access to humanoid areas - a Talking Horse would more likely be in a stable next to the inn than inside it, for instance).
JLaurHughes 01-06-08, 10:44 PM	There are many problems facing the introduction of talking animals into a campaign setting. Not the least of which is the wide variety of animals there are. It's incorporating them into their own society, history, and personalities. I see this more as a template than a race. +1/+2 LA perhaps. Nothing about the animal would really change except that it would be able to talk in the language common in the region and the Int score would go up. Also it could take Class levels. Only certain animals, those with claws or talons, could be able to turn a doornob, or hold a door handle set at the appropriate height.
celestialkin 01-06-08, 11:13 PM	It all depends on the role-player playing the animal. There are tricks items which give animals the ability to manipulate objects like humanoids can. In Savage Species there are magical gloves which give any creature wearing them the ability to use their claws, talons, tentacles, etc. like hands (However they are ridiculously overpriced. I would just give them to the player myself). There is a belt which has an attached arm that functions as another limb somewhere. However, I feel that playing an awakened animal is more about the role-playing, so I don't see why they should try to be more humanoid. Then again there are probably some animals that would work better as PCs/NPCs than others. For example, one of my favorite characters of all time was an awaken posion kitty called Ghost. Most fun I have ever had role-playing. The party never did manage to figure out why all those freak "convenient" things kept happening during their adventure, or why bad things occasionally happened to certain players (usually a while after one messed with or annoyed the cat). Even took levels in Mindthrall, and ended up with quite a few "converted" enemies. :D In fact, I am currently running my first game as a DM, and Ghost is the one who actually recruited the party for their quest. He's still following them unnoticed. So yeah, it could be extremely fun. You just need the right group. As for needing another player to do stuff for them, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Throughout the campaign there would always be one party member who new his little secret, and they would "adopt" him. He carried a bag of holding hanging from his collar, and his "master" would always put his share of the loot in there (the clients usually knew the cat was smart, so they paid him). He also had a glamored mithral chain shirt that changed to look like fur.
Crixon 01-09-08, 02:46 PM	Thats ausome,if i ever start running a campaign again i think i might do something like that :P
Keenath 01-09-08, 03:18 PM	I'd suggest using one element from the Narnia series -- talking animals are less "extreme" in size than their natural cousins. I think it's in Magician's Nephew where it talks about it, though there's examples as early as Caspian. (Obviously I'm using the original publishing order -- I think starting the series with Magician's Nephew is stupid, because that book just sort of assumes you already know about the setting; LW&W doesn't, and explains this new world's rules as you go along.) For example, tiny or smaller creatures increase by one size category, and huge or larger* creatures decrease by the same amount, with the appropriate STR and DEX adjustments. That'll tend to give you more "playable" animal races -- a talking mouse like Reepicheep would be a Tiny creature rather than Diminutive (Reepicheep was described as a bit over a foot tall, as I recall) and a theoretical talking rat would have to be larger than him. *The only reason I left "large" alone, even though it would push more creatures into the human range, is because talking horses in the books are clearly physically identical to normal horses -- they don't look like ponies. Interesting note: In the original books, there were no gryphons. The gryphons were added to the movie versions of LW&W and Caspian, presumably replacing the giant birds because giant birds don't "read" well on the movie screen -- unless they're standing next to (or carrying) a human, they don't actually look giant and exotic; they just look like regular birds. Gryphons look exotic even against an open sky.