Saturday, June 8, 2013

Giant Walruses in Middle-Earth

The Giant Walrus of Forochel

Background

In the terrifying region of Forochel, only the toughest creatures stand a chance of survival. The Giant Walrus is an example. They live in colonies of 100 to 400 beasts and feed on open-water fishes. At night, they escape the muderous waters of Forochel and spend the night tighly packed on the shore.


Statistics

ST 19, DX 11, IQ 4, HT 13, Will 11, Per 10, Sp 6.0, Mv 2(land)/6(water), dodge 8(head), 5(body)
SM +1 (5yd), HP 30, FP 15, DR 6(body), 4(Face)
Skills: Wrestling-12 (Grapple with tusks, Slam dmg:1d-3), Brawling-10 (striking with tusks, dmg:2d+1), Intimidation-14 (Effective 16 with in colonies)




Tactics


  1. Move until 2-3 yards away.
  2. Group intimidation to surprise/paralyse their predator/foes.
  3. all-out attack with Giant Step (1FP) [Their active defense is useless... so might as well.]
    1. Grapple if ends in reach 1
    2. Slam if ends in reach 0 (Slam counts as a grapple, but with their huge bodies.
  4. Follow-on actions
    1. Strike pinned/choking opponents 
    2. Pin slammed/Grappled foes (+6 SM+1, +9 SM-1)

Walruses use an aggressive tactic designed to protect their females and pups. Once threatened, they concentrate the weak elements inside the colony and form a solid wall of mature males all around. They will remain tightly packed as to avoid being attacked from the side or the rear. Once a predator gets in range (2 yards or so), they will coordinate a group stomp-and-scream (Intimidation-14 (individual), Intimidation-16(group)), which margin of success is applied as a penalty to a Fright check. They will repeat this maneuvers a few more times during an attack on the colony. The collective stomping is also liable to weaken the ice underneath their body. If the colony feels that it cannot repel the predator, it will endeavor to shatter the ice under their body in order to drown the threat. This has a downside to them, as plunging in the dark waters at night expose them to the terror. They won't resort to this unless they females and pups are endangered.

Engaged, the Walrus will charge and attempt body slams (Wrestling-12). Their main strategy is to pin foes to the ground and smother them. In case of imminent danger in doing so, they will resort to crushing attack with their strikers. This is more a plan B for them. They will often gang up 2-3 walruses to attempt to overwhelm a predator. Once a foe is pinned, the walruses will strike with their tusk to finish their victim. 

During the day, they will tend to flight if a few walruses are killed. At night, they will fight aggressively until the ice under their feet is shattered. They will not fly into the dark waters of Forochel. 




2 comments:

  1. Fin's worst nightmare is is finding a statue of a giant walrus. Orcs, wolves drakes...so far no problem. Statues and walruses..........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a good idea... Giant statues of walruses.

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