Training Mundane Animals

[Ninja-Bear]

1 hour ago, Surrealone said:

Please translate for me, as I didn't quite follow what you meant, here.  (Yes, I know what you meant by BDH, that wasn't the issue ... I just couldn't make sense of 'feels that what BDH is just fine'.)

No problem. What I meant to say is that what BDH is doing for his game is fine for his game. His players are ok with it that to me is the main criteria. Is it fair?

[Mister E]

No xp is required. 

 

It is an ingame thing.

[Surrealone]

8 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

No problem. What I meant to say is that what BDH is doing for his game is fine for his game. His players are ok with it that to me is the main criteria. Is it fair?

Ok, that clarification helped. I understand and agree!

[Sidume]

Depends on what you are doing with the other characters.  If you are not making characters pay for "loot" in character points, then you can give the falconer some leeway in having a bird.  If he is going to train it to do things that aren't standard falconry (kill or fetch bird/rabbit/etc.) then paying CP for the unusual stuff might be appropriate.  Just keep it in line with what the other characters can find in their "loot."  

[bigdamnhero]

On 12/10/2017 at 3:12 PM, LoneWolf said:

How does having it be a DNPC affect what the player uses it for?  

<snip>

As a DNPC it would occasionally cause problems.

You just answered your own question. The player doesn't want it to cause problems; he wants it to be more useful than burdensome. So making it a DNPC is counter to the player's concept.

 

And again: does that mean I should make all their horses DNPCs too?

 

On 12/11/2017 at 3:34 PM, dsatow said:

If the bird is mostly helpful, it should be bought as a follower.  If it ends up more of a liability than a help, its a DNPC.  If its neither, the GM is free to interpret it either way.

Personally I don't think the two have to be mutually exclusive. The Book says you can't have the same character as both a Follower and a DNPC "unless the GM permits it," but I don't think it's a problem if done correctly. The cost of the Follower Perk represents how useful they are, while the savings from the DNPC represents how much of an inconvenience they are. Robin is actually a perfect example. At the start, he's going to be a pretty cheap Follower and his DNPC "cost" is going to be pretty high. As he gets better, the Follower cost goes up, and eventually he buys the DNPC value down, both in reduced frequency and in increased competence.

 

The legal way to reflect that would be to buy Robin as a Follower, but add Complications on his character sheet like "Hunted By Everydamnbody, 14-, Wish To Use As Bait" or just "3d6 Unluck, Gets Captured A Lot." But either way can work, depending on the exact concept. Again, GM permitting.

[LoneWolf]

Most animals do cause difficulty for their owners.  You need to feed and take care of them.  If they are not properly secured they tend to run away.  You need to make arrangements for them when you can’t take them with you.  While most of this is ignored by the GM, it still happens.  Most fantasy setting expect people to use horses and the settings provided for them.  Most if not all inns have a stable attached, or at least nearby.  So in that sense the horses are DNPC’s. 

 

A falcon is more exotic and unusual so there may not be the same level of support for it as there are for horses.  With a horse you can simply turn it over to the stable boy and have him feed and take care of the horse, with a falcon this is probably not the case.  The extra effort needed to take care of the falcon could be the complication.  If it is a 0 pt complication it should not be that much of a burden. 

 

It really depends on how the player wants to do it.  Using the example of the war horse if the player wants a horse pretty much straight out of the book than it should be treated like equipment.  If he wants something like Silver out of the Lone Ranger, that would be a follower.  If he wants something slightly more powerful than the standard horse he could do it as a DNPC.  It all depends on what the player wants. 

[Ninja-Bear]

Lonewolf the reason that BDH asked because there is no trained falcon in the bestiary. (At least what I can find). Btw did you miss the post where I recommended for him to look at both war horse and guard dog to get an idea of how much and what the falcon should get for training?