D&D 5E Many RL animals can see well in the dark. What else can they do?

[clutchbone]

Darkvision works because magic! [/URL]

I prefer quantum chaos particle string theory physics, with a bit of dark matter sprinkled on top.

 

[BookBarbarian]

]Real predatory animals are usually very careful about what fights they take, measuring the strength of their prey carefully, testing their perception and level of fear and employing tactics that maximize success and minimize risk. If the animal isn't facing desperation and the risk looks great, they avoid the fight.
If they are cornered, facing life and death or protecting their young, animals have the capacity to take the fight to another level of ferocity.

Its been my experience that beast encounters in D&D rarely seem to reflect the wisdom, skill and primal fury that animals possess in surviving and killing in the wild.

I recently added a mod to Skyrim (yes, still playing after 6 years) that overhauled the AI for predatory animals. A single wolf will now never attack me, but a large group will try their luck until I kill enough of their number then they run to the hills.

I really enjoyed this since it fit with how I run animals (and honestly armies) in D&D.

 

[Celebrim]

Starting in 3e, D&D has done a much better job of giving animals appropriate abilities without leaving it up to what the DM considered realistic. I'm not sure that much more granularity than what we have is necessarily needed.

Things animals can do:

1) Dogs and horses have advantage on checks related to endurance.
2) Dogs have exceptional ability to work together during attacks and when flanking an opponent. 5e actually calls this out explicitly, although in my opinion the advantage given is actually weaker than it could or should be.
3) Most mammals have an effective intelligence greater than 2, up to a maximum of around 7. The same is true of many birds, particularly parrots and jays, crows, and ravens. In a fantasy world, these animals would have their own language, and maybe able to understand if not necessarily speak human languages. In fact, real animals often can understand up to several 100 human words. This has implications for training animals, as well as in a fantasy setting the existence of a animal cultures and societies (which are common tropes of fantasy, from Aesop and fairy tales, to Burroughs, Kipling and Tolkien.)
4) Prairie dogs, ravens, and several other creatures do actually have their own complex 'language' and can vocally express to each other complex ideas.
5) Most animals with a bite attack have advantage on attack rolls with the bite attack if the bite succeeded in the prior round. Some, particularly those specialized at ripping and thrashing to tear their victim, should also have advantage on damage. This is in addition to the option most animals have of delivering a grappling attack with their bite. The same advantages also occur with the talon attacks of birds of prey.
6) Many animals such as boar and deer should be able to apply an AC bonus against one foe a round, because their heads (and in the case of boars, shoulders) are armored against attacks directed from in front of them.
7) All animals are exceptionally skilled at survival in their natural habitat, but this skill is generally not reflected mechanically.
8) Most small animals are exceptionally strong for their size, and have therefore 'negative encumbrance' which gives them bonuses to many sorts of activities such as balance, climbing, jumping, and so forth.

Although it was for 3rd edition, the best serious look at animals for D&D was Betabunny's 'Bestiary: The Predators'.

 

[TwoSix]

I've heard that ligers are bred specifically for their skills in magic.

 

[snickersnax]

To all the lowlight and darkvision posters:

I didn't realize this was going to be a thing. I was just using RAW for the starting point of this discussion. As I pointed out in my OP some animals are already listed in the MM as having darkvision. Many others with equivalent night vision capability in RL aren't listed as having it.

The way I play it in my world is two visions: darkvision (which is low light vision) and devil's sight (which is the infrared light source out of the eyes which can see in magical darkness)

Super hearing, most animals hear you from so far away its impossible to get close. Thats why things like blinds and tree stands are used for hunting.

This a great point, I give a +5 passive perception bonus to all creatures listed as having advantage on hearing or smell to help model this. I suspect that many beasts are shortchanged on hearing or smell like they have been on darkvision.

3) Most mammals have an effective intelligence greater than 2, up to a maximum of around 7. The same is true of many birds, particularly parrots and jays, crows, and ravens. In a fantasy world, these animals would have their own language, and maybe able to understand if not necessarily speak human languages. In fact, real animals often can understand up to several 100 human words. This has implications for training animals, as well as in a fantasy setting the existence of a animal cultures and societies (which are common tropes of fantasy, from Aesop and fairy tales, to Burroughs, Kipling and Tolkien.)
4) Prairie dogs, ravens, and several other creatures do actually have their own complex 'language' and can vocally express to each other complex ideas.

Hard to believe 5e has ravens listed with intelligence of 2

 

[MarkB]

I do tend to play animals differently according to their motivation. For instance, a predator that sees you as an interloper in its territory will move in openly and threateningly, in the full expectation of making you back down, but if combat is joined, it won't risk serious injury unless it's desperate to hold onto that territory.

On the other hand, a predator that is hunting for food won't ever attack other than from ambush, and it's one of the small proportion of foes that will not ignore a downed opponent. If it can, it will drag off a downed PC for later consumption. If it doesn't feel threatened by the rest of the group, it may even begin dining upon that character there and then.

 

[Celebrim]

Hard to believe 5e has ravens listed with intelligence of 2

I use the following as a guide:

1: reptilian intelligence, amphibians, social insects (often collectively) and spiders
2: most herbivorous mammals, some jumping spiders
3: most carnivorous mammals, cuttlefish, many birds
4: crows, cats, non-working breed dogs, octopods, whales
5: elephants, dolphins, smarter dogs, most primates, some parrots
6: brighter apes, such as gorilla and chimpanzees