So a Ranger and his bear walk into a tavern...

[cdrcjsn]

For strange races, I tend to base people's reaction similar to how the comic book character Hellboy interacts with people.

People who don't know of him are scared when they see him because of his demonic appearance, but his adventures have made him a hero and he has gained some measure of fame from that, so people that have heard of him are more fascinated than scared when they see him.

 

[The_Fan]

In the Dresden Files, there's a dog named Mouse who is absolutely enormous, outweighing most people and big enough to get to the top of a counter without even putting its paws up. Mouse is also highly intelligent and plays up the "big friendly dog" act, and never goes outside without his leash because it reassures people.

Similar principle could apply to the bear. If you want people to accept a bear, put a fez on it. Suddenly the large scary bruin looks silly and harmless.

 

[Aus_Snow]

And there I was, awaitin' the punchline. . .

 

[Rechan]

You're a peasant in Average Fantasy World Civilization. You don't venture out of your town/city. You work hard and make very little. In this world, you know monsters exist, you know that people can vaporize you where you stand. You know that certain crazy individuals make a living giong out and poking big scary things in the nose purely to get the money these monsters hoard from eating people like you.

Then you see a group of guys armed to the teeth with shiny, dangerous looking weapons, one or more looking like every stereotype you've ever heard about "Point at you and vaporize you" guys. One of them looks like a monster itself, it's definitely Strange, and is also carrying weapons, also swaggering next to these guys. With them is some sort of wild animal.

These guys haven't started any sort of violence yet.

Are you, honestly, going to walk up and say "HAY GET THAT ANIMAL OUT OF HERE"?

No. You are going to get the hell out of the way. You are going to mind your own business, and likely just leave the room entirely.

Because I know if I saw a group of Hell's Angels pull up, all with holstered guns, one of which had a hyena foaming at the mouth on a chain leash, I wouldn't go for the cops, I wouldn't put up a fuss, I'd find a hole to crawl into and hope they didn't notice me.

Same with any shopkeep. If you turn these guys away, you probably would think they would obliterate you, or maybe just utterly destroy your store and take what they want. But they're being nice enough to actually pay you. Are YOU going to refuse to serve them cuz they are clearly very scary?

And the local podunk authority in Average Fantasy Town likely doesn't want to poke some adventurers in the nose purely because if they can have a monster next to them and it not go bezerk, hey they probably have it under control. After all, Wizards can charm monsters all the time. Best to just let them get their ale, their weapons, and get out of town without incident.

Notice how in every Western you've ever seen, any time a honest-to-god Gunslinger or Outlaw walks into a saloon, folks stop drinking and watch him very carefully. The Sheriff just makes a point of sitting there, his Star presented, and just Watching the Gunslinger/Outlaw to see if he'll start something. Same idea. Just replace Gunslinger with Adventurer and/or Monstrous PC Race/Ranger with Animal.

 

[MerricB]

So, a Ranger and his bear walk into a tavern and the barkeep says, "We don't allow that sort in here!"

The Ranger turns to his bear and says, "Sorry Bob - I guess you're drinking alone again", and walks out...



Cheers!

 

[Celebrim]

You're a peasant in Average Fantasy World Civilization. You don't venture out of your town/city. You work hard and make very little. In this world, you know monsters exist, you know that people can vaporize you where you stand. You know that certain crazy individuals make a living giong out and poking big scary things in the nose purely to get the money these monsters hoard from eating people like you.

Then you see a group of guys armed to the teeth with shiny, dangerous looking weapons, one or more looking like every stereotype you've ever heard about "Point at you and vaporize you" guys. One of them looks like a monster itself, it's definitely Strange, and is also carrying weapons, also swaggering next to these guys. With them is some sort of wild animal...

IMC, you start shouting "Sellswords are coming! Sellswords are coming!", alarm bells start ringing, the gates of the city are closed, the city watch comes out, the local lord calls out the militia, important citizens of the city prepare for battle. Women hide their children in the basement. Soon, every window in the city has a crossbow pointed out if. Cities that wait to see whether people who look like sterotypical "Point at you and vaporize you" guys are going to start some sort of violence generally don't last long. My assumption is that the very fact that the city still exists proves it has the capacity to defend itself from things that are reasonably common in the campaign world.

Are you, honestly, going to walk up and say "HAY GET THAT ANIMAL OUT OF HERE"?

Well, maybe. It depends on how confident you are that the lords of your city are terrifying to law breakers. It depends on how confident you are that no one would dare mess with a citizen of your city for fear of the Prince and his men. If you are the fantasy equivalent of a Roman citizen, you might say, "Get that bloody flea bag out of my bar or I'll see you and your whole family are nailed to a tree... and wipe your feet before you come in the door!"

Same with any shopkeep. If you turn these guys away, you probably would think they would obliterate you, or maybe just utterly destroy your store and take what they want. But they're being nice enough to actually pay you. Are YOU going to refuse to serve them cuz they are clearly very scary?

Depends on the shopkeep. Some shopkeeps specialize in scary clientel. Some specialize in respectable clientel. Can be potentially dangerous for the wrong sort to patronize the wrong shop, because you are putting a damper on their business. "We don't serve your sort here.", is usually because "You scare away my regulars."

Notice how in every Western you've ever seen, any time a honest-to-god Gunslinger or Outlaw walks into a saloon, folks stop drinking and watch him very carefully. The Sheriff just makes a point of sitting there, his Star presented, and just Watching the Gunslinger/Outlaw to see if he'll start something. Same idea. Just replace Gunslinger with Adventurer and/or Monstrous PC Race/Ranger with Animal.

I'm a little more grim and gritty. Instead of modeling movie Westerns, I'm modeling (more or less) real Westerns. So what happens is that if you go into a respectable town as a gunslinging cowpoke, they ask you to give up your guns, and if you don't, you end up in a gunfight with every respectable citizen in town, starting with the sheriff. (For an actual example of the 'giving up the guns model', see Wild Bill Hickock vs. John Wesley Hardin. For an example of the 'Gunfight with every respectable citizen in town', see the Northfield Minnisota raid.) Now granted, if you go 'riding hell for leather into a village' as high level PC's, you'll probably be able to kill pretty much anyone who resists, but under that model you then become a national menace and while your reputation as a 'notorious bandit' might then let you walk into the bar while the barkeep cowers and remains silent you'll soon find you have other problems. Without first murdering a village, you don't have that level of reputation protection except in a city ruled by bandits where the forces of law (or good) provide no expectation of shelter to the citizens. But in that case, most remaining businesses are the 'caters to the unsavory' sort, and if the guy behind the bar objects, its probably not the case that he's a 3rd level commoner.

 

[CleverNickName]

I will parrot what others have said already: it depends on the game world. Sometimes, it is perfectly acceptable to have a pet cave bear follow you around while you peruse the local market. Sometimes, people would flee in panic (or attack the bear, thinking that they are "rescuing you" from a horrible fate.)

In my game world, the general public doesn't yet know that monsters exist...they are the things of legend, fairy tales meant to frighten children. It is the only way that people can sleep at night. But there are a few people and secret societies who know the truth: that vampires, dragons, mind flayers, and other untold horrors lurk beneath the ground, that heroes and gods are real, and that magic is everywhere.

Think "Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the Dark Ages."

So when the problem of animal companions, familiars, special mounts, and other augmented/magical pets comes up, I have to get creative. I want the characters to be able to live in the world I have created, but I don't want to cripple their abilities. So here's what I do.

I restrict the list of pets to "ordinary" animals, like dogs and cats and horses. Harsh, I know, but unavoidable: the public doesn't know about monsters and magic, and if they did, they would be horrified. As the character advances in level, I advance the Hit Dice of the "ordinary" creature as per the rules, or I allow the player to add a template (using level adjustments to get the equivalent druid level.)

When the template or Hit Dice advancement says that the creature would gain a size category, I add all of the size bonuses and penalties due to size (AC, ability scores, attack, damage, etc.) but I don't actually make the creature larger. And I hand-waive any cosmetic changes that might make the creature look disturbing or "special."

It's extra work on my part. But it's all part of the world-building experience.

Thus, the ranger always looks like an average country girl, traveling with an ordinary tabby cat. But looks are so very deceiving...

 

[Allenchan]

Both the campaigns I regularly play in are "high fantasy", so this isn't so much an issue. I wouldn't say they are the "cantina" environments that many people belittle, but human commoners by and large know the world is a vast and vibrant place, with men who can summon angels, gods who walk amongst men, trees that talk, and similar things.

That's not to say seeing such things are a daily occurrence, they still get attention and cause some reaction in the commoners, be it humility, jealousy, mistrust, awe, etc,but more often than not it would be fairly subdued.

Only that which clearly suggest Evil tends to warrant suspicion (drows, tieflings, crazy companion with black goo dripping off it, etc) in the games I play in, and really, that's half the fun of playing those types for the players at my table. Likewise, a player who is an Aasimar (or anything that looks overtly "Good") is going to be seen with more mystique and respect.

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Ourph]

Good Stuff...

In addition to the intimidation factor, everybody knows that adventurers go out into the wilderness and steal hoards of treasure from dangerous beasts. So to the local innkeeper, an adventurer is pretty much a walking bag of gold with loose morals and bad judgement.

Innkeeper: "Why yes, good sir, I'd be happy to put up your rhinoceros in the stable. It will take more room than the usual occupant, but 75gp per night ought to cover it."
8th level RhinoRider: "Sure, whatever. Now where's the wenches?"
*Innkeeper pockets 2 months salary for 1 night of inconvenience*

Not to mention that, in a Points of Light setting, you might be a little nervous about a guy walking around town with a cave bear following him. On the other hand, if any one of the numerous other dangers you face (goblin horde, dragon attack, undead rising from the local graveyard, etc.) happen while that guy is around you can let the guy with the cave bear handle it. If you've run that guy out of town YOU have to deal with it (without the help of a cave bear). I would think most people would realize that adventurers (while they can be trouble) are usually the lesser of two evils.