Bear psychology question

[NewJeffCT]

This came up in my game the other night. This is 4E D&D.

The party had a combat encounter against some dire bears. The party's artificer/swordmage got hit by both attacks from the bear's "Maul" attack, which dropped him down below zero. By the rules, he is now unconscious.

If the PC were still above zero hit points, the bear would normally then attempt to grab the PC (which it did successfully) and then do its Ursine Crush attack.

Would the bear then continue with its Ursine Crush attack? Or, would it then seek out a new opponent from the other five PCs that are still threatening it after knocking PC unconscious?

I ask because the Ursine Crush attack then did enough damage to kill the PC. We had a debate at the table about what the bear would do, with arguments made both ways. So, I gave it a 50-50 roll on the table and it came up that the bear would continue with its attack pattern and kill the PC before continuing on to face its other foes.

Thanks

 

[Nagol]

I would guess it would depend on what the bear was doing.

A typical predator behaviour is to down one and drag it off. In that case, I'd probably use the attack and then withdraw carrying the meat.

If the bear was defending territory, it'd probably disregard anything that is no longer threatening the territory -- anyone withdrawing, or down. Until such time as they are the only source of irritation.

If the bear was trying to establish superiority, it's probably complete the attack hoping the rest of the pack would take the hint.

If the bear was attempting to withdraw, it'd proably not complete attack as that aggressor is down.

If the bears were trained and acting out orders, it would depend on their training and thus the personality of the trainers.

 

[Lwaxy]

A real bear would attack the next target if it seems more threatening than the current victim. Which is usually the case when someone is unconscious. There is a reason why you are advised to play dead when a bear attacks.

 

[jonesy]

Bears generally just ignore badly wounded / non-moving opponents. Unless they're really hungry. But I can't recall a single story about man eating bears.

 

[Rechan]

Here is how I would argue it.

Bears (and I suspect the dire variety) are not used to being in danger by a legitimate threat. They don't typically run away or find themselves in actual danger, and can tear to shreds anything that would actually try to get up in their grill.

I assume the PC damaged this bear, as opposed to the bear just lashing out at random. By personally damaging the bear, the bear took the PC to be a threat and being damaged enraged the bear.

The bear, not being intelligent, did not say "oh, this thing is no longer moving, but the other ones are a threat. I shall now harm them now that this one isn't moving." The bear was likely thing "OW RAAA" *TEAR TEAR TEAR TEAR* I think it's reasonable to assume a bear is hard to discourage once it's set its mind to doing something, and may not notice the moment its target stops struggling, especially when wounded and in the middle of a fight.

Also, many predators are quite single-minded when it comes to 'I'm attakcing' vs 'something's attacking me'. Mountain lions who are currently chomping on one person are very difficult to stop - even if a second or third person is hitting the mountain lion, it takes a lot to actually discourage them from halting the assault on their initial target. I would speculate part of the reason is that mountain lions aren't used to being threatened by anything, so 'oh no I'm attacked by food' doesn't come up a lot in their instincts.

The exception to all of this would be if there were cubs present. Instinctive mother bear protection behavior would likely make it want to/try to kill everything.

 

[Gilladian]

Another point to consider is how FAST all this happened. The bear HAS they guy in his arms. He's RIGHT THERE. It takes almost no time to give the guy a final squeeze/shake/rake to finish him off before throwing him aside.

Whereas switching targets entails deciding to switch targets, throwing aside the foe he has in his grasp, moving (at least a step or two), and swiping at new prey. Seems to me he'd take care of the one in his grasp before switching targets...

 

[Rechan]

Also to clarify the OP's situation (he posted about this elsewhere, he is running the published adventure Stolen Land) the PCs were entering a ruined wilderness temple that the bears were using as a den. So it's territory defense.

 

[Nagol]

Here is how I would argue it.

Bears (and I suspect the dire variety) are not used to being in danger by a legitimate threat. They don't typically run away or find themselves in actual danger, and can tear to shreds anything that would actually try to get up in their grill.

I assume the PC damaged this bear, as opposed to the bear just lashing out at random. By personally damaging the bear, the bear took the PC to be a threat and being damaged enraged the bear.

The bear, not being intelligent, did nto say "oh, this thing is wounded and no longer a threat, but the other ones are a threat. I shall now harm them now that this one isn't moving." The bear was likely thing "OW RAAA" *TEAR TEAR TEAR TEAR* I think it's reasonable to assume a bear is hard to discourage once it's set its mind to doing something.

Also, many predators are quite single-minded when it comes to 'I'm attakcing' vs 'something's attacking me'. Mountain lions who are currently chomping on one person are very difficult to stop - even if a second or third person is hitting the mountain lion, it takes a lot to actually discourage them from halting the assault on their initial target. I would speculate part of the reason is that mountain lions aren't used to being threatened by anything, so 'oh no I'm attacked by food' doesn't come up a lot in their instincts.

Now I'm sure someone could make the case that "Well the bear was wounded and it might have wanted to flee". Other animals do display aggressive behavior even while dieing - lions, they say, will even claw at the ground if there's nothing to swipe at even as they die.

IMO the only exception to all of this would be if there were cubs present. Instinctive mother bear protection behavior would likely make it want to/try to kill everything.

Just to counter your first point; bears are shy and run away a lot. The problem comes when they don't, they are powerful enough to rip you a new one.

Bears are unpredictable in temperment; playing dead only works if the bear is attacking defensively; he'll realise you pose no threat and stop. If the bear is aggressive, the advice is fight back as best you can.

 

[Rechan]

Just to counter your first point; bears are shy and run away a lot. The problem comes when they don't, they are powerful enough to rip you a new one.

Yeah; that's why I was thinking the PC had already damaged the bear. They may avoid fights, but Once The Fight is On, I doubt the bear is going to be coy.

Especially in its den. It's sort of cornered there.

 

[billd91]

Well, there was a case recently reported by a Russian news agency that gives us a little light on the topic (if true). Father and daughter were camping Siberia. The mother bear attacked and disabled the father then moved on to the daughter, disabling her. It then went with the cubs to feed on the father, leaving the girl enough time to call on a cell phone to her mother, before returning to the daughter to start scarfing on her.

Based on that, I'd say the bear would probably move on to another threatening target rather than continue to tear apart a PC who was down.