D&D 5E How the Camel lost its hump

[Charlaquin]

Starvation, dehydration, and forced marching all force the creature experiencing them to make a Constitution saving throw to avoid accumulating levels of exhaustion. The camel has a +1 Constitution bonus relative to the riding horse. That’s not much (certainly not a simulation of its water storage capabilities), but it’s not nothing...

 

[Charlaquin]

I thought about that. I was thinking of sandwalk ability, but that sounded too much like a 4e terrainwalk ability that does not exist in 5e. (except for the White Dragon which has Ice Walk).

Also giant spiders, which have web walk.

 

[pdzoch]

Also giant spiders, which have web walk.

oh yeah.

 

[LordEntrails]

Normally I don't care much about having D&D creatures have comparable traits to real creatures, but how does the various camel version traits compare to real camels? Can they really go 2 weeks without water? What about food? Speed and everything else?

 

[pdzoch]

Starvation, dehydration, and forced marching all force the creature experiencing them to make a Constitution saving throw to avoid accumulating levels of exhaustion. The camel has a +1 Constitution bonus relative to the riding horse. That’s not much (certainly not a simulation of its water storage capabilities), but it’s not nothing...

True, but I do not think such a small bonus influences any player to choose a camel over a horses. I see the fiscal decision still driving the decision in game for 5e. Unlike 1st edition, the camel offered a clear choice over a horse for desert environments.

 

[pdzoch]

Normally I don't care much about having D&D creatures have comparable traits to real creatures, but how does the various camel version traits compare to real camels? Can they really go 2 weeks without water? What about food? Speed and everything else?

Camels can survive up to seven months without food and water, but these are wild camels and not carrying a load, i do not think it is a worthwhile model to try to represent.

 

[Laurefindel]

I thought about that. I was thinking of sandwalk ability, but that sounded too much like a 4e terrainwalk ability that does not exist in 5e. (except for the White Dragon which has Ice Walk). I also did not want to overemphasize soft sand as difficult terrain and leave it up to the DM to make some sand dunes more navigable than others. But doing so make make it a cleaner a simpler rule.

Sand walk is a nice, simple sounding ability, and as others have said, one with enough precedents to make it « 5e legit ».

5e tends to be pretty black or white when it comes to terrain conditions; either the terrain is difficult, or it isn’t...

i don’t have any experience navigating sand dunes but we used to practice running in loose sand, and it definitely is more difficult than running on packed or wet sand. Enough to cut our speed by 50%? Probably not but in a D&D abstraction, I could accept sand desert as difficult terrain. It would make being lost in the desert a lot scarier actually, and camels would be come a huge advantage

 

[Laurefindel]

If you want to consolidate food / water consumption and the camel‘s ability to go without food or water, you could word it as « a camel can store up to two weeks worth of food and water in its hump. Once the camel has used all stored water and rations, rules for starvation and dehydration apply normally. » or something among those lines. This way you wouldn’t be able to go 2 weeks, give it one meal, and be good for 2 more weeks shenanigans.

with that and sandwalk, you get yourself a real ship-of-the-desert

 

[Ancalagon]

I will note that in real life, camels are superior pack animals to horses when carrying capacity is considered.

 

[pdzoch]

I will note that in real life, camels are superior pack animals to horses when carrying capacity is considered.

Quick google search indicated that a riding horse should carry no more than 20% or its weight, or typically around 240 lbs (and that includes the rider!). Way less than the 480 lbs cited in the rules. Whereas a camel can carry anywhere between 375 lbs and 600 lbs. The 480 lbs cited in the rules is a nice middle ground. It seems that the riding horse has been beefed up to accommodate loaded loot carrying for most environments. Shame. That reduces the appeal and utility of pack mules in game.