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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 2875881" data-attributes="member: 11300">Sorry if this is a tangent.I always think of motivation first then I use intelligence to help me decide a reaction to stimuli (so to speak).Is the animal hungry?Is the animal starving?Is the animal looking for a mate?Is the animal protecting its domain?Is the animal protecting its young?Is the animal curious about any new stimuli?Is the animal hunting?Is the animal playing?Is the animal scared?I prefer to ascribe a motive to the creature first and this tells me what they would do.For example, upon seeing a party of PC adventurers:- a hungry animal may test the PCs although a sense of being outnumbered comes into play here. Intelligence would determine its ability to "weigh up the odds" so to speak. However a predator who is used to hunting and not running will most likely launch in regardless of its intelligence - it's used to being the alpha.- A starving animal however might take more risks, looking to take a chunk out of a PC before running off with a PC chunk.- An animal looking for a mate would most likely avoid the PCs unless it felt them a threat to the relief of its glands.- An animal protecting its domain would most likely give warning, only attacking if threatened and not perceiving overt danger (int dependant)- An animal protecting its young however would most likely take extreme risks in protecting its young.- A curious animal ( or one that is playing) might test the water and investigate, not looking to attack. If attacked it might retaliate in warning before keeping its distance. Its motivation now changes accordingly.- An animal that is hunting might be doing so efficiently or not. This is definitely a reflection on intelligence. Animals that are not overly intelligent (wolves) might still work well together reflecting their pack mentality, more so than their strict intelligence. As such tripping and flanking are firmly within it's nature if not its intelligence.- A scared animal will runaway unless backed into a corner, in which case it will most likely attack and escape.Anyway, this was just a tangent; an alternative view of intelligence and combat. I'm just not too sure that a black and white table of intelligence does full justice to an encounter, although as a baseline guide, it would be quite helpful.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

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