the Jester
Legend
silentspace said:
Perhaps they hunger for man flesh?
Intelligent Creatures
- Thread starter silentspace
- Start date
Perhaps they hunger for man flesh?
silentspace
First Post
Hehe, didn’t think this was that interesting a question!
OK, so in summary:
What rationales do you have for intelligent monsters attacking an obviously superior force?
1 – If they are chaotic evil, their very nature is to kill and slaughter.
2 – They will use tactics (surprise, range attacks, cover, concealment, killing spellcasters first) to increase their advantage.
3 – They are trying to scare the party away.
4 – They are guarding something precious to them (e.g. a family heirloom, a pie).
5 – They are afraid other monsters will make fun of them
6 – They are mortal (e.g. racial) enemies
7 – They are bored
8 – They see the party as easy pickens (They are not an obviously superior force?!).
9 – They want the party’s stuff (He who has the most toys wins).
10 – They want to enslave the party.
11 – Fight or Flight.
12 – They are afraid BBEG will kill them.
13 – Religious beliefs (Holy War).
14 – To preserve their family or young.
15 – They are surprised and cornered.
16 – It’s a dumb question. Numbers, equipment, etc is no way to tell if one group is superior to another.
17 – They have orders.
18 – Who can understand anyone’s behavior? (Try harder and come up with your own reasons, ya lazy bum!).
19 – They want the experience (LOL – just like the players!)
20 - They hunger for man flesh.
Any more?
OK, so in summary:
What rationales do you have for intelligent monsters attacking an obviously superior force?
1 – If they are chaotic evil, their very nature is to kill and slaughter.
2 – They will use tactics (surprise, range attacks, cover, concealment, killing spellcasters first) to increase their advantage.
3 – They are trying to scare the party away.
4 – They are guarding something precious to them (e.g. a family heirloom, a pie).
5 – They are afraid other monsters will make fun of them
6 – They are mortal (e.g. racial) enemies
7 – They are bored
8 – They see the party as easy pickens (They are not an obviously superior force?!).
9 – They want the party’s stuff (He who has the most toys wins).
10 – They want to enslave the party.
11 – Fight or Flight.
12 – They are afraid BBEG will kill them.
13 – Religious beliefs (Holy War).
14 – To preserve their family or young.
15 – They are surprised and cornered.
16 – It’s a dumb question. Numbers, equipment, etc is no way to tell if one group is superior to another.
17 – They have orders.
18 – Who can understand anyone’s behavior? (Try harder and come up with your own reasons, ya lazy bum!).
19 – They want the experience (LOL – just like the players!)
20 - They hunger for man flesh.
Any more?
Last edited:
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
They did it all for the nookie?
the Jester
Legend
"I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA to attack that party of adventurers! Now you have to do it!"
s/LaSH
First Post
It's been brought up before, but threat analysis isn't always going to be reliable. I remember reading an account from a guy's autobiography; he was in Colombia, coming home from a bar late one night with a friend, when some local people approached them with knives and demanded money. Well, because he and his friend were SAS, they broke the muggers, left them in the gutter, and went home feeling better about themselves.
The orcs could take either role in this equation. They consider themselves hot stuff because they've got big axes and big muscles. They might never suspect someone could beat them, like the muggers; or they might consider themselves to be better than everyone else, like the SAS.
This paradigm, of course, extends to unintelligent creatures, who'll look at the number of legs something's got and judge from there. As far as a dire bear's concerned, if it's six feet tall and on two legs it's just another human. It doesn't have the experience or brains to expect Kal-El.
The orcs could take either role in this equation. They consider themselves hot stuff because they've got big axes and big muscles. They might never suspect someone could beat them, like the muggers; or they might consider themselves to be better than everyone else, like the SAS.
This paradigm, of course, extends to unintelligent creatures, who'll look at the number of legs something's got and judge from there. As far as a dire bear's concerned, if it's six feet tall and on two legs it's just another human. It doesn't have the experience or brains to expect Kal-El.
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