Just for fun - A Bard-Bear-ian

[Dannyalcatraz]

Odd note: Bears, in D&D, don't get Rage.

That doesn’t surprise me much. “Rage” in the D&D sense isn’t something you see in the animal kingdom, except maybe in the feeding frenzy of sharks.

I think it’s more of a human’s emulation of the ferocity of a predator’s attack; channeling the inner beast.

 

[Greenfield]

IRL, bears have something very similar to D&Ds Rage. As I mentioned earlier, the term "berserk" is from the Norse for "Bear shirt". To put on the "bear serken" (bear shirt) was to try and invoke the spirit and fury of the bear. It was a literal thing, a shirt made of bear fur.

There was a case of a man who was out hunting. He saw a bear, took aim and fired. The bear was hit, but instead of falling down and dying, he went into a rage, charged the man and killed him. It was later found that the man's shot had been fatal: He'd hit the heart, but the bear, so pumped up with adrenaline at the sudden attack, didn't know it. He had enough in him to complete the charge and the attack before he fell.

Wolverines are also known for their berserk fury when they fight. That's why the comic book character was named after one.

Most animals in nature will pull out of a fight if they're getting badly hurt. If the price of victory is later death due to the inability to hunt or fight, it's not really a win. Bears and Wolverines don't seem to get that. They go into a fury and they don't know how to stop.

So yeah, Rage, as used in D&D, is based on something in the real world.

Esoterica aside, I have a question about Reach weapons and Large size.

Most large creatures (but not the Brown Bear) get Rach. That is, they have a 10 foot base and 10 foot reach. Bears havd 10 foot base and 5 foot reach, which is fine.

Normally, when you us a Large Reach weapon, such as a character under Enlarge Person using a ranseur or long spear, their reach extends to 20 feet. That's what the rules say on the subject anyway. They threaten the 15 and 20 foot squares, while the 5 and 10 foot squares are inside the weapon's threat range. (Spiked Chain is the exception, it threatens all the way in.)

But what happens if the Large creature doesn't normally have that 10 foot reach? Does the Large weapon still go out to 20 feet?

Inquiring bears want to know!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There was a case of a man who was out hunting. He saw a bear, took aim and fired. The bear was hit, but instead of falling down and dying, he went into a rage, charged the man and killed him. It was later found that the man's shot had been fatal: He'd hit the heart, but the bear, so pumped up with adrenaline at the sudden attack, didn't know it. He had enough in him to complete the charge and the attack before he fell.

To be fair, that’s not D&D Rage, it’s more like the feat Diehard.

 

[Greenfield]

Arguable either way. No way to tell if that works all the time, which would be Die Hard. Extra Con from Rage, giving extra (if temporary) hit points also fits.

In a somewhat paradoxical scene, there was an occasion where a bear and wolverine were both found dead. The wolverine was in the bear's mouth, apparently being crushed. As it was dying, it managed to tear out the bear's throat with its claws. The bear didn't let go.

Both died, of course, but at least one of them kept fighting after the lethal damage had been done.

I saw a piece on PBS about a man who raised and trained a grizzly for TV. The bear had been in a number of movies (they showed a few clips). The trainer/caretaker described the grizzly as "crazy". As an example, he said that the bear was once out in the yard during the winter, happily playing with a snow ball, and the snow ball broke. The trainer said the bear went berserk. He tore a chunk out of a tree, even turned and bit his own leg in his rage and frustration. And then, after about a minute, the bear was abruptly calm again and looking for something else to play with. The trainer said that if he'd been outside with his "trained" bear at that moment, he'd have been killed. The bear would have been sorry afterwards, he was sure, but he'd still be dead.

So while both Rage and Die Hard are arguable, I'm leaning towards Rage.

 

[Particle_Man]

Maybe bears are always angry?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In a somewhat paradoxical scene, there was an occasion where a bear and wolverine were both found dead. The wolverine was in the bear's mouth, apparently being crushed. As it was dying, it managed to tear out the bear's throat with its claws. The bear didn't let go.

I’ve seen similar things with king snakes and mice, gators and pythons, and even a fossil of an aquatic predator who died because its prey burst its belly.

Pyrrhus didn’t invent Pyrrhic victories, he just got his name plastered on them.

 

[Greenfield]

The other oddity: Bears have Tracking as a Feat and Scent as a racial ability. Yet that have no Survival skill.

Functionally speaking, they aren't able to successfully forage for food, or at least not enough to feed themselves in the wild.

I guess that explains the picnic baskets...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The other oddity: Bears have Tracking as a Feat and Scent as a racial ability. Yet that have no Survival skill.

Functionally speaking, they aren't able to successfully forage for food, or at least not enough to feed themselves in the wild.

I guess that explains the picnic baskets...

I suspect, mechanically speaking, most creatures in D&D lack the ability to feed themselves.

 

[Greenfield]

Mechanically, they don't exist until the DM needs them, and whether they live or die, they cease to exist once the scene is over. Why bother going through the work of making them functional?

Except for the whole animal companion/familiar thing I mean.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some would assert they’re nonfunctional even then.