Leader of the pack is the size of a horse?

[Urbannen]

I have been learning about advancing animals in helping my DM deal with the first druid in our group. Do you realize that several animals grow to gigantic proportions in D&D as they get older?

The wolf starts out as a Medium creature. By the time you get done advancing it, it is the size of a horse! Now, the last time I checked, normal wolves in real life don't grow to be 8 to 16 feet long. Likewise the wolverine. The MM says that they are Medium sized creatures, even though they normally are only 3' to 3'6" long (Yahooligans Animals), with females weighing between 12 and 26 lbs and males weighing between 24 and 40 lbs (The Wolverine Foundation On-Line). Yet apparently these creatures in D&D will eventually grow to be the size of a tiger, horse, or hill giant!

I don't have any problem with the idea of giant versions of animals - that's what dire animals (formally known as giant animals) are for. But a dire animal represents a different species from its normal equivalent. And some animals, such as snakes, do continue growing throughout their lives.

Wouldn't it make more sense for almost all animals to stay the same size category?

 

[mikebr99]

Animal companions DON'T change size as they advance.... please see any number of similar threads on this page alone...


The advancement rules are laid out to give you an idea of what the leader of the pack should look like... not what every animal will become later in life.


YMMV.


Mike

 

[Urbannen]

I know that animal companions don't increase in size.

However...

According to the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal wolf to grow to Large size.
In real life, there are no wolves that big.

According to the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal owl to grow to Medium and Large size.
In real life, there are no owls that big.

According the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal wolverine to grow to Large size.
In real life, no wolverines are that big. In fact, few if any wolverines are Medium size in real life.

Repeat with all the animals that increase in size as part of their "natural" advancement, excluding cephalopods and certain reptiles.

I can see that a "leader" animal would have more HD, making it tougher. I can't see that a "leader" animal would be a larger size category, because that would make it a different species.

 

[Camarath]

Well IMO you should not expect a Fantasy Roleplaying Game to adhere all that closely to either real life or realism. If you don't like animals increasing in size then you could just house rule it.

 

[Nifft]

According to the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal owl to grow to Medium and Large size.
In real life, there are no owls that big.

D00d!!! Don't dis the pteradact-owl! Makes for a great half-fiend bad-guy.

-- N

 

[mikebr99]

I know that animal companions don't increase in size.

However...

According to the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal wolf to grow to Large size.
In real life, there are no wolves that big.

According to the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal owl to grow to Medium and Large size.
In real life, there are no owls that big.

According the (3.0) MM it is possible for a normal wolverine to grow to Large size.
In real life, no wolverines are that big. In fact, few if any wolverines are Medium size in real life.

Repeat with all the animals that increase in size as part of their "natural" advancement, excluding cephalopods and certain reptiles.

I can see that a "leader" animal would have more HD, making it tougher. I can't see that a "leader" animal would be a larger size category, because that would make it a different species.

The advancement rules in the MM are just one way of looking at a tougher Wolf (for example)... So are the Dire versions of... the Legendary versions of... the Awakened versions of... or, yet TBD versions of...


Gandalf's white horse would be more in the Legendary version of... then the advanced version...


YMMV


Mike