NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Syrsuro" data-source="post: 4106517" data-attributes="member: 58162">Consider the degree of coordination you see in real world animals such as a pride of lions flanking and driving their prey.   If an 'animal intelligence' creature can handle tactics at that level - which, although limited and simplistic, at the least require being aware of the location and intent of the other members of the pride - creatures with a greater intelligence (such as all humanoids) can certainly handle much more.  One way I do tend to show lower intelligence is in their adaptability.  For a low intelligence creature, I might decide on some basic tacics before the game and they will usually follow those tactics even if they aren't working particularily well.  In contrast, a higher intelligence creature will be more likely to observe the players tactics and abilities and change their own approach if it isn't working.But both are, of course, constrained by what they are actually capable of seeing/ knowing.  Not normally, no.  (And yes, it is hard to ignore that.  But just as I expect the players to distinguish between 'in-game information' and 'metagame/ooc information', I as a DM am obigated to do the same.If I was trying to model a phenomenal level intelligence (higher than 20) I might allow them to act upon past events that they couldn't reasonably know, on the logic that even if they didn't know what the PCs around that corner were doing, their superior intelligence would have allowed them to accurately infer what they could not see.  But not for any intelilgence less than that. Extraordinarily unlikely, and only possible for intelligent and altruistic creatures.  In other words - about as likely as a PC sacrificing his life intentionally so that his companions will survive.  Or, more preciseily, less likely than a PC sacrificing himself, because a PC has a possibility/hope of being raised, while an NPC typically has no such expectation.  Unless, of course, the creature is being coerced in some way and not acting of its own free will. In that example - no.  The rats aren't smart enough to consider that tactic.  But the reverse case - should the kobolds try to flank you to help the rats get combat advantage?  Why not?  They are smart enough to realize that the more the rats hurt you, the better off they are, and therefore if they can help the rats hurt you, why wouldn't they do it.  Of course, they aren't doing this to help the rats, they are doing it to help themselves.Carl</blockquote>

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