Training Animal in GURPS

Training Animal in GURPS

There are many fantasy character archetypes that deal with animals – druids, rangers, hunters, beastmasters from D&D and Pathfinder have animal companions that follow them around. Spellcasters might have familiars, and paladins and cavaliers have their special mounts. I usually treated such animal companions as exceptional Allies bought at character creation. However, there are rules in GURPS Basic Set about buying animals for money, and such skills as Animal Handling may give an opportunity to train such animals or to tame wild animals. Even though the rules are present, they are not very detailed and were not expanded anywhere, and I haven’t even found much in terms of fan works online. So, I will have to do it myself.

 
But before I go on expanding the rules, let’s go over the existing ones, starting with the skills
 
The main skill is, obviously, Animal Handling (p. B175). This is a broad skill that represents your ability to train and work with animals, but you must specialize in a category of animals. The more intelligent the animals, the narrower the category. GURPS Basic Set suggests such specialties, as Big Cats, Dogs, Equines, and Raptors. Other books have such specialties as Cattle, Pigs, Saurials, Sheep/Goats, and Poultry. To my surprise, I haven’t seen the Camel and Elephant specialties. The default between the specialties depends on how distant the groups are in terms of biology and genetics. GURPS Space says that alien animal specialties have no defaults with non-alien animal groups. GURPS Banestorm explains how Animal Handling is used with hybrid animals. For example, to train a giffin, you would need either Animal Handling (Raptor Hybrids) or Animal Handling (Feline Hybrids).
                Training an animal requires daily Animal Handling rolls, with a badly failed roll resulting in being attacked. What can you teach the animal? I’ll talk about that later.
                If the animal is already trained, you can make it perform a task by rolling against this skill. The roll is at -5 if the animal is unfamiliar with you, another -5 if the situation is stressful, and -3 or more if the task is complex. Entertaining shows require separate Performance rolls.
                You can also try to quiet a wild, untrained animal. Roll against Animal Handling, at -5 if the animal is wild or very frightened or -10 if it’s a man-eater or man-killer. All Animal Handling rolls to train wild animals are at -5.
                Finally, if you have Animal Handling at 15, the animal’s attack and defense rolls are at -1 against you. At skill 20, the animal’s rolls are at -2.
                This skill was expanded somewhat in other books. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2 seems to imply that all Animal Handling rolls against giant or dire animals are at an additional -5. Also, it allows using Animal Handling to provoke animals. GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3 has rules for using Animal Handling when hunting with dogs.
                Page 459 of GURPS Basic Set also seems to imply that animals with the Stubbornness disadvantage give -4 to Animal Handling rolls.
                Surprisingly enough, there is no interaction of Animal Handling with the Speak with Animals advantage. Kromm, however, has a suggestion on the forums that seems reasonable.
 
I'd come at it this way: If you can barely communicate in a language, then you have -3 to use Teaching in that language; see p. B24. The game doesn't specify anything similar for animals . . . so presumably, teaching animals is a task that already assumes the -3 for barely being able to express yourself, and offsets that penalty with a hidden +3. It stands to reason, then, that if you can speak with animals, you'd be at a net +3. Even if you aren't rolling dice (pp. B458-459 says that you need Animal Handling, not that you roll for it), you can fudge that into a 30% time reduction by way of Time Spent (p. B346).
 
The second skill is very forgettable – Falconry (p. B194). Just like Animal Handling, this is an Average difficulty IQ-based skill, but it is not the same as Animal Handling (Raptors), even though it defaults to that skill at -3. Kromm explains on theforums what makes these two skills different:
 
Falconry cuts across several other skills: Animal Handling (training a falcon), Naturalist (finding a nest), Veterinary (caring for a falcon), and a Sports skill ("hawking"). We did consider making it simply another specialty of Animal Handling, but it didn't quite ring true. You're welcome to fold it into Animal Handling, but then be prepared to answer questions like, "Why does specialty X include finding baby animals and caring for them, but specialty Y only includes training them?" Or you can allow the full spectrum of tasks for all Animal Handling specialties, but then you'll have people finding, raising, and hunting with tigers, which isn't realistic. Unfortunately, not all critters are equal . . . some really do merit special skills (like Riding, which certainly can't be learned for every animal).
 
Since the skill does cover training falcons, I assume that Falconry can be used instead of Animal Handling (Raptors) when training falcons.
This skill doesn’t get much love in other GURPS books. GURPS Lands out of Time suggests using this skill with archaeopteryxes or small pterosaurs due to the specifics of the setting. If both exist in your world, I suggest making the pterosaurs and raptors to be different specialties of this skill that default to one another at -3.
                GURPS High-Tech for the third edition says that you can intercept homing pigeons with a successful Falconry roll. That’s pretty cool, in my opinion.
 
The actual rules for training animals are hidden away on pages 458-459 of GURPS Basic Set. The rules state that the level of training an animal can absorb depends on its IQ:
IQ 2 – Average reptile. It can learn to come when called for food and recognize its master, and not to attack him (usually!).
IQ 3 – Average horse or hawk. It can learn commands appropriate to its work – hunting commands for a hawk, riding or pulling commands for a riding or draft animal, etc. – and general tolerance for all humans or for specific masters (trainer’s choice). It knows its name and comes when called (if it feels like it).
IQ 4 – Average dog. As above, plus “fetch,” “attack,” “find,” “sit,” etc., as appropriate for the species. It tries to warn its owner of dangers it perceives, and fights – and even dies – for its master.
IQ 5 – Average monkey. As above, but with more complexity. The GM may allow anything he ever saw a trained animal do in the movies.

                The training time depends on the IQ of the animal and the IQ level of training. There is a table that shows these times on p. B459, assuming the trainer works with the creature for about four hours a day, in a pair of two-hour sessions. This is the time needed to train the animal to the general level described above, but you can also teach the animal a new specific trick, if the GM says that the animal can learn it. Teaching a new trick requires 14 days for an IQ 5 animal, 30 days for an IQ 4 animal, or 90 days for an IQ 3 animal. No time is given for an IQ 2 animal, but you can extrapolate it to 180 days.
                For the purpose of mounted combat, a mount is considered to be unbroken unless it received its general IQ training, but is not considered war-trained. War training requires another year of training after that, and additional levels of war training (up to the maximum of three) give +1 per year on all Riding and Animal Handling rolls in combat.
                Then we have some rules that contradict other rules. The book says that if a domestic animal (that is any animal with the Domestic Animal meta-trait) has higher IQ than normal for its species, it is worth much more when fully trained. However, the Domestic Animal meta-trait has the Taboo Trait (Fixed IQ) feature that forbids altering its IQ score. So, something is wrong here.
 
                I believe that this is it for the existing rules, but I find them a bit lacking. First, specific tricks are not explained and are left up to the GM. Second, these rules might be too realistic for me. If you remember D&D and Pathfinder, you may remember that some classes could train animals to perform tricks that are definitely beyond what their GUPRS IQ would allow. And the list of animals eligible for training was not as limited – you could train even spiders and fish! Some archetypes even had plant companions with animal intelligence, and they could be trained as well. I would love to see trained sharks, riding giant spiders, and other creatures like that, and I would love to see animal tricks to get some more love. So, I have decided to expand the rules, using some things I’ve found in Pathfinder and D&D books.
               
                First of all, let’s take a look at the IQ levels of training again and try to assign some “default” tricks that are available when the animal is trained to that level:
IQ 2 – Come.
IQ 3 – Attack, Come, Stay, Work.
IQ 4 – Attack, Come, Down, Fetch, Heel, Stay, Work.
IQ 5 – Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Fetch, Find Master, Flee, Heel, Protect, Stay, Work.
 
                Now let’s define all the tricks. Each trick will have a base IQ level and, optionally, an associated penalty. After all, the Animal Handling description says that asking the animal to perform a complex action is at -3 or worse.

                Even if the animal’s IQ is lower than the base IQ of the trick, it can learn this trick. In that case, the Animal Handling roll to teach the trick takes a penalty equal to -4 per point of IQ difference.
                Training IQ 1 Animals: GURPS Basic Set has no rules for training IQ 1 animals, but it is easy to extrapolate the times. A trick can be taught in 180 days to an IQ 1 animal; there is no “general” training for IQ 1.
                Faster Training: If the GM allows that, you can use the Time Spent modifiers (p. B346) to hasten training.

  
Attack
Base IQ: 3.
The animal attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal to attack, and it will comply if able. Normally, an animal will attack only humanoids, monstrous humanoids, giants, or other animals. Teaching an animal to attack all creatures (including such unnatural creatures as undead and aberrations) counts as two tricks.
 
Bombard
Base IQ: 4.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
A flying animal can deliver projectiles on command, attempting to drop a specified item that it can carry (often alchemist’s fire or a similar splash weapon) on a designated point or opponent, using its Dropping skill to hit. The animal cannot throw the object, and it must be able to fly directly over the target.
 
Break Out
Base IQ: 5.
Animal Handling Penalty: -4.
On command, the animal attempts to break or gnaw through bars or bindings restricting it, its handler, or a person indicated by the handler. Furthermore, the animal can take certain basic actions such as lifting a latch or bringing its master an unattended key. Pickpocketing a key or picking any sort of lock is still far beyond the animal‘s ability.
 
Build Simple Structure
Base IQ: 4.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The animal can build simple structures on command, limited by its natural abilities and inclinations. The companion is able to build only structures that creatures of its type would naturally build on their own, and this trick merely allows the handler to direct the companion on when and where to build such structures. For example, a spider could be commanded to spin a web between two trees, but it could not be made to create a hammock or a tent out of silk. Similarly, a beaver could be ordered to make a dam or lodge, an alligator a dome-shaped nest, and any burrowing creature a small tunnel or hole. Only companions that naturally build structures can learn this trick.
 
Bury
Base IQ: 3.
An animal with this trick can be instructed to bury an object in its possession. The animal normally seeks a secluded place to bury its object. An animal that knows both the Bury and Fetch tricks can be instructed to fetch an item it has buried.
 
Come
Base IQ: 2.
The animal comes to you, even if it normally would not do so.
 
Defend
Base IQ: 3.
The animal defends you (or is ready to defend you if no threat is present), even without any command being given. Alternatively, you can command the animal to defend a specific other character.
 
Deliver
Base IQ: 4.
The animal takes an object (one you or an ally gives it, or one that it recovers with the fetch trick) to a place or person you indicate. If you indicate a place, the animal drops the item and returns to you. If you indicate a person, the animal stays adjacent to the person until the item is taken.
 
Demolish
Base IQ: 3.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The companion can be commanded to attack and damage objects and structures. A companion must know the Attack trick before it can be taught the Demolish trick, and the companion must be trained to attack creatures of all types.
 
Detect
Base IQ: 4.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The animal is trained to seek out the smells of air currents, alchemical items and poisons, unusual noises or echoes, and other common elements that signify the presence of potential dangers or secret passages. When commanded, the animal uses its Perception or Observation skill to try to pinpoint the source of anything that strikes it as out of the ordinary about a room or location. Note that because the animal is not intelligent, any number of doors, scents, strange mechanisms, or unfamiliar objects might catch the animal’s attention, and it cannot attempt the same Perception check more than once in this way.
 
Down
Base IQ: 3.
The animal breaks off from combat or otherwise backs down. An animal that doesn’t know this trick continues to fight until it must flee (due to injury, a fear effect, or the like) or its opponent is defeated.
 
Drive
Base IQ: 3.
The animal attempts to drive away any enemy mount not bearing a rider or any non-magical creature belonging to an opponent. The enemy mount or creature must succeed in a Quick Contest of Will against the animal’s Intimidation to resist being driven away. If it fails, it flees at its normal move speed with the animal in pursuit until they are 40 yards away from where they started. The animal attempts to keep its enemy there until the animal’s master instructs it to release the enemy mount. After it flees, the enemy mount can attempt to resist of the animal’s Intimidation again.
 
Entertain
Base IQ: 4.
The animal can dance, sing, or perform some other impressive and enjoyable trick to entertain those around it. This may either serve as a complementary skill roll for your Performance skill, an independent Performance roll by the animal, or just as a way to distract onlookers to pick their pockets.
 
Exclusive
Base IQ: 4.
The animal takes directions only from the handler who taught it this trick. If an animal has both the Exclusive and Serve tricks, it takes directions only from the handler that taught it the Exclusive trick and those creatures indicated by the trainer’s Serve command. An animal with the Exclusive trick does not take trick commands from others even if it is friendly or helpful toward them, though this does not prevent it from being controlled by spells such as Animal Control, and the animal still otherwise acts as a friendly or helpful creature when applicable.
 
Feint
Base IQ: 4.
The companion is trained to feint against opponents. A companion must know the Attack trick before it can be taught the Feint trick, and it performs feints only against targets it would normally attack. If you and the companion have the Teamwork perk, then the animal may be ordered to perform a Feint and transfer the benefits to you.
 
Fetch
Base IQ: 4.
The animal goes and gets something. If you do not point out a specific item, the animal fetches a random object.
 
Find Master
Base IQ: 4.
The animal attempts to locate its master. If it has the Tracking skill, it may use it. It does not move at a greater speed than the person who gave it the command, and it stops to wait if that person ceases to follow it.
 
Flank
Base IQ: 4.
You can instruct an animal to attack a foe you point to and to always attempt to be on the opposite side from you. The animal must know the Attack trick before it can learn this trick, and it performs it only against foes it would normally attack.
 
Flee
Base IQ: 4.
The animal attempts to run away or hide as best it can, returning only when its handler commands it to do so. Until such a command is received, the animal does its best to track its handler and any accompanying creatures, remaining hidden but within range of its sight or hearing. This trick is particularly useful for adventurers and thieves in that it allows the animal to evade capture, and then return later to help free its friends.
 
Get Help
Base IQ: 4.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
With this trick, a trainer can designate a number of creatures up to the animal’s IQ as “help.” When the command is given, the animal attempts to find one of those creatures and bring it back to the handler, even if that means journeying a long distance to the last place it encountered the target creature.
 
Guard
Base IQ: 3.
The animal stays in place and prevents others from approaching.
 
Guide
Base IQ: 5.
Animal Handling Penalty: -5.
The companion can serve as a guide to a character that is blinded or otherwise unable to see. While serving as a guide, the companion remains adjacent to the guided creature at all times, readying an action each round to move when that creature moves. Additionally, the companion identifies obstacles in the guided creature’s path and pushes them, pulls them, or otherwise signals to the creature how to avoid them, allowing the guided creature to locate and move around obstacles such as hazards, opponents, and other terrain features as though she were able to see them (though she can’t distinguish between obstacles). Finally, while serving as a guide, the companion indicates to the guided creature the presence and direction of any adjacent allies, allowing the guided creature to pinpoint the locations of such creatures. The companion can serve as a guide only as long as it is able to see in some fashion, and its ability to detect and avoid creatures and obstacles is limited by what it is able to perceive normally.
 
Heel
Base IQ: 3.
The animal follows you closely, even to places where it normally wouldn’t go.
 
Herd
Base IQ: 4.
The animal herds any mounts not bearing a rider and any friendly non-combatants away from combat. An animal up to IQ+2 targets and drives them away from combat. If an enemy attacks the animal or any of its targets, the animal attacks the opponent until its targets are no longer within the enemy’s reach, then resumes driving them away. After the animal and its targets are 40 yards from the nearest foe, the animal stops and waits until recalled by its master.
 
Hunt
Base IQ: 4.
This trick allows an animal to use its natural stalking or foraging instincts to find food and return it to the animal’s handler. An animal with this trick can attempt Survival checks to provide food for others or lead them to water and shelter.
 
Intimidate
Base IQ: 3.
The companion bares its teeth, barks, bristles, growls, or otherwise threatens a creature you designate, or, alternatively, it can be trained to do so when it encounters any creature besides its handler.
 
Maneuver
Base IQ: 4.
The animal is trained to use a specific combat maneuver on command. An animal must know the attack trick before it can be taught the Maneuver trick, and it performs maneuvers only against targets it would normally attack. This trick can be taught to an animal multiple times. Each time it is taught, the animal can be commanded to use a different combat maneuver. A maneuver for this can be a specific attack against a specific hit location (for example, bite a leg), a technique (for example, Sweep), or anything along these lines.
 
Mark Territory
Base IQ: 3.
Whether by spraying musk, rubbing its back against trees and rocks, or simply howling loudly, the companion lets other nearby animals know that it has claimed an area. By spending 1 hour performing this trick, the companion can mark an area of up to half a square mile in this fashion. Such markings may deter (or encourage) attacks by other animals.
 
Menace
Base IQ: 3.
A menacing animal attempts to keep a creature you indicate from moving. It does its best to dissuade the target, but it attacks only if the target attempts to move from its present location or take any significant action (particularly a hostile-seeming action). As soon as the target stops moving, the animal ceases attacking but it continues to menace.
 
Milk Venom
Base IQ: 2.
The companion can be coaxed into providing a single dose of venom on command. This process takes 10 minutes, and it requires a vial or similar container in which to store the poison. A companion that has been specifically trained to be milked of its venom never bites, stings, or otherwise poisons its handler when being milked, although the handler must still succeed at an Animal Handling roll to successfully harvest the venom.
 
Perform
Base IQ: 2.
The animal performs a variety of simple tricks, such as sitting up, rolling over, roaring or barking, and so on.
 
Pose as Scenery
Base IQ: 2.
The companion freezes in place, seeming to be a mundane plant rather than a plant creature. Only plant companions can learn this trick.
 
Protect
Base IQ: 3.
The animal stands beside a designated target and perform a Wait maneuver to attack any non-ally that moves into a hex adjacent to that of the target.
 
Quiet Watch
Base IQ: 5.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The animal stands watch over an area as per the Watch trick. If alerted to danger, it attempts to silently alert its master, such as by nosing her. If the animal’s master cannot be silently alerted, it raises an alarm as per the Watch trick.
 
Receive Spell
Base IQ: 5.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The companion has been trained to be the recipient of a specific spell (chosen at the time the animal is taught the trick), allowing it to fully take advantage of the spell’s effects. The spell should be one that grants the companion an ability it might not normally be intelligent enough to make use of or one that it might not even realize it has (such as Walk on Air). The companion is able to recognize when it has been affected by this spell and can take full advantage of the spell’s effects. At the GM’s discretion, a companion can also be trained to receive certain non-spell effects, such as those granted by an alchemical elixir. The companion can be taught this trick multiple times; each time it learns this trick, it becomes trained to utilize a different spell effect.
 
Rescue
Base IQ: 4.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The companion has been trained to drag its handler or another creature that the handler designates out of danger and to a safe place in the event that the handler or creature is incapacitated. If a creature that the companion is defending is rendered helpless or is slain, the companion will carry, drag, or otherwise move that creature out of danger. If the companion knows the get help trick, it will attempt to bring the creature it is rescuing to one of the creatures designated as “help.” Otherwise, you can designate a single location in advance as a safe place, and the companion will attempt to bring the creature it is rescuing to that place. If it is unable to do either of these, the companion simply moves the creature to the nearest location of relative safety. A companion must have the Deliver and Guard tricks in order to learn this trick.
 
Seek
Base IQ: 4.
The animal moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate.
 
Serve
Base IQ: 4.
An animal with this trick willingly takes orders from a creature you designate. If the creature you tell the animal to serve knows what tricks the animal has, it can instruct the animal to perform these tricks. The animal treats the designated ally as friendly. An animal can unlearn this trick with 1 week of training. This trick can be taught to an animal multiple times. Each time it is taught, the animal can serve an additional creature you designate.
 
Sneak
Base IQ: 4.
The animal can be ordered to make Stealth rolls in order to stay hidden and to continue using Stealth even when circumstances or its natural instincts would normally cause it to abandon secrecy.
 
Speak
Base IQ: 5.
Animal Handling Penalty: -3.
The companion is able to communicate very simple concepts through barks, gestures, whistles, or similar actions. The companion’s vocabulary is extremely limited, generally restricted to “yes,” “no,” and counting up to three. The companion is also able to recognize and respond to up to two specific questions per point of IQ. The companion does not so much understand the words as recognize the sound of them, and it responds accordingly. This trick does not actually increase the companion’s capacity to understand concepts and ideas; it can be taught a way to communicate the concept of “food,” for example, but it won’t distinguish cooked food from raw food, and it might not even recognize as food anything that is not part of its own diet.
 
Stay
Base IQ: 3.
The animal stays in place, waiting for you to return. It does not challenge other creatures that come by, though it still defends itself if it needs to.
 
Subdue
Base IQ: 4.
The companion can attempt to subdue opponents. Once the command is given, the companion makes all its natural attacks as non-lethal as possible until ordered to do otherwise.
 
Track
Base IQ: 4.
The animal tracks the scent presented to it.
 
Throw Rider
Base IQ: 3.
The animal can attempt to fling a creature riding it to the ground. Resolve this as per Spooked Mounts (p. B397).
 
Watch
Base IQ: 4.
The animal can be commanded to keep watch over a particular area, such as a campsite, and to raise an alarm if it notices any dangerous or sizable creature entering the area.
 
Withhold Venom
Base IQ: 2.
The companion can be ordered to avoid injecting poison into creatures it strikes with whatever natural attack would normally deliver venom. As long as the companion has been ordered to withhold its venom, successful hits with that natural attack deal damage as normal and convey all other effects that they normally would, but they do not expose the target to the companion’s poison.
 
Work
Base IQ: 3.
The animal pulls or pushes a medium or heavy load.