Monday, August 24, 2015

Falling Down with Wolves

I think I've told this story before, I'm sure I have, but its worth repeating. I was playing soccer with Todd one day, just kicking the ball back and forth. Of course this requires a great deal of running around. We were in the yard with my three dogs . . . well five, but two were joining in the fun . . . and they were hounding us and the ball.

The dogs worked together. First they ran after the ball, biting at it and driving it this way and that, but soon after, they learned that it was doing no good so they shifted to me and Todd. Oxie, a robust Australian Shepherd, led the other two. When she switched to people, the two heelers switches as well. It didn't take but a few minutes to gain results.

Todd was running pretty fast when the dogs came swooping in at him. Okie went at an angle toward him. I started yelling for him to run faster which he did, but to no avail the dog hit him hard, he tried to turn but she got his knee (drew a little blood), but she hit him with such force that he was knocked off balance for just a second. That's all it took for Dakato to leap in from the front angle, grabbing his shirt tail and swinging him even more off balance, and that's when the Cheyenne smashed into him (I honestly can't remember where) and he went down like a ton of bricks. The dogs scattered, barking like mad, because it was such fun.

Todd was cussing up a storm.

It was funny as hell, but gave me a real good idea of what dogs can do to prey. I'd know this I suppose through watching documentaries and what not, but until you see it played out on a human, it doesn't seem that bad.

Its really the way the trip ability should be used. Each successive hit requires the player to make a check. If they fail, they fall. The CL should be raised by at least 1 for each wolf/dog that hits the character, and maybe even by the wolf's hit dice.

These guys are apex predators for a reason.

Here's an interesting video on wolves and their impact on the environment.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Last winter a friend triggered a common lake-country wolf ambush. She had burned a pile of brush by the lake, and the next day she went down to stir the ashes. She saw some wolves relaxing in a line out on the ice and didn't think much of it beyond, "Cool." (As she was telling me the story, I was thinking, "Cool, they're hunting.")

As she was working, she looked up and made eye contact with a solitary wolf coming out of the woods. Both were surprised. The wolf charged, and she fled into the house with the entire pack after her.

A case of mistaken identity. The wolf couldn't smell her because of the burn, and it was hunting for a deer to flush out onto the ice. In the heat of the moment, it saw a big mammal and flushed. Once both of them were running, the rest of the pack did its job. (Though the others had to know she was there, so I wondered if any of them were thinking, "Geez, Fritz is a moron.")

I have no doubt that, had she stood her ground and yelled, the wolf would have corrected its course right quick. But it's hard to blame someone when a predator is charging and the primitive part of the brain says, "RUN!"

--Jeff

Troll Lord said...

Yeah, I think I would run too. Its one of those things, if yo don't, you're probably going to have a bad day!

"Geez, Fritz is a moron." hahahaha

Steve

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