Spirit combat with unintelligent creatures

[Scorus]

The spirit combat rules (like the combat rules) seem geared toward combat between intelligent creatures and not animals. If they only have a base spirit combat % and, with an average POW and no CHA, a D3 spirit combat damage, even the largest and fiercest animal or elemental is an easy kill to a decent spirit or discorporated player. Is anybody doing anything with these creatures to give them a fighting chance in such scenarios?

Edited October 23, 2020 by Scorus

[French Desperate WindChild]

17 minutes ago, Scorus said:

The spirit combat rules (like the combat rules) seem geared toward combat between intelligent creatures and not animals. If they only have a base spirit combat % and, with an average POW and no CHA, a D3 spirit combat damage, even the largest and fiercest animal or elemental is an easy kill to a decent spirit or discorporated player. Is anybody doing anything with these creatures to give them a fighting chance in such scenarios?

the question is who will engage a spirit combat with animal ? to do what ?

I see is no reason to do that if you're not a malign spirit or a shaman able to possess the target. And both have enough power to overcome a standard creature, intelligent or not.

The main magic spells to manipulate animals are more with a POW resistance than spirit combat.

 

[Psullie]

I hear of a vile class of spirit called Lyssa that preys on bats, dogs and other mammals leading to madness and death. It can sometimes attack humans causing a fear of water quickly followed by death.

 

[Mechashef]

Unless I read it wrong, initiates of Waha have access to the Rune spell Discorporation.

Could such an initiate get within a couple of km of a herd of animals, cast the spell and then engage a target in Spirit Combat until its MP are reduced to zero and it falls unconscious, then go onto another creature, repeating the process and so on?  Potentially this could render many of the herd unconscious and then the initiate (or their companions) could march in and slaughter the defenceless animals.

And presumably this technique would make it easy for such a character to kill really impressive animals such as a Tyrannosaurus? 

 

Depending on which rule is used, for a creature with 12MP who has been reduced to 0 MP, the time taken for it to regain 1 MP and wake up is either 6 hours or 2 hours.  Both giving plenty of time for the initiate to kill multiple creatures.

[David Scott]

53 minutes ago, Mechashef said:

Unless I read it wrong, initiates of Waha have access to the Rune spell Discorporation.

Could such an initiate get within a couple of km of a herd of animals, cast the spell and then engage a target in Spirit Combat until its MP are reduced to zero and it falls unconscious, then go onto another creature, repeating the process and so on?  Potentially this could render many of the herd unconscious and then the initiate (or their companions) could march in and slaughter the defenceless animals.

Yes of course, but that's not the way of waha, raiding to steal animals. That's killing and butchering them in situ, rather than having walk to where you want them. The herd guard would catch you trying to drag the meat away.

53 minutes ago, Mechashef said:

And presumably this technique would make it easy for such a character to kill really impressive animals such as a Tyrannosaurus?

It would smell your inert body miles away...

[Scorus]

9 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

the question is who will engage a spirit combat with animal ? to do what ?

I see is no reason to do that if you're not a malign spirit or a shaman able to possess the target. And both have enough power to overcome a standard creature, intelligent or not.

The main magic spells to manipulate animals are more with a POW resistance than spirit combat.

To kill it, mainly. Reduce it to 0 magic points and it is unconscious.

Big animal, huge fangs, big claws, tough skin. Choice of trying to take it down with a group of warriors and take your losses or sending a mediocre spirit to take care of it pretty easily.

Giant birds, cliff toads, dinosaurs, mounts, sakkars, shadowcats, tuskers, enemy clans' cattle, giant spiders, giant beetles, sky bulls, sea creatures, some chaos creatures. All of them can very easily be taken down by a discorporate player or summoned ancestor, with hardly any risk.

[French Desperate WindChild]

4 hours ago, Scorus said:

To kill it, mainly. Reduce it to 0 magic points and it is unconscious.

Big animal, huge fangs, big claws, tough skin. Choice of trying to take it down with a group of warriors and take your losses or sending a mediocre spirit to take care of it pretty easily.

Giant birds, cliff toads, dinosaurs, mounts, sakkars, shadowcats, tuskers, enemy clans' cattle, giant spiders, giant beetles, sky bulls, sea creatures, some chaos creatures. All of them can very easily be taken down by a discorporate player or summoned ancestor, with hardly any risk.

of course and probably few do it but for me it is for very very good reasons or very very bad reasons (of course that is only my point of view) :

- a lot of "wild" people (hunters culture, warrior culture)  consider this kind of track as dishonorable

- a lot of "civilized people consider it as a barbarian activity ("let that for shamans and other beast men, that s not for our great nation")

- shamans role is not to hunt, but to protect the clan. Of course if a dinosaur is a danger for the clan, it can be a solution (but warriors and hunters would be shamed if they are not able to manage it, that is their role after all)

- as @David Scott said, gods do not provide discorporation for this reason, an animal must be hunted, that the natural way of life

 

and remember that if you discorporate, you are now visiting the spirit world, there is not only your prey, you can find others spirits even stronger spirits, and you have to leave your body, so  other must protect you, do you trust them all ?

I m pretty sure that, if a clan does it regularly, it will attract some beast spirits, some angry and very powerful beast spirits, maybe the wild goddess, some curse too as their own gods may disapprove, cause they are broken the law of the living beings

but you are right, if you have to protect your clan for a great danger, and you have no "good" option, that could be a solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by French Desperate WindChild