Animal Encounters

[ChalkLine]

As we both know, highly venomous snakes are just part of life across most of Australia. Including in suburbia. When I was a kid most second-or-more generation Australian parents would teach their kids common sense precautions.

Yep. I find it astounding when people mess with snakes. When you're a little kid in Oz you get the mantra of "if you leave the snake alone it will leave you alone".

We had some guys on the pipeline that were the kind of people that of they saw wildlife they had to try and kill it. Of course down here you're messing with something far better at killing (and probably in this case smarter) than you are

[.45cultist]

This depends so heavily on what part of the country you're in and what kind of snake bites you. I used to research this a bit when I was into back-country backpacking when I was younger.

In the southwest US where I live, the most common and dangerous type of snake is one of a few species of rattlesnake (Mojave and Western Diamondback in the far southwest afaik). A bite from those can have some pretty serious, and even fatal effects. From my understanding (at least what I was always told growing up), the babies are far more dangerous than the adults, as they don't have the same capacity to regulate the amount of venom they inject, and just give a full dose on every bite.

A bite from an adult rattlesnake usually has one of four effects, all about equal in chance (maybe do a 1D4 roll for in-game purposes). The snake either injects no venom, a little venom, a medium amount of venom, or a lot of venom. A bite with no venom isn't an issue at all outside of a couple of small punctures at the site of the bite. A little venom is going to suck for the person bit, as they'll experience some combination of lightheadedness, sweating, some weakness, a little nausea, swelling at the site of the bite, and just general discomfort. If the bitee gets a significant dose, things escalate with shortness of breath and difficulty breathing (often due to swelling), likely more vomiting, blurred vision, etc. If the rattler injects a full dose, the victim's life will be in jeopardy, with worse versions of all of the above symptoms, along with possible long term organ damage (parts of the victim's intestines dying, eventually going septic, etc) and even death.

I'd say that if you get bit with one of the first 3 types, chances are you'll live with varying amounts of discomfort over the following days/weeks (or even months if it was a strong bite) without any treatment. With the strongest bites, the victim will almost certainly live so long as they receive treatment at a hospital and possible antivenin dose - without treatment, I'm not sure what the chance of death is, but it's probably at least somewhat significant.

Interesting fact that I just learned, for most rattlesnake bites in the US, the recommended course of action for hospitals is to give the victim some Antihistamines (Benedryl) and monitor them for 24 hours. Often that and pain relievers are enough to stave off some of the worst immediate effects. If it isn't, then they'll proceed with the course of antivenin.

Finally, an obscure adage from fellow hikers in the southwest - "When hiking in single file, try to never be the third person in line. Because if you come across a sleeping rattlesnake, the first person in line is going to wake it up. The second will piss it off. And it'll bite whoever's in third."

edit: As an added bonus, Rattlesnakes can grow to be fairly long - I've seen a couple of larger ones that were 6ft or longer. Throw some spices on em and toss em on a bbq, they also make for a pretty decent meal - If memory serves, they taste somewhat like chicken (doesn't everything) but with some small fish-like bones.

In Missouri they found a 9ft/ 60lb Diamond back at a park a few years back. Experts said it was strong enough to break a thigh bone even if the fangs missed! A snake that size or larger like a King Cobra might actually need to get a melee strike impact damage as well.

[Raellus]

Killer Dolphins

Military-trained dolphins could make for an interesting nautical encounter (especially one that got loose and was no longer under "orders").

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43827/assassin-dolphin-hamas-says-it-caught-continues-tradition-of-wild-claims-about-israels-animal-spies

The article includes links to similar US and Russian programs.

In the William Gibson short story, Johnny Mnemonic, there's a supporting character who is a sentient dolphin veteran of WWIII.

[Vespers War]

About fifteen years or so ago a friend's wife was killed in Florida by a pygmy rattlesnake. She was trimming bushes when it bit, it only hit with one fang and she never saw it, and the bite was misdiagnosed as a wasp sting. The dusky pygmy rattlesnake is one of six venomous snakes in Florida, the others being the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake, cottonmouth, copperhead, and coral snake.

In thirty years of living in Florida the only venomous snake I ran across was a coral snake, and that only once (I got a photo from a respectful distance and sent it to a herpetologist friend because I wasn't sure if it was coral or king). They're pretty timid and their fangs aren't directly connected to the venom duct, so they typically have to chew on things a bit in order to inject venom. Bites are rare enough that the antivenin stopped being made a few years ago because it wasn't being used (although checking up on that, apparently production resumed last year).

[Raellus]

Dogs of War

What self-respecting T2k Ref hasn't thrown a pack of feral dogs at their PC's at least once in a campaign

Canines are amazing survivors, and might even thrive in the post-apocalyptic world. The dogs of Chernobyl seem to prove this.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/chernobyl-dog-radiation-exposure-genome-research/673273/

This may have been brought up here before (I've neglected to look back through this thread before posting), but has anyone ever included a canine NPC in their campaign

4e has a stat block for Wild Dogs which includes skills (Mobility B, Close Combat C, Recon A), so it shouldn't be too hard to run a military or police working dog (maybe bump Close Combat to B) in that edition.

Thoughts

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[Raellus]

Bacon on the Hoof

From Twitter:

"In Donbass, Ukraine, the once domestic and now feral pig population is booming at an alarming rate."

The video shows a herd of supposedly feral pigs fleeing a UAF SPAG.

https://twitter.com/intermarium24/status/1637759369944223747ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1637759369944223747%7Ctwgr%5E35d7657ee74e07c63711fb7bea8694b2114792f8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fukraine-situation-report-explosions-rock-russian-occupied-crimea

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[kcdusk]

I once had a dog in a DnD game i was in. It turned out how you'd expect. I protected and cared for the dog more than i cared for the other PCs in the game.

Animal encounters can be a bonus to characters. Feral pigs can provide a quick fun encounter, picture a team building exercise chasing them down through bog pits. While also providing much needed food.

A snake encounter can give the medic a chance to step in and be valued.

A bear or other more dangerous encounter can force a group to march further through the night to avoid them, adding to fatigue, or forcing them into an encounter earlier than they wanted.

Even a simple bird encounter. A bird loudly taking flight. Did the PC scare them, possibly giving away their own position, will anyone notice Or did an enemy NPC group scare that bird

[chico20854]

Animal encounters can be a bonus to characters. Feral pigs can provide a quick fun encounter, picture a team building exercise chasing them down through bog pits. While also providing much needed food.

A snake encounter can give the medic a chance to step in and be valued.

A bear or other more dangerous encounter can force a group to march further through the night to avoid them, adding to fatigue, or forcing them into an encounter earlier than they wanted.

Even a simple bird encounter. A bird loudly taking flight. Did the PC scare them, possibly giving away their own position, will anyone notice Or did an enemy NPC group scare that bird

Once upon a time I was on guard duty with a buddy, middle of the night on an exercise. He heard something, I told him it was just an animal, he was sure it was the OPFOR coming to attack. He sounds the alarm, wakes up the entire company. First Shirt comes running over "What's going on men". Top goes to investigate, an armadillo runs off into the bushes.

Buddy was less than popular the next day....

[pmulcahy11b]

What self-respecting T2k Ref hasn't thrown a pack of feral dogs at their PC's at least once in a campaign



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Dogs Never!!

I love dogs too much -- I'd never want to see them hurt, even in game play.

Feral pigs, rabid bears, angry deer, I've used all of those and more. But never dogs!

[Raellus]

Radioactive Game

If Central Europe's boars are this radioactive, IRL, imagine how much more radioactive they'd be c.2000.

https://www.science.org/content/article/germany-s-radioactive-boars-are-bristly-reminder-nuclear-fallout

It'd probably be a good idea for hunters to equip themselves with Geiger counters.

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[.45cultist]

About fifteen years or so ago a friend's wife was killed in Florida by a pygmy rattlesnake. She was trimming bushes when it bit, it only hit with one fang and she never saw it, and the bite was misdiagnosed as a wasp sting. The dusky pygmy rattlesnake is one of six venomous snakes in Florida, the others being the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake, cottonmouth, copperhead, and coral snake.

In thirty years of living in Florida the only venomous snake I ran across was a coral snake, and that only once (I got a photo from a respectful distance and sent it to a herpetologist friend because I wasn't sure if it was coral or king). They're pretty timid and their fangs aren't directly connected to the venom duct, so they typically have to chew on things a bit in order to inject venom. Bites are rare enough that the antivenin stopped being made a few years ago because it wasn't being used (although checking up on that, apparently production resumed last year).

And the small rattle snake make a buzz, it does sound like the big boys.

[Ursus Maior]

If Central Europe's boars are this radioactive, IRL, imagine how much more radioactive they'd be c.2000.

https://www.science.org/content/article/germany-s-radioactive-boars-are-bristly-reminder-nuclear-fallout

It'd probably be a good idea for hunters to equip themselves with Geiger counters.

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If one looks at the fallout patterns, it's really a limited problem in actual history. However, the problem is literally dying out. Boars usually die of bullets around here, but those kept in wildlife reserves can reach ages beyond 20 years old. So the population of boars suffering from primary fallout radiation is gone by now.

The problem are indeed the, however, the mentioned mushrooms. Those seem to retain the irradiation for much longer than previously thought, irradiating wildlife - and especially boars - that feeds on them.

Consequently, Twilight mushrooms would do the same, but on a much grander scale, since fallout is and was ubiquitous in the Twilight Universe. This would mean that not only hunters and their customers would have to be aware of boars and their irradiation. Additionally to the boars, their favorite food, mushrooms, would also irradiate those who feed on them, including humans. The problem was well known in the immediate post-Chernobyl phase in Bavaria, where harvesting mushrooms was warned against.

The news here is that the problem would still be existant after almost 40 years. That is something which referees could include in their games.

[Homer]

Wildlife

A couple of ideas for animal encounters:

1. Have a boar or horse trigger a mine/trip flare. Especially if your party is in the habit of leaving them without an overwatching OP/LP. They'll either spend time patrolling and reacting, or start putting out OP/LPs. Could also be used by a wily enemy or PC to clear the way for a raid, etc.

2. Waterfowl and Guinea hens, make great natural burglar alarms. A roosting flock of them are great to work into the setup of a scenario: was that a fox or a raiding party that spooked them

3. Pigs, dogs, and birds will all find their way to corpses and the immobilized. You can play up atmosphere by having PCs listen to the sound of pigs or dogs tussling over enemy dead all night.

4. Any large animal in moving fast in heavy cover is going to make some noise. Always good for a chance contact to break up the monotony of two legged encounters.

[Raellus]

A Deluge of Rodents

As if life on the front line weren't hard enough...

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraine-situation-report-deluge-of-rodents-a-common-enemy

Reminds me a bit of D&D's rat swarms.

They get into rations, chew cables, seek warmth in vehicle engines/exhaust systems, and somehow even manage to ruin artillery charges! Worst of all, they have the potential to spread disease.

Makes me think that soldiers in the T2kU would be quick to adopt mousers (eg cats, terriers, ferrets, and possibly birds of prey) to help deal with rodent infestations.

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