Bears and Woodmen's Hound of Mirkwood

[Hermes Serpent]

I'm working on some scenarios and feel the need for some mundane creatures statted for TOR. I've had a look through Rich H's Dale supplement and see that there is a guard dog he has worked up some stats for and also a Black Dog, so beloved of stories set on wild moors in Britain during the 17th century. However I'm interested to note that the Woodman's Hound of Mirkwood Virtue is so barely statted out by comparison.

One Wound puts it out of action for at least a session and up to a season.
He has one skill and can be trained for up to three more at a cost of 1 XP each.
He can Harass an adversary and make it Weary (at a cost of 2 XP).
He can allow you to enter Rearward stance at a cost of 1 XP.

There is no other assistance in bringing such a noble beast to life beyond the ability of the player/character to role play the interaction between them.

What really got this started was the fact that I'd like to use a Bear, probably a European Brown Bear (Ursus arctos arctos) as an LM character, although maybe not named. I'm thinking about a bear captured and forced to 'fight' dogs for entertainment that could be rescued and taken to Beorn. A bear who is raiding some Beorning's hives and taking the honey. Maybe a bear captured by goblins who couldn't subdue an ogre or small troll for duty as an Intimidation weapon or for guarding their habitation in place of wolves or wargs (some variety I guess).

So has anyone considered stats along the lines of the usual adversary stat block for a bear or should i go more for the Hound of Mirkwood style of creature?

[Rich H]

I'm working on some scenarios and feel the need for some mundane creatures statted for TOR. I've had a look through Rich H's Dale supplement and see that there is a guard dog he has worked up some stats for and also a Black Dog, so beloved of stories set on wild moors in Britain during the 17th century.

Poosticks7 and Halbarad respectively created those so gotta highlight that to credit to them.

However I'm interested to note that the Woodman's Hound of Mirkwood Virtue is so barely statted out by comparison

One Wound puts it out of action for at least a session and up to a season.
He has one skill and can be trained for up to three more at a cost of 1 XP each.
He can Harass an adversary and make it Weary (at a cost of 2 XP).
He can allow you to enter Rearward stance at a cost of 1 XP.

There is no other assistance in bringing such a noble beast to life beyond the ability of the player/character to role play the interaction between them.

I think the Hound is 'statted' like that as it's used as support for the Woodman. I'd use similar stats for an ally/squire/bannerman if a Culture ever warranted it - ie, I wouldn't give them full stats but provide mechanical enhancements to the PC that 'owned' them.

What really got this started was the fact that I'd like to use a Bear, probably a European Brown Bear (Ursus arctos arctos) as an LM character, although maybe not named. ...

So has anyone considered stats along the lines of the usual adversary stat block for a bear or should i go more for the Hound of Mirkwood style of creature?

I've never produced adversary stat blocks for a bear, although PCs have encountered them. To resolve their encounter I simply set a TN to beat them based upon what they were doing - ie, hunting, avoiding, etc within the encounter. So, I'd go with deciding what you need based upon how you're going to use such a creature.

... I'm thinking about a bear captured and forced to 'fight' dogs for entertainment that could be rescued and taken to Beorn.

I'd just go with a set of TNs for this. Once the dogs are taken care of, then the bear would need to be befriended or subdued in order to take it to Beorn. I don't think I'd stat up a bear as an adversary but just list a few ideas that the PCs could employ and set TNs for them. For example:

1) PCs could use herbs that when burnt made such creatures docile and easily manipulated
2) PCs could capture the bear and chain it allowing it to be transported
3) PCs could acquire some aid from Beorn or Radagast to communicate with and/or befriend the bear

... etc.

... A bear who is raiding some Beorning's hives and taking the honey.

Again, rather than fight the bear in the same way as you would an adversary, this feels more like an extended set of skill challenges in order to (a) track, (b) capture, and (c) transport the bear back to Beorn. I'd employ the same line of thinking as above.

... Maybe a bear captured by goblins who couldn't subdue an ogre or small troll for duty as an Intimidation weapon or for guarding their habitation in place of wolves or wargs (some variety I guess).

This could be more like an adversary than the other two above. I've not worked on stats for wildlife but I'd suspect they'd have high endurance, decent armour, some favoured skill groups - particularly Survival and Perception, a claw attack along with a crush one, and some special abilities - perhaps one to intimidate and one around rending an opponent if their crush attack succeeded.

[Glorelendil]

(Wo)Man of the Lake virtue that is a family retainer (forgetting exact name and don't have book handy) is also statted like the Hound. I.e., they are just "there" and provide bonuses.

[Corvo]

On the same vein, at the beginning of The Darkening of Mirkwood there are Dagmar and her men, all "armed" with ferocius dogs: it's a slightly different implementation of the same general idea.

[Otaku-sempai]

One of TOR's weaknesses, in my opinion, is the failure to take full advantage of the richness of Middle-earth for the possibility of animal companions. Granted, a Dwarf of Erebor can already choose the Cultural Virtue of Ravens of the Mountain and be able to call upon a companion from the folk of Roäc. And a Woodman may choose the Cultural Virtue Hound of Mirkwood.

- A descendant of the Dale of Old (be he Barding or Lake-man) might still retain the ability to understand the language of birds and might have a bird companion (thrush, owl, hawk, etc.).

- A Beorning might have been taught by Beorn to understand the languages of beasts and might have an animal-friend that he/she can speak with (bear, greyhound, horse, pony, ram, ass, goat, etc.).

- Wood-elves seem to be able to understand birds and beasts native to the Greenwood, many of which would make excellent companions (deer, falcon, owl, ferret, etc.).

- Any Hero might have a hunting dog (of lesser stature than a Woodman's Hound). A Hobbit might even be able to use a large dog as a mount (unless that's too much like D&D).

Thoughts?

[Rocmistro]

I will burn all my TOR books if I see anything in print about hobbits riding dogs. Otherwise I support your comments.

[Hermes Serpent]

Hermes Serpent now goes to search pdf's of every Tolkien written book to look for a connection between dogs and Hobbits

[Otaku-sempai]

I will burn all my TOR books if I see anything in print about hobbits riding dogs. Otherwise I support your comments.

I mentioned riding dogs half in jest; ponies (and the occasional donkey) seem perfectly fine as Hobbit mounts.

[Hermes Serpent]

I can find dogs riding dogs, cats riding dogs and monkeys riding dogs and even a dog riding a turtle. I ignored the dog riding a bicycle and the child riding a dog. However despite a fun five minutes I can't find a Hobbit ridden dog so Rocmistro's books are safe.... for now.