Topic: BG Option: Loyal Unusual Creature (e.g. Monster)

[Urlord]

So I have a player that spent 2 BG points to select the "Loyal Unusual Creature (e.g., Monster)." He wanted a Gryphon (CR 8 creature) at level 1.
After thinking about this, I ruled it this way. Tell me what you think.

Loyal Unusual Creature
If you get the  "Loyal Unusual Creature" Background Option and you want a creature that has a creature rating higher than Level 1, you have to wait until you get to the same level as the creature's level before you can acquire it. Similar to the Paladin's Warhorse Quest in AD&D. When you get to that level, you will have to undertake a special adventure to acquire said creature. Until then, you don't have it.

My RoleMaster comment of the day,
-Urlord-

[GrumpyOldFart]

I would have had him get a gryphon egg, or an infant gryphon, young enough to "imprint" on him as if he was its parent. In other words, right now it's level 0 and utterly helpless.

Yes, it will become a badass creature in its own right... someday.

And I probably would have found a way to run a mini-adventure to get the egg/infant, at that.

[jdale]

I think starting it at 1st level would be reasonable, and then let it grow up as the PC advances. That requires coming up with stats though.

[foilfodder]

So I have a player that spent 2 BG points to select the "Loyal Unusual Creature (e.g., Monster)." He wanted a Gryphon (CR 8 creature) at level 1.
After thinking about this, I ruled it this way. Tell me what you think.

Loyal Unusual Creature
If you get the  "Loyal Unusual Creature" Background Option and you want a creature that has a creature rating higher than Level 1, you have to wait until you get to the same level as the creature's level before you can acquire it. Similar to the Paladin's Warhorse Quest in AD&D. When you get to that level, you will have to undertake a special adventure to acquire said creature. Until then, you don't have it.

My RoleMaster comment of the day,
-Urlord-

So this player character that picked Loyal Unusual Creature...it is just a creature that is loyal with no magical/mystical link to the character?  Powerful "pets" can throw off a game.  Back in the 90s I was running with a group playing RMSS and everyone had at least one "pet". There was of course a Beastmaster, but also a Priestess both with multiple bonded animal companions, two essence users each with a familiar that would also cast summons for more fodder. My character simply had a trained hawk which became a huge liability after 6th level because the threat level of the monsters we'd face.

I think setting a few "ground rules" is a great idea; depending on how the first player handles the gryphon others may want their characters to acquire a "pet" too.
 a) Withholding a full grown gryphon from a level 1 character seems reasonable. 
 b) Will the character have Skill ranks to train the beast?  Just because a gryphon/lion/bear is "loyal" doesn't mean it understands or will obey a command if it does....
 c) If the player is willing to spend more than two background choices would you allow them to have something more powerful?
 d) Limit Unusual Creatures to "below-human level intelligence". Having a intelligent dragon or fairy of some kind would be more like having the player have two characters than one character and a "pet".
 e) As Jdale mentioned, if you decided to let the creature start at level 1 later "mature" into a full-grown gryphon instead the choice you mentioned (a) which was the withhold the creature until the character reaches higher levels.
 f) Will the "unusual creature" continue to grow as the character advances in level and become stronger than a normal gryphon?  Or will it "cap" at typical creature stats?

[cdcooley]

The books do say that gryphons are bred in captivity as mounts, but there's no reason to think that someone is going to give a fully grown gryphon to a first-level character. And if the creature is going to be loyal to the character they need some reason they've bonded.

I like the idea of the gryphon egg. The player would get the option to store it away with someone the player can trust for a level or two. At some point the player would need to start carrying it around (while protecting it) until it hatches. When the "protect the egg" quest gets boring or too annoying proceed to the "protect the baby gryphon" quest. Let it grow in power over the next few player levels to reach its potential, but it's not going to be able to carry the player or be of much help in a fight for while. Since the player did spend background points on it, I wouldn't actually let it die (early), but if it's seriously injured there will be recovery time and expenses. And having a gryphon may be more work than the player would want. After all, you're not likely to be able to just leave it with the local stable master at most cities and towns. And if you're raising it, you'll need animal training skills.

[katastrophe]

You could always just say no. Just because a player wants something, do not mean they have to be able to get it. you want the game to stay balanced so it might be just better to say no.

[GrumpyOldFart]

 

When the "protect the egg" quest gets boring or too annoying proceed to the "protect the baby gryphon" quest. Let it grow in power over the next few player levels to reach its potential, but it's not going to be able to carry the player or be of much help in a fight for while. Since the player did spend background points on it, I wouldn't actually let it die (early), but if it's seriously injured there will be recovery time and expenses. And having a gryphon may be more work than the player would want. After all, you're not likely to be able to just leave it with the local stable master at most cities and towns. And if you're raising it, you'll need animal training skills.

Exactly. It was my backhanded way of saying, "Just how bad do you want this?" This player already knew that some characters in my game had horse sized dogs ("Dogies") that often treated their nominal "masters" like they wanted to be an 1000 lb. lap dog or wanted the "owner" to be an oversized chew toy. They were warned.

[Ralfsi]

I've read somewhere (not rolemaster) that a Gryphon takes 10 years to mature and goes through stages as a child.

[Spectre771]

The only point I would change from the OP is that the PC has the gryphon in some form or another (Egg at level 0, hatches at level 1).  Having the loyal, unusual animal is part of the PCs background, not something he has to earn or to wait for.  At PC creation, he already has it and could very well be the reason he is out adventuring... because he has this gryphon.

I would definitely make the leveling-up of the gryphon much slower than PC growth.  Award the gryphon XP for things it has done in the game just as any other PC or NPC.

Of all the background options available in RM2, from all of the books, this is the single BO I hate the most.  It's come up a more than a few times over the years and someone always says "I want a dragon." 

No.  You can't have a dragon.

In the current party I'm GM-ing now, one PC has this BO, but he chose a fairy.  It makes perfect sense.  It fits the game setting.  It fits in perfectly with background of the PC.  It fits the region the campaign is located.  This is also a veteran player (one of the best I've ever gamed with) who knows that the fairy is just an NPC, knows it will have limitations, but does very well with interacting with it and it plays out perfectly.   

[GrumpyOldFart]

It's come up a more than a few times over the years and someone always says "I want a dragon."

Okay. It'll hatch in 5 years. After that, it will go from "infant" to "toddler" in another 5, "toddler" to "adolescent" in another 10, and "adolescent" to "juvenile" in another 15. At "juvenile," it will finally just barely begin to become an asset. Until then, you have to feed it, keep it alive and healthy, keep people from stealing it or killing it, and in order to keep its loyalty you have to interact with it, treat it as a treasured friend, at least every week. Be advised, the making of a dragon slaying weapon requires the use of a live dragon as a quench, so it will never fail to be the target of thieves who want to sell it to an alchemist.

A 35 year investment in time, money and attention, with all of that time the dragon being effectively a major target painted on your back. Still want it?

[GrumpyOldFart]

Note: The egg is about the size of a Smart Car, the infant is about the size of a Pit Bull, the toddler about the size of a pony, the adolescent about the size of a small car. The infant can only crawl, the toddler can walk but is clumsy, the adolescent is just beginning to learn to fly.

No, the adolescent dragon is not going to walk 20+ miles a day while you go adventuring.

So for the first 15-20 years, anything more than minimal travel will require a wagon to keep the dragon in. Good luck finding something to pull it.

[Majyk]

Random B.O. rolls only!
8D

Then again, if it still happens as above: Down-level the shite out of it or it will unbalance your game instantly.
The kewlness factor is what it is about for anyone getting this, so don’t poo-poo being able to use it as a mount(pony) at first with absolutely little to no Flying skill(which again, will turf all of your quests that rely on getaways from terrain features that a fully flying character avoids).

Incorporate it into the story for how it’s even around in the first place vs an egg if usable right away.  Found after a windstorm, injured, and nursed back to health which’ll take forever for it to be winged-worthy before it becomes a flying mount at all.  That will give your party a chance to level up commensurately and have their own fast-movement modes of transport.
Nobody will be flying it around for a few levels!

Be sure to restrict it’s entry everywhere they go…”you want a Huge Beast that consumes horseflesh on the regular?!” - top up that Animal Handling/Training/Mastery skill/spells!

Otherwise, enjoy the game but set the expectations early so the Player can decide if it is still worth the expenditure instead of something like +1 to 3 stats or a +15 bonus to a Stat!

[EltonJ]

Random B.O. rolls only!
8D

Then again, if it still happens as above: Down-level the shite out of it or it will unbalance your game instantly.
The kewlness factor is what it is about for anyone getting this, so don’t poo-poo being able to use it as a mount(pony) at first with absolutely little to no Flying skill(which again, will turf all of your quests that rely on getaways from terrain features that a fully flying character avoids).

Incorporate it into the story for how it’s even around in the first place vs an egg if usable right away.  Found after a windstorm, injured, and nursed back to health which’ll take forever for it to be winged-worthy before it becomes a flying mount at all.  That will give your party a chance to level up commensurately and have their own fast-movement modes of transport.
Nobody will be flying it around for a few levels!

Be sure to restrict it’s entry everywhere they go…”you want a Huge Beast that consumes horseflesh on the regular?!” - top up that Animal Handling/Training/Mastery skill/spells!

Otherwise, enjoy the game but set the expectations early so the Player can decide if it is still worth the expenditure instead of something like +1 to 3 stats or a +15 bonus to a Stat!

At least he doesn't want a werewolf.

[GrumpyOldFart]

At least he doesn't want a werewolf.

That's an easy one. Make it one of his children. And have his child deal with all the social stigma of being a werewolf.

[rdanhenry]

Oh, let him have his gryphon. The drawbacks pointed out and not yet considered (it's a large carnivore, expensive to feed outside wilderness areas, needing hunting time in the wilds; there's a DP sink for riding and animal handling skills; it draws attention; it's likely to draw a concentration of fire in combat -- the Magician says "thanks"; unlike a lot of the other Background Options, it is external and can be killed or captured or out of action due to injuries) make up for the power it offers well enough. I might start it at lower than the average level for its kind, allowing it to develop with the PC into an eventually exceptional specimen, but I wouldn't make it a useless burden to start with. It's a "loyal unusual creature" not "an egg that may someday be something", after all.

[EltonJ]

Oh, let him have his gryphon. The drawbacks pointed out and not yet considered (it's a large carnivore, expensive to feed outside wilderness areas, needing hunting time in the wilds; there's a DP sink for riding and animal handling skills; it draws attention; it's likely to draw a concentration of fire in combat -- the Magician says "thanks"; unlike a lot of the other Background Options, it is external and can be killed or captured or out of action due to injuries) make up for the power it offers well enough. I might start it at lower than the average level for its kind, allowing it to develop with the PC into an eventually exceptional specimen, but I wouldn't make it a useless burden to start with. It's a "loyal unusual creature" not "an egg that may someday be something", after all.

The player would still have to train skill in flight, though.

[pastaav]

One option for level-up calculations is that the gryphon receives half of the experience of the player. This setup makes sure the gryphon always lags behind the players but that you can doing upkeep about how much it learns from different things.

[Sai]

Loyalty doesn't have to mean a creature will always stick around. Creatures may have an instinctive drive to mate, raise young, migrate, etc. It might be loyal to you but want to live its own life when it matures or comes into its own.

Bonds of loyalty could also be the result of the PC helping or saving the creature (e.g. it's caught in a trap; was born malformed, been abandoned by its pack, and can't survive on its own; or been wounded in a fight with another creature or its own kind). In such cases you can cap the creature's stats or abilities (hits, OB, DB, movement, etc.) to reflect its permanent injury, which will help mitigate any unbalancing affects a "normal" creature might introduce.

If you're introducing this as a young creature, perhaps it's the runt of the litter and the PC must act as surrogate parent to form the bond. This particular creature will never grow to become as powerful as a normal creature of its kind (50% as powerful? 75%? it's up to you), which could make for a good story that again tempers any unbalancing affects of allowing a "normal" unusual creature.

"Hey, your one-winged baby gryphon is cute as a button! What's wrong with its eye?"

[Spectre771]

It's come up a more than a few times over the years and someone always says "I want a dragon."

Okay. It'll hatch in 5 years. After that, it will go from "infant" to "toddler" in another 5, "toddler" to "adolescent" in another 10, and "adolescent" to "juvenile" in another 15. At "juvenile," it will finally just barely begin to become an asset. Until then, you have to feed it, keep it alive and healthy, keep people from stealing it or killing it, and in order to keep its loyalty you have to interact with it, treat it as a treasured friend, at least every week. Be advised, the making of a dragon slaying weapon requires the use of a live dragon as a quench, so it will never fail to be the target of thieves who want to sell it to an alchemist.

A 35 year investment in time, money and attention, with all of that time the dragon being effectively a major target painted on your back. Still want it?

That's beautiful!  I had never thought of it as a long drawn out investment.  I know it will pop up again as someone always seems to roll that option somehow every couple of years or so.  I'm definitely going to implement this.  Perhaps the baby dragon is experimenting with it's breath weapon and randomly (and at most inopportune times) sets things <on fire, in ice, in floods, well poisoned> tending to ruin items in the party or on the person.

Loyalty doesn't have to mean a creature will always stick around. Creatures may have an instinctive drive to mate, raise young, migrate, etc. It might be loyal to you but want to live its own life when it matures or comes into its own.
...

This is another great approach.  The creature doesn't have to stay attached at the hip of the PC.  It could be a creature that seems to follow at a distance in the wild, or stays in hiding and always seems to conveniently pop up in a pinch.

[GrumpyOldFart]

Just because it's "loyal" when you get it doesn't mean it's going to take whatever kind of abuse you throw at it. Loyalty can be lost.