Animals

"Lions, tigers, and bears?"

People are a form of animal. Vampires are humans. Humans are apes. Apes are monkeys. Monkeys are mammals. And mammals are animals. However, not all animals are people, and indeed most of them are not. Animals get a separate entry precisely because their capabilities, while generally much more limited than a human's, are incredibly varied. It's just not particularly helpful to attempt to use the same system to generate a hippo and a hamster.

Animals have wildly different speeds than that of a human. And so what is given is simply the creature's speed during a draining sprint. For simplicity, animals move proportionally less fast than that when doing other kinds of movement. Remember also that real life 70 kilogram humans often only have 1 or 2 in an attribute, so don't be terribly surprised if many animals have values that are very low. Inherent in the dicepool system is an assumption of basically human norms, and creatures significantly outside those norms have numbers that are significantly outside those values. The game simply does not have the granularity to differentiate the strength of animals that are not as strong as a person - and that's most of them (people are pretty strong).

Alligator

Aligators are the pit monster of choice, because while they aren't super fast and have profound difficulties getting out of a pit, they are pretty deadly and terrifying. The jaws of an alligator are a 2 damage weapon, and alligators have a point of armor. A couple of hungry alligators in a pit can make short work of most victims, making them an ideal death trap for any insane cultists or world conquering madmen.

S: 5; A: 1; I: 1; L: 1; W: 3; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 2; Combat 4; Perception 2; Stealth 2; Survival 2

Speed: 50m

Advantages and Disadvantages: Combat Paralysis

Bat

Bats are cute little nocturnal insectivores. Or sometimes hematophages. Tiny animals like this suffer wounds as if any attack had inflicted 3 more wound levels. They are very small though, so the threshold to hit them from any range past Near is increased by 1.

S: 0; A: 3; I: 3; L: 1; W: 1; C: 2

Skills: Athletics 4; Combat 1; Perception 4; Stealth 2; Survival 2

Speed: 200m (Flying)

Cat

House cats are important to many magical beings as a symbol of status. Cats are small, and suffer wounds as if any attack had inflicted 2 more wound levels than its base value. Attacks against them from farther than Short range have their thresholds increased by 1.

S: 0; A: 3; I: 3; L: 1; W: 2; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 3; Combat 3; Perception 2; Stealth 2; Survival 2

Speed: 120m

Cobra

Various deadly snakes are a mainstay of horror and adventure fiction. Why does it have to be snakes? Because they are creepy looking and don't make footfall noises when they move. Cobras and vipers and rattlesnakes are poisonous, and largely interchangeable from a storytelling standpoint. Poisonous snakes are small, and suffer wounds as if any attack had inflicted 2 more wound levels than its base value. Attacks against them from farther than Short range have their thresholds increased by 1.

S: 1; A: 3; I: 1; L: 1; W: 2; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 2; Combat 3; Perception 2; Stealth 4; Survival 2

Advantages and Disadvantages: Double Jointed

Speed: 40m

Dog

It is important to note that a large and scary dog is still genuinely on the small side for an actual human being, and that while a dog's teeth are frightening, they are not actually as deadly as a baseball bat or a crowbar in the hands of an angry dude. A large dog's teeth and claws amount to a 1N weapon. While a dog can indeed perform a fatal mauling, this is generally not accomplished without many seconds of worrying (that's the thing dogs do where they grab something in their mouth and shake it).

S: 2; A: 3; I: 3; L: 1; W: 2; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 3; Combat 4; Perception 4; Stealth 2; Survival (tracking) 2

Speed: 150m

Rat

Game mechanically not particularly different from a hamster or a mouse. Or pretty much any rodent. Or a small lagomorph like a bunny. These creatures are not individually threatening unless they happen to carry disease, and even then can be "defeated" by an old woman with a broom. Small animals like this suffer wounds as if any attack had inflicted 3 more wound levels. Even a small firearm is generally overkill. They are very small though, so the threshold to hit them from any range past Near is increased by 1. Rats are a frequently used magical spy because they are so ubiquitous.

S: 0; A: 3; I: 2; L: 1; W: 3; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 2; Combat 1; Perception 2; Stealth 4; Survival 3

Speed: 45m

Raven

Ravens are creatures of ill omen, mainly because they eat carrion, but also because a raven is always thinking about how to peck your eyes out. Ravens are small, and suffer wounds as if any attack had inflicted 2 more wound levels than its base value. Attacks against them from farther than Short range have their thresholds increased by 1. Ravens are popular as familiars for witches and the like, because they can be taught to speak simple human words. Also they can fly.

S: 0; A: 3; I: 3; L: 1; W: 3; C: 1

Skills: Athletics 3; Combat 3; Perception 2; Stealth 1; Survival 2

Speed: 250m (Flying)