The Stable · Chapter 10
Beasts of Burden and War
Everything that is not a horse and still earns its keep: camels, cattle, deer, dogs, and elephants.
Most of these are bought to carry or pull, and the Draft and Pack Animal traits are what matter. Three are bought to fight.
Camel
Dromedary, ship of the desert
2 2 11 2 0 / 0 22
3 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 1 25 400 Common Camelid, Light Desert-Bred, Enduring, Temper 1
- Attacks: Bite (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 5)
A one-humped camel carries more than a horse across country that would kill one. It treats desert as open country and needs water once every three days. Temper 1 is for riders it does not know.
Hill Camel
Bactrian, two-humped camel
2 1 13 2 0 / 0 26
3 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 1 20 450 Common Camelid, Light Hardy, Enduring, Pack Animal, Temper 1
- Attacks: Bite (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 5)
The two-humped camel of cold deserts and high passes. It is slower than its cousin and carries more, in heat or snow.
War Camel
Mehari, racing camel, camel-corps mount
2 2 12 2 0 / 0 20
3 / 3 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 1 30 1200 Military Camelid, Medium Battle-Trained, Desert-Bred, Horse Terror
- Attacks: Bite (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4)
A camel bred and schooled for raiding. Horses that have not been stabled with camels dislike the smell: Horse Terror adds 1 Bane Die to the Riding checks of horse riders within Short range.
Ox
Bullock, steer, draught ox
2 1 12 2 0 / 0 22
3 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 12 150 Common Bovine, Light Draft 2, Steady, Slow
- Attacks: Gore (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4)
The plough and wagon animal of most of the world. It is not ridden except by children and the desperate. It pulls all day on poor grass.
Water Buffalo
Carabao, marsh ox
2 1 14 3 0 / 0 24
4 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 1 12 200 Common Bovine, Light Draft 2, Steady, Slow, Wader
- Attacks: Gore (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 3; Knockdown)
The ox of rice country and river deltas. It is ridden at a walk by the people who work it. Wader: it ignores the travel penalty for marsh and swims at Speed 1.
Yak
Grunting ox, high-pasture ox
2 1 14 3 0 / 0 22
4 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 1 15 250 Common Bovine, Light Sure-Footed, Hardy, Cold-Bred, Steady
- Attacks: Gore (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4)
The pack and riding animal of the highest country people live in. It ignores the travel penalties for mountains and snow, and it suffers in heat.
Reindeer
Caribou, sled deer
1 2 9 1 0 / 1 10
2 / 3 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 1 30 200 Common Cervine, Light Small Mount, Cold-Bred, Swift, Draft 1
- Attacks: Antlers (Unarmed; Damage 3; Crit 4)
Ridden by small riders and driven in sled teams by everyone in the far north. A pair pulls a sled as fast as a horse trots, across snow a horse cannot cross.
Llama
Pack llama, high-country sheep-camel
1 1 8 1 0 / 0 8
2 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 1 18 120 Common None Sure-Footed, Pack Animal, Temper 1
- Attacks: Spit (Unarmed; Damage 0; Crit —; Disorient 1)
A mountain pack animal that will not be ridden by an adult. Trains of thirty cross passes no wagon ever will. An overloaded llama lies down and stays down.
Sled Dog Team
Dog team, husky string
1 2 12 1 1 / 0 16
2 / 3 / 1 / 3 / 3 / 1 40 600 Common None Cold-Bred, Enduring, Team
- Attacks: Bite (Unarmed; Damage 4; Crit 4)
Eight dogs and a sled, bought and run as one animal. Team: the listed Wounds are the team's; at half Wounds its Speed is 1 and its Carry is halved. It travels on snow and ice only, and it eats meat.
Elephant
Work elephant, tusker, timber elephant
3 1 22 5 0 / 0 60
5 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1 20 4000 Restricted Pachyderm, Medium Draft 4, Platform, Long Memory, Temper 1
- Attacks: Trunk Slam (Unarmed; Damage 6; Crit 4; Knockdown); Trample (Unarmed; Damage 7; Crit 3; against Prone targets)
An elephant carries a howdah with four people, or hauls what twenty men cannot. It is clever, remembers who treated it well, and is guided by a driver sitting on its neck. It counts as four animals in a team.
War Elephant
Armoured elephant, castle-bearer
3 1 24 5 0 / 0 60
5 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 1 15 12000 Military Pachyderm, Heavy Battle-Trained, Platform, Horse Terror, Panic Stampede
- Attacks: Tusk Gore (Unarmed; Damage 8; Crit 3; Pierce 2); Trample (Unarmed; Damage 7; Crit 3; Blast 3 against clustered targets)
An elephant schooled to walk into a line of spears. Cavalry will not close with it. Panic Stampede: when it is below half Wounds, or burned, its driver makes a Hard Riding check each round or it turns and runs through whatever is behind it, usually its own side.