Bard's Mesmerize vs Giant Centipedes

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Posted by mabon5127
6/27/2018 9:03 am 		#1

Had a bit of a dust up with my daughter our last session concerning Mesmerize.  It says the enemy must be of animal intelligence. I ruled the centipedes were not and that is how it went. Though thinking about it various insects are fascinated by light and disturbed by vibration, so is sound a stretch.

It sounds as though those things that are immune are "mindless" guided only by instinct.  What about bugs?

“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by Iron Ranger
6/27/2018 9:36 am 		#2

If a King Cobra can dance to the pungi....

 
 
Posted by Blackadder23
6/27/2018 10:19 am 		#3

I like to have an objective standard to follow wherever possible. Since AS&SH doesn't include intelligence ratings for monsters, if in doubt I would do what I usually do in these cases: look at AD&D. Giant centipedes are rated "Non-" for intelligence in the good old Monster Manual, so it would be no dice for your daughter (well, she could have dice; she just couldn't cast this spell successfully on a giant centipede in my game).
I note in passing that snakes are rated "Animal" intelligence in MM2, so it would apply to them.

Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
 
Posted by Jimm.Iblis
6/27/2018 5:45 pm 		#4

We understand quite a bit more about the intelligence of arthropods today than we did 40 years ago. The short answer is they are intelligent. The question then becomes: do want your retro-game to be informed by retro ooc ideas?

"Role-playing isn't storytelling. If the dungeon master is directing it, it's not a game."  ~ Gary Gygax
 
Posted by ThornPlutonius
6/28/2018 6:43 am 		#5

Jimm.Iblis wrote:

We understand quite a bit more about the intelligence of arthropods today than we did 40 years ago. The short answer is they are intelligent. The question then becomes: do want your retro-game to be informed by retro ooc ideas?

Thank you for citing that very interesting article!

 
Posted by mabon5127
6/28/2018 9:59 am 		#6

Jimm.Iblis wrote:

We understand quite a bit more about the intelligence of arthropods today than we did 40 years ago. The short answer is they are intelligent. The question then becomes: do want your retro-game to be informed by retro ooc ideas?

Great article!  I never cease learning!  The hard part is admitting to my daughter that she had a better argument than she even knew!


 

“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by mabon5127
6/28/2018 10:02 am 		#7

Blackadder23 wrote:

I like to have an objective standard to follow wherever possible. Since AS&SH doesn't include intelligence ratings for monsters, if in doubt I would do what I usually do in these cases: look at AD&D. Giant centipedes are rated "Non-" for intelligence in the good old Monster Manual, so it would be no dice for your daughter (well, she could have dice; she just couldn't cast this spell successfully on a giant centipede in my game).
I note in passing that snakes are rated "Animal" intelligence in MM2, so it would apply to them.

This is the way it went thanks for the ref to MM2.
 

“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 
Posted by Iron Ranger
6/28/2018 5:41 pm 		#8

Blackadder23 wrote:


I note in passing that snakes are rated "Animal" intelligence in MM2, so it would apply to them.

Yes!!!

 
 


 
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