Savage Bestiary: Dolphin

Am I right in thinking there's no stats for dolphins in any of Pinnacle's Savage Worlds supplements?  I'm working on adapting my "Undying Youth" character write-up for Unisystem into a full-blown Savage Tale and I need some dolphin stats, so here you go:

Updated with suggestions from Ninjas Riding Dinosaurs and a new Monstrous Ability.  Stats now reflect Savage Worlds Deluxe standards.

Dolphin
Dolphin
These statistics can represent most species of common and bottlenose dolphins and larger porpoises.  

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d8(A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6

Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d10, Swimming d12, Taunt d6

Pace: --; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5

Booty: None

Special Abilities:
  • Aquatic: Pace 10
  • Brawler:  As per the Savage Worlds Deluxe Combat Edge.  A headbutt from a dolphin (actually a punch from the dolphin's rostrum or snout) does Str +2 damage.
  • Echolocation: Dolphins ignore penalties for bad lighting due to their sonar-like senses.
  • Exceptional Intelligence: Dolphins fighting sharks and other large fish will perform Called Shots to their opponents' gills as per an attack on Head or Vitals.  They will also engage in Tests of Will and perform Tricks to debilitate their foes.
  • Pack Hunter: Dolphins travel in packs or pods of 1d12 individuals (3d10 for bottlenose dolphins) and will use their gang-up bonus to take on opponents more powerful than individual dolphins.  Dolphins also apply their gang-up bonus to Spirit rolls to resist fear and Intimidation.
  • Teeth Rake: Str+d4.  While not possessed of the vicious jaws of a shark, the teeth of a dolphin can still draw blood. 

NEW MONSTROUS ABILITY

Pack Hunter

These creatures are possessed of a social structure that enables them to fight as a group despite their animal intelligence.  They will use tactics that enable to secure a gang-up bonus and their strength of numbers grants their gang-up bonus to Spirit or Guts rolls to resist fear and Intimidation.

This ability is only found amongst animals with Smarts (A); sentient beings hang together or hang separately as sentient beings always do.

Apply this monstrous ability to the following beasts found in Savage Worlds Deluxe: dire wolf, dog/wolf, and lion.

Comments

  1. Pretty cool. I would add a couple of things based my own personal, though limited, experiences with dolphins.

    Size +2: Adult dolphins are big, heavy creatures and their size and Toughness should reflect that if they are fighting a human in the water.

    Teeth Rake, Str+d4: Dolphins can rake their teeth across someone or something, usually in play, but they can draw blood when they want to.

    Swimming d12: Did you leave it out on porpoise?

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    Replies
    1. Updates made! For some perverse reason, tiger sharks and other large man eaters that aren't great whites don't get a Size modification in the Savage Worlds rules, so I left it out for game balance. I was using PotSM as my baseline when I designed the stats, and it doesn't give sharks a Swimming rating at all. I also added echolocation.

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