How would one go about making a creature of animal level intelligence

>>54141951
You have to make sure the players have to remain in the ugh's domain if they want to have any hope of destroying it, and that they're out of their element in it (i.e. pic related).

If it's a swamp animal, it's great at swimming through muck and isn't bothered by clouds of mosquitoes.

Basically you want to make sure that the players think it ambushing them is always a possibility.

>>54141951
>implying an animal can be evil
Spotted the DnD player

File: attack the block.jpg (53KB, 665x285px) Image search: [Google]

53KB, 665x285px

>>54141951
Give it a plausible way to track the main characters, as well as a decent reason to (magically bound to follow them, they're covered in pheremones, etc). If it's hunting them out of revenge/sadism/likes the taste of them, that implies an intelligence above animal level, although if you dance around it a little, that could make it even more frightening.
It needs to be able to go wherever the humans go, which knocks Jaws out of the running, unless there's some contrived way of keeping the players in its environment. One great moment of tension can be when the players finally make it out of the creature's environment, only to realize that it can still chase them outside of it.

Or you can do it like Jaws and make it so the players NEED to hunt it, because it's hurting innocents/it hurt someone they like/they're being paid to.

Plants and fungus, I'd say play it like a natural disaster movie. The thing isn't malicious, it's just trying to survive and spread, but it can't understand that it's hurting others by its actions. It can't be reasoned or bargained with, either it dies or you do.

>>54142058
But D&D specifies that all Animal-level intelligence creatures are always true neutral...

>>54142133
>when you liked a movie everyone hated
That pic is related. I watched it like 3 times. I thought it was genuinely fun and interesting, unique in certain ways too.

>>54142026
Could you do it where instead of ambushing the party, it just tracks and chases after them, but makes no attempt to hide?
Like, it can move faster than they can, and is pretty much impervious to anything they can throw at it, so their only option is to try to temporarily trap or disable it and run, knowing that it'll quickly free itself and start catching up to them, while their ammunition and resources steadily drain both from fighting it, and all the lesser monsters around?
I think that would be a cool idea too.

>>54142153
People hated Attack the Block?

>>54142200
Main characters are too cunty to like

>>54141951
>BBEG

UGH-OOOO-GAH.

>>54142200
It got a score of like 6 out of 10 or something. Pretty shitty to me.

File: tumblr_n4x1ht1zMi1s2pocso1_r1_1280.jpg (847KB, 1125x795px) Image search: [Google]

847KB, 1125x795px

>>54141951
Elevate it to a force of nature that moves things in your setting.
>Kaiju
>Plague that causes disease or famine, use swarms if applicable

Make mystery or horror the point.
>The creature in the woods that terrorizes the town.
>Murder mystery, exotic stealthy animal killed the king. Misguided suspicion runs rampant among nobles.


>Moby Dick.

>Animal runs of with mcguffin, migratory flyer, worm from the depths of the earth

>comfy campaign about taming or herding of a dangerous animal, slow down to earth drama, to master the beast you must master yourself

>search for the elusive creature in the deepest jungle

>>54142229
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbF0qP7tgeU

1) If it is a single creature, you need to have multiple encounters, and that means chase or survival scenes. Try to invent scenarios where they are opposing the beast without directly fighting it in a duel to the death. Terrain works well for this (getting people out of the water in Jaws), as does civilian casualties (driving off the lions in Ghost In The Darkness).

2) You need stakes. The town has to close the beaches. The alien will murder everyone on board. The bear is stalking you through Alaska. You have to force the conflict to give it tension.

3) Play up the interesting facts about the creature. The Graboids can't deal with anything on top of rocks or high structures. The cave beast is utterly blind. The T-rex can't see you if you don't move. Give the players ways to exploit the creature's weaknesses and good reason to fear its strengths. The more they learn, the easier it is to fight, and the more character the creature develops.

File: hqdefault[1].jpg (11KB, 480x360px) Image search: [Google]

11KB, 480x360px

>>54141951
>alchemy goes wrong
>Homunculus escapes
>he is a worm or something tiny and irrelevant, but once it goes into contact with another living being, it grows, it adapts, and steals qualities from them, like legs once its get into contact with a legged creature, etc.
Make the players meet the thing early on and then constantly find it in their regular adventures. Until the thing is big enough to stop being afraid of humans and start attacking them, then it gets to the PCs attention or something. I forgot what I was typing already so I will just post it, damn I hate my alzheimer

>>54142458
what game is that?

>>54141951
Did you watch Reign of Fire?

>>54141951
>implying Jaws wasn't insanely fucking smart