Beaver
| Detail | Common beaver | Castoroides |
|---|---|---|
| Species | rodent | |
| No. Appearing | 2-20 | 2-12 |
| Behaviour | social lodge | |
| Range | taiga, woodland | |
| Size | 24 in. long | 7 ft. long |
| Weight | 55 lbs. | 250 lbs. |
| Intelligence | 1 | 3 |
| Armour Class | 7 | 6 |
| Hit Dice | 1 | 4 |
| Action Points | 4 | 4 |
| Max. Stride | 3 (4 in water) | 5 (6 in water) |
| THAC0 | 20 | 18 |
| Hp/Die | d4 | d8 |
| Attack Form | 1: bite | 2: claw; bite |
| Damage | bite (1-6) | claw (1-6); bite (3-12) |
| Special Attack | tail slap | deafness, tail slap |
Beavers are nocturnal, semi-aquatic rodents renowned for their skill in constructing dams, canals and lodges. They carefully select well-watered habitats to establish their colonies, reshaping the environment by felling trees, forming expansive ponds and canals, and eventually transforming low-lying areas into sizable lakes. This behavior poses a significant challenge and source of frustration for those seeking to navigate through areas inhabited by beavers.
Their fur is highly prized for its exceptional warmth, durability and remarkable ability to repel water. Trappers and settlers in many parts of the world engage in the hunting and trapping of beavers to obtain their valuable pelts, which are in great demand, primarily for clothing. The desire for beaver fur is so intense that it's driving the exploration of North America by Europeans.
Common Beaver
Common beavers possess stout bodies with large heads, chisel-like incisors and coats of brown or gray fur. Their front paws resemble human hands, while their hind limbs are webbed; they possess a flat, scaly tail. These distinctive attributes equip them exceptionally well for thriving in a habitat that combines land and water.
Behaviour
The ponds they create typically reach depths of 10 to 12 feet and span hundreds of feet in width. Beaver families typically consist of an adult male and female, along with their young kits and yearlings. Offspring may either remain in the same beaver pond as their parents or construct adjacent ponds that share water sources. In the absence of disturbances, entire beaver "communities" can emerge, covering areas that extend up to two miles in diameter.
Blending seamlessly into the underbrush, often spotting a character as they traverse through the wooded terrain long before being noticed themselves, makes it exceedingly difficult to catch them by surprise. Additionally, their swimming skills allow them to swim 4 hexes per action point. The entrance to their lodge is exclusively accessible from beneath the waterline, requiring passage through a vertical doorway beneath the surface.
Beavers are not known for being aggressive or engaging in active fighting with each other. They're generally social animals that live in family groups, tending to cooperate in building and maintaining their dams and lodges. Encountered out of water, they can become defensive if they feel threatened or cornered. Beavers are expressly made uncomfortable by dogs, with such interactions being unpredictable.
Advantages
Tail slap. As a warning signal to alert other beavers, they slap their tails on the water. The sound is loud and hollow, carrying for at least 180 feet in a quiet wood. In remote regions, trappers and hermits rely on beavers to act as sentinels, alerting them to the presence of unfamiliar individuals or creatures in the vicinity. Over time, beavers become accustomed to the human presence they encounter daily. Trappers establish themselves in these areas and place traps, given the value of beaver pelts. However, experienced trappers exercise caution, ensuring they only harvest a single pelt from each beaver family.
Castoroides
Casteroides are bear-sized beavers that are much more able to lope over land. In appearance, they are similar to their smaller brethren, except that they have longer forearms and more powerful jaws. There are sources that claim these creatures have a higher intelligence than usually reported, but this has yet to be firmly established; they are certainly more intelligent than the common form. Casteroides have been seen chittering with one another and organizing themselves when attacking outsiders.
They are very aggressive, chasing and attacking outsiders to drive them off. The tail slap of a casteroides is so loud that it breaks a spellcaster's concentration, actually ruining the casting of a spell. Those within 40 ft. of the slap must save against magic or be deafened for 1-4 rounds, while disoriented so that they're also -2 to hit with weapons.
Some believe the casteroides knows the effect of this slap, and that they time it deliberately. It's clear they use the slap to call others of their kind to join an attack.
See Bestiary
