Critter Condition monitors, How much damage can critters take? Options

[Nebulus]

Hi all,

I can't find any reference to how much damage a critter can take in 4th edition. I assume, therefore, that it's the same as for PCs but that seems crazy.

How can a Devil Rat take the same amount of damage as a (weak) Human PC?

Cheers

Ian

[Larsine]

Critter Attributes
Critters are measured on the same scale as metahumans, which means they can be perceived as amazingly fragile or vastly strong in comparison. Critters with a Body attribute of 0 are unable to soak damage and are immediately destroyed if successfully struck. (Note that many insects with a Body of 0 act as Swarms. See Swarms, p. 25, for details.) Likewise, critters with a Strength of 0 are able to move their own body mass but do not approach the strength of even the weakest infant. If a critter has an attribute of 0, it does not add dice for the linked attribute in any tests or skills related to that attribute.

Apart from the critters with Body 0, they all hav CM just like metahumans.

[Nebular]

Pretty much as Larsine already said. It's the same 8 + (BOD / 2). There's also a Critter Power called Fragile (from Running Wild) that a number of Critters have that reduce their CM by 2 each time they take it (or rather, it's forced upon them). For example, a Penguin which has BOD 1 and Fragile 2 would have a whole 5 boxes for their Physical CM. Most Critters don't have a very high BOD so their Physical CM is usually around 9 - 10, and typically have little to no armor which tends to make pretty short work of those few boxes.

[Nebulus]

Thanks guys, I still think it's a bit silly though. I'll house rule the little critters to be fragile...

Cheers

[BishopMcQ]

Yeah, devil rats came out before Running Wild so they weren't given the love that came from arguing about how a house cat can take on a 4 year old and win. Another option from slapping them with Fragile is to incorporate the Mischief rules. They are appropriately sized.