Goodman Games

Hello, how do I know if a monster is intelligent or unintelligent? Thanks in advance

gashlycrumb wrote:Hello, how do I know if a monster is intelligent or unintelligent? Thanks in advance

Go with your gut for general behavior. A giant venus flytrap might 'logically' have a zero Intelligence.

For a specific Intelligence score for humanoids (for example) just roll 3d6. Or 2d6. Or 1d6+6. Or 4d4+8. Or whatever seems appropriate to simulate how you see the creature.

It's that easy.

GB is wise. I like to mix up whether monsters do "intelligent" things based on situation, which is easier to do in DCC since we tend to have unique monsters instead of boring retreads. For generic monsters found in games like D&D the players might know in advance how intelligent an orc might be or a dragon, but with unusual monsters in DCC they won't know so they can't call you on it.

Looking over the Monsters presented in the core DCCRPG book, I'd say that the following meet at the very least the baseline of what is considered intelligent:

Android
Ape-man
Brain, Elder
Bugbear
Centaur
Cyclops
Deep One
Demon
Dimensional Sailor
Dragon
Elemental
Extra-dimensional Analogue
Gargoyle
Ghost
Ghoul
Giant
Gnoll
Goblin
Harpy
Hobgoblin
Hollow One
Kobold
Lizardman
Man-Bat
Manticore
Ogre
Orc
Serpent-Man
Servitor
Shadow
Shrooman
Subhuman
Time Traveler
Troglodyte
Troll Lord
Vombis Leech? (“unknowable intelligence” )

Of course, some of those vary wildly (demons, etc) and some are vastly more intelligent (elder brains, Time Travelers) than others (subhumans, ogres).

Those not listed are what I consider of automaton or animal-like intelligence or lower, though any Judge worth their dice should shake things up from time to time and throw a giant brained pterodactyl or a troll with the soul of a tactician at their players.