Camelids are tough and hardy artiodactyls. They typically have long necks, cleft upper lips, gangly legs, hind legs that attach only at the hips, and feet with two padded toes tipped with claws rather than true hooves. In prehistoric times, camelids could be found on all continents except Australia and the sub-Saharan part of Africa. North America's Camelids went extinct with the end of the ice ages, but they have since been introduced to Australia where a fluorishing population of feral dromedaries make a nuisance of themselves.
Camelids have the usual mammalian sensory suite of an excellent and discriminatory sense of smell, acute hearing that can not only detect but locate the source of sounds, and eyesight which is better adapted to detect motion and see in low light conditions than to make out details. Their sense of touch is mostly concentrated around their lips and tongue, so they use their mouth where we would use our hands.
Camelids are good runners with excellent endurance.
Camelids attack or defend themselves by body slamming, biting, kicking, and trampling. They have pointed fangs, allowing them to inflict nasty cuts when they bite. In captive animals, these teeth are often removed - give the animal the Weak Bite disadvantage and remove the Sharp Teeth advantage if this procedure is performed.
Camelids will spit cud at things that irritate them, generally aiming for the face. Treat this as a Dirty Trick (pg. MA76), the same as sand, dirt, or beer in the eyes but without the hit bonus. If the spit hits the face, the target must roll against HT or be blinded for 1d-3 (minimum 1) seconds, or minutes on a critical failure. Spitting has a range of 3 meters.
Camelids are herbivores. They can get by on exceptionally poor forage, and have even been known to scavenge in extremes. All camelids rarely need to drink, although when they do drink they can consume enormous quantities of water. Many can consume brackish water.
Camelids typically gather in small to mid-sized herds. In the rut, the males get cranky and will fight each other for breeding rights. A typical fight involves the males body slamming and wrestling with their necks as a show of strength while bellowing and roaring.
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The Captive checkbox is for animals that have been kept in captivity all their lives, without the ability to hone their skills like their wild relatives. It would be appropriate for a camelid that spends most of its time in a protected pasture or stall. The Domestic checkbox is for animals that have been domesticated. Some species are always domesticated, others never are - but the true camels can be found in both wild and domesticated states. Marking the T? checkbox will give you the stats in template form with all costs listed, otherwise you get a stat sheet as for a character. Marking the HR? checkbox will print the information using all my house rules. Otherwise, the stats will be as compatable with plain vanilla GURPS as possible (although several custom advantages and disadvantages will be present, see my Traits page). |