Billy vs. Black Bear (A D&D Simulation)

My good buddies, Steve and Jamie, thought it would be amusing to see how I would fare with my sword in fighting off a black bear. Here's the e-mail Steve sent me for your own amusement....

Billy,

After reading your blog I decided for my own amusement to run your potential battle with a adult black bear through a combat model from Dungeons and Dragons. Apologies - I have included some simplified instructions in case you are unfamiliar with the game.

I am guessing your character class would be a Ranger and based on your various adventures and training I would say you might qualify as a Level 2 or "Strider". There was debate over this since to progress to level 2 you need to actually collect treasure and kill monsters to get experience points but since you have had many interesting and challenging adventures in your life this helps to offset those figures.

As a level 2 Ranger this entitles you to two hit dice of up to 8 points each. For simplicity sake lets do an average roll score plus one bonus point for each Hit Die. So this means 4 hit points x 2 hit dice +2 bonus points per die = 12 total hit points. Let’s assume you are probably wearing outdoor work and lumbering clothes (chainsaw helmet, chaps, gloves, layered leather jacket, construction boots) which I believe would be the equivalent of studded leather armour which would give you an armour class of 7. You have indicated on your blog that you have purchased a short sword for such encounter which according to the Official D&D Player's Handbook (Gary Gygax 1977) does damage of 1-6 hit points. As a human you have the ability to do one attack per melee round.

An adult black bear (according to the Official D&D Monster Manual also by Gary Gygax 1978) has the following stats. 3+3 Hit Dice (again - using averages plus 1 - the bear would have 12 base hit points, +3 natural bonus hit points, plus another 3 points per die for grand total of 18 hit points). Armour Class 7. A bear has three attacks per melee round using 2 claw attacks and one bite (claws 1-3, 1-3, and bite 1-6). If the Bear scores an 18 or above on a 20 sided dice when doing an attack chance roll then the Bear successfully has you in an bear hug which does 2-8 additional damage. Keep in mind you roll a 20 out of 20 then that is considered a critical hit and will double your damage. If you roll a 1 that is a critical miss and your weapon will be compromised or broken and will hit at half damage.

I have taken your assumed character stats into consideration (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, and Charisma). These are ranked from 1-18. 18 is the highest and is reserved for the elite - Conan the Barbarian would have 18 strength, Stephen Hawking would have 18 intelligence, etc). It is unlikely that your stats will fall in the 16-18 range so you will not get any significant bonuses to your attack chances, damage rolls, or health points.

There was also great discussion about other factors which could be determined by the chance roll of the dice. For example- if someone like your Mom could hear the cry of battle or your cries for help, whether she would make it to the scene in time to either assist with the fight or with saving your life, or if an opponent was rendered unconscious what would happen to the body at that point - i.e. would the bear continue to attack or eat your lifeless body or leave the scene to return to protect its young. But it was decided this was too complicated and we just stuck to the battle stats.

When a battle begins normally a dice is rolled to see who gets first attack. Since you have indicated that you have already prepared for such an attack (and taken steps to avoid such an encounter) I believe you should have first strike since it is assumed the bear will be charging you and you will be readying yourself. Using my D&D "attack calculator" you need a score of 13 or higher on a 20 sided dice to hit the bear's AC of 7. The bear will need a 9 or higher to hit your AC of 7. The bear's chances are higher because of its higher hit dice level.

In fairness to both parties 3 different rounds were simulated with the official dice rolls being documented by Mr. James Edward Broadley. I think round 1 offered some unique and unusual dice rolls. Perhaps a few more rounds might offer some more favourable results that what we discovered. My conclusion and recommendation: Buy a gun and get some better bear fighting armour.

LET THE BATTLES BEGIN

FIGHT 1 - ROUND 1

BILL (Ranger LVL 2 AC 7 HP 12 DAM 1-6)

Sword: 12 (miss)

BEAR (HD3+3 AC 7 HP 18 DAM 1-3,1-3,1-6)

Claw 1: roll 13 (Hit - 3hp)

Claw 2: roll 19 (Hit -3hp PLUS Bear Hug Damage: 2 hp)

Bite: roll 7 (Miss)


FIGHT 1 - ROUND 2

BILL (Ranger LVL 2 AC 7 HP 4 DAM 1-6)

Sword attack: roll 8 (Miss)

BEAR (HD3+3 AC 7 HP 18 DAM 1-3,1-3,1-6)

Claw 1: Roll 1 (Critical Miss - Broken Paw - half damage for future hits)

Claw 2: Roll 1 (Another Critical Miss! - Broken Paw - half damage for future hits)

Bite: Roll 19 (Hit -3hp)


FIGHT 1 - ROUND 3

BILL (Ranger LVL 2 AC 7 HP 1 DAM 1-6)

Sword: 2 (Miss).

BEAR (HD3+3 AC 7 HP 18 DAM 1-1.5,1-1.5,1-6)

Claw 1: Roll 14 (Hit -2hp less 50% = -1hp)

Claw 2: Roll 11 (Miss)

Claw 3: Roll 12 (Miss)


FIGHT 1 - ROUND 4

BILL (Ranger LVL 2 AC 7 HP 0 (Dead) DAM 0)

Sword: N/A

BEAR (HD3+3 AC 7 HP 18 DAM 1-1.5,1-1.5,1-6)

Claw 1: (auto hit -3hp - 50% =-1.5hp)

Claw 2: (auto hit -3hp -50%= -1.5hp

Bite: (auto hit - 5hp)


FIGHT 1 - RESULTS


BILL (Ranger LVL 2 AC 7 HP-8 (dead and mutilated) DAM 0)

BEAR (HD3+3 AC 7 HP 18 DAM 1-3,1-3,1-6)

.............................................

The results of the other two fight simulations were pretty much the same - me dead.

So, thanks guys for clearing that up for me. I'll post my reply in defense of using a sword over fire arms later.