Elephants

==Decription==
Elephants are massive herbivorous mammals, known for their exceptional size and mass. They are relatively intelligent, social creatures. While elephants' high maintenance and slow reproductive rate prevent them from realistically becoming a common sight on a TL0-5 battlefield, their fictional counterparts are often rallied en masse as living siege engines and weapon platforms. Fantastical variations of elephants (and their mammoth cousins) are often much larger, with more imposing tusks, such as the Norscan War Mammoths of Warhammer, or the Haradrim Mumakil of Lord of the Rings. 
A mahout is an elephant rider/trainer. Platforms built upon elephants are referred to as howdahs. 
== Considerations ==
Although impressive and powerful, elephants are seldom dangerous unless threatened. Common exceptions to this are elephants protecting their young (a near universal trait in social species). Moreover, if the PCs are going around fighting baby elephants, you should probably reconsider your campaign.
=== We Musth Be Careful ===
Once a year, usually during winter, mature male elephants may enter a state of heightened hormonal activity called musth (Urdu for "drunk"). The elephant's testosterone levels become almost 60 times greater on average. This results in a rather "roided-out" bull elephant. This state last for up to two months.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musth 
Elephants tend to be around SM+4, with HP 40 and DR 4 skin. If in danger, an elephants' step can destroy most predators.around 5d crushingBasic Set, p.460Action 5: Dictionary of Danger
==Asian Elephant (anon)==
===Variants===
*African bush elephants are larger. Males (23′ long; 6.5 tons) have ST and HP 47. Increase SM to +4. Trample damage becomes 5d, usable against SM +2 or smaller. Trunk slap damage becomes 2d, and tusks damage becomes 5d+5, both reach C-3. Females (19′ long; 3.5 tons) have ST and HP 38. Trample and tusks damage becomes 4d, trunk slap damage becomes 2d−2.
*African forest elephants are smaller. Males (18′ long; 3 tons) have ST and HP 36. Trample damage becomes 4d−1, trunk slap damage 1d+1, and tusks damage 4d+3. Females (16′ long; 2.5 tons) have ST and HP 34. Trample and tusks damage becomes 3d+2, trunk slap damage becomes 1d+1.
===Cool Stuff Elephants Can Do===
*Utility
**A howdah can give you shade
**Elephant trunks can be used like arms, picking up logs or carrying people with ease
**A warhorse cannot knock over a Jeep. An elephant can.
**Crocodiles can easily cripple an unwary horse with their powerful bite, but are unlikely to risk biting an elephant and getting flattened. Remember to protect your trunk though!
**Elephants are strong enough to carry outsize humanoids as riders, such as the giants of Yrth.
**Elephants are capable of hearing through their feet as a form of seismic, subsonic hearing.
*Presence Effects
**A rider can see further from atop an elephant, and is unlikely to be approached by predators, especially on a howdah
**Act as War Beasts in Mass CombatMass Combat, p.17
**Used as an impressive mount in worlds like Burton and Johnson's Rome
**Supposedly scare warhorses with their presence, smell and noise
=== Stuff Elephants Can't Do ===
* Physical Limitations and Vulnerabilities
** Elephants eat foliage, and they eat a lot. For a mechanical elephant, see the Steam House engineVehicles: Steampunk Conveyances, p.7 or Steam Elephant.Steam-Tech, p.83
***Elephants need about 370 lbs of hay a day, 20 lbs of fruit and vegetables, and another 10 lbs of miscellaneous vegetable matter (the last of which is easily scavenged).Low-Tech Transportation by Christopher R. Rice; Pyramid 3/95: Overland Adventures
** Elephants really don't like swarms of flying things, as their eyes and trunks are still vulnerable to bites and stings
* Predators
** Elephants have few natural predators, but may have trouble with supernatural predators, such as dragons. Rukhs in particular--the massive, sky-covering birds--prey on young elephants.
** Like many great beasts, elephants cannot protect themselves from TL5+ weaponry, and must be protected from poaching.
* Myths
** Elephants don't actually group together in "elephant graveyards". This seems to be a myth spawning from group die-offs where bones remain preserved, giving the illusion of a returning place to die, rather than coincidence.
*** As a myth though, elephant graveyards could easily be a thing in myth parallels. Perhaps genius loci or nature spirits call to elephants in their final hours, finding a single place to put them to rest?
***see also Elephant GraveyardCliffhangers, p.56
==Elephants of the Multiverse==
*Mammoths and Mastodons!Classic: Ice Age
*Ganesh-class biotech elephantsBio-Tech, p.92THS: The Fifth Wave, p.120THS: Bioroid Bazaar, p.30
*Intelligent elephants of World Jumbo
*Elderly ancient psychic elephant Cornelius by Joe TaylorPyramid 2 (2003)
*Elephants getting loose from the city zoo are a solid entry-level mission for SupersLocal Heroes by Spike Y Jones (Pyramid 2, February 11, 2000)
==See Also==
*War Elephant armor rules in Basic Set, p.396
*Elephant-headed deity Ganesh, mentioned in GURPS Religion
*GURPS Animalia: Proboscidians
*Riding the Tiger: Exotic Riding Animals for GURPS Fourth Edition, by Matt Riggsby (Pyramid 2, February 23, 2007)
*Living Tattoos for War ElephantsA Melange of Magical Creatures XI by Eric Funk (Pyramid 2, 2007)
*The war elephants of Horseclans are primarily bred in the Meelohnhohra region of the Southern Kingdom
*Elephants are found in the Al-Haz region of Yrth.
==References==
Category:Animals