Dealing with Wild Beasts
Through their travels, it is nearly a guarantee that adventurers will come across one or more wild beasts. While monstrosities, dragons, and other creatures outside the scope or normal natural creatures, beasts are less inclined toward outright hostility when encounter.
Most beast adhere to a fight or flight response mechanism that often compels the beast to flee from dangers when possible, but to defend itself when escape isn’t believed possible. In interactions with humanoids (and most other creature types), a beast will attempt to flee if approached, as it is generally far more afraid of the humanoid than the humanoid is of the beast. Generally, if another creature is at least the same size as the beast, the beast will be afraid of that creature and seek to keep its distance. If the beast is outnumbered, it will similarly seek to escape the encounter. A predatory beast can be an exception, especially one that hunts in groups. These are the only normal beasts that will outright attack a humanoid under normal circumstances, provided the beasts are actively hunting. Solitary beasts such as bears and tigers and pack beasts such as wolves and lions are known to attack humanoids in cases where they believe they can escape with a meal. Humanoids that prove too dangerous are avoided.
There are times when a character may want to approach a wild beast, possibly to gather information or even to aid the beast. This initiates an interaction that can be resolved peacefully or escalate into violence. A savvy character may also attempt to befriend a beast or even tame it. This section details how to run an interaction with a normal beast, while providing guidelines for how to manage abnormal ones. The DM may rule a certain beast interacts with a character in a different way. For instance, a tyrannosaurus may simply always be hostile and attack a character despite its attempts to pacify the dinosaur.