SGII -- Scenario with alien creatures

(This became somewhat longer than I had expected, folks....)

Okay, so, I have a Plan.

For an SGII scenario, that is.	However, I need to gather some input
before I can turn it into a functional game.  Hence: an appeal to the
vast and cool and 
unsympathetic intellects of the GZGList.

The basic scenario is pretty simple: Force A meets Force B, and they
proceed to shoot each other to bits.  There is, however, a complication:
the 
Beasts.

The Beasts (I need a better name, but that will do for now) are
quadrupeds, a little more massive than your standard terran cow.  For
those interested, I'll 
be using some of the Star Wars Episode 1 creatures that were sold in
sets of four, enclosed within bags of slime -- the roundish sort of
quadrupeds with 
really tiny heads.  There will be a good-sized herd of them on the
table, maybe a dozen or so.

(My efforts to find a good picture have failed, but in this one:
 http://www.whitesguide.com/carditem.asp?which=332  ...the creature that
I'm talking about is second from the left.)

Those tiny heads are important, as I'll explain in a moment.  You see,
the Beasts are herbivores, subsisting on a diet of roots and grasses. 
But their 
*favorite* food is the seedlings of a particular plant...let's call it a
rifletree.  The seeds develop within hard shells, totally impervious to
the teeth of the 
Beasts...but when they are ready, these pods burst with sharp cracks!,
spraying a sort of greenish-blue goo over the immediate area.

(I can't remember the name of it, but I believe that there *is* a plant
that scatters its seeds in a similar fashion.  Anyone know what it is?)

The sound of a rifletree pod bursting will draw Beasts from miles
around, eager to devour the resulting goo.  This is, indeed, the point:
the seedsimbedded 
in the goo pass through the Beasts' digestive systems without harm, and
will end up being "deposited" a good distance away from the parent tree.

As an interesting coincidence, the sound of a detonating rifletree is
remarkably similar to that of a gunshot.  And since one detonation often
triggers the 
*rest* of the pods on the tree -- as well as those nearby -- to burst in
rapid succession, it sometimes sounds like an extended gunfight going
on.

You're all smart people; you can see where this is going.  As soon as
one side or another opens fire, they're going to trigger a stampede of
Beasts, all 
charging towards the source of the sound.  They're not really agressive
creatures, but they are quite remarkably dimwitted...and they have a
really poor 
vision and smell, so it's going to take a little while for them to
figure out there isn't rifletree goo in the offing.  They will
cheerfully trample anything or 
anyone that gets in the way of their dinner

Now, in their defence, they have fat.  Lots and lots of fat.  It takes a
lot of damage to kill an adult Beast; predators often tear off bits,
leaving horrendous 
wounds that would kill most animals.  The beasts, however, survive...and
don't even feel much pain, since the fat deposits are pretty insensitive
areas.	
As a result, gunfire isn't going to do much to discourage them.  It's
doubtful that they will even notice at first.

So the question is: how do I handle all of this in game terms?	To start
out, the Beasts will move randomly, if slowly, until the gunfire begins
-- d6 inches 
in a random direction, determined by the roll of a d12.  Once they start
charging, though...d8 inches, twice a turn, towards the source of
gunfire?  They 
are determined, but they have these stubby little legs to deal with.  As
targets, they are easy to hit (treat as one range band closer than
normal), but very 
resistant to damage.  d10 armor, ignore any "Wound" results?  That's
against standard small arms; they might have d6 armor vs. a plama gun.	

What's a good mechanism for trampling, though?	And how can I deal with
a *different* source of gunfire when the Beasts are already charging? 
Any 
brilliant ideas?

(I've had another fun thought, as well: If rifletree detonations draw
Beasts from miles around, they're llikely to draw some predators that
*feed* on the 
Beasts, too.  There are some nasty lizard creatures that came from the
same set as the figures that I'll be using as the Beasts.....)

-- 
John Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
http://www.voicenet.com/~johncrim