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Animal Effects

Animal effects are particle systems rather than tokens. They provide flocks, swarms, schools, and other animated subjects without requiring initiative, collision, or actor data.

Flying animals

Section titled “Flying animals”

Birds, Bats, Crows, and Eagles can orbit or travel directionally. Shadow controls can render a matching drop shadow or a shadow-only pass, which works well for creatures flying above the camera.

Ground animals

Section titled “Ground animals”

Rats and Spiders support token avoidance. Enable it when creatures should move around nearby tokens, then choose the dispositions that matter for the scene. Avoidance can be applied while tokens move, while they are at rest, or both, depending on the effect controls.

Other animal effects

Section titled “Other animal effects”

Fish and Fireflies also use the Animals grouping. Both include Token Avoidance controls, while their remaining movement and presentation options are specific to the effect.

Region boundaries

Section titled “Region boundaries”

On a Region effect, enable Region Boundary Avoidance to steer animals away from its outer boundary and holes. For example, Fish can turn away from the shore of a pond-shaped Region, or Bats can stay within a cave chamber. The control is hidden while Orbit is enabled.

This is separate from Token Avoidance: Region Boundary Avoidance uses the Region shape, while Token Avoidance responds to eligible tokens. All eight Animal effects provide Region Boundary Avoidance; only the effects that expose Token Avoidance can avoid tokens.