MurfinMS

Thats it.

One of the old Elric/Stormbringer books "Rogue Mistress" has rules for blackpowder misfires, loading etc (all IIRC). There were also rules for cannons. And of course that book predated dreadful Mongoose Best, -Ken-

Yah, I've liked "Blake's 7" ever since I first saw it on public TV (KCET) some 25 years or more back. And concesquently have been waiting for region 1 DVD to appear... Anyhow, yes, while having some very cool geegaws, the show was heavily character driven, I think because it *had* to be, given the BBC's less-than-stellar special effects -Ken- _______________________________________________________ "Ugh! Lousy History Channel. Always World War Two. Never about pirates or cavemen.They're history too, damn it!" [Andy French---Mission Hill]

Hi gang, Looking over the vehicle and chase rules, I've got to wonder if there's any sort of logic to the whole thing. The vehicles have both a Rated Speed and MOV. TBYB (The Big Yellow Book) says MOV is "The maximum speed of the vehicle in a combat round, expressed in its MOV rating. MOV has a sliding value of 1-5 meters; this assumes a median value of 3.", and that Rated Speed is "The maximum speed of the vehicle, an abstract value used in the chase system..." Okay, I can live with that, but what do these speeds represent in the real world? Or do they? Maybe in just missing it, but I'd like to know on what these values are based. MP/H or KM/H either times something or divided by something, possibly... Anyone have any idea? Help! -Ken- _____________________________________________________ "We are going to eat like budget-minded Kings... Diet Chicken Bars, Compostina, Scrunch!" [Andy French---Mission Hill]

The disclaimer I always use for any movie set in any even *remotely* historic period is: "Loosely based on events on the planet Earth." Best, Ken.

Hiya Frank, AFAIK the stuff is used by the US CDC, so I'm assuming an average of all types of children are used, rather than specific ethnic backgrounds. The tables as found do not include any sort of footnotes for adjusting things one way or another for ethnicity. Had such stuff been included, I would've happily added it. Of course, there might be such growth tables representing different ethnic groups out there somewhere. I didn't check. Now at some point several years back I ran across several different tables for weight and height for adults based on ethnicity, but I couldn't now tell you just where I'd run across them, aside from "The Internet". Best, -Ken-

Yes, Frogger, Much prettier with formatting. Thanks -Ken-

AArgh! My formatting went away! The table lists Age, Then Male height & weight, SIZ, then female height & weight then SIZ Drat! -Ken-

Hi gang, Well, I was reading through the big yellow BRP book and found some information about playing characters under 18 years of age, and found the rulesy bits interesting. The only trouble with the rules as stated is that they doesn't provide any guidelines to determine just how large or small a character of a given age might range in SIZ, and not being a fan of plain ol' guesswork when it comes to determining SIZ, I dedided to do a little research, which consisted mainly of looking up the U.S. Center for Disease Control's growth charts for children (which happen to cover ages 2-20) to see what I could find. On the table below,( ") indicates inches, (#) indicates lbs. The entries are listed in "lowest-average-highest" order. SIZ,of course, is the equivalent SIZ on the BRP SIZ table (page 26). Note that I personally can't really see a reason for having a kid sidekick (like Indiana Jones does in the 2nd movie) below 8-10 or so, but since the information provided went from age 2 on up, I thought I'd include the information anyways---maybe some demonic daycare, or someone wants to slaughter a gaggle of younglings at Jedi HQ, or something Anyway, here: Male Male Female Female Age Height(") Weight(#) SIZ Height(") Weight(#) SIZ 2 32-34-37 24-28-35 2 31-34-37 22-26-34 2 3 35-37-41 28-32-40 3 34-37-40 26-30-40 3 4 37-40-43 30-36-45 3 36-40-43 28-35-48 3 5 39-43-46 32-40-55 3 39-42-46 32-40-55 3 6 42-45-49 35-45-62 4 41-45-49 36-46-64 4 7 44-48-52 40-50-70 4 44-48-52 38-50-72 4 8 46-50-55 45-56-80 4 46-50-55 44-55-84 5 9 48-53-57 48-65-96 5 48-52-57 48-64-96 5 10 50-55-60 55-70-110 6 49--57-59 52-72-112 6 11 51-56-62 60-80-130 7 51-60-65 58-80-130 6-7 12 53-59-64 65-90-140 7 54-60-65 66-90-146 7-8 13 56-61-67 70-100-155 7-8 57-62-67 72-100-160 7-8 14 58-64-70 80-110-170 8-9 58-63-68 80-110-170 8-9 15 61-67-72 90-124-184 10 59-64-68 86-115-180 9 16 62-68-74 100-135-196 10 59-64-69 92-120-18 10 17 63-69-75 106-142-205 11 59-64-69 96-122-190 10 18 64-69-75 114-148-215 11 60-65-69 98-125-192 11 19 64-70-75 116-152-218 11 59-64-69 98-128-196 11 20 64-70-75 120-155-224 12 60-65-69 100-128-196 11 Note that kids are sprinkled throughout several different Cthulhu adventures, and they seem to have STR equal to their SIZ, or within 2 (or sometimes 3) points of SIZ. INT has tended to be toward the low end. One particularly bright 10 year old had an INT of 10 in a published CoC adventure. I also remember a quote out of RQ where the least INT rollable for a human (INT 8) represented child-like thinking, so I'd guess an INT between, oh, 8-12 might be appropriate, depending on just how precocious you want the kid to be. Best, -Ken-

Hi gang, Oh this looks *very* cool. I've been running a PA game set in my old stomping grounds of Orange County, CA for a couple years now off and on---more off than on---and am looking forward to cadging bits to drop into my campaign. Of course it'll have to wait til payday Best, -Ken-

Hi, IIRC, I think I read that the CoC San Francisco book has rules for Opium. Of course, in the 1890s anyways, lets not forget laudanum and tineture of opium (sic) which might be worth a laugh yo add (assuming the San Francisco book lacks these. I also remember reading some bit of rulesy stuff on Morphine in CoC... -Ken-

Well, looking over my post on the Cubes, I ran across a few things... Aside from a few typos, I guess I don't really care for the stuff about thwe acid. Instead of giving it 1D2 acid (like battry acid or lye, as opposed to the *serious* acid damage something like the Gorp or the Alien Queen might have), I figured by saying that the thing;s digerstive enzymes would *eventually* break down organics was more reasonable. Of course, making the acid less gross meant getting rid of the acid damage associated with each round of being enveloped by the thing. Then theres the comment about the cube still being acidic for a number of days equal to its CON after death. Only problem was that the write-up part happened before I had the stats finalized---the gelatinous cubes have no CON, so I guess just assign a number of days to its post-mortem acidity, or assign a dice range in hours or whatever. Wanting weaker acid, I decided that the damage taken from digging through the dead beastie looking for treasure should be reduced to 1pt got rscj hour spent digging. More an inconvenience than something that could melt your hands. Thought I'd shre. Best, -Ken-

Noxious smoke roiling from the thing and filling the air with smoke? Hey, why not. I was thinking ithe poison gas could have a POY=T equal to, say, 1/2 HP or something. Which isn't out of hand when dealing with the small specimens, but is totally out of hand with the big ones. Maybe the poison gas/smoke should just have an across-the-board POT of 3D6 to make things easier. Of course, just how much volume of smoke would something like that produce anyhow?... m3 of smoke equal to creature SUZ? Smoke volume in m3 equal toqual to 1/6 HP? Smoke volume equal to 3x m3 of creature volume? I don't know, What sounds reasonable to oyu? Best, -Ken-

Hi gang, running through the Gs on the ol' Bestiary,and remembered that one of the things I always liked about accursed D&D was the Gelatinous Cube, with its goofy 10x10x10' dimensions just ideal for sliding through the dungeon (which always seemed to be mapped on grid paper using 10x10x0' squares). Anyhow, as a RQ player, the closest thing to it was the Gorp, something I've never really cared for. I didn't like the Gorp's really high acid damage, yet wanted the Cube to have some sort of kick, so I decided on 1D2pts of acid. This is, according to Call of Cthulhu, rquivalent to kye or battery acid, so should probably have effects that aren't instantaneous---Of course, thinking onb it, the Cubes could always have no acid at all... So I decided to knock out my own version of the Gelatinous Cube.With several different sizes included. Creature volume is based on units of 1m3 (1 cubic meter). As water and meat both have about the same weight per volume, I went on the assumption that 1m3 of Gelatinous Cube weighed in at 1000kg, and I extrapolated from there. Enjoy. -Ken- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gelatinous Cube An unnatural sorcerous creation, this shapeless, nearly transparent blob of putrid tissue lives only to ea; slowly oozing, amoeba-like, along waterways and other humid places, as well as through ruins, caves and catacombs, absorbing organic material---both living creatures and carrion---to be broken down by the creature’s caustic digestive enzymes. Inorganic materials of all sorts remain trapped and visible inside the creature’s body. A gelatinous cube is quite resilient to physical attack, with ordinary, non-magical weapons merely passong through the rancid tissue without causing damage---though they themselves may be damaged by the gelatinous cube’s acid if the weapon’s AP are overcome. Because of the corrosive nature of the gelatinous cube, acid and poison have no effect on it. These gelatinous horrors can only be killed by fire or magic. Ordinary flame, or flame-based weapon-enhancing magic will inflict only 1/2 normal damage. Weapon-enhancing magic not using fire, such as Bladesharp or Damage Boosting only do damage equal to the points of the spell. Spells such as Disruption , Lightning Bolt and Rune spells take effect normally. If a gelatinous cube is slain, objects of a non-organic origin, such as gold, other metals, gemstones, and other non-soluble treasures may be found amongst the refuse. However, as s gelatinous cube retains its acidic properties for a number of days after death equal to CON, anyone wishing to root through the remains would be well advised to use a stick. A gelatinous cube attacks by moving next to an intended victim and attempting to envelope him, If the victim fails a Dodge or Jump roll, the gelatinous cube oozes over the victim---like amber over an insect--- enveloping a single Hit Location. If the victim Fumbles the Dodge or Jump roll, he falls into the monster; 1D3 contiguous Hit Locations being engulfed at one time. A 00 Fumble of this roll results in 1D3+3 contiguous Hit Locations being engulfed instead.Should the victim’s head be engulfed, eventual suffocation will occur. If the victim can still move after the cube’s initial attack,he may try a second Dodge or Jump to move away. Fumbles are treated as above. If a Dodge succeeds, the victim may attack as usual in the same melee. If the victim tries to Jump, however, no attack may be attempted that melee. A different Agility skill might be substituted, depending upon the situation and the GM. Should the target fail to move away following the creature’s initial attack, the creature engulfs the next contiguous Hit Location the following melee. A gelatinous cube’s attack may not be parried---the creature simply flowing over the parrying weapon to engulf its foe. Each round a target’s Hit Location remains swallowed up by a gelatinous cube, it will take 1D2 acid damage, As the gelatinous cube’s tissue easily flows into and through joints and openings in a victim’s worn armor, it provides no protection against this damage. Gelatinous cubes have varying SIZ, and can be quite large; occasionally exceeding more than 25m3. Gelatinous Cube SIZ is dependent on the 1000 kg weight of a m3 of its viscous, tissue.. Gelatinous cubes have 1D6+6 HP per m3 of volume. All gelatinous cubes, regardless of SIZ, have 1D5 STR, 3D6 POW, and 1D6 DEX Small Gelatinous Cube Characteristics Average STR 1D6 3-4 SIZ 1m3 43 POW 3D6 10-11 DEX 1D6 3-4 HP 1D6+6 9-10 Move 2 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes + 11% to their chances to hit. ________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Body 01-20 0/ 10 _________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Envelop 7 75 1D2 acid Medium Gelatinous Cube Characteristics Average STR 1D6 3-4 SIZ 3m3 56 POW 3D6 10-11 DEX 1D6 3-4 HP 3D6+18 28-29 Move 2 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes + 18% to their chances to hit. ________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Body 01-20 0/ 29 _________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Envelop 7 75 1D2 acid Large Gelatinous Cube Characteristics Average STR 1D6 3-4 SIZ 9m3 68 POW 3D6 10-11 DEX 1D6 3-4 HP 9D6+54 85-86 Move 2 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes +24% to their chances to hit. ________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Body 01-20 0/ 86 _________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Envelop 7 75 1D2 acid Huge Gelatinous Cube Characteristics Average STR 1D6 3-4 SIZ 27m3 81 POW 3D6 10-11 DEX 1D6 3-4 HP 27D6+162 256-257 Move 2 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes + 30% to their chances to hit. ________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Body 01-20 0/ 257 _________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Envelop 7 75 1D2 acid

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Well, the Immortal/ Central/ Primary head is, bookeeping-wise, decidedly different from the others, but identical in appearance to all the other heads, so I don't see where aiming at the main head would really help, as, aside from some sort of insider information (ie: a tip from an interested Deity)m theres no way to determine what may or may not turn out to be an important head. If you *were* aiming ar a particular headm I digure thew Aimed Blow rules would work aka RQ---half attack chance, Success hits the desired location. If you wanted to make it more difficult by having the other heads getting in the way, I suppose you could always subtract an addn'l 10 or 20% off the attack roll. If combined with the Aimed Blow rules, you're looking at 1/2 normal, (then* an addn'l -10& or so---Guess it could be done, but then you *still* have any idea whether a particular head is any more important than any other Oooh, a stench attack, huh? This thing seems to be getting more and more deadly all the time (not that there's anything *wrong* with that) Guess it'd be easy enough to attach some sort of smelly feature to the thing, I believe that the RQ Chaotic Features, or the Elric/Stormnringer Demon Abilities would have something approps. As for the thing being large,I suppose you could have something more Python-sized, but with multiple snake heads. Sure it'd still be trouble, but maybe more manageable than the large thing "Jason and the Argonauts" always makes me think of. In an only slightly relevant a side note, I saw something on the Gamer's Trinity (Histrory Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic) sometime back about the ancients finding prehistoric bones, and found it interesting that, on finding Mammoth bones, the Greeks would assemble the bones *upright* instead of for a 4 legged mammakl---getting the skeleton of Heracles and other noteable types from the long ago historic age. Now a demigod like Heracles would be something like 10m tall. LOL! Best, -Ken-

Gee, thanks I thibk all of the beasties I've posted from my Bestiary have wound up moved over to the wiki. Esxcept for the Elementals, of course... Some years back I'd posted my take on Elementals to the old RQ Rules list. Good golly, but there were a *lot* of different types---not as many as D&D mind you, but still several more than RQ had. I've since paired down my Elementals to just cover my versions of the 4 elements---Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Nevermind that darkness stuff. Too Gloranthan for my tastes, I believe Nick has a copy of the thing stashed somewhere online. Best, -Ken-

Well, I don't know as I'd use the word *lucky* with an encounter with this thing, but I remember that one of the thing's head was supposed to be Immortal. Now me, I don't mind a really tough creature, but *Immortal*? No way. So I decided to make one head decidedly tougher (ie: Primary) with much more HP. Take it off and the points come right off the grotesque's Total HP, which can be quite telling. Lop off any of the Secondary heads---essentially window dressing---and nothing much happens. I'd read somewhere that the hydra was supposed to have a more dog-like (>) body, which I assumed was reptillian, like a big croc or Iguanadon or something, rather than the actual dog's body, but with this classical stuff, who can really be sure.? Maybe a consultation with the Oracle of Delphi (which I'd read has been proposed to be a s*really* strong gas leak) could clear things up And the thing is supposed to have *100* heads. I don't know if classical sources have a version as a snake (maybe I;m thinking I saw one of trhose vase paintings..), but after many, *many* viewings of the old Harryhausen classic, *Jason and the Argonauts*, a snake-like just seems *right*, if you know what I mean...."Well, *of course* its a big snake!" Maybe I'll attempt a *proper* Hydra Best, -Ken-

Hi gang, Wel, my still-slowly-coming-together Bestiary (originally ased on the RQ3 Creature book) is still slowly plodding along, with an ever-expanding line-up of creatures either cadged from other sources, stuff cadged and modified by me, and stuff made up off the top of my head... So like I said, based on the RQ3 Creature book, thedocument has, not too surprisingly, all the crteatures from that publication in alphabetical order (wwith a few noteablke exceptions which I never liked to begin with). Anyhow, I'm fine-tuning right at the G-H section, and I thought I'd give the Hydra the once over. RQ3 (my prefered version) stats for the hydra ca be found in The Glorantha Bestiary (the green ppbk with the morokanth on the cover). Looking at them, I felt the thing might be a bit small, so I looked up a big ass real world snake to get an idea just how big a big serpent really is, and found some interesting stuff on the python. Figuring the hydra was say, half again as big as a python (not counting the extra heads) I raised the stats a bit, and added some extra weight to simulate the extra heads. One thing I had run across for the hydra, as mentioned in several orher non-BRPish game bmaterial was the fact that the creature's multiple heads, bobbing and weaving, could be positively hypnotic. Now the RQ version of the hydra didn't have this feature, but I *did* run across stats for a Serpwnt Gaurdian in the Drastioc Prax book for RQ3, which, while not having multiple heads like the hydra, *d8d* in fcat have a hypnotic movement to its head that enemies might find distracting. So I made my version of the hydra a bit bigger than standard, grafted the hypnotic movement mechanics onto its write-up, and fiddled with things a bit to wind up with the following. The original hydra had both a poisoned bite and acid, which I felt was over the top, but I decided to include the poison just because it is a deadly giant snakething. Hope you find it of use/interest. Bst. -Ken- __________________________________________________________________ Hydra Hydras are enormous, reptilian monsters; gigantic, many-headed serpents that range from 10--20m in length, .3-.6m diameter, and reaching weights in excess of 4,000kg. Each hydra has 2D6 heads; one primary and the remainder ancillary. The hydra’s many heads can weave and dance about in a pattern that many people find hypnotic. Spells such as Fear, Madness, Demoralize and the like will only affect one of the creature’s heads at a time. Should a head be severed, two new heads sprout from the fresh stump after 1D6 rounds, like some hellacious weed. This regeneration can be prevented if the fresh stump is cauterized. Being extremely difficult to kill, hydras are rumored to be immortal. Hydras inhabit jungles, remote swamps, crumbling ruins and other desolate places across the Mediterranean and Asia. Hydra Characteristics Average STR 2D6+42 49 Move 3/ 2 swim CON 3D6+24 34-35 Hit Points 45 SIZ 2D6+48 55 Fatigue 90 INT 3 3 POW 3D6+9 19-20 DEX 2D6+12 19 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes +17% to their chances to hit. _________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Tail 01-07 10/ 15 Body 08-13 10/ 27 Secondary Heads 14-19 10/varies Primary Head 20 10/ 27 Notes: The hydra’s heads all appear identical, and so, are indistinguishable from one another. The Secondary Heads Hit Location should be divided as evenly as possible among the creature’s heads, with each having HP equal to Total HP divided by the number of heads. Hydras are not incapacitated by shock when a Secondary Head takes damage equal to or exceeding Location Hit Points. Even the removal of a few or even all Secondary Heads does not incapacitate a hydra. All damage that exceeds the base HP of a hydra’s Secondary Head is not counted against its Total Hit Points. _________________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Bite 5 40+12 1D8 + 5D6 + poison Constriction 2 50+12 5D6 Hypnotis 1 auto hypnotized Notes: The hydra attempts to bite with all heads simultaneously, and can lunge at any targets within 3m; thus allowing the creature to attack multiple opponents if close enougH. The bite injects pison with a POT equal to ½ the hydra’s CON. If the constriction attack hits, the victim is wrapped by the serpent’s coils. Each round of constriction does listed damage to the victim’s Total HP. Armor protects against this damage. If the victim’s chest is constricted, he must resist suffocation. A victim can free himself from the creature’s coils by overcoming the serpent’s STR with his own. But he may not attack while attempting this. The hydra’s heads constantly bob and weave; moving in a pattern which may hypnotize opponents. Anyone seeing this movement must attempt to roll INT x3 or less, or stand, fascinated by the creature’s movements. Success indicates the victim has stopped watching and focuses instead on the danger. Individual hypnotized by the hydra’s weaving remain in this state until the creature either leaves the victim’s field of view, or stops moving. Skills: Hide 100-46, Sneak 100-46. Search 50+8, Scan 50+8. Armor: 10-point tough scales.

Hiya gang, I've been mighty busy these last 3 months or so, workingin a frameshoip duirng the holiday onslaught--that is to say, overly busy and exhausted, But with the holidays behind me, I thought I'd drop back by... This time with some more creature stats done up in standard RQ3 format. Enjoy. -Ken- Glyptodon Glyptodon are very large, heavily armored, armadillo-like creatures; its solid, wide-shouldered, oval body reaching 1.5m in length, is covered by a massive, dome-shaped protective shell 1.5m high, and made up of more than a thousand hexagonal, 1-7cm-thick, fused, bony scutes that makes up for some 400kg of the creature’s 2,000kg weight. The 1.5m long tail is ringed by the same fused, bony plates that make up its shell, and ends in a knobbed club of the same stuff. Glyptodon is able to swing this club from side to side forcibly enough to shatter an attacker’s leg. Glyptodon’s short, massive, heavy legs are covered in tough, leathery skin. The front feet end in clawed toes, ideal for digging or defense. The rear feet are more hoof-like. While able to draw its legs inside its armored shell for protection, glyptodon could not withdraw its tail or its narrow, short-snouted head, and instead has a helmet-like cap of bony plates on top. Glyptodon’s powerful jaws have no teeth in the front, but grinding teeth farther back help the animal chew the low grasses and coarse, fibrous plants found along river and lake banks. Glyptodon Characteristics Average STR 2D6+38 45 Move 1 CON 2D6+10 17 Hit Points 31 SIZ 2D6+38 45 Fatigue 62 INT 4 4 POW 1D6+6 9-10 DEX 1D6+3 6-7 Notes: The creature’s large size gives foes +12% to their chances to hit. _________________________________________________ Hit Location (D20) Points Tail 01-02 10/ 10 RH Leg 03 6/ 10 LH Leg 04 6/ 10 Hind Q 05-10 10/ 12 Fore Q 11-16 10/ 12 RF Leg 17 6/ 10 LF Leg 18 6/ 10 Head 19-20 10/ 10 _______________________________________________ Weapon SR Attack% Damage Spiked Tail Club 7 35+4 1D10+5D6 Skills: Dig 60+2, Scent 60-2 Armor: 10-point fused, bony armor over body, head and tail; 6-point thick hide on legs.

Oops! A minute or two ago I said: >Boy, >The tone used (*seemingly*, anyways, as there *is* to detectable tone >in an internet posted bit of copy, but you know what I mean...) What I *meant* was "there *is* NO detectable tone" Sorry for the fumblefingers LP Best, -Ken-

Boy, The tone used (*seemingly*, anyways, as there *is* to detectable tone in an internet posted bit of copy, but you know what I mean...) makes it seem like Steve is some sort of cloustered genius shut up in a lab in some mountaintop lair, who, like King Arthur, will someday return to make everything better.... LOL! Having interacted with Steve via email on occasion over the last several year, AFAICT (can tell), he's a normal, easily accessible guy who is a regular, contributing member of the RQ Rules kist (you guys've *heard* of Runequest, right?), and posts reqularly. Personally, I think BRP people *here* should definately join the RQ Rules list to either broaden their horizons, or at least to not have to re-invent the wheel, ruleswise, as, if you're bashing out a rule for something not covered in the BRP rules, chances are good that its already been invented and can be found in old school RQ (anti-matter grenades and the like not withstanding). Best, -Ken- ______________________________________________________ "We are going to eat like budget-minded Kings...Diet Chicken Bars, Compostina, Scrunch!" [Andy French---Mission Hill]

I found the dimensions and weight ranges, again, from someplace on the (Ever-Increasing-in-Dubiososity) Internet. I casn't remember where exactly, but it took some culling to eliminate those damned D&D references from the herd, to find *apparently* actual, scientific stuff, I'll tell you. The few sketchy behavioral stuff for the Giant Cheetah were essentially bits cadged from the waaay-better-defined Modern Cheetah. Now the size and stats for the female Giant Cheetah was just my guestimation....[ possible spurrious logic enabled] If Normal Cheetah Males have X dimensions and normal Cheetah Females have Y dimensions. then it should follow that the femal Gian Cheetah;s should be the same % smaller than the male of the species. Feel free to comment at lenght on anything I write, FunGuy---and everyone. Thats whats its all about, right? Exchange of ideas... -Ken-

Hmmm, Looks like I'm not too handy with the quoting mechanism. Got my and FunGuy;s texts kinda mixed. Oh drat! -Ken-

FunGuy comments on my Cheetah stuff: By all means, brother I didn't differentiate between the paw trip attack and the grapple hindquarters with claw attack, basically because I just plain *forgot* to That, and I figured the somewhat ill-defined "paw" would sercve for whatever the thing wanted to do with its paw/claw The ashpyxiation time I sited was one culled in searching through a nukmber of different sources on the fabulous Internet, and I took it at face value. I think your notes would certianly clear up a few things. Right, their claws are short and not retractable like the big cats, so I can see where the grab the flanks and bite seems more like big cat behavior, but I *have* seen a cheetah do such at some point on Animal Planet. I have *also* seen footage (again, at some point on Animal Planet) of a cheetah *climb* pretty well pretty high up a tree with the wilting/ dead prey firmly grasped by the throat. I'm unsure just what % to make the thing's Climb skill, but I think the thing climbed a lot more like one would expect a cat to, than a large dog probably could Oh sure, I agree with you 100% on slinging a furry predator over a saddlehorn or whatever; exceedingly unlikely, but I found several references to hunting with the things, and dropped it in for color. Certianly a wagon would be a lot more reasonable (especially after seeing "Hidalgo", where hunting cats (maybe leopards, but *still*) were released from a cage to hunt down prey The show I've seen on them mentions the scavengers, but implied that the cheetah couldn't stand up to them because it was exhausted from the chase & catch, but taking a chance on having to fight larger creatures sense now that its mentioned Maybe someone (not *me*, in any case) feels like modifying the entry for the cheetah appropriately? Best. -Ken-