Regrowth

[Dr. Whom]

On the bases of teeth,
My grandmother had (Not a complete set) but 3 sets.
I guess I inherited her mutation as I have an extra set of molars

[Kromm]

1. Regrowth is indeed overpriced because it was overlooked during the revision to 4e. I'd charge 10 points for it. It's useful, but it sure isn't 40 points worth of useful.

2. What does "combat utility" have to do with advantage pricing? GURPS is a roleplaying game. Combat is a small part of roleplaying. We price traits with respect to all of roleplaying, which includes exploration, negotiating obstacles, investigation, puzzle-solving, social interaction, stealth, study, trade, and travel. Whatever Regrowth is worth, that price will take into account not having limited mobility for, say, climbing walls or picking locks; not being obviously "that one-eyed guy" in social interaction; and so on . . . not to mention not having to pay for medical treatments and prosthetics.

3. We don't like to reprice things radically between editions for historical reasons: It was done sometimes in the past. The net result was confused freelance writers, confused players, and incompatibility between items published before and after the change, despite them all being intended for the same edition. Nobody really won.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Incidentally, what's up with that? I know mammals have some seriously sophisticated teeth designs kicking around, but if we manage to grow a second set and keep the shape right, you'd think we'd pull off a third and fourth and etc, even if it took longer than a reptile.

Stem cells is the issue on this one, apparently they don't hang around later in life.

On the bright side, this is one of the places where current stem cell research has already panned out, so if you wan to pick up new teeth just head over to your local University Dental Implant facility and sign up to get some teeth regened and nine weeks later you'll have your tooth:
http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/pr.../MAOtooth.html

[Vaevictis Asmadi]

Mammalian diphyodonty is definitely an adaptation related to our method of thoroughly chewing food before swallowing it, not a side-effect or byproduct of something else. From what I read today about the mammal-toothed lizard fossil Peneteius aquilonius, replacement of the chewing teeth screws up chewing by leaving gaps that accumulate food instead of processing it, and by causing new, unworn teeth to occlude differently and prevent the occlusion of older, worn teeth.

I suspect that if we could get away with monophyodonty, it would have evolved by now, given the awkwardness of chewing while shedding baby teeth. I still remember biting into a crumpet and leaving a tooth embedded in it.

Interestingly elephants, though as diphyodont as any other mammal, don't grow cheek teeth the same way. Theirs grow from the back of the mouth towards the front, instead of growing up from underneath the older teeth, and only one tooth is present in each jaw at a time. With a conveyer-belt mechanism like that, elephants probably could get away with outright polyphyodonty of the molars, if they could actually evolve it. It would certainly lengthen their lifespans -- considering their large size and 2-year gestation period, they probably have it in them to live longer than we do, but as it is they starve to death when they run out of molars, around age 60.



Wandering back to Regrowth itself, does the advantage automatically include healing without scarring? Logically it should, although it is not outright stated in the Basic Set.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Interestingly elephants, though as diphyodont as any other mammal, don't grow cheek teeth the same way. Theirs grow from the back of the mouth towards the front, instead of growing up from underneath the older teeth, and only one tooth is present in each jaw at a time. With a conveyer-belt mechanism like that, elephants probably could get away with outright polyphyodonty of the molars, if they could actually evolve it. It would certainly lengthen their lifespans -- considering their large size and 2-year gestation period, they probably have it in them to live longer than we do, but as it is they starve to death when they run out of molars, around age 60.

What kind of teeth situation do the youngest elephants have, during their feces-eating stage? Could a molarless elder survive that way, if they somehow got the notion to do so?

[Edges]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Mammalian diphyodonty is definitely an adaptation related to our method of thoroughly chewing food before swallowing it, not a side-effect or byproduct of something else. From what I read today about the mammal-toothed lizard fossil Peneteius aquilonius, replacement of the chewing teeth screws up chewing by leaving gaps that accumulate food instead of processing it, and by causing new, unworn teeth to occlude differently and prevent the occlusion of older, worn teeth.

I suspect that if we could get away with monophyodonty, it would have evolved by now, given the awkwardness of chewing while shedding baby teeth. I still remember biting into a crumpet and leaving a tooth embedded in it.

Interestingly elephants, though as diphyodont as any other mammal, don't grow cheek teeth the same way. Theirs grow from the back of the mouth towards the front, instead of growing up from underneath the older teeth, and only one tooth is present in each jaw at a time. With a conveyer-belt mechanism like that, elephants probably could get away with outright polyphyodonty of the molars, if they could actually evolve it. It would certainly lengthen their lifespans -- considering their large size and 2-year gestation period, they probably have it in them to live longer than we do, but as it is they starve to death when they run out of molars, around age 60.



Wandering back to Regrowth itself, does the advantage automatically include healing without scarring? Logically it should, although it is not outright stated in the Basic Set.

Is there a market for elephant dentures?

[Vaevictis Asmadi]

Originally Posted by Edges

Is there a market for elephant dentures?

Not until we uplift them. ;)

[Irioth]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

It's optional but you can, see martial arts.

Oh. I guess I have overlooked that part of MA. OK then. This would then require UB+NE+NB+NV, 25 points, to fully emulate super-efficient regrowth.

Originally Posted by Kromm

1. Regrowth is indeed overpriced because it was overlooked during the revision to 4e. I'd charge 10 points for it. It's useful, but it sure isn't 40 points worth of useful.

And this ruling, boys and girls, is as much as we can get short of a new edition. This ought to go in the FAQ.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Wandering back to Regrowth itself, does the advantage automatically include healing without scarring? Logically it should, although it is not outright stated in the Basic Set.

It is safest to assume that advantages work perfectly unless otherwise stated, so no scarring ought to be the default. It might make a good Nuisance Effect.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

It is safest to assume that advantages work perfectly unless otherwise stated, so no scarring ought to be the default. It might make a good Nuisance Effect.

I thkink Vaevictus was asking if Regrowth included scarless healing in general, not just where body part replacement or restoration was involved. There's a lot of cosmetic scarring possible in wounds where no tissue has gone missing and no structural damage beyond HP loss occurred. This could be good or bad, and crucial in a society that places particular emphasis on scars.