Received Complaints About My Own Twists on Fantasy Races

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

Before then, horses were a bit larger than ponies.

A 13H horse is still a lot bigger than a 10H.

[shawnhcorey]

Originally Posted by Anthony

A 13H horse is still a lot bigger than a 10H.

But they didn't have 13H horses back then.

[Gumby Bush]

Centaurs appear to have an extra stomach, so they might extract nutrients more efficiently. Oddly, it appear to go almost all the way through a human digestive system, then enter a horse digestive system. One or both of these is probably modified to account for the systems being linked up, but the point is that there is at least some space to claim that Centaurs do not need to eat as much as one might expect (and possibly be able to gain nutrients from a wider variety of foods).

I'd worry more about centaur ergonomics than centaur diet. Looks very front-heavy (they should have trouble turning, I'd guess). So, centaurs will have straight paths, possibly developing stop lights early if they have appropriate access to magic.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

But they didn't have 13H horses back then.

Back when?

Unless you want to go back three thousand years or more, that's simply not true. Warhorses of the Classical era were about 13 hands and there existed even larger specimens, like the Neseans that Parthian cataprachts used.

[shawnhcorey]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Back when?

Unless you want to go back three thousand years or more, that's simply not true. Warhorses of the Classical era were about 13 hands and there existed even larger specimens, like the Neseans that Parthian cataprachts used.

Back at the time of Mycenaean Greece, when tales of centaurs were created.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

Back at the time of Mycenaean Greece, when tales of centaurs were created.

The picture I linked was from Hadrian's palace.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

Until you think about what a small mouth a brontosaur had.

I'm guessing the bronotsaur was running a much slower metabolism and likely spent all day grazing - and its mouth was still shaped like a herbivore's.

Originally Posted by Phantasm

I see centaurs as omnivores, actually, though probably with a more Paleolithic diet from hunting big game supplemented by horticulture rather than being sedentary agriculturalists. Kind of like the nomadic steppe peoples of Central Asia or the Great Plains Amerinds.

As it's likely tales of Scythian horsemen from the far end of the Black Sea who inspired the mythical Greek centaurs, this seems to be coming back around full circle. ^_^_v

Originally Posted by Anthony

Most centaur versions don't put normal human torso on normal horse body; mostly it's a human torso on a fairly small pony body, or occasionally a super-sized human torso on a larger horse body. This is not new (e.g. 2nd century mosaics). I'd guess that 'horse' body on that image is around 10 hands and total body weight in the vicinity of 500 lb. The ancient version seems to have had a pretty much human diet.

"centaur" means "bull killer" does it not? I was under the impression they mainly ate beef, plus anything they could steal from humans. Although the semi-divine ones like Chiron may have been more refined, the mortal ones descended from the mad horse rogerer (Ixion IIRC) were meant to be anything but...

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Kind of a tangent deviation from the "Why are Dwarves Scottish?" thread.

In my own setting, I've had people grump and complain that I'm "inverting the tropes for the sake of inversion" when I put my own twists on fantasy races. Most notably, the Dwarves: my Dwarves are German, not Scottish, in culture and accent, and build cities upwards on the outsides of the mountains rather than living in the mines. I tried to explain that the Dwarves share their territory and cities with my winged folk who also like the mountains, but apparently they believe that Dwarves should live in dark sprawling underground cities - because deviating from Tolkien is being contrarian rather than original.

Also my Halflings. I've received more than one complaint about them being Gaelic/Irish/Scottish, rather than English. Of course, they don't seem to like my response of "Ever hear of leprechauns?"

And then there's my vegetarian Minotaurs. And Kobolds that live in jungle huts rather than in trap-filled caves. And basically any "monster race" not living in caves (including Viking Orcs).

And don't get me started on dragons being color-coded for convenience. Every time I mention that mine aren't, I get odd looks and basically told I'm "doing it wrong" or "why?"


Many of these people knew my setting when it started as a D&D 3.X setting. D&D was not able to handle my vision of the setting - I'd've had to house-rule the guns to make them more than "reskinned crossbows", for instance, plus a few unique races that D&D would have slapped a level adjustment onto - so I converted to GURPS. I've been happy, but apparently I've alienated a lot of folks - most of whom when I've brought up a game in the setting clamor for "make it a D&D game!"



So, am I being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian, inverting the fantasy tropes for the sake of inversion, or do they just not want anything that's not D&D-land?

A little of both. When an author goes pioneering he should not just change things so radically that there is no conceivable resemblance to familiar tropes, or he might as well make up a new word. That said there should be plenty of room for inventiveness.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

A little of both. When an author goes pioneering he should not just change things so radically that there is no conceivable resemblance to familiar tropes, or he might as well make up a new word. That said there should be plenty of room for inventiveness.

Maybe the GM should run Talislanta. That would really annoy the players ;)

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by copeab

Maybe the GM should run Talislanta. That would really annoy the players ;)

Or they'd love it, and coerce the GM to actually learn the setting...