One of the great questions in DF Felltower has been posed over and over by Aldwyn, who hates snakes. Aldwyn, who clearly would like St. Patrick, asks if snakes have:
Injury Tolerance (No Neck)
or
are they all neck?
Do snakefolk have a neck, or just a head-topped snake body coming out of their shoulders?
Do snake-bodied demons count as neck from the body down?
If something has snake-headed snakey arms, are they -2 to hit for being arms, or -5 to hit for being a neck?
If he aims a medusa's head, is it -5, but if he aims at the neck or skull - full of snakey necks or necky snakes - is it a -7 (skull) or -5 (neck)?
If so, how does his Slayer Training (Longsword Swing/Neck) figure in to this?
You think I'm kidding, but these are all actually serious questions from Aldwyn. It's worth noting that Aldwyn has an IQ of 10, but also the quirk, "Dumb." And he'd dearly love Whacking Day . . . if he knew what his "to hit" roll was.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy the snakes . . . before they're all chased away.
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteTaking the questions seriously, it should probably hinge on the windpipe and trachea, which means that there is a neck which acts like any normal neck. Maybe some serpent folk should have a feature which makes the neck easier to hit by one or two points, depending on how long their serpent neck is, since they have otherwise humanoid hearts, lungs, etc. Medusa hair is not composed of complete serpents, but rather serpent-looking tendrils. They neither eat nor breathe independently, so no effective neck, but they are part of the Medusa as a whole, so no IT:No Neck either. Even if they were independent, which seems like it should not be recommended, then they'd have a pretty significant SM.
I love the absurdity of it.
So it's, from a game perspective, an open question - what does taking -5 to hit the "neck" give you on a snake? Does Slayer Training even matter for a non-neck-like neck? Should it be less than -5, because it's "body" or is there enough exposed area to warrant a specialized minus and specialized bonuses? So many amusing questions.
DeleteI think the answer is, whatever upsets Alwdyn the most!
That is the best answer!
DeleteWhen I google "snakefolk" and look at the images, the answer about their necks is quite clear: they are generally normal necks, and fairly large and stubby snake bodies starting at their abdomen. So they have normal necks, and big abdomens.
ReplyDeleteActual snakes? It depends on the species, but Pythons and rattle snakes seem to have recognizable necks several times the length of their head, but much shorter than their total body length. Elapids, such as cobras and coral snakes, seem to not really have this, or at least its much less pronounced.
So I'd argue that snake folk get normal neck stats (with some possible exceptions), and snakes have necks somewhat larger (and easier to hit) than normal.
I'd have to look at those images, as the minis we use to represent snakemen have a bit more of a look of thick-bodied snake with arms than of a human with a snake head and scales.
DeleteAldwyn hates anything that doesn't have a neck, as it seems unnatural and upsetting to him. He also is very ready to slash at anything that has a neck as they are ripe for killing and so he must do so. Snakes vex him. How can they be an organism that is both all neck while also not having a neck? He is puzzled because they are tubes of meat with a spine, ergo: neck, but at the same time, not neck. He is not the brightest fellow.
ReplyDeleteDanger noodles are amongst the most confusing of beasts.
DeleteThey move on land without limbs! Truly absurd beasts.
DeleteAldwyn needs to train, possibly go on a quest, or a soul journey to learn the rare and highly valued ability: Slayer Training (Longsword Swing/No Neck).
DeleteThat way he'll be on equal footing regardless of Neckiness.
This conversation had me in near-hysterical laughter.
Delete