From:	Patrick Goodman remo@***.net
Subject:	BIG! Critters
Date:	Fri, 16 Jun 2000 23:49:26 -0500

From: sds@**.auc.dk
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 1:18 AM

> The main reason I disagree with you is that dragons
> aren't that big.

Then you're not doing something right, IMHO. Maybe it's just me. It
wouldn't be the first time I'd been accused of exaggerating things a bit.

> NO Creature (including Godzilla,
> but excluding Altuin (sp??)) should have a body/hull of
> that magnitude.

So the fact that these creatures are magical in the extreme, playing with
one of the fundamental forces of the universe, doesn't factor into this at
all?

Sorry; I don't see it that way. You're just factoring in simple biological
factors (which in other critters I might agree with); you're not counting
the fact that they are fundamentally magical beings. Dragons, at least in
my world, are naval-class forces of nature. They aren't just another
critter, as you seem to be implying here. As I've said before, your mileage
may vary.

> If you look at it, a great western dragon is stated to
> measuer 58m from head to tail.

Have you ever paced off 58-60 meters, to see what you're dealing with? Try
it sometime; it's impressive. Then try to put a spot at about 3.5 or 4
above the ground, to see where the dragon's "shoulder" should be. These
things are of pretty impressive size.

> Lets not look into the weight stated in the book but just
> say they weigh in at around 250tons.

I'd say that's probably overstating it a bit, unless they're a particularly
large specimen, but what the hell. Two hundred fifty tons it is.

> The result: Nearly the same as is now: Dragons are
> impervious to small arms fire up to and including an
> assault cannon. Only difference is that even AVM/AVR
> doesn't hurt a Naval dragon.

And the problem with this is...what, exactly?

> Thats more or less that.

If you say so. I don't agree with you, but if you say so....

> BTW. Have you ever looked at the weight supplied for
> the critters??

More than you might imagine. I wrote a pretty hefty article about player
race weights once upon a time. Now I'm looking at the critters.

> The Meistersinger, 26m long, weighs
> 55tons. I'm certainly no expert, but I would think it's
> a bit on the low side..

Probably; weights and SR have never, apparently, gotten on too well.

The meistersinger Awakened from the humpback whale; according to
www.britannica.com, they run between 45-60 feet (13.7-18.3 meters) and weigh
in the 31.7-36.3 metric ton range. A meistersinger, at 26 meters long, is
about 1.4 times the length of a big southern humpback. Assuming he stayed
more or less proportional to the humpback, he should weigh about 2.87 times
the humpbacks weight. That would make (2.87 x 36.3) about 104 metric tons
for the meistersinger.

--
Patrick E. Goodman
remo@***.net
"I'm going to tell you something cool." -- Gene Wolfe