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Message no. 1
From: Louis Barrera <lbarrera@****.NASA.GOV>
Subject: Dragons (et al) As The Next NERPS!!!
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 10:39:29 -0700
My Feanor, we were busy last night, weren't we. I'll try to throw my
pithy (NOT) thoughts into one note to save everyone's mailbox. The
hydrogen theory won't float (sorry). I work with the stuff, and you don't
want to have a factory walking, or flying, around loose. It's survival
potential is low. And unless they store alot, the lift derived from the gas
is going to be minimal, especially for a 2000 kilo mass. And what about
the dragons without wings. What do they use to augment their flying.
Do they vibrate like a bee? Maybe they fly because they think they can,
and don't know any better.

The stats for the breath was presented for mechanic's sake, not a group
of scientists putting forth their academic POV. The sustained drain is an
effect of a natural resource drain on a being, in game mechanics terms.
The question seems to be what the resource is. If it is a stored gas (I still
find the thought humorous), then there will be a physical limit on how
long it can be sustained, not just a matter of making continued Drain
saves. Given the Body rating of dragons (and dracoforms), they could
probably (and have in a couple of runs) sustained the effect, much
longer than a gas supply would last. So, do we imposed a fixed limit on
their breaths? Not me. Dragons are the penultimate power, and should
stay that way. It's not for us to piddle.

To add to my comment about flammable dragon corpses, not only would
their tissue be flammable, but the blood would also probably be
flammable (neat thought.) The flames would probably not be visible,
unless one used thermo. Lots of smoke (yech), but no flames.

As far as existance during the fifth cycle, any obvious metaforms were
hunted down by the supertitious/pious locals. Extinction. Har'lea'guin
didn't. Did he have an illusion, cosmetic surgery, or did his appearance
alter because of the recision of the mana? No way was he going
through the Inquisition or the Dark Ages with pointy ears. As for the
dragons, another story. They aren't elves, so their means of existence
were probably difference, unless you want to draw some connections
between dragons and elves. Homey don't think so. The dragons either
changed appearance, formed some camouflage/cocoon/field with the
last of their mana, or retreated to another (meta)plane. In regards to this
latter thought, only a high enough level of mana allows them to manifest
(for lack of a better term) in this plane. That kind of relagates them to the
status of spirit (greater or other), and I don't get a warm and fuzzy
feeling putting them in that catagory. I vote for transformation and/or
hibernation.

As far as runs with dragons go, ya sure. Any runner with a survival
instinct, or a clue, isn't going to want to get tangled up with them. My
group runs away and refuses to play. Granted they may have had one
or two unfortunate experiences (purely their own fault, hee hee.) And
the thought of making a deal with a Dragon.... Save it for those chrome
monsters that feel invulnerable. Teach them a little respect. Frag, for
that matter, airdrop them into Chicago.

Lou - Attack, Adapt, Migrate, or Perish.
Message no. 2
From: Geoffrey Gerrietts <phinar@**.CENCOM.NET>
Subject: Re: Dragons (et al) As The Next NERPS!!!
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 05:38:58 -0600
Hmm. The comment was raised once before, I believe, about the taxonomy of
the dracoform species. Now I have checked my rulebook, and am not *quite* so
foolish as to maintain that there is a link between (meta)humanity and
dracoforms, but when I read that particular comment, I was misled... and the
overtures of such thinking have given me great amusement.

Can you imagine the hapless little Oklahoma family that has little Suzy, who
was foolin' around with a stranger 'bout 9 mos. ago, deliverin' a dragon egg
instead of a human? Or for that matter, a liveborn dragon? The comic
potential is enormous, if impractical. I'd love to do an Enquirer-style
article on it.

But the "low-mana" swings would give rise to interesting things in such a
scenario. Where did the dragons go? They reverted to human beings,
naturally. Simply shapechanged and got on with their lives, switching
communities every so often so that the locals didn't get too suspicious. Not
only possible, but a technique nearly every really bad vampire novel *still*
employs. This, too, might make for an amusing story/episode -- a dragon's
"coming out" into the 6th world -- wouldn't his girlfriend be *shocked*?

<G>

"DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on
SOMETHING!"

MQU/CH S G- Q+ 9++ y W++(-) C N+

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