Vargr Pre-Preview

[MongooseMatt]

Hey guys,

In the spirit of the new understanding and communication discussed in other threads, we wanted to bring the good people on this forum into a discussion of the forthcoming Vargr book. Any and all comments are welcome, and will be considered to refine the book as it is being written.

We have had a few new ideas about the Vargr, and wanted to get your opinion on some of the artwork we have been commissioning.

 

[far-trader]

I'm feeling the smiley but I don't see it

Is it chilly over there this evening? Do you need a nice roaring flame war?

(no, seriously, say it's a joke so we can all laugh, pleaaase... )

 

[Gallowglacht]

I like it. Everything is cooler with antlers.
Snakes. Ancient Celtic fertility Gods. Erm...Deer.
And now Vargr.

 

[rancke]

I love it. It's just exactly spot on how the Vargr have always been portrayed. Or how they ought to have been portrayed. Or something.

Could you do one that shows him morphing from his human shape to his wolphine shape?


Hans

 

[dmccoy1693]

I'm feeling the smiley but I don't see it

Is it chilly over there this evening? Do you need a nice roaring flame war?

(no, seriously, say it's a joke so we can all laugh, pleaaase... )

OMG! He must be serious! He spelled "Vargr" correctly!

Interesting pic. Since I'm another publisher, I don't really think it is my place to give a thumbs up or down. So I'm just going to call it "Interesting."

 

[far-trader]

Very well then...

Squirrel!!

 

[Strangelove]

Wow, I'd like to see the Vac suit helmet for that! It would be sort of like an angry bobble-head doll.

 

[drh]

So that's what happened to the jackalope...!

(serious or not, either way I like it )

 

[Gallowglacht]

Seriously. I like it.

 

[hdan]

I like it quite a lot, except for the crazy antlers. Also, his torso is pretty beefy, considering that Vargr (traditionally) are more slight than Humans.

Or are Vargr going to get a species make-over too?

 

[kafka47]

I like it save the antlers...even if that is just hair blowing in the wind...but I for one commend Mongoose on ever increasing the quality of Traveller art. Matt, you will do a good service by previewing things here. As the grumpy might never be happy but there is an awful lot of constructive criticisms can be made.

If the antlers are a joke...ha..ha..but really I like what you are doing and things have come a long way from the basic rulebook. But, then again, I also like the Aslan in the preview...

Essentially, what the artist(s) for Vargr have to portray is FEAR. Nobody is really going to be afraid of the Vargr corsair if they look like poodles or Fluffy.

 

[Sturn]

I have to assume this is a joke. What bugs me though, even if done as a joke, was the intention. Was it also trying to invoke a rabid, zealot, flame from those crazies at the CotI forum? So that afterwards a response could be, "Hey it was just a joke lighten up"? Since I'm also a Mongoose fan, I hope it was in jest and Mongoose Matt just forgot his smileys. (see my smiley lightened the mood already).

If it was serious I'll burn my rare copy of the DGP Worldbuilder's Handbook . Ancients accidentally slip in some deer DNA when they created the Vargr? "Oops, a little of deer sample #4 got mixed in with wolf sample #6, oh well let's see what happens".

And yes, even without the antlers, way too beefy. I like the intention of the "tougher" Vargr, but it makes me think too much of something from World of Warcraft. Or what was done to some Star Wars figures when Luke suddenly looked like he got a membership to Gold's Gym. Sure, looks cool, but it's not a Traveller Vargr.

 

[atpollard]

I like moose antlers more than deer antlers. Bludgeoning attacks are generally underrepresented in alien species and the 'crunch' of bones and 'thud' of blunt force against wet meat makes for a memorable combat ambiance.

[repeated from the Aslan thread, but I stand by my opinion]

 

[far-trader]

(positive, find something positive... )

...umm, I like you stuck with the digitigrade stance

 

[tbeard1999]

Hey guys,

In the spirit of the new understanding and communication discussed in other threads, we wanted to bring the good people on this forum into a discussion of the forthcoming Vargr book. Any and all comments are welcome, and will be considered to refine the book as it is being written.

We have had a few new ideas about the Vargr, and wanted to get your opinion on some of the artwork we have been commissioning.

<golf clap>

Well played sir.

<sigh>

I wish I had an art department I could deploy on a whim...

 

[RandyT0001]

Well I think you should seriously reconsider the Vargr walking upright on just the balls of the hind feet. If they mass about as much as a human, 50-100kg on average, then they will have a high pressure per unit of ground contact. They really need to have their feet completely on the ground (much like humans). As animals have evolved to walk upright their hind legs got bigger to support the change in the center of mass as it progress back over the back legs. If they didn't they would end up being slower, easier to catch animals that would tend to die off by four legged hunters that still move fast. If you still intend for the Vargr to be an Ancients uplifted race then these changes would have been made genetically because strong back legs and feet firmly on the ground means the enslaved uplift race is capable of carrying more.

Lose the antlers or extra long head fur whatever it is. It makes it more difficult for a Vargr to get it's head in a reasonably sized helmet (combat or spacesuit) plus if they're antlers it's going to unbalance the head. If they are antlers IMO the Ancients would have removed them lest they provide the Vargr with a ready made weapon to threaten them.

War tatoos? So the sides of the Vargr face from the ear to the nose is skin without any fur (or so thin that a tatoo shows through)? I personally don't think Vargr would tatoo themselves like humans do. I think they would dye their fur around their mouth and hands a bright blood red. Their teeth would be dyed blood red as well. If they want to appear to be menecing or frightening.

So fix the feet, lose the antlers or extra long head fur above the ears, and build more upon their natural canine ancestory instead of copying the latest human tatoo-body piercing fad.

IMO

Thanks for asking for our input Matt.

 

[rancke]

I have to assume this is a joke. What bugs me though, even if done as a joke, was the intention. Was it also trying to invoke a rabid, zealot, flame from those crazies at the CotI forum? So that afterwards a response could be, "Hey it was just a joke lighten up"? Since I'm also a Mongoose fan, I hope it was in jest and Mongoose Matt just forgot his smileys. (see my smiley lightened the mood already).

Back in the old days, people occasionally tried to convey humor without the use of smileys, relying instead on words alone. A radical concept, I grant you, and one that runs the risk of people failing to grasp the jest. Still, it can be quite effective. Some people even made a living employing it.


Hans

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

You know, you could use this as an example of genetic fiddling that went to far for Grandfather's taste and is the incident that actually started the Ancient's War. Of course, this would mean giving Grandfather a moral sense that he didn't seem to have originally.

 

[DonM]

Do you have an example of a female Vargr?

 

[Sturn]

.....people occasionally tried to convey humor without the use of smileys......the risk of people failing to grasp the jest.....

If it was serious I'll burn my rare copy of the DGP Worldbuilder's Handbook .

I obviously agreed it was a joke even without the smileys. Smileys are fun though and useful. At work as a police officer, I wish I could have smileys pop up from time to time over my shoulder as I've got my serious face on, telling a dry joke, that a citizen let's fly over his head. Like telling a person, with a serious face, to "Get into the black and white one" when walking towards a line of.....several black and white patrol vehicles. They often don't get the joke and just look confused. I need a floating grav-driven smiley.