darkSpyro

Bear Cavalry sounds really awesome, especially when you preface it with "Dwarven", even though there's no other kind of Bear Cavalry. Try and think of another kind of Bear Cavalry. Human? Elven? Orcish? The only other kind is Russian, but that's stupid. Because it's still Bear Cavalry. Being Russian and/or Dwarven makes it less so, but then the point of Bear Cavalry is missing at that point. It's supposed to be absurd, which it accomplishes, until you think about it.

For starters, it looks great as a still image. Now give that image animation. Bears don't run like a cavalry unit. They bounce, they jiggle, they wobble. They're not the most sociable animal, so having them as a cavalry unit of, say, 500 bears and riders is going to be tough. Getting them to charge in a line without any conflicts, especially where their young are concerned, is also going to be bothersome.
They're not a stampeding animal. While they can run someone down, they use their weight to pin something down. They're slow after making initial close quarters combat, wildly swiping with heavy strikes that can do a lot of damage.... provided they're the only predator. Otherwise a pack of dogs can tear them apart, and they're less dangerous than defenders armed with long pointy weapons or deeply stabbing instruments.

So they're not good at lining up and moving amonst one another, they're not particularly good at charging, they're not going to be much use beyond breaking the initial shield wall (assuming there is one), and leave the rider vulnerable from the start of combat until the inevitable and timely death. This is all assuming the enemy has little to no ranged capabilities, with siege weapons that would hit them easier than a horseman. If it's mounted ranged infantry, they're done for. And good luck learning how to aim and shoot on bear-back (ooh matron).

More assumptions have to be made as well; that bears are easily domesticated, which they're not. They go where food is. Recently I learnt that a guard dog was being bribed by a bear with deer bones in order to get to the guard dog's owner's trash. This was successful, meaning they'll do what it takes for food. They can be quite crafty, as we've seen with things like getting honey from a bee hive unharmed, or being excellent hunters of fish. Domesticating them is possible, but for how long? How much food must one bear consume each day? I don't know the exact figures, but it's between "more than you can offer" and "more than you can offer". Then multiply that by however many bears you need for an effective cavalry force (enough so that you've got plenty left by the time they reach the enemy, which won't be many, because Bear Cavalry's stupid).

Bears also hibernate, so you can forget fighting during winter or other cold conditions where they'll need extrordinary amounts of rest and plenty of food in their bellies to help them survive during that time. There's no food they can access in the winter, and if they can't get it with their long claws and snouts, a Dwarf isn't going to with their stubby little hands living in a cave won't either.

That's another thing; what on God's green tiramasu are you doing with bears in the first place? Why not something local? Because bears don't grow in caves. They grow in trees, and Dwarves don't have trees unless they're Dwemer (which aren't Dwarves in the typical fantasy sense but another kind of elf). They're not suited to cave-like structures where no berries grow or where there's no waterborne food sources; they need wooded areas with winter-killed prey animals and areas with lots of water. Some caves might have this, but mine don't, so Bear Cavalry isn't going in my D&D setting.

And what does one get from Bear Cavalry, exactly? Furs from the killed ones? Not if their pelts are ruined in combat. And are their pelts so good that they're worth the amount of food you have to get for them, and the risk to your own life? What about entertainment? Dwarves have plenty of ways to entertain themselves. You want to see a bear dance, go to a city or a travelling circus, a bear isn't going to last five minutes in a Dwarven hovel. You get no milk, and their meat tastes like their last meal because they're need to get as much nutrition per meal as possible. And because it's a large prey animal, horses will have a lot more meat on their bones. There's simply more creatures that yield better produce all year around, dead or alive, than bears.

You want to do something better than Bear Cavalry? Goat Cavalry. They live near and on mountains, can be domesticated, produce milk and apparently taste quite nice. They have horns, which are good for charging and perhaps even steering them. Because they excel in travelling up mountains, you can escape non-Dwarven attackers who have less proficiency in that environment, even with equipment. A mountain goat can go up with no problems at all, and you've just got to feed them grass, berries and tin cans. A lot less than a bear, I might add. And they're fast. And they hit hard, so they're great for cavalry. Because we're talking about cavalry.

There's a case to be made for Giant Spiders, as seen in Warhammer Fantasy with its Night Goblin Spider Riders. These guys excel in cavernous environments, able to crawl upon walls silently to ambush, having venomous bites and stings, and have a meat-based diet so you can feed friend and foe alike to keep them happy. I can hardly call it domestication, but if food is plentiful and its home goes relatively undisturbed (or you can make a bargain with the Spider Queen), they won't move away. Problem is they're squishy, and Dwarves excel at making weapons that squish squishy things. As for what they produce, they can create silk, venom (poison), and should they lose limbs they too can be used as spear weapons. I'm sure their innards are good for alchemy.

I'm of the belief that fantasy isn't an excuse to go ham and expect the consumer to suspend all disbelief. There are certain things you can't make them change their mind on. Some people would be fine with Bear Cavalry. It's fun, but I can't look at it seriously and wouldn't go through the bottom ache of trying to stat and balance it. Even for a single character to travel with/on, do I really want to look at the stats for a horse and try and balance it, taking into account its speed, health, damage, diet and lifestyle? Nope. You don't either, because you've got more important things to do.

In my campaign setting, there's a mad Dwarven King who - amongst many things - used bear cavalry, which ruined the economy, cost the lives of a lot of his soldiers, were unruly and ultimately ended in his death. The battle quickly led to a tactical withdrawal to their mountain home, where they successfully held out a siege. Since then, their military treatise was revised and their culture saw a rapid change, going from upholding the honour of the clan first and foremost to doing the right thing for yourself, within the bounds of the law. Most things I've banned will likely be relegated to "because the mad Dwarven King did it, and everybody hated it".

If you want to change the rules of a single animal for your campaign setting or game, go ahead. If you go crazy with it, I'd like to see how you make it work. And if you can make the world work with that in mind, even better.

Besides, who ever said "a bear, a bear, my kingdom for a bear"? People who eat Corn Flakes with a fork, I'd imagine.

Quote: Johnbonne

Bear Cavalry sounds really awesome, especially when you preface it with "Dwarven", even though there's no other kind of Bear Cavalry. Try and think of another kind of Bear Cavalry. Human? Elven? Orcish? The only other kind is Russian, but that's stupid. Because it's still Bear Cavalry. Being Russian and/or Dwarven makes it less so, but then the point of Bear Cavalry is missing at that point. It's supposed to be absurd, which it accomplishes, until you think about it.

For starters, it looks great as a still image. Now give that image animation. Bears don't run like a cavalry unit. They bounce, they jiggle, they wobble. They're not the most sociable animal, so having them as a cavalry unit of, say, 500 bears and riders is going to be tough. Getting them to charge in a line without any conflicts, especially where their young are concerned, is also going to be bothersome.
They're not a stampeding animal. While they can run someone down, they use their weight to pin something down. They're slow after making initial close quarters combat, wildly swiping with heavy strikes that can do a lot of damage.... provided they're the only predator. Otherwise a pack of dogs can tear them apart, and they're less dangerous than defenders armed with long pointy weapons or deeply stabbing instruments.

So they're not good at lining up and moving amonst one another, they're not particularly good at charging, they're not going to be much use beyond breaking the initial shield wall (assuming there is one), and leave the rider vulnerable from the start of combat until the inevitable and timely death. This is all assuming the enemy has little to no ranged capabilities, with siege weapons that would hit them easier than a horseman. If it's mounted ranged infantry, they're done for. And good luck learning how to aim and shoot on bear-back (ooh matron).

More assumptions have to be made as well; that bears are easily domesticated, which they're not. They go where food is. Recently I learnt that a guard dog was being bribed by a bear with deer bones in order to get to the guard dog's owner's trash. This was successful, meaning they'll do what it takes for food. They can be quite crafty, as we've seen with things like getting honey from a bee hive unharmed, or being excellent hunters of fish. Domesticating them is possible, but for how long? How much food must one bear consume each day? I don't know the exact figures, but it's between "more than you can offer" and "more than you can offer". Then multiply that by however many bears you need for an effective cavalry force (enough so that you've got plenty left by the time they reach the enemy, which won't be many, because Bear Cavalry's stupid).

Bears also hibernate, so you can forget fighting during winter or other cold conditions where they'll need extrordinary amounts of rest and plenty of food in their bellies to help them survive during that time. There's no food they can access in the winter, and if they can't get it with their long claws and snouts, a Dwarf isn't going to with their stubby little hands living in a cave won't either.

That's another thing; what on God's green tiramasu are you doing with bears in the first place? Why not something local? Because bears don't grow in caves. They grow in trees, and Dwarves don't have trees unless they're Dwemer (which aren't Dwarves in the typical fantasy sense but another kind of elf). They're not suited to cave-like structures where no berries grow or where there's no waterborne food sources; they need wooded areas with winter-killed prey animals and areas with lots of water. Some caves might have this, but mine don't, so Bear Cavalry isn't going in my D&D setting.

And what does one get from Bear Cavalry, exactly? Furs from the killed ones? Not if their pelts are ruined in combat. And are their pelts so good that they're worth the amount of food you have to get for them, and the risk to your own life? What about entertainment? Dwarves have plenty of ways to entertain themselves. You want to see a bear dance, go to a city or a travelling circus, a bear isn't going to last five minutes in a Dwarven hovel. You get no milk, and their meat tastes like their last meal because they're need to get as much nutrition per meal as possible. And because it's a large prey animal, horses will have a lot more meat on their bones. There's simply more creatures that yield better produce all year around, dead or alive, than bears.

You want to do something better than Bear Cavalry? Goat Cavalry. They live near and on mountains, can be domesticated, produce milk and apparently taste quite nice. They have horns, which are good for charging and perhaps even steering them. Because they excel in travelling up mountains, you can escape non-Dwarven attackers who have less proficiency in that environment, even with equipment. A mountain goat can go up with no problems at all, and you've just got to feed them grass, berries and tin cans. A lot less than a bear, I might add. And they're fast. And they hit hard, so they're great for cavalry. Because we're talking about cavalry.

There's a case to be made for Giant Spiders, as seen in Warhammer Fantasy with its Night Goblin Spider Riders. These guys excel in cavernous environments, able to crawl upon walls silently to ambush, having venomous bites and stings, and have a meat-based diet so you can feed friend and foe alike to keep them happy. I can hardly call it domestication, but if food is plentiful and its home goes relatively undisturbed (or you can make a bargain with the Spider Queen), they won't move away. Problem is they're squishy, and Dwarves excel at making weapons that squish squishy things. As for what they produce, they can create silk, venom (poison), and should they lose limbs they too can be used as spear weapons. I'm sure their innards are good for alchemy.

I'm of the belief that fantasy isn't an excuse to go ham and expect the consumer to suspend all disbelief. There are certain things you can't make them change their mind on. Some people would be fine with Bear Cavalry. It's fun, but I can't look at it seriously and wouldn't go through the bottom ache of trying to stat and balance it. Even for a single character to travel with/on, do I really want to look at the stats for a horse and try and balance it, taking into account its speed, health, damage, diet and lifestyle? Nope. You don't either, because you've got more important things to do.

In my campaign setting, there's a mad Dwarven King who - amongst many things - used bear cavalry, which ruined the economy, cost the lives of a lot of his soldiers, were unruly and ultimately ended in his death. The battle quickly led to a tactical withdrawal to their mountain home, where they successfully held out a siege. Since then, their military treatise was revised and their culture saw a rapid change, going from upholding the honour of the clan first and foremost to doing the right thing for yourself, within the bounds of the law. Most things I've banned will likely be relegated to "because the mad Dwarven King did it, and everybody hated it".

If you want to change the rules of a single animal for your campaign setting or game, go ahead. If you go crazy with it, I'd like to see how you make it work. And if you can make the world work with that in mind, even better.

Besides, who ever said "a bear, a bear, my kingdom for a bear"? People who eat Corn Flakes with a fork, I'd imagine.

does darkspyro have an upvote button yet

Quote: hardcoreignitor

christ on a bike

i keep rereading my old posts circa 2012, and i hate that i was "that kid" for so long

i know i've said this before, but again, to anyone that knew me as the 11-13 year old kid with the personality of a gnat, i'm really ****ing sorry

i'm a lot better now, but i'll never be 100% over the fact that i used to treat the people here like **** because i felt like i didn't fit in anywhere else and just wanted friends

but hey, that was over 5 years ago. most of those people are long gone from here. i just wish they knew that i'm sorry.

hahaha you're fine dude. people forgave me for my pre-2013 days

mental health is called watching the fire emblem anime english dub on youtube 2 hours before your birthday hits

I wish I was a lot less clumsy, maybe then my body wouldn't be hurt from being caught on or randomly hitting furniture.

Oh sweet rest.
Find me at my home.

today went probably just as awful as it could have gone
i had such a nice streak of good things happening to me, why did it all have to come crashing down on my birthday of all days?

Well as of last night it’s been a full year since I last heard from you now

I hope things get/have gotten at least slightly better for you

I got to work on myself if I want it

i just want this to be done. i want to be a different person. as in an entirely different person from my actual identity.

- - -

- - -

S & C community: please please give us remakes of our beloved classics, please!

*gets remakes*

S & C community: oh..my..god FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST- no more remakes! jeez!



Why'd you peeps ask then?

do you actually enjoy anything, or are you just a professional hardass?

i wish i could just disappear

Spoiler'd for language:

I just typed a long post and deleted it but it can be summed up as saying I guess I really haven't moved on after all.

it's actually pretty amazing how much my mental state has improved in the past month after our last conversation. i've finally let it go.

Friendly reminder that people change and sometimes deserve second chances. This isn't about me btw.

- - -

is this going to continue to push the limits of my morals? because if so, im out

lol i wish school was done with for the summer

Happy 20th birthday. I miss you

Just laugh. Just laugh it off. Only thing I can do anymore.

I am rapidly losing myself, I can't take much more of this

I wonder if anyone ever sees me and thinks "hey I remember him, he used to be so happy. I wonder what happened to make him this way?"

HHHHH

i want some of these clothes...

i wish i had more money
;;;;;;;;;;;;

Oh also there was someone I was having a conversation with a month or so ago and I never replied because I was having a hard time staying on topic of our conversation but then I deleted my inbox and sent box for some reason so if that person was you I apologize and also sorry for not using any punctuation in this post

I feel like trash

Please don't throw me away...

I get it now. It’s always been her fault why I’m so insecure.

Wondering why people snap at anything I say even when I just feel worried about the state of the fandom...also I’m past any hating on Skylanders.

I guess that this was a case of nothing after all. It is not like anybody is to blame. The fact of the matter is that I may not be the best person to be associated with by any personal means. The only things left are to move forward and indulge in endeavours that bring authentic feel-good sensations to one's own life and to kill some time. The sand in the hourglass is running, damn it.

stop copying me

This topic is like a bottle, filling up with raw human emotion for the past seven years.
It's a truly amazing topic.

After reading a few pages though, sometimes I wish I could hug all of you and support you all.
Through whatever tough times you're all having.

...But alas, my arms aren't long enough.
Wish you all the best in whatever difficulties stand in your way.

God I feel so much better

Two nights ago, I dreamed I went to that place I talked about before. Unfortunately, the same thing happened in last night's dream. I can't keep fighting this.

man, what happened to my art ... i was getting better then i just stopped trying ... when did i lose the motivation to put in the bare minimum effort

6 years together, man. That's a long time lol
Happy Anniversary love <3

_________

This site is entering a dark ages phase, this site is so slow and dead.