Subject: [7th Sea RPG] [7thsea RPG] off topic: bears Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 20:51:35 -0700 From: Eric R Sylwester On the subject of Pyreym forms, a lot of opinion have been flying about. Here are some bear facts which I got off the net. The information is kind of scattered. Couldn't find anything equivalent for Draft Horses because every site I looked up was concerned with buying/selling/breeding, not their history or biological data. So: -There are 8 breeds of bear. They are all omnivorous to one extent or the other. I didn't write them all down. -Brown is the most ubiquitous, occurring all over the northern hemisphere. -There is a large variability in size, but the large (male) brown bears can weigh over 1500 lb and stand higher than 10 feet. Their claws can grow up to 4.75 inches (12 cm) or more long. They can run 55-65 kph, climb trees, swim, and have better senses of hearing and smell than a human. They have good night vision and can respond to different colors but not much else specifically is known about their sight. -A "grizzly" is just another name for a brown bear (it's the same animal). Generally, people call inland bears grizzlys. These inland bears generally grow larger than coastal brown bears. -A "kodiak" is a brown bear from Kodiak island, Alaska. They are referred to as "the Giant brown bears" but I couldn't find anything about their actual size so I am assuming that at best they grow to be the size of polar bears. -The polar bear weighs in at 2200 lb and is currently the world's largest omnivore (did the page forget to add '...on land'??). They are actually larger than prehistoric Cave Bears, a breed that averaged about 880 lb (I figured double this "average" is probably on par with the estimates for "the larger" brown and polar bears stats given above). Some revised stats for Pyreym "Grizzly" bear form (IMO, IMO, IMO....): TN unchanged. Brawn +3, Finesse +0, Panache -1 Climb, Swim, Night vision, Claws 0k3, Bite 0k1 Hibernates: if you turn into a bear in winter, you get an additianal -1 panache, -1 finesse, and -1 resolve. You will also want to sleep about 20 hours a day. Remaining awake after the first 4 hours requires a Resolve test vs TN 5, increasing by 5 for every hour that goes by. All trait changes are considered a single boon for adept & master changes. Notes: I switched the penalty from finesse to panache because any animal that can grab fish out of the water has to have great reflexes. Better than mine, anyway. Also I added the hibernation thing as a balance, making this form more useful (than the one in the book) 9 months of the year but significantly less useful the other 3 months. Eric S. for James: honorable gentleman look just like Panda bear....caaaw, caaaw like Panda bear.... -- Contents Copyright (C) 1997,98,99 by ALDERAC ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.