Do Wolfen have tails?

[Nightmask]

Yes they have tails, their space cousins in Phase World are noted to dislike the one suit of Body Armor because of how uncomfortable it is fitting their tails into the tail pockets. So when you don't see tails in the art it's either tucked/hidden away or the artist just was lazy and didn't draw it.

[Gthomas41571]

Yup they do, we actually had a player get his tail stuck in a door once, when he was trying to sneak up and assassinate someone in there house.. It didn't end well....

[MADMANMIKE]

...So when you don't see tails in the art it's either tucked/hidden away or the artist just was lazy and didn't draw it.

I will point out that a wolf's tail is generally not longer than it's thigh, and that the commonality of the long loin cloth in fantasy clothing, coupled with the lack of dynamism in full-on profile or backside shots of a character make the position of the tail hidden in most of the artwork...

There's a Wolfen Gladiator in my Palladium Fantasy Paper Miniatures Freebie Sample pack, and it's got front and back side art, so you can see the tail; it will be available whenever I get finished with the final for sale packages..

[robertbc73]

Not to mention if a suit did hide or protect their tail, their balance would be affected. Also its a way of also communicating non-verbally with others of their species.

[Tor]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Wolfen (and I think the Coyles and Kankoran) all have the canine legs with the reversed knees.

Alu Demons on the other hand, have normal human-like leg joints.

[The Dark Elf]

In the Wolfen Empire sourcebook there are three pictures of wolfen with tails.

p6 wolfen standing over a decapitated head
p10 wolfen female(?) lying down on the right
p27 wolfen on the right (tail is black)

[Soldier of Od]

I think we always need to take any art with a pinch of salt when it comes to determining canon. However, the original picture of the wolfen in the first edition of monsters and animals, and the pictures of the coyles and the kankoran all have tails. And these were all drawn by Kevin Siembieda himself. I think drawings by the creator of the race can provide much confidence as to its intended appearance.

[bradshaw]

Easy answer: In the three Galaxies it was originally a type of rebellious expression for a Wolfen to have it's tail surgically removed. After some time this behavior became imitated by no so rebellious others until it became trendy and fashionable; and due to a new tail being easy enough to reattach most Wolfen parents who never had their tails "clipped" usually don't mind. A lot of Wolfen on the Palladium world lose their tails due to frost bite from harsh weather conditions and numerous battle with savage sharp toothed and blade wielding creatures. (The very young especially need to watch out for angry farmers with butcher knives while they go out to swipe Chickens and spiced wine.)

[gdub411]

So, when they're excited or happy, do they wag their tails?

[azazel1024]

So, when they're excited or happy, do they wag their tails?

Nope, they shake their hands.

[Nightmask]

Quick real life story- When I was 15, I was working for our small town vet doing grounds maintenance and stuff. One afternoon his assistance was out for lunch so he called out the window to me, "hey, could you come in here for a few minutes?" So, he had me holding these new born puppies while he cut the tails off and sewed them up (it was some breed that you were suppose to do that). Then he paused for a second and asked me, "do you have a girlfriend? Because these tails could make some pretty good earrings." In horror I stared at him and replied "uh...no I don't."

To relate this to Wolfen- I think there could be a tribe that does this to their young for the convenience of armor wearing. Or, it could be a thing of shame!

what do ya think?

I have to think that cutting a dog's tail off is never anything but inhumane (like people having their dogs mutilated by severing their vocal cords because they don't want to deal with them barking), so I'd go purely with the idea that if Wolfen did something like that it would be a mark of shame. Much like certain draconian laws and religions that did things like cutting the hands off of thieves in real life. I can't imagine one let alone a society develop a tail-removing practice, it'd have to be warped if one somehow did develop, given tails are part of their body language/conversation and would be like a human being with facial paralysis: you'd have trouble reading their emotions due to the mask that their faces now were.

[ZorValachan]

About 20 years ago, I wrote Kevin a letter asking if wolfen could ride horses because of how they had tails and digitrade legs (because there was no internet and he would answer letters, cause he is cool like that). I actually do not remember his reply. I would have to go through tons of boxed things to maybe find it. But I do remember that they DID have tails. In 1st edition we allowed them to ride horses, but when I designed my own game the a wolf-man race in it (along with the lizard-man race) cannot ride horses due to leg and tails issues.

[Nightmask]

About 20 years ago, I wrote Kevin a letter asking if wolfen could ride horses because of how they had tails and digitrade legs (because there was no internet and he would answer letters, cause he is cool like that). I actually do not remember his reply. I would have to go through tons of boxed things to maybe find it. But I do remember that they DID have tails. In 1st edition we allowed them to ride horses, but when I designed my own game the a wolf-man race in it (along with the lizard-man race) cannot ride horses due to leg and tails issues.

Hmmm, don't see why their tails would interfere with riding horses. Maybe problems doing it bareback but you could make saddles to compensate for any problems a tail might have.

[MADMANMIKE]

About 20 years ago, I wrote Kevin a letter asking if wolfen could ride horses because of how they had tails and digitrade legs (because there was no internet and he would answer letters, cause he is cool like that). I actually do not remember his reply. I would have to go through tons of boxed things to maybe find it. But I do remember that they DID have tails. In 1st edition we allowed them to ride horses, but when I designed my own game the a wolf-man race in it (along with the lizard-man race) cannot ride horses due to leg and tails issues.

I would not allow a Wolfen to ride a horse for the simple fact that their max average weight is 50lbs more than a war horse can carry, and the largest horse will still only stand as tall as their waist. It would be like me trying to ride a large dog...

I'll put together a height comparison image and link it here in a while..

[MADMANMIKE]

While the Horse one is rendering, here's a human to Wolfen scale comparison image: http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9417/wolfenscale.jpg

[MADMANMIKE]

Okay, here ya go; this was just a quick throw together, one of Baron Marquest's personal guards and the Baron's war horse.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6586/w ... escale.jpg

[ZorValachan]

MMM, just curious: Which figure do you use for your wolfen?

[MADMANMIKE]

MMM, just curious: Which figure do you use for your wolfen?

I use Lycanthropos, but since there aren't any clothes or armor to speak of for it, I've conformed both M3 and M4 to him. My computer is too old to use any version of D|S more recent than 2.3, otherwise I'd just conform the outfits directly to the figure or use Genesis... No money, big bills, on worker's compensation, all equals no upgrades..

[ZorValachan]

Understandable. I'm still using M3 too. I got something from Sixus to make M3 a wolfen, but they had a falling out with DAZ very soon after and yanked it a week after release.

Back to wolfen: We used bigger horses and our wolfen were in the smaller 7-8' range (i just looked to remember they can go 7-10', so smaller ones would be like a person riding a donkey. But again legs might cause a problem.

[Library Ogre]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Wolfen (and I think the Coyles and Kankoran) all have the canine legs with the reversed knees.

Alu Demons on the other hand, have normal human-like leg joints.

It is not so much "reversed knees" as their "knee" being our "ankle", anatomically, and them effectively walking on their toes.

I maintain wolfen tails (and size) are why they generally don't go in for mounted cavalry, preferring to outsource it to humans or using chariots (which are a really bad idea in the forest).

[MADMANMIKE]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Wolfen (and I think the Coyles and Kankoran) all have the canine legs with the reversed knees.

Alu Demons on the other hand, have normal human-like leg joints.

It is not so much "reversed knees" as their "knee" being our "ankle", anatomically, and them effectively walking on their toes.

I maintain wolfen tails (and size) are why they generally don't go in for mounted cavalry, preferring to outsource it to humans or using chariots (which are a really bad idea in the forest).

Don't forget the Centaur Confederation..

[Library Ogre]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Wolfen (and I think the Coyles and Kankoran) all have the canine legs with the reversed knees.

Alu Demons on the other hand, have normal human-like leg joints.

It is not so much "reversed knees" as their "knee" being our "ankle", anatomically, and them effectively walking on their toes.

I maintain wolfen tails (and size) are why they generally don't go in for mounted cavalry, preferring to outsource it to humans or using chariots (which are a really bad idea in the forest).

Don't forget the Centaur Confederation..

IIRC, the centaurs are a very small part of that. While every centaur warrior is going to effectively be a cavalryman, I question whether you're going to get a sizable force out of them.

[MADMANMIKE]

Don't forget the Centaur Federation..

IIRC, the centaurs are a very small part of that. While every centaur warrior is going to effectively be a cavalryman, I question whether you're going to get a sizable force out of them.

Perhaps.. there are only 53,000 Centaurs in the Federation...

[Library Ogre]

Don't forget the Centaur Federation..

IIRC, the centaurs are a very small part of that. While every centaur warrior is going to effectively be a cavalryman, I question whether you're going to get a sizable force out of them.

Perhaps.. there are only 53,000 Centaurs in the Federation...

Yes, but how many of those are combatants? If you're talking every adult male (roughly 20%, assuming another 20% are adult females, 50% are underaged, and 10% are senior or otherwise incapable), you're likely looking at just over two legions in strength.... and that assumes you've got nearly complete participation. 10,000 cavalry sounds like a lot... but only if you get them all in one place.