Pets, Taming, and Ranching.

Good points ... but what would be the beneficial relationship with a dragon? We feed it? We give it half of all our loot? It would make for an interesting model, the price for having the power of a pseudo dragon is half of all your in game loot

 

Well, it would depend on the size of dragon, I'd guess, and what type of relationship you have with it. There have been many stories with dragon-riders, and I'd suppose if at some time there's a dragon as a mount in the game, it would probably at least a horse sized one ( a drake ), and would be somewhat independent, but would appreciate whatever it is you can give them, food or whatever. It would probably be hard to tame and gain its respect, just like its hard to tame a wolf... but it is possible to tame a wolf. Then, we can talk about even smaller dragons, like dragonets, that might be easier to tame. Large sized dragons probably would be impossible by normal means and would require a magical charm spell.

 

I like what you are saying and I agree. Dragon Knights/tamers from a variety of lore normally share a bond with their mounts.

The bond is often explained as telepathy between both parties leading to a co-equal partnership... a lot of the lore actually has the dragon "choosing" the human, the human being predestined for bonding with that particular dragon, etc.

For simple beasts, like domesticated animals, normal taming practices should apply. Wild animals should be quite hard to tame, but within the realm of possibility. But, for supernatural beasts, it should take extremely difficult quests and very powerful magical items to facilitate communication with the drake, cockatrice, griffin, etc. Even then, successful taming should not be guaranteed.

I suppose subjugating supernatural beasts into compliance by "force" could be possible too, but with the added risk that the beast will eventually turn on you since it was "tamed" without its consent.

 

Whatever the case is, I hope really powerful or supernatural creatures are very difficult not only to get in the first place, but also to keep as an ally... probably requiring a magic charm, but they would leave you much faster than a horse would if they don't find the relationship reciprocal. And personally I hope they limit the amount of really exotic pets and steeds. The version of UO I played had a bunch of exotic stuff in it that I didn't find appropriate for the setting.

 

If any dragons are tamed in SoTA I say Dragonets only (and I'm pitching the cockatrice idea) ... I'm conflicted on dragons as mounts ...

on one hand it would amazing to have a mount that could be ridden and used in battle but I also want the world to make sense, having large dragons as pets or utilized for transportation would be heading in the wrong direction in my eyes from a believable world perspective

 

You'd have to change the cockatrice from the folklore then, cause they're essentially the same thing as basilisks.. they turn people to stone with a gaze The cockatrice/basilisk was called 'king of the serpents' for a reason.

There are flightless types of dragons too, and they might also be candidates if a flying pet is an issue.

 

Ahh man, turning people into stones would be just a tad bit over powering ... I'm gonna have to do a little research and fine a suitable replacement (I may just have to make one up ... lol )

 

Another candidate might be the sirrush, which is a dragon-like hybrid creature that appears on the Ishtar gate, along with the aurochs (the undomesticated predecessor of cattle) and lion.




It has feline front legs, and aquiline back legs -- or possibly both reptilian, but appearing as such in structure. In stories, the beast is used as a guardian, but generally for magical things, so would require some magical ability to tame one.

 

That's kind of what happened with the movie: "How to train your Dragon" - the dragon's tail was damaged and it could no longer fly, so it depended on Hiccup to fly, forming that bond.

I hope when we train creatures we'll be able to go through the process of forming that bond with a creature, and perhaps there could be several different approaches to form that bond, using fear and intimidation vs. trust and mutual respect. both should work and possibly create bonds that promote different 'effects' during the relationship.

 

One of my favorite movies ... ditto on being able to form bonds: taming should be a little more involved than blowing a whistle or beating up a monster into submission

 

it also acts as a gold sink because tamers in UO were ultra rich! That was imbalanced because tamers could kill the toughest monsters with little risk, and great reward.

 

I like the idea that certain animals provide unique skills to the owner. That way, there is a good reason to have a wide variety of them, rather than just "this one breathes fire" or "this pet has the highest dps". Bonding could enhance the skill(s).

It also means the highest "level" creatures aren't always the most desirable, if the skills conferred to the owner are made attractive enough.

It could even be thematic, such that mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and "magical" all have particular skills, modifiers or enhancements they provide to the owner. Simplistic things such as "extends buffs from food and drink" could expand to "empowers buffs from food and drink" to "creates a shared aura from food and drink buffs" as the bond were strengthened.
This would be entirely passive, and separate from the active skills such as echo location of hidden targets, olfactory detection of hidden targets and/or tracking, enhanced Gathering in quantity, quality or speed.

There's a really good opportunity here to create an innovative mechanic with great depth.

 

So here is a list of creatures that could possibly be incorporated into SoTA for the purpose of combat oriented pets
(depending on their historical origin and a little creativity I may add a skill that would be useful outside of combat)

... for the sake of brevity I'll continue to post longer description and images of each creature in subsequent posts

The obvious limitation to these suggestions is that in order for these creatures to become pets they have to exist in the game world - and that presents problems - I'll ignore that for know and post the list.

Some of the creatures have appeared in previous Ultima games - so depending on Ultima lore - that may present additional concerns

All the creatures are non-flying (I imagine that it would be easier to incorporate them into the game world) and many are hybrids (human animal blend) ... and lastly some can be equipped with weapons and armor

I have not given any thought to the "tame-ability" of these creatures ... I just figured I'd get the ball rolling

--

Chimera
Cyclops
Cynocephalus
Golem
Imp
Minotaur
Orthros / Cerberus
Bugbear
Nandi Bear (mix between a hyena and a bear)
Manticore
Nemean lion
aqrabuamelu or girtablilu (scorpion man)
Adlet
Amarok (wolf)

Aralez - Aralezner - The oldest gods in the Armenian pantheon, Aralez are dog-like creatures with powers to resuscitate fallen warriors and resurrect the dead by licking wounds clean.

Barghest
Crocotta
Wendigo
Ipotane
Karkadann (rhino like)
Emela-ntouka
Feathered serpent

 

I always liked the cu sidhe that you could ride and also he healed and resed you. But probably we won't see that in SotA.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

Chimera (Goat, Lion head with Snake tail - but the formula could be changed and have for example Two Lion Heads and a Scorpion tail)


2. Cyclops (A lot of times they are portrayed as giants, but they don't have to be of that stature)


3. Cynocephalus (Man with a Dog Head)

 

4. Golem (Earth Golem)

5. Imp (ok, so forget about the wings and we are in business ... fire imp )


6. Minotaur

 

I'm going to free your manticore from bottle-jail...

 

7. Orthros / Cerberus (Take your pick a 2 headed or a 3 headed dog creature ... and I didn't know they were brothers ..lol



8. Bugbear (Man with Bear Head - although in this illustration it looks more like a man bear)


9. Nandi Bear (mix between a hyena and a bear - modern day folklore; folks in Africa say they exist)

 

10. Manticore


11. Nemean lion ( It could not be killed with mortal weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack)


12. Aqrabuamelu or girtablilu (scorpion man) ... (can you smell what the rock is cooking?)

 

13. Adlet (Man with a Wolf Head ... part of Inuit folk lore)

14. Amarok (Wolf a wolf in Inuit mythology)

15. Aralez (The oldest gods in the Armenian pantheon, Aralez are dog-like creatures with powers to resuscitate fallen warriors and resurrect the dead by licking wounds clean.)