: **Special Bonus Discussion Item!!**
: Is it just me, or are the Mauls in GURPS and the
: pre/postgame pics a *lot* bigger and meaner-looking
: than the ones in-game? People have been remarking on
: this with the Krids for a long time, but it just
: struck me even more strongly with the Mauls. Are they
: just stooped over too much for their real size to be
: apparent, or are they actually smaller in-game than
: they should be?
: --SiliconDream
Sorry to respond only to your secondary issue, but it really struck a chord with me. I hadn't noticed the discrepancy you speak of, but I've always had a secret fear of mauls... well, you know what I mean. I think that in-game they're handled a lot better than the Myrks, which is a little paradoxical: after all, there was so much buildup on how nasty the Myrks were, how dangerous they were and how mad the Summoner had to be to bring them back... and by the time you actually see them, you already have Alric on your side (and later the Deceiver), so they just don't measure up. Alternatively, nobody ever heard of the mauls (prove me wrong!) until that first pre-game pic on the Stair of Grief level.
And then... it begins. On that level, at least until you figure out you can get your dwarves up on the higher ground, you're doomed. The mauls smash you into the ice--no contest. It doesn't hurt that they're so much more massive than the Myrks, or that they have those nasty clubs.
When I think of mauls I think of two levels: the Stair of Grief, and a Murder of Crows. How many times did we all watch our newly-freed archers running for their lives from a couple of maul guards? They made Soulblighter look like a wuss. The mauls are handled perfectly--not so tough they can't be overcome, but when you run across them you know you're in trouble. The Myrks, though sometimes they do catch you off your guard, are always encountered from a position of strength--how many of them get blown up without a chance to fight back? How many get KIKd without a chance to go berserk? Like the Shades and the Fallen Lords, they seem almost set up to fail or at best to act as figureheads, metaphors for trouble.
So in response to your question: they do look huge in the pregame pics, but I've always taken that as just a metaphor for how nasty they actually turn out to be.
Anyway, that's what I think. You know what? It's kind of cathartic to post like this. Enough of the big grand theory competition--who's afraid of Fetch? :)
