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Aslan claws... something that has bothered me for 20 years

J

Jamus

SOC-12
Aslan have a single highly specialized claw under each thumb which folds back jacknife fashion into a horny covering in the base of the thumb and palm.
Click to expand...
this is something i changed with a quickness in my traveller game, I went with the more feline quality of aslan as depected in the library section of twilights peak. basically retractable claws on each finger.

left as is one wonders how the poor aslan can grip anything and exactly how much force could a jack knife type claw take before snapping off.. over all i am thinking the canon view on the aslan claw is unrealistic.

not only unrealistic but more of a hinderance to our poor aslan friend then a benifit.

IMO that is.


Jamus apGurlrik
proud solamani
 
Aslan have a single highly specialized claw under each thumb which folds back jacknife fashion into a horny covering in the base of the thumb and palm.
Click to expand...
this is something i changed with a quickness in my traveller game, I went with the more feline quality of aslan as depected in the library section of twilights peak. basically retractable claws on each finger.

left as is one wonders how the poor aslan can grip anything and exactly how much force could a jack knife type claw take before snapping off.. over all i am thinking the canon view on the aslan claw is unrealistic.

not only unrealistic but more of a hinderance to our poor aslan friend then a benifit.

IMO that is.


Jamus apGurlrik
proud solamani
 
It was intended to be a little bit of a hinderance, giving Aslan a minus when using tools and weapons designed for humans, and vice versa.

As far as using the dewclaw as a weapon, the illustrations I remember always seemed to show the claw kind of laying back against the thumb, which would seem to indicate that the claw was used with an outward and upward, slashing/ripping kind of move, not a raking/clawing downward type of attack.

At least, that's how I always interpreted it. With the thumb behind the claw to add strength and reinforcement, I'd think the dewclaw could be a dangerous weapon.
 
It was intended to be a little bit of a hinderance, giving Aslan a minus when using tools and weapons designed for humans, and vice versa.

As far as using the dewclaw as a weapon, the illustrations I remember always seemed to show the claw kind of laying back against the thumb, which would seem to indicate that the claw was used with an outward and upward, slashing/ripping kind of move, not a raking/clawing downward type of attack.

At least, that's how I always interpreted it. With the thumb behind the claw to add strength and reinforcement, I'd think the dewclaw could be a dangerous weapon.
 
I can see where your coming from but still find the idea of a jack knife folding dew claw improbable and as i said a hinderance to activities such as climbing trees or gripping tools where retractable cat-like claws would be advantagious in the first and no hinderance in the second situation. looking at it from an evolutionary stance I would ask...why would a creature develope in such a way.

the engineering of the jack knife style dew-claw seems less than likely, just imagine the specialized tendons and muscles that would be required and how these would affect the aslans ability to use his hands.
 
I can see where your coming from but still find the idea of a jack knife folding dew claw improbable and as i said a hinderance to activities such as climbing trees or gripping tools where retractable cat-like claws would be advantagious in the first and no hinderance in the second situation. looking at it from an evolutionary stance I would ask...why would a creature develope in such a way.

the engineering of the jack knife style dew-claw seems less than likely, just imagine the specialized tendons and muscles that would be required and how these would affect the aslans ability to use his hands.
 
Perhaps a holdout of a Velociraptor type adaptaion? a method to quick kill a moving Herd animal? Perhaps proto-Aslan killed prey animals by grabbing them and puncturing the vitals with the claws first, then biting them? There must be (or at least should be) some reason that it ties into the Aslan's basic humanoid shape...

Is there a link to a definitve picture of what this is about? I have always found this concept confusing as well, due to conflicting representation...
 
Perhaps a holdout of a Velociraptor type adaptaion? a method to quick kill a moving Herd animal? Perhaps proto-Aslan killed prey animals by grabbing them and puncturing the vitals with the claws first, then biting them? There must be (or at least should be) some reason that it ties into the Aslan's basic humanoid shape...

Is there a link to a definitve picture of what this is about? I have always found this concept confusing as well, due to conflicting representation...
 
One ting is certain, though... the illustration on page 46 of "GURPS Alien Races 2" is just plain impossible... how would the thumb move?

Why wouldn't it snap off?

Do aslan use some sort of "Claw Slot Floss" ?

What do the Thumb bones look like, a tuning fork?
 
One ting is certain, though... the illustration on page 46 of "GURPS Alien Races 2" is just plain impossible... how would the thumb move?

Why wouldn't it snap off?

Do aslan use some sort of "Claw Slot Floss" ?

What do the Thumb bones look like, a tuning fork?
 
True, however the illustration in twilights peak shows the aslan as having the more common cat-like claws.

the dew claw as discribed would be an evolutionary hinderance. remember that the proto aslan was a forest dweller and would have used its hands and claws to climb and move through the canopy or to grasp prey it had pounced upon.
 
True, however the illustration in twilights peak shows the aslan as having the more common cat-like claws.

the dew claw as discribed would be an evolutionary hinderance. remember that the proto aslan was a forest dweller and would have used its hands and claws to climb and move through the canopy or to grasp prey it had pounced upon.
 
And Twilight's peak is wrong.

AM: Aslan is the definitive. Also note that the thumb is centered on the heel of the hand, directly opposite the middle of three fingers. THe dewclaw is on the insde of it. THe dewclaw need not be large, just sturdy.

It is NOT a human configured hand. For nomal owrk, i figure the less flexible thumb, being more centrally located, is made up for by the fingers being more able to flex to it.

The penalty for human stuff comes from wrong fit, not just dewclaw... places for the thumb expect more flexibility and VERY different relative placement.

Unlike those Vargr, who have primate hand genes spliced into an otherwise very wolven genome.
 
And Twilight's peak is wrong.

AM: Aslan is the definitive. Also note that the thumb is centered on the heel of the hand, directly opposite the middle of three fingers. THe dewclaw is on the insde of it. THe dewclaw need not be large, just sturdy.

It is NOT a human configured hand. For nomal owrk, i figure the less flexible thumb, being more centrally located, is made up for by the fingers being more able to flex to it.

The penalty for human stuff comes from wrong fit, not just dewclaw... places for the thumb expect more flexibility and VERY different relative placement.

Unlike those Vargr, who have primate hand genes spliced into an otherwise very wolven genome.
 
Fair enough, think I am going to be a heretic and stick with my human style hand-cat claw having Aslan...just makes more sense to me.


I think it would be interesting to see a few pics of Aslan hand tools. I wonder at what there black smith hammer and tongs would have looked like.. especially the plyers.. with out a fully articulated thumb i really think it would be very difficult to use.

I guess I feel the aslan thumb was made intentionally odd to give the race a more alien and less feline feel inspite of what evolution has shown us in regards to successful hand design.

regardless good convo all I appreciate your responses.


james
 
Fair enough, think I am going to be a heretic and stick with my human style hand-cat claw having Aslan...just makes more sense to me.


I think it would be interesting to see a few pics of Aslan hand tools. I wonder at what there black smith hammer and tongs would have looked like.. especially the plyers.. with out a fully articulated thumb i really think it would be very difficult to use.

I guess I feel the aslan thumb was made intentionally odd to give the race a more alien and less feline feel inspite of what evolution has shown us in regards to successful hand design.

regardless good convo all I appreciate your responses.


james
 
If your right about an aslan being a forest dweller at an earlier time in history.then think on this for example; if the dew claw is centrally located as aramis suggests then it would be in an ideal location for help the aslans climb trees and to hold on to branches easier.don't you think??????
 
If your right about an aslan being a forest dweller at an earlier time in history.then think on this for example; if the dew claw is centrally located as aramis suggests then it would be in an ideal location for help the aslans climb trees and to hold on to branches easier.don't you think??????
 
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