Re: Re: Camels, too?
CCamfield said:
I'm running a desert campaign as well. If In The Saddle doesn't cover camels, I'll see if it sparks ideas for different types of camels and post in House Rules.
Off the top of my head, I can think of "regular" camels and "racing" camels which are slimmer but faster. (I think there were references to racing camels in the Parsina Saga series by Steven Goldin)
Let's see. You've got dromedaries and bactrians, which could be divided into draft and riding animals. Some rich Saudi families have stables of specially bred racing dromedaries.
The wild dromedary is extinct. There is a sizable feral dromedary population in Australia. The wild bactrian is nearly extinct. The dromedary is an animal of hot arid lands, the bactrian is an animal of cold arid lands. So you're not going to find a dromedary in a Central Asian like realm, or a bactrian in your setting's version of Arabia.
South America has three cameloids, the llama (pack animal, wool and meat), the alpaca (wool and meat), and the vicuna (wild animal, sometimes hunted for its meat). All three are too small to be a viable riding animal for any but the smallest of people. I would have to say that dwarfs are too heavy, but halflings, goblins, and gnomes are the right size.
Odd Notes:
There are wilderness outfitters in the U.S. who have llamas for hire as pack animals. In addition, there are llamas working as caddies on some golf courses, and same sheepherders are using llamas as guards for their sheep.
Should your players find themselves in a new land, they may find themselves hiring a llama-like beast for a pack animal instead of the traditional mule.
Hope this helps.
