01-14-2011, 11:45 PM
I don't really feel that Neopolitan Mastiffs would do very well in the 'Soulsverse, especially if they remained purebred. Mastiffs have very wrinkled faces and short snouts, giving them huge disadvantages in sight and smell, and probably to some extent, hearing. Their massive size also puts heavy strain on their bones, and they would need to eat a looooot of food to maintain their weight -- food that they would have a hard time getting with diminished hunting skills. They also tend not to be very active, since they can't continuously output the amount of energy needed to move themselves around. And they also don't live very long (7-9 years, apparently).
So I don't think a mastiff is a good breed to choose, at least in purebred form. It would be more realistic to have a mixbreed that might have some mastiff in them. As far as size goes, though mastiffs are naturally large, their optime forms would not necessarily be significantly larger than a wolf optime's. I've given this example before, but consider an average sized wolf and an average sized mastiff in lupus form. The mastiff would be larger than the wolf. When both are in optime, the mastiff would still be larger, but the difference would not be as big as it was when they were both lupus because the general range of optimes does not vary as much as the general range of lupuses.
If you had a mastiff/wolf hybrid (though I'd recommend more wolf than mastiff, citing above concerns re: mastiffs), its lupus form may be much larger than an average wolf, and as such, its optime form would be larger than the average wolf, though again, the difference would not be as pronounced.
I HOPE THAT HELPS. :O
For more information about the size of Luperci, see the RP Guide.
So I don't think a mastiff is a good breed to choose, at least in purebred form. It would be more realistic to have a mixbreed that might have some mastiff in them. As far as size goes, though mastiffs are naturally large, their optime forms would not necessarily be significantly larger than a wolf optime's. I've given this example before, but consider an average sized wolf and an average sized mastiff in lupus form. The mastiff would be larger than the wolf. When both are in optime, the mastiff would still be larger, but the difference would not be as big as it was when they were both lupus because the general range of optimes does not vary as much as the general range of lupuses.
If you had a mastiff/wolf hybrid (though I'd recommend more wolf than mastiff, citing above concerns re: mastiffs), its lupus form may be much larger than an average wolf, and as such, its optime form would be larger than the average wolf, though again, the difference would not be as pronounced.
I HOPE THAT HELPS. :O
For more information about the size of Luperci, see the RP Guide.