Cheetahs got lead spots? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Cheetahs got lead spots? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The Vorpal Tribble
10-13-04, 10:46 PM I was looking over my monster manual to see what kind of animals my druid character could turn into at fifth level... and I noticed that the cheetah, the fastest animal on earth, has a speed of 50 feet. The same as a heavy warhorse. Lighter horses get a speed of 60 feet.

This just another case, like dogs being more dextrous than cats, that WOTC didn't keep to realism?
Willie the Duck
10-13-04, 11:41 PM actually, it makes perfect sense. A Cheetah's "cruising speed" is relatively low, about what a nice lope is for a track horse (i.e. 50). It can produce amazing bursts of speed for a very short period of time (probably longer than what is listed in the book, but I'm guessing they decided it would never need more than a round of 500 speed movement), but very quickly hits the wall of it's inability to supply oxygen for that high a metabolic output when moving as such.
cwslyclgh
10-14-04, 12:20 AM cheatas are not that fast normaly... what makes them the fastest land animal is thier ability to sprint extreemly fast for a few seconds while chasing down prey... well look at that in the MM they have a special ability that lets them move faster then any other animal in tha game (far faster) when they charge.
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 01:19 AM Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there.
Lord Schpungus
10-14-04, 01:27 AM 10 ft/sec walking, 20 ft/sec trotting, and 40 ft/sec running? Seems reasonable to me.
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 01:29 AM 10/ft p. second is a quick jog...
Valkrist
10-14-04, 01:56 AM In case people are really curious, Horses have 5 speeds.

Stopped.
Walking
Trotting
Cantering
Galloping

It could be argued there is another speed: Running Flat Out, which they only do when spooked or beaten, and then only for a few seconds.

Horses can canter for quite a while, but not as long as they can walk. And your horse's average walking speed is actually close to that of a human (at least all the horses I have ever rode walked about the same speed I did). It's the trot (a REALLY uncomfortable gait that moves about as fast as a human at a fast job/slow run) that is what they use to move long distances.

To cover large amounts of ground at speed, people tend to alternate a canter, trot, and walk.
Of course, then there's the grazing time, but we wont go into this.

Animals are busted in DnD. Everyone has at least one animal that they point to and say "Huh?!?!?! But.. but..."

A heavy horse (clydesdale, shires, etc) has the same strength, on average, as the highest an unmodified human can reach? If you've ever been up next to one of these monsters, you will not believe this. Whether or not it's true, you wont believe it.

However, the fact is that the other posters are right... cheetahs don't run FAST for very long. In fact, the cheetah is one of the animals DnD did the BEST job with. They don't kill by biting, they kill by tripping an animal running full out. This tends to break legs and necks, and then they gut it, and this is fairly well demonstrated by the animal's attacks.
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 02:23 AM Ah, I was comparing it to broken animals. That'd explain things :rolleyes:
Purkake
10-14-04, 01:21 PM Cheetah can "sprint" for 500ft for some time. Is that better?
Lord_Naerik
10-14-04, 02:23 PM "A heavy horse (clydesdale, shires, etc) has the same strength, on average, as the highest an unmodified human can reach? If you've ever been up next to one of these monsters, you will not believe this. Whether or not it's true, you wont believe it."

Ahhh, the good old horse/strength misconception. A Large Quadruped can carry 3x as much as it's strength score indicates (PHB 3.5 pg 162). Therefore, a Heavy Horse is 3x as strong as "the highest an unmodified human can reach" on average.

Unfortunately for horses, they arent as good at transfering all that strength in combat (proportionally) as humans are. They also dont carry weapons. A horse can kick as hard as a very strong weightlifter can hit you with a Mace. That doesnt sound so far off to me.
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht
10-14-04, 02:53 PM Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there.
60 feet per round equals 6 miles per hour. A ligh warhorse with the Run feat runs at 30 mph. If anything, that's a bit low.
Purkake
10-14-04, 02:59 PM Under special qualities:

Sprint(ex): Once per hour, a cheetah can move ten times it's normal speed (500ft) when it makes a charge.

So he isn't all that slow.
cwslyclgh
10-14-04, 03:16 PM by the rules of the game the heavy horse and the cheetah both walk at a little over 5 miles per hour (5.6), asuming that neither are incumbered, and do not have the run feat both can run roughly 22 miles per hour (Which somewhat on the slow side for the horse, although to be fair we are talking about a draft horse here, they are not known for thier speed)... however the cheetah can sprint at 56 miles per hour with his special ability.

Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there.There is not a cheetah alive who can keep it there either. Cheetahs run that fast only in quick sprints that last less then half a minute or so...
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 03:53 PM There is not a cheetah alive who can keep it there either. Cheetahs run that fast only in quick sprints that last less then half a minute or so...

Which is why I made the comment about it only seems broken when compared to horses.

Also 56 is a bit slow for the cheetah.

According to the Cheetah Conservation in South Africa:

"The cheetah is capable of speed up to 72 mph (114 km/h) and can maintain this speed over an average prey chase of 3.5 miles."
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht
10-14-04, 04:12 PM According to the Cheetah Conservation in South Africa:

"The cheetah is capable of speed up to 72 mph (114 km/h) and can maintain this speed over an average prey chase of 3.5 miles."
Incidentally, they're wrong. It's extremely difficult to accurately measure the speed of an animal in the wild. However, using certain methods, the speed of the cheetah has been accurately measured. It rarely exceeds 50 mph.
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 04:52 PM I've yet to find a single site yet that puts their speed under 60. However, if you can show me where it says otherwise I'll gladly concede.
Willie the Duck
10-14-04, 08:53 PM I've yet to find a single site yet that puts their speed under 60. However, if you can show me where it says otherwise I'll gladly concede.

Did you just say site? so you're basing your understanding off the internet? Lovely.
Khaibit_Ema_Neteru
10-14-04, 09:57 PM Did you just say site? so you're basing your understanding off the internet? Lovely.

Would you prefer an outdated encyclopedia? I've checked, they have the same statistic.

As long as the site is reputable (wildlife conservatory sites are a perfect example) and not some random personal site, it's a perfectly good source.

So get off it.
The Vorpal Tribble
10-14-04, 10:44 PM :teach:
The Guiness Book of World Records, Wikipedia, and World Book encyclopedia have its speed above 55 easily.

Booyah! :tiphat:
xmcknight
10-14-04, 11:09 PM Incidentally, they're wrong. It's extremely difficult to accurately measure the speed of an animal in the wild. However, using certain methods, the speed of the cheetah has been accurately measured. It rarely exceeds 50 mph.

According to who exactly?

I tend to trust those wildlife conservitories. Especially when they have the ability to tag or collar a cheeta to see how fast he moves.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Vorpal Tribble 10-13-04, 10:46 PM	I was looking over my monster manual to see what kind of animals my druid character could turn into at fifth level... and I noticed that the cheetah, the fastest animal on earth, has a speed of 50 feet. The same as a heavy warhorse. Lighter horses get a speed of 60 feet. This just another case, like dogs being more dextrous than cats, that WOTC didn't keep to realism?
Willie the Duck 10-13-04, 11:41 PM	actually, it makes perfect sense. A Cheetah's "cruising speed" is relatively low, about what a nice lope is for a track horse (i.e. 50). It can produce amazing bursts of speed for a very short period of time (probably longer than what is listed in the book, but I'm guessing they decided it would never need more than a round of 500 speed movement), but very quickly hits the wall of it's inability to supply oxygen for that high a metabolic output when moving as such.
cwslyclgh 10-14-04, 12:20 AM	cheatas are not that fast normaly... what makes them the fastest land animal is thier ability to sprint extreemly fast for a few seconds while chasing down prey... well look at that in the MM they have a special ability that lets them move faster then any other animal in tha game (far faster) when they charge.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 01:19 AM	Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there.
Lord Schpungus 10-14-04, 01:27 AM	10 ft/sec walking, 20 ft/sec trotting, and 40 ft/sec running? Seems reasonable to me.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 01:29 AM	10/ft p. second is a quick jog...
Valkrist 10-14-04, 01:56 AM	In case people are really curious, Horses have 5 speeds. Stopped. Walking Trotting Cantering Galloping It could be argued there is another speed: Running Flat Out, which they only do when spooked or beaten, and then only for a few seconds. Horses can canter for quite a while, but not as long as they can walk. And your horse's average walking speed is actually close to that of a human (at least all the horses I have ever rode walked about the same speed I did). It's the trot (a REALLY uncomfortable gait that moves about as fast as a human at a fast job/slow run) that is what they use to move long distances. To cover large amounts of ground at speed, people tend to alternate a canter, trot, and walk. Of course, then there's the grazing time, but we wont go into this. Animals are busted in DnD. Everyone has at least one animal that they point to and say "Huh?!?!?! But.. but..." A heavy horse (clydesdale, shires, etc) has the same strength, on average, as the highest an unmodified human can reach? If you've ever been up next to one of these monsters, you will not believe this. Whether or not it's true, you wont believe it. However, the fact is that the other posters are right... cheetahs don't run FAST for very long. In fact, the cheetah is one of the animals DnD did the BEST job with. They don't kill by biting, they kill by tripping an animal running full out. This tends to break legs and necks, and then they gut it, and this is fairly well demonstrated by the animal's attacks.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 02:23 AM	Ah, I was comparing it to broken animals. That'd explain things :rolleyes:
Purkake 10-14-04, 01:21 PM	Cheetah can "sprint" for 500ft for some time. Is that better?
Lord_Naerik 10-14-04, 02:23 PM	"A heavy horse (clydesdale, shires, etc) has the same strength, on average, as the highest an unmodified human can reach? If you've ever been up next to one of these monsters, you will not believe this. Whether or not it's true, you wont believe it." Ahhh, the good old horse/strength misconception. A Large Quadruped can carry 3x as much as it's strength score indicates (PHB 3.5 pg 162). Therefore, a Heavy Horse is 3x as strong as "the highest an unmodified human can reach" on average. Unfortunately for horses, they arent as good at transfering all that strength in combat (proportionally) as humans are. They also dont carry weapons. A horse can kick as hard as a very strong weightlifter can hit you with a Mace. That doesnt sound so far off to me.
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-14-04, 02:53 PM	Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there. 60 feet per round equals 6 miles per hour. A ligh warhorse with the Run feat runs at 30 mph. If anything, that's a bit low.
Purkake 10-14-04, 02:59 PM	Under special qualities: Sprint(ex): Once per hour, a cheetah can move ten times it's normal speed (500ft) when it makes a charge. So he isn't all that slow.
cwslyclgh 10-14-04, 03:16 PM	by the rules of the game the heavy horse and the cheetah both walk at a little over 5 miles per hour (5.6), asuming that neither are incumbered, and do not have the run feat both can run roughly 22 miles per hour (Which somewhat on the slow side for the horse, although to be fair we are talking about a draft horse here, they are not known for thier speed)... however the cheetah can sprint at 56 miles per hour with his special ability. Well, as far as I know there ain't a horse alive that can get to 60, and certainly not keep it there.There is not a cheetah alive who can keep it there either. Cheetahs run that fast only in quick sprints that last less then half a minute or so...
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 03:53 PM	There is not a cheetah alive who can keep it there either. Cheetahs run that fast only in quick sprints that last less then half a minute or so... Which is why I made the comment about it only seems broken when compared to horses. Also 56 is a bit slow for the cheetah. According to the Cheetah Conservation in South Africa: "The cheetah is capable of speed up to 72 mph (114 km/h) and can maintain this speed over an average prey chase of 3.5 miles."
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-14-04, 04:12 PM	According to the Cheetah Conservation in South Africa: "The cheetah is capable of speed up to 72 mph (114 km/h) and can maintain this speed over an average prey chase of 3.5 miles." Incidentally, they're wrong. It's extremely difficult to accurately measure the speed of an animal in the wild. However, using certain methods, the speed of the cheetah has been accurately measured. It rarely exceeds 50 mph.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 04:52 PM	I've yet to find a single site yet that puts their speed under 60. However, if you can show me where it says otherwise I'll gladly concede.
Willie the Duck 10-14-04, 08:53 PM	I've yet to find a single site yet that puts their speed under 60. However, if you can show me where it says otherwise I'll gladly concede. Did you just say site? so you're basing your understanding off the internet? Lovely.
Khaibit_Ema_Neteru 10-14-04, 09:57 PM	Did you just say site? so you're basing your understanding off the internet? Lovely. Would you prefer an outdated encyclopedia? I've checked, they have the same statistic. As long as the site is reputable (wildlife conservatory sites are a perfect example) and not some random personal site, it's a perfectly good source. So get off it.
The Vorpal Tribble 10-14-04, 10:44 PM	:teach: The Guiness Book of World Records, Wikipedia, and World Book encyclopedia have its speed above 55 easily. Booyah! :tiphat:
xmcknight 10-14-04, 11:09 PM	Incidentally, they're wrong. It's extremely difficult to accurately measure the speed of an animal in the wild. However, using certain methods, the speed of the cheetah has been accurately measured. It rarely exceeds 50 mph. According to who exactly? I tend to trust those wildlife conservitories. Especially when they have the ability to tag or collar a cheeta to see how fast he moves.