this draft was last updated 1/9/06
comments welcome: rseater@mit.edu

BEASTS
mounts, pets, war beasts, beasts of burden, monsters

Every beast has at least one organ (a body) and at least one piece of hide.

organ		effect							appearance		
body		beast dies completely if body is eliminated	center block
weapon	a point of attack					claw, tail, breath, jaws
legs		increase ground movement speed			leg
wings		increase air movement speed			wing
head		intelligence						head or eyes
hand		carry object						clip

Let S be the number organs.

hide		effect							appearance		
hide		resist damage					scales

Let H be the size of the hide.  H may not exceed S.

Whenever the beast takes H damage, remove one of its organs.  If the number of organs is now less than the size of the hide, also remove a piece of hide.  Any extra damage from the attack that sent it over H damage is remembered for the rest of the turn, then forgotten.  The owner of the beast decides which organ is eliminated, except that the beast's head(s) must always be eliminated first and the body must always be eliminated last.

cost
S^2 + H^2

examples
S	H	Cost1	calculation	effective HP	
5	5	50	5+4+3+2+1	15
5	4	41	4+4+3+2+1	14
5	3	34	3+3+3+2+1	12
5	2	29	2+2+2+2+1	9
5	1	26	1+1+1+1+1	5
4	4	32	4+3+2+1	10
4	3	25	3+3+2+1	9
4	2	20	2+2+2+1	7
4	1	17	1+1+1+1	4
3	3	18	3+2+1		6
3	2	13	2+2+1		5
3	1	10	1+1+1		3
2	2	8	2+1		3
2	1	5	1+1		2
1	1	2	1		1

movement
Let L be the number of legs.
Let W be the number of wings.
Let A be the total AC of all armor pieces on the beast and its riders.
Run 8+8L-A studs, crossing no step more than 3+L plates high, or
Fly 8W-A studs horizontally and 8W-A studs vertically.

weapon attack styles
Each weapon has one of the following traits.

savage (claws)
	do 1 damage S times to the first target touched each turn

sweep (tail)
	each model touched takes 1 damage and is thrown back S^2 studs

swallow (jaws)
	Annihilate a minifig if S meets or exceeds # body parts + # armor pieces.
	Annihilate a beast if S meets of exceeds # organs + # armor pieces.
	Annihilate a vehicle if S^2 meets or exceeds # component + 1/2 # armor.
	Detonate warheads immediately.
	To swallow a vehicle/beast, must also swallow all pilots/riders.

breath (fire breathing, eye beams)
	lobbed-area-effect
	range 0
	S damage
	template size = beast's initial S value

hands
Beast hands may pick up, carry, and drop pieces.
A beast with intelligence may also operate carried equipment as if it were a minifig.

additional armor (barding)
As with minfig, armor must be removed before the beast can be harmed.  The Beast controller chooses where damage goes and what pieces are removed, but no damage can be done to the beast until all the armor has been removed.  Amor may not be stacked on top of other armor, and can only be replaced at a home base.

Each piece has an AC value; raise cost by AC^2 and reduce movement by its AC.

A special type of armor is the saddle.  A saddle costs double (after squaring) and permits a single minifig to ride.  They are still separate models, but the minifig will be carried along.  Reduce the beast's movement by the minifig's weapon and armor movement penalties (ignoring any halvings otherwise appied to those penalties).

Saddles often have clips on them, which increase cost by 1 (after doubling) and allow one item to be carried (but not picked up, dropped, or used).

intelligence
At the beginning of your turn, each of your uncontrolled beasts will, in an order of your choosing, drop anything they are carrying and operate as follows:
	if (harnessed) then stand still
	else if (missing head) then (run home and hide)
	else (move towards nearest model of different species and attack)

A beast can be controlled in four ways: inherent intelligence, a leash, a bridle, or a whip.

Inherent intelligence is indicate by giving the beast a head (separate from the body).

Leash (Beast <--> Vehicle)
A leash is a control device which is connected between a beast and a vehicle, usually in parallel to a harness.  Any minifig seated in that vehicle may apply 1 minifig action to keep the beast under control for the turn.  If several beasts are linked to the same vehicle, they may all be controlled using a single minifig action but they cannot attack different targets or move in different directions.  A leash is part of both models.  If it would be eliminated from either model, disconnect that end of it and leave it hanging.  The vehicle end can be at any depth, and will increase the cost of the vehicle accordingly.  The beast end may be under the layer of armor.

Bridle (Beast <--> Itself)
A bridle is a control device which is entirely part of the beast model.  Any minifig in a saddle on the beast may apply 1 minifig action to keep the beast under control for the turn.  A bridle may be under one layer of armor.  If the bridle has two studded ends (e.g. a lego chain) then they may be under 

Whip (Beast <--> Minifig)
A whip is a control device which is a piece of equipment carried by a minifig.  It allows that minifig to keep all nearby allied beasts under control.  If more beasts are controlled in this manner than hands holding the whip, then the beasts cannot attack different targets or move in different directions.

Leashes, bridles, and whips only really differ in how they are eliminated; leashes are eliminated by damaging the beast or connected vehicles, whips are eliminated by damaging the minifig.

rigs and harnesses
A harness is a piece which connects a beast to a vehicle and lets the beast push/pull the vehicle.  A single harness can convert any amount of motion from one beast into that much push for the vehicle.  In addition, the beast provides whatever input is required by the vehicle's mobility.  A harness is part of both models.  If it would be eliminated from either model, disconnect that end of it and leave it hanging.  The vehicle end can be at any depth, and will increase the cost of the vehicle accordingly.  The beast end may be under one layer of armor.

If one or more harnessed beasts supply a total of M (net) movement,
then they supply the beast with M / 60 push.  The vehicle's speed is bounded by each harnessed beast's movement.  Carry decimals through all the way through the calculation, rounding only after the vehicles studs-per-turn have been computed.

A rig is a piece which connects a beast to a vehicle and lets the beast carry the vehicle.  The beast suffers slowdown equal to 1/2 # non-armor pieces plus 1/8 # armor pieces. A rig is considered to be the bottom piece of the vehicle, and will increase the cost of the vehicle accordingly.  If the vehicle moves, the beast is carried along with it.