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I'm going to run under some assumptions here. Â Feel free to ignore them: (hereafter lalas are referred to as Runts)
1) Runts don't have some biological ubermensch adaption that lets them be on the same level or higher than other races
2) Runts don't have some mental advantage that makes them fight better
3) Runts are Baseline, in all ways, with no wild magical infusion that makes them better than anyone else at anything.
4) Accordingly they are limited by their size in terms of what can be mustered, both in impact, inertia, momentum, and what can be reached.
With all of that said: Runts have something going for them. Â Gravity. Â Their center of mass is much closer to the ground than other races. Â Tipping a runt over is going to be a problem. Â Doubly so if you're taller and most of your force is coming from above. Â A Leg sweep for most people is a sweep at the torso for a Runt.
Their main advantage, physically IS their size. Â Being short, squat, and tiny, means they can maneuver, cut, and shank, from angles most races can't operate from, and that are often, defensively speaking, advantageous. Â Runts are going to be harder to budge, harder to topple, and will have a tendency to put an upward thrust directly into your groin instead of say: Your shoulder. Â They have an easier time aiming for other people's large fleshy torso areas, not to mention hamstrings, calves, and nads.
So I posit Runts compensate for strength and size with style. Â Runts probably get a different education in fighting compared to other races. Â They go low, they trip, they harass and harry and apply leverage to topple. Â Knees, back or front, ankles, feet, anything that's not Runt Sized is often LETHAL for everyone else to get a sword, mace, or anything else to. Â You don't need to hit hard to cripple a joint. Â You just have to reach it. Â Guess who's over qualified to do that? Â I suspect the Runt army platoons of Uldah favor curved blades and piercing weapons accordingly. Â Because if you can't get a lot of force behind something you put all that into one focused area and do a lot of hurt with that concentrated smack down instead. Â Same principle between spikes on flails and flanged maces. Â All that momentum on one small point, in simple physics, turns a small swing into a fucking haymaker for wherever it hits.
Which leads to point 2:Â
Most runts come from Ul'Dah which, in turn, means most runt military forces are syndicate and Sultanate funded. Â Which means they ARE well trained. Â Which means they ARE well educated on "Smash this motherfucker". Â I'm not saying that the runts are militarized, but the city is founded by runts who did smash motherfuckers, and held empires based around smashing motherfuckers and, as such: It's safe to assume they've got old traditions of smashing motherfuckers while being runt sized.
They aren't stronger, faster, or meaner, in my eyes. Â They're just used to this being how it is. Â They fight better because that's how the culture produces and forces them to be. Â Because they have decades, centuries, ages, of This is how it is. Physics works against them in a lot of ways, but it also works FOR them since they're used to using it as such.
Runts fight back equally because they realize when you can use their head as a drink rest it means their teeth are about the same height as your balls.
You don't want to push that kind of button.
Also, RE: Punting Runts:
It's amazing and fun for dramatic effect/RP wackyness. If we're talking just Real time "But it totally works like that", go try to punt a 50 lb bag of sand and tell me how that works, because that's how these tiny shithouses are built.
1) Runts don't have some biological ubermensch adaption that lets them be on the same level or higher than other races
2) Runts don't have some mental advantage that makes them fight better
3) Runts are Baseline, in all ways, with no wild magical infusion that makes them better than anyone else at anything.
4) Accordingly they are limited by their size in terms of what can be mustered, both in impact, inertia, momentum, and what can be reached.
With all of that said: Runts have something going for them. Â Gravity. Â Their center of mass is much closer to the ground than other races. Â Tipping a runt over is going to be a problem. Â Doubly so if you're taller and most of your force is coming from above. Â A Leg sweep for most people is a sweep at the torso for a Runt.
Their main advantage, physically IS their size. Â Being short, squat, and tiny, means they can maneuver, cut, and shank, from angles most races can't operate from, and that are often, defensively speaking, advantageous. Â Runts are going to be harder to budge, harder to topple, and will have a tendency to put an upward thrust directly into your groin instead of say: Your shoulder. Â They have an easier time aiming for other people's large fleshy torso areas, not to mention hamstrings, calves, and nads.
So I posit Runts compensate for strength and size with style. Â Runts probably get a different education in fighting compared to other races. Â They go low, they trip, they harass and harry and apply leverage to topple. Â Knees, back or front, ankles, feet, anything that's not Runt Sized is often LETHAL for everyone else to get a sword, mace, or anything else to. Â You don't need to hit hard to cripple a joint. Â You just have to reach it. Â Guess who's over qualified to do that? Â I suspect the Runt army platoons of Uldah favor curved blades and piercing weapons accordingly. Â Because if you can't get a lot of force behind something you put all that into one focused area and do a lot of hurt with that concentrated smack down instead. Â Same principle between spikes on flails and flanged maces. Â All that momentum on one small point, in simple physics, turns a small swing into a fucking haymaker for wherever it hits.
Which leads to point 2:Â
Most runts come from Ul'Dah which, in turn, means most runt military forces are syndicate and Sultanate funded. Â Which means they ARE well trained. Â Which means they ARE well educated on "Smash this motherfucker". Â I'm not saying that the runts are militarized, but the city is founded by runts who did smash motherfuckers, and held empires based around smashing motherfuckers and, as such: It's safe to assume they've got old traditions of smashing motherfuckers while being runt sized.
They aren't stronger, faster, or meaner, in my eyes. Â They're just used to this being how it is. Â They fight better because that's how the culture produces and forces them to be. Â Because they have decades, centuries, ages, of This is how it is. Physics works against them in a lot of ways, but it also works FOR them since they're used to using it as such.
Runts fight back equally because they realize when you can use their head as a drink rest it means their teeth are about the same height as your balls.
You don't want to push that kind of button.
Also, RE: Punting Runts:
It's amazing and fun for dramatic effect/RP wackyness. If we're talking just Real time "But it totally works like that", go try to punt a 50 lb bag of sand and tell me how that works, because that's how these tiny shithouses are built.
![[Image: tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/224cfbd6e79103f0520a30eabfc5085d/tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif)