I've edited the Urist's Handbook for Foolhardy Adventurers chapter on the scythod to better reflect talvieno's vision for them.
For the scythes pointing downwards, the original outline of a scythod you posted had triple jointed scythe arms with all the joints facing the same way. When I thought about the scythes as weapons, I realized that they would be more effective if the second joint faced the opposite direction. It would give the scythes a much greater range of motion, especially for blocking attacks. As a bonus, that would allow the scythod to brace itself with six points of contact, instead of four. Downward facing scythes made more sense to me.
Here is a sketch of my vision of a scythod (before the 3d model was posted)
The legs look a little weird, but you can see how I saw the scythes.
Oh, those look nice... The legs really do look off, and the lower arms are messed up a bit... The body is a tad too big for my tastes... Also, they're not ten feet high, I wouldn't think. They're naturally closer to an average of eight and a half, I guess, although they can
stretch a lot higher, if they try to stand as tall as possible. How much higher? I'm not entirely certain, but you've seen how they're built. They definitely have the potential to stand taller if they want. lol
I like those scythes, though... I like my old ones (which I somehow forgot an entire limb segment on in that picture I posted), but I like those... they have a degree of movement they ought to be able to manage.
I think, perhaps... that... their arms could stay the way they are now (plus the missing limb portion)... except I could just have them be
capable of moving like that.
Also, the limbstalk is called a limbstalk because it's literally just a stalk that the upper arms sprout off of - it's weak enough ingame that a scythod can have its upper arms AND neckstalk cut off all in one stroke, if the stroke and blade are powerful enough. Interestingly, as all the major organs are in other parts of the body, severing the limbstalk doesn't kill the scythod right away. It's kind of how I intended it, for one reason or another... I can't remember why.
Also, I can't animate yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydf52rKcsuc <--- Proof.
Scythod War Dance.
Lol, Reudh. XD No, I was just trying to get their neckstalk to move and "look around".
I screwed up really badly. It moved whole pieces elsewhere. I'm still not sure why. I'm guessing I made the bones too big, or gave the envelope/bone stuff too large of a radius, or something.