I imagine that a scythod could fire a crossbow or railgun, but probably not with any sort of accuracy. Actually, a scythod could probable fire a much larger weapon than a dwarf or human could. If I remember correctly though, most if not all scythod eschew weapons and tools in favor of their scythes.
In the latter chapters of the Parasol Trench arc, I had Klade and K'bahth learn to use some sort of Parasol plasma-based gun with a pretty fair degree of accuracy. They couldn't hit a stationary target, of course, but they could hear where their target is (having 3d auditory processing instead of 2d like a human), hear where their shots are impacting, and then compensate to make sure their shots hit. Wielding a gun doesn't require much in the way of precision, as far as how clumsily you hold it. They'd have to have some custom weapons, of course, to make sure they could actually reach the trigger to fire them (I kind of glazed over that part), but it would be possible.
I also at two points where three different Scythods were noting that switching to weapons might prove beneficial in the long run - first Scylk, and then Klade/K'bahth.
I always imagined Ballpoint and Sewaturet used specially made ranged weapons for them, coupled with a phony "head" that hooks into their nervous system so that they can fight among other races more effectively, since constant frying air and firearms discharges, among other things, would probably severely hamper their ability to tell who is who without them.
Plus there's always that added "OH FUCK" factor of shooting something in what you thought was its head only for it to turn and angrily charge and subsequently tear you to shreds.
Also, a note on the arm-scythes, they're somewhat less effective than the leg-spikes. Not sure if that's intentional or not.
The head isn't completely necessary - if you had friendly sentients wear a sort of "buzzer" attached to their suits that would emit a particular tone so long as the sentient was still alive, then a scythod could probably use that to distinguish between friend and foe. It's simpler, and gives the story option of having someone don a Ballpoint suit to stay alive amidst them. Well, if Ballpoint still has scythods... I don't think I ever touched on that point.
The leg-spikes are considerably more powerful than the armscythes, yes. I didn't want it that way, but DF does what DF wants. I suppose it makes sense, in a way. Stabby tends to penetrate more than slicey.
Also, Splint, what happened to that other Vanya picture you were drawing? I'd be interested to see it.
Crap. This reminded me that I still have those three art requests from you that I haven't done. Not sure if you still care, but this nevertheless represents an unspeakable lapse on my part :V Terribly-sorry.
And... it would be very cool to see a seqiv.
Whatever you're picturing in your head is probably infinitely more awesome than what I'll actually end up posting, just FYI.
Art requests... OHHHH, I remember those. XD I'd actually forgotten as well. It's no issue.
You can get to them or leave them, however you want. You did say you might not be able to get around to them for some time, as I recall.
Also, that seqiv is badass, although I think it does look rather like a rebellious teen rather than a soldier, as Cynm said. I think it's good - gives a good impression of what the average citizen might look like. (I think the cues are the crossed arms and facial expression (rebellious) as well as the lankiness of the arms and legs (teenager). That said, it's a great picture.)
@ Splint - really like that scythod pic, and in particular, the claws and the body. The body has a wasplike feel to it that I never considered... I think I almost like that more than the original "L" shape. Very awesome.
I see those things and I reckon they'd sound like Vaaki (?) from the (really fucking old but not the oldest) Bionicle sets (well, second movie)... Many clicks and screeches.
Not entirely sure what you're talking about, but... I did give them their language. The names I gave the scythods in Vanya's stories are from it - Scylk, Chiktylk, Klade, K'bahth, Kiba, Spala, Lonne, Chal'lk, and I think a couple others. It's a hissing, clicking, clacking sort of language, with little to no vocalization. It's in the SB II mod files, if you want to take a look. (also, they show emotion both through their voice and through sounds they make with their scythes/claws.)
@ Mr Frog:
Seqiv pic is epic. That's actually close to how I imagined them to look, although like Cynm, I thought the eyes went all the way around, instead of leaving room for the nose. Other than that, I actually got dead-on. o.O Which is a surprise, and something I'm glad of. I don't have to reshape them in my head. lol
Really like the handbook thing... I think we should put together the whole handbook. lol That would be pretty cool.
AND... The scythod pic looks... well, not that bad, though it shows you didn't pay attention, like you said.
But congratulations on being the only one who got the arching legs bit.
I'm not entirely sure what I think about some scythods not having scythes... Their scythes are pretty much what defines them (scythod - scythe-od), and I haven't seen any examples of people with tentacles or wings... Species tend to look the same no matter where you go. It's just my thoughts, though... I won't fight the general consensus.
E: Also, random idea: Since it's established that all seqivet are telepathic to a limited extent in order to work their cloaking ability, perhaps some seqivet can learn to use their innate telepathy for other tasks, such as erasing memories or implanting suggestions.
Hmmmm... I like it.
That sounds pretty cool, actually. It would make them pretty useful, particularly to Parasol, which has a penchant for mind control. They probably wouldn't be treated the best, however. Parasol seems to have evolved to become slightly racist.
Scythod from different regions of their planet could feasibly have developed specialized scythes: slicing scythes, stabbing scythes, crushing scythes etc.
Again, mmmmmm... really not sure I like this idea. I mean, people from Africa don't have tentacles, and people from India don't have scales.
[Completely unrelated]
I was messing around with Spawn, Seqivet and Scythods in the arena with some other creatures, both vanilla and modded, and it seems that all are weak to huge barbed tongues being lashed at them.
This sounds... worrisome. Key word here is "huge". In DF, big means power. A giant ball of fluff can squash an elephant, provided it's big enough.