Monster Manual: What's playable, and what's just EXP waiting to happen?

[Alpharius]

With an insect-centric RPG, there's a lot of fodder for potential races- But at the same time, there's also a tremendous amount of potential foes. What's playable, and what's just something to kill?

[Berserker Steve]

Well there will be things like other bugs, basic spider, ant..ect. But think it would be nice to though in Crustacean but I'm not sure who they would handles things like cat and dogs.

[Alpharius]

I imagine cats and dogs would be similar to Dragons, with something larger than a human being the Tarrasque equivalent. Humans would probably be on par with deities.

[Quest Lord]

Well, hypothetically we could have all the insects/arachnids as playable, and encounters being either lots of lower level PC equivalents, or a few similar level PC equivalents. If we keep the system fairly basic as far as stats goes, there's no reason to make NPCs use a different system. PC ants might be better then your average ant, but they still are the same species.

If it's post apoc. like the name suggests, larger animals are increasingly rare, until you get to the point of humans being all but extinct. Even a cat or dog would be an epic level encounter, I'm thinking that even a sand crab or a rat might be a huge deal for 5 or 6 bugs to handle.

Crustaceans: Supplement material methinks.

[Alpharius]

Agreed, I think that more exotic invertebrates, as well as perhaps aquatic adventures, would be best left to supplements.

[Bees]

What I suggest:

- All extant arachnids
- All extant insects
- Land-dwelling crustaceans and isopods.

Some like goliath birdeater, atlas moth, coconut crab and all full-time parasites should not be available, I guess.

[Quest Lord]

Not sure about crabs, etc. Maybe leave them for later too.

The bigger kinds of spiders and butterflies should be playable, but we don't want to have to deal with them right away. Atlas moths for example could be a more combat based moth, using its size etc. to make it good for more then just flying arund and playing support.

[Bees]

Good point, I was just thinking pillbugs and land-dwelling hermit crabs, not true crabs. Though fully terrestial crabs are generally pretty small, they could fit in with some sort of beetle-like role.

[Alpharius]

Good point, I was just thinking pillbugs and land-dwelling hermit crabs, not true crabs. Though fully terrestial crabs are generally pretty small, they could fit in with some sort of beetle-like role.

I would love pillbugs to be playable.

[Quest Lord]

Ok, so we're looking at sticking to the smaller, land based arthropods for now.

[Sasha]

Ants should make a good variety of low-level mob-based enemies - something like goblins - or could perhaps sometimes be more friendly.

Anything above rodent-size is getting into Elder Thing territory. Think from the point of view of most insects - for them, something like a human is more a mobile feature of the landscape than a creature.

[Quest Lord]

Indeed. Although bigger bugs might have a different view on matters. Whereas a human is akin to a god to ants (foot comes, smites, and disappears, all from the heavens), to a tarantula we're obviously some kind of giant monster.

Rats can be handled by swarms of ants, so aren't quite elder things, they're more likely akin to dragons (only the mightiest of heroes, or armies can handle them).

[Rollfizz]

All I know is that the Japanese Giant Hornet should be featured as an enemy. That thing is terrifying, and can kill 40 European honey bees in one minute. Sounds like great monster material to me.

[Alpharius]

All I know is that the Japanese Giant Hornet should be featured as an enemy. That thing is terrifying, and can kill 40 European honey bees in one minute. Sounds like great monster material to me.

Miniature Dragon, perhaps.

[Quest Lord]

All I know is that the Japanese Giant Hornet should be featured as an enemy. That thing is terrifying, and can kill 40 European honey bees in one minute. Sounds like great monster material to me.

Party sees Japanese Giant Hornet

European Bee runs.
Japanese bee starts looking for help.

. . .

TPK

[Alpharius]

All I know is that the Japanese Giant Hornet should be featured as an enemy. That thing is terrifying, and can kill 40 European honey bees in one minute. Sounds like great monster material to me.

Party sees Japanese Giant Hornet

European Bee runs.
Japanese bee starts looking for help.

. . .

TPK

Can you imagine a player wanting to roll one up as a PC?

[Rollfizz]

"Party sees Japanese Giant Hornet

European Bee runs.
Japanese bee starts looking for help.

. . .

TPK"
That is an interesting dilemma for this type of game. Bugs that are too powerful.

Which gives me a tangentially related idea. Lists of horrifying bugs/creatures could give great inspiration, the problem being that these bugs are horrifying to humans.

[Alpharius]

"Party sees Japanese Giant Hornet

European Bee runs.
Japanese bee starts looking for help.

. . .

TPK"
That is an interesting dilemma for this type of game. Bugs that are too powerful.

Which gives me a tangentially related idea. Lists of horrifying bugs/creatures could give great inspiration, the problem being that these bugs are horrifying to humans.

Ideally, nothing should be TOO powerful, given enough bodies to throw at it (PC or NPC, it matters not), or characters of a high enough level.

[Quest Lord]

Exactly. Our players will become the epic heroes of the insect world, and can handle anything. We might add human exterminators as a TPK machine, just for fun, but they're just that - TPK machines that the GM will only throw out as the equivalent to ROCKS FALL! EVERYONE DIES! Something like throwing a Possessed Chaos Titain at a DH group, with no support. Options: Flee, Die.

[Count Bleckenstien]

Scorpions: Arachnid Uber Tank, or Party Killer?

[Quest Lord]

Scorpions: Arachnid Uber Tank, or Party Killer?

Potentially both?

[Bogleech]

Tiny (by our standards) frogs, lizards and salamanders would be obvious low-to-middle level threats. Larger amphibians, chameleons, small birds, shrews and moles would probably be more devastating. Some leeches are predators of insects, as are the obscure but fascinating flatworm genus Bipalium, which uses an enzyme secretion on prey. They're best known as earthworm killers, but will most definitely feed on living arthropods.

Like I mentioned in brainstorming, mites could generally be of animal-like intelligence, so those that parasitize insects might make good monsters.

Cordyceps fungi, gordian worms, flukes and other behavior-modifying parasites would be bad ass enemies.

There's also one of my favorite groups in the animal kingdom, the Strepsipterans. They're insects exclusively parasitic in other insects, including species which attack beetles, bees, ants, wasps, grasshoppers, mantids, roaches, flies, silverfish, true bugs and lepidoptera. The spiny, highly mobile larvae lie in wait for a host and dissolve their way through the exoskeleton. At maturity, males are short-lived flying breeding machines, while females are limbless blobs, spending the rest of their lives with their heads poking out of their host's body (they mate, and give live birth, through the head end). When it's time to mate, they manipulate their host into helping them meet up with the male. Sentient Strepsiptera could have the power to just completely hijack the host mind whenever they want.

Some like goliath birdeater, atlas moth, coconut crab and all full-time parasites should not be available, I guess.

What kind of parasites? Lice can't survive long away from a host, but fleas can survive for months (and would just be fun as hell as characters, I think), and biting flies can travel far and fast for a meal.

Parasitoids could obviously be characters since only the larval stage is parasitic, though they would likely suffer extreme prejudice from whatever species they require as hosts. I kinda like the idea of a heroic parasitoid wasp, sworn to a life of celibacy.

[Bees]

Some like goliath birdeater, atlas moth, coconut crab and all full-time parasites should not be available, I guess.

What kind of parasites? Lice can't survive long away from a host, but fleas can survive for months (and would just be fun as hell as characters, I think), and biting flies can travel far and fast for a meal.

Parasitoids could obviously be characters since only the larval stage is parasitic, though they would likely suffer extreme prejudice from whatever species they require as hosts. I kinda like the idea of a heroic parasitoid wasp, sworn to a life of celibacy.

Since the focus of the game (presumably) will be inter-arthropod conflict (unless we get into the epic levels, taking down larger mammals and birds without specialization and planning will be quite difficult indeed), I thought to remove the bunch that live almost entirely on their host (like say, bat flies. ) I suppose there's no harm in allowing the more mobile sort. Mosquitos and such have few ways to deal with other insects (excellent scouts though), but since we're giving moths magical healing scales and beetles ability to grow new horns wherever they want, that can be handwaved.

On a side note, I was thinking of a playing a wasp that was a Strepsipteran all along.

[Count Bleckenstien]

I just thought of something. What if mutation that allowed the bugs and spiders sentience also made fresh water octopi? There are some high level encounters right there. And seeing as how we already know octopi show signs of intelligence then it would make sense that an Octopus would be a good "Only the desperate seek his wisdom" kind of deal.

So yes... fresh water Octopi = threat to predators and quest giver of sorts.

I won't even get into fresh water sharks, even though I know that this setting has a low amount of large creatures.

[Quest Lord]

I just thought of something. What if mutation that allowed the bugs and spiders sentience also made fresh water octopi? There are some high level encounters right there. And seeing as how we already know octopi show signs of intelligence then it would make sense that an Octopus would be a good "Only the desperate seek his wisdom" kind of deal.

So yes... fresh water Octopi = threat to predators and quest giver of sorts.

I won't even get into fresh water sharks, even though I know that this setting has a low amount of large creatures.

Nice idea. Sea creatures that aren't arthropods could seem weird and alien to the bugs too.

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