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

[Count Bleckenstien]

Also, will everything have an intense aversion to fire and electricity? It seems like they should due to bug zappers and Fire being the best weapon ever.

[Bogleech]

Do the octopuses even need to be fresh water? Nothing really stops insects from visiting a salty tide pool. As the only environment not really penetrated by insects, the sea must seem like an entirely different universe.

They could chat with barnacles, too, though they probably wouldn't have a lot to say. I'd expect saltwater and brackish crabs to be not unlike trolls, ogres and giants. Sentient but in a primitive and beastly way.

A Mudskipper would be an amusing encounter.

[Bees]

I now have the amusing mental image of a bunch of intertidal spiders patching up nut shells with webbing and pirating across the seven seas, with krakens and giant birds and all that.

[Count Bleckenstien]

I now have the amusing mental image of a bunch of intertidal spiders patching up nut shells with webbing and pirating across the seven seas, with krakens and giant birds and all that.

And Sharks. God forbid a great white thinks their ship is a seal.

[Quest Lord]

The waterstriders that have evolved to live in the open ocean would seem like crazy adventurers to everyone else, bringers of news from far away places (much mangled news, but the only news they'll get from bugs).

[Quest Lord]

I now have the amusing mental image of a bunch of intertidal spiders patching up nut shells with webbing and pirating across the seven seas, with krakens and giant birds and all that.

And Sharks. God forbid a great white thinks their ship is a seal.

Can you say epic level encounter?

[Bees]

I heard some waterstriders can handle fish just fine (they secrete rather concentrated (15% I think? ) hydrogen peroxide, whichever fish dumb enough to attempt swallowing them spits them out with a horrible taste in its mouth and never does it again), but a great white against spiders? TPK, I'd say.

[Bogleech]

Beached whale; the ultimate corpse-dungeon. Teeming with the bizarre, monstrous bugs of the sea.

[Quest Lord]

Beached whale; the ultimate corpse-dungeon. Teeming with the bizarre, monstrous bugs of the sea.

This I like. It would be a place where land bugs, birds, sea animals, etc. would all gather, and start off as a corpse dungeon, quickly evolve into a gold rush city, and then when it's all over, just be bleached bones on a beach.

I heard some waterstriders can handle fish just fine (they secrete rather concentrated (15% I think? ) hydrogen peroxide, whichever fish dumb enough to attempt swallowing them spits them out with a horrible taste in its mouth and never does it again), but a great white against spiders? TPK, I'd say.

Epic level spiders. So, only a probable TPK. . .

[BrokenMuse]

It'd be more like trying to fight an earthquake, I think. Something that big would be near a force of nature for bugs.

[Quest Lord]

It'd be more like trying to fight an earthquake, I think. Something that big would be near a force of nature for bugs.

True. Though fighting a force of nature isn't always out of the window in epic level games. . .

[Sasha]

To help with the number of bugs available, maybe it would make sense to have a somewhat relaxed attitude towards cannibalism in this setting - I mean, if you're a spider and there's a cricket in your party, would you necessarily feel bad about killing and eating other (sentient) crickets? Or even if you feel bad, what if that is your primary natural food source, and it would be extremely hard to feed yourself otherwise?

I love the idea of setting up, say, a big ant lion as a trap-boss.

[Quest Lord]

To help with the number of bugs available, maybe it would make sense to have a somewhat relaxed attitude towards cannibalism in this setting - I mean, if you're a spider and there's a cricket in your party, would you necessarily feel bad about killing and eating other (sentient) crickets? Or even if you feel bad, what if that is your primary natural food source, and it would be extremely hard to feed yourself otherwise?

I love the idea of setting up, say, a big ant lion as a trap-boss.

I like this. So a spider might agree not to eat the cricket he's travelling with, and be mostly trustworthy, he made no such promises to the random crickets found out and about. The other cricket might have something to say about that though.

[Count Bleckenstien]

To help with the number of bugs available, maybe it would make sense to have a somewhat relaxed attitude towards cannibalism in this setting - I mean, if you're a spider and there's a cricket in your party, would you necessarily feel bad about killing and eating other (sentient) crickets? Or even if you feel bad, what if that is your primary natural food source, and it would be extremely hard to feed yourself otherwise?

I love the idea of setting up, say, a big ant lion as a trap-boss.

I like this. So a spider might agree not to eat the cricket he's travelling with, and be mostly trustworthy, he made no such promises to the random crickets found out and about. The other cricket might have something to say about that though.

I'm sure we can say that there will be plenty of Cricket Bandits to keep all stomachs full.

[Bogleech]

Yeah, common enemies are an answer to a lot of the predator issues. Think how often a party in D&D has to kill humans and half-humans.

[ChickenSpider]

Roaches would have damage reduction something scary. They would likely function as orcs of the insect world.

[Alpharius]

Roaches would have damage reduction something scary. They would likely function as orcs of the insect world.

Eh, they seem too smart to be orcs. I can't really think of a fantasy analogue for them - The hardiness of a dwarf, the curiosity of a halfling, the cunning of a goblin...

[Arachnid Knight]

Anteaters should be the equivalent to dragons, gigantic, terrible beasts that bring about wrath upon all those who it hungers for. And seeing as how anteaters can sniff out the scent of ants, perhaps they are able to even communicate with their prey, convincing colonies of termites or ants that they are gods.

Centipedes are things I could definately see as enemies, venemous, stealthy, and terribly dangerous.

lizards and birds are allso good ideas for enemies, especially grub eating finches.

[Alpharius]

Anteaters should be the equivalent to dragons, gigantic, terrible beasts that bring about wrath upon all those who it hungers for. And seeing as how anteaters can sniff out the scent of ants, perhaps they are able to even communicate with their prey, convincing colonies of termites or ants that they are gods.

Centipedes are things I could definately see as enemies, venemous, stealthy, and terribly dangerous.

lizards and birds are allso good ideas for enemies, especially grub eating finches.

Anteaters as dragons? Fuck that, those things are Tarrasque-tier.

[BrokenMuse]

Anteaters should be the equivalent to dragons, gigantic, terrible beasts that bring about wrath upon all those who it hungers for. And seeing as how anteaters can sniff out the scent of ants, perhaps they are able to even communicate with their prey, convincing colonies of termites or ants that they are gods.

Centipedes are things I could definately see as enemies, venemous, stealthy, and terribly dangerous.

lizards and birds are allso good ideas for enemies, especially grub eating finches.

But who would listen? It'd be like an Elder Thing trying to communicate. It knows what you're saying, it knows how to respond back, but if/when it does, everything comes out garbled and just wrong. Not many would stick around to listen and those that did would be very demented individuals.

Centipedes could also be your friend, if one plays things right. Convince it cooperation is best for survival and things could go smoothly, until they don't. I think one of the themes that needs to be considered is that everything's trying to survive in this world.

[Alpharius]

Anteaters should be the equivalent to dragons, gigantic, terrible beasts that bring about wrath upon all those who it hungers for. And seeing as how anteaters can sniff out the scent of ants, perhaps they are able to even communicate with their prey, convincing colonies of termites or ants that they are gods.

Centipedes are things I could definately see as enemies, venemous, stealthy, and terribly dangerous.

lizards and birds are allso good ideas for enemies, especially grub eating finches.

But who would listen? It'd be like an Elder Thing trying to communicate. It knows what you're saying, it knows how to respond back, but if/when it does, everything comes out garbled and just wrong. Not many would stick around to listen and those that did would be very demented individuals.

Centipedes could also be your friend, if one plays things right. Convince it cooperation is best for survival and things could go smoothly, until they don't. I think one of the themes that needs to be considered is that everything's trying to survive in this world.

At the same time, it might be good to emphasize that, for parties at least, cooperation is preferable to backstabbing.

[Bogleech]

Yeah, a dragon equivalent is more like a cane toad, a veiled chameleon or a shrike. A cat is a BIG bad freaking dragon, and an anteater is practically Cthulhu. A human or a cow is akin to a walking continent.

I can't really think of a fantasy analogue for them - The hardiness of a dwarf, the curiosity of a halfling, the cunning of a goblin...

You've got yourself the humans. Roaches are the all-purpose "default" insect to most people; one of the first that come to mind.

[Sasha]

Yeah, a dragon equivalent is more like a cane toad, a veiled chameleon or a shrike. A cat is a BIG bad freaking dragon, and an anteater is practically Cthulhu. A human or a cow is akin to a walking continent.

I can't really think of a fantasy analogue for them - The hardiness of a dwarf, the curiosity of a halfling, the cunning of a goblin...

You've got yourself the humans. Roaches are the all-purpose "default" insect to most people; one of the first that come to mind.

Not to mention gregarious and fast-breeding - they're a pretty good fit. And if we're working with a post-human setting, they'd be in a great position right from the start - look at their numbers even in inhabited cities today.

[LeftBower]

And urbanised, which roaches have covered too.

[Naryzhud]

But who would listen? It'd be like an Elder Thing trying to communicate. It knows what you're saying, it knows how to respond back, but if/when it does, everything comes out garbled and just wrong. Not many would stick around to listen and those that did would be very demented individuals.

That could lead to a very entertaining scene for a party to stumble across though... a small group of absolutely insane ants worshipping this anteater...

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