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Bugs!

Started by Panzerkraken, August 23, 2012, 01:29:11 PM

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Panzerkraken

August 23, 2012, 01:29:11 PM
So, I was thinking along the lines of working on a Mega-dungeoneque primary lair for the Spectrals for my Living Steel game, and I was looking for some inspiration.  So I ran into a blog post from Cory Doctrow linking to a scientist who had been making plaster molds of the inside of ant colonies.

The link to the actual study is here in case you're an entomologist.

But the really, really neat stuff is in their figures, from this part of the site

Which are bloody amazing.  One quick example:

Si vous n'opposez point aux ordres de croire l'impossible l'intelligence que Dieu a mise dans votre esprit, vous ne devez point opposer aux ordres de malfaire la justice que Dieu a mise dans votre coeur. Une faculté de votre âme étant une fois tyrannisée, toutes les autres facultés doivent l'être également.
-Voltaire

beeber

#1
August 23, 2012, 01:49:05 PM
nice find!  would go great with the megadungeon concept :)

Sacrosanct

#2
August 23, 2012, 01:51:20 PM
Yeah, the first time I saw a documentary about that a couple years ago it blew my mind, and my first thought was, "Awesome dungeon concept!"

I'll try to find the image

*Edit*

Ah, yes, here they are
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

The Traveller

#3
August 23, 2012, 02:53:59 PM
Awesome sauce, its got a very HR Giger feel to it. Anyone up for producing the first dungeon map based on them?
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

mcbobbo

#4
August 23, 2012, 03:04:13 PM
A mild tangent, but I was picking through the Xiticix Invasion book that I grabbed off the clearance shelf a ways back, and they just don't seem all that 'bug like' to me.  I admit that it really must be hard to envision/imagine a species so alien to us, but surely there are some better examples?

Does anyone have a 'bug culture' that they like?
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

The Traveller

#5
August 23, 2012, 03:28:43 PM
Aliens?
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

mcbobbo

#6
August 23, 2012, 03:34:14 PM
Quote from: The Traveller;575839Aliens?

Like the Ridley Scott movie?

They don't really tunnel and stuff, do they?  I mean, they do remodel a bit, but is there more to it than that?
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

flyingmice

#7
August 23, 2012, 04:31:28 PM
I thought this would be about a certain rabbit...

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

The Traveller

#8
August 23, 2012, 04:32:26 PM
The graphic novels built on the insectoid civilisation aspect of the Aliens, with many references to "ants", and the various castes in their society.
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

jeff37923

#9
August 23, 2012, 04:43:04 PM
If using this as a D&D setting, just have it be a giant ant colony that has been taken over by other monsters once something took out all the giant ants.
"Meh."

Panzerkraken

#10
August 23, 2012, 04:52:14 PM
Quote from: jeff37923;575872If using this as a D&D setting, just have it be a giant ant colony that has been taken over by other monsters once something took out all the giant ants.

Oh, I've got my nasties to go in them, the Spectrals are going to have hives based on these carved out of solid rock.  



the warriors and workers take on the vague forms of the bodies that they animate after hatching, using the corpses that the hive drains the life energy force from, so that they can exploit the existing technology on whatever world they're conquering, but their more senior castes remain more insectlike, and they have a hive environment that they base out of.  This one's the Major Warrior, who's pretty much one of the worst things a player group can see.  They don't feel pain, don't slow down from damage to their torso or limbs that doesn't inhibit the movement of their limbs, and they can sense and assess the general emotional state of all animal life within 1km with 6" accuracy.  So they're sort of like fast super zombies that want to drag you back to the hive, drain your life force, then turn your body into a host for their young.
Si vous n'opposez point aux ordres de croire l'impossible l'intelligence que Dieu a mise dans votre esprit, vous ne devez point opposer aux ordres de malfaire la justice que Dieu a mise dans votre coeur. Une faculté de votre âme étant une fois tyrannisée, toutes les autres facultés doivent l'être également.
-Voltaire

Doom

#11
August 23, 2012, 04:59:05 PM
Quote from: flyingmice;575868I thought this would be about a certain rabbit...

-clash

I was thinking Starship Troopers
(taken during hurricane winds)

A nice education blog.

beeber

#12
August 23, 2012, 05:40:00 PM
Quote from: jeff37923;575872something took out all the giant ants.

a dire anteater!

jeff37923

#13
August 23, 2012, 06:24:32 PM
Quote from: beeber;575894a dire anteater!

Or the current residents....
"Meh."

Ladybird

#14
August 23, 2012, 06:57:22 PM
Quote from: jeff37923;575872If using this as a D&D setting, just have it be a giant ant colony that has been taken over by other monsters once something took out all the giant ants.

Nah, fuck it - just use giant ants. They already develop into specific castes to fulfil specific roles within the hive; giant ants would probably have more demanding needs, so you can get away with more.

They're vicious and xenophobic, so would cover your "wandering monsters" well; and their colonies will have abandoned spaces used purely for airflow /cooling, so that gives space for non-ants to live in. There are also other species that live in ant hives, so in a fantasy world, having non-ants living in an ant hive under some sort of illusions spell, or just being covered in "I am an ant!" pheromone, works fine.
one two FUCK YOU
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