 March 19, 2012 - 1:57pm | I'm working on a new creature that is to be incorporated into a scenario that I plan to submit to SFMan. It is detailed below and I was wanting to get some critiques
from the community so that it can be improved - assuming it's even
plausible to begin with of course. :) This is a fairly general outline of the creature in question, so some of the stuff hasn't yet been completely filled in (movement rates and that sort of thing) and I don't need that basic stuff bandied about here. Mainly what I need is to find out from the community whether this creature idea is feasible and if it has a place in this game setting and whether there are some things that should be tossed out, fine tuned or added in, etc. Thanx in advance! *************** Revenants (derived from the Latin word 'revenans' [returning] and means 'animated corpse'): Carrier - Size: Medium. Damage: 1d10. Converts dead flesh into a revenant. Lurker - Size: Tiny. Damage: 1d5. Sta: 10. Slasher - Size: Small. Damage: 2d10. Sta: 20. Grunt - Size: Small. Damage: 1d10. Sta: 20. Shapes hives from excrement. Shredder - Size: Medium. Damage: 3d10. Sta: 120. Brute - Size: Large. Damage: 4d10. Sta: 200. Guardian - Size: Giant. Type I guardian: Damage: 5d10. Weight: 1,500kg. Sta: 400. Reach (the distance from which this creature can stretch a tentacle and attack a target): 10m. Tentacle number: Equal to the Type number. Bonus' for each 'step' in a guardian's type classification: +1d10 damage, +1500kg weight, +100 Sta, +10m reach, +1 tentacle for each additional 'step' in type classification. Size comparisons: Tiny = 5kg or less Small = 5kg - 20kg Medium = 20kg - 200kg Large = 200kg - 1500kg Giant = 1500kg or more Bullet points: * Food source; Bodily fluids of victims. * Procreation; Dead flesh transformed into a revenant (dead flesh from any source; animal or sentient, doesn't matter). Amount of flesh directly translates into the form of the revenant that has been created (example: a dismembered arm can be transformed into a Lurker, a whole human body can be transformed into a shredder). Creation of a new revenant by a carrier takes only a minute (1) to accomplish and the carrier determines the type(s) of revenant being created at the time of creation (just because it can turn a 175kg lump of dead flesh into another carrier, doesn't mean that it can't choose to change it into 35 lurkers instead - or any other combination). Only carriers can create revenants. Other revenant types can not transmit any of the mutagen to their victims. The carrier must seek out the dead flesh, feed upon it and transmit the mutagenic agent. Carriers are also the only revenants that consumes dead flesh. The other types of revenants feed on the bodily fluids of their victims. The mutagen is harmless to living tissues. Though not very combat capable, the carriers can still kill prey and often do, especially if they are alone and seeking to create a community. Dead flesh from one source, mingled with (touching) the dead flesh of another source (or sources) will all be affected by the mutagen in concert. This is how a carrier is able to fashion large and giant revenants when any available victims are medium-sized or smaller. The time it takes to transform dead flesh takes 1 minute for 200kg of flesh or less. Add 1 minute for every increase in flesh of 200kg (whole or part) Example: 201kg = 2 minutes; 399 kg = 2 minutes; 401kg = 3 minutes, 1500kg = 10 minutes, etc. Multiple carries transmuting a lump of flesh will decrease the time it takes to transmute the flesh by a factor equal to the number of carriers present. Example: 2 carriers = half the time, 3 carriers = 1/3 the time, etc. So in essence, all revenants (excepting the carriers) are in reality, a conglomeration of cells working in concert to inhabit, reshape and animate a lump of dead flesh. Carriers started as a standard revenant but over the course of 50 years of existence as such, slowly morphed into a single creature capable of 'infecting' dead flesh with their mutagenic virus. * Revenants can go for decades (up to 100 years) between feeding if necessary by entering a hibernation-like suspension of their biological functions. They will become active again if a life form passes close enough (within 20 meters - a limitation of their hibernation; otherwise normal perception is about equivalent to that of a human) to be perceived. * Extreme cold and radiation do not affect a revenant as their physiology includes a form of anti-freeze which floods the lump of dead flesh that they inhabit and they are not adversely affected by levels of radiation fatal to a human. They can exist in the vacuum of space for up to a couple hours at a time (so long as they are not exposed to extreme heat in the process; see below). * They do not breathe normally. Rather they absorb oxygen through the epidermis and/or surface of their inhabited 'body' which sustains the individual mutagenic cells inhabiting the dead flesh. This allows them to exist for long periods of time in oxygen-free environments (up to 2 hours at a time). * When damaged they bleed a clear, viscous liquid (the above-described anti-freeze). When exposed to oxygen, this liquid quickly crusts over (similar to blood clotting in humans - but takes only half the time) and seals the wound. They can 'heal' themselves simply by incorporating a comparable amount of dead flesh as was damaged (removed, destroyed, etc). This is a limited form of the carrier's ability. A standard revenant can not 'rebuild' more than 15% of its body in this fashion. Rather, the wound would heal over with the addition of the newly acquired dead flesh but the creature would diminish if it lost enough of its mass to reduce it to a different revenant type. * Extreme heat does double damage to them (lasers, flame throwers, etc). * Dead flesh that has been transformed, ceases rotting at that point. It does not stink of putrefaction from then on. The excretions of revenants however, do stink of an overpowering mixture of ammonia and putrefying flesh (fresh pool of excrement; -10% to all actions, hardened structure; -5% to any actions while in the immediate vicinity). This excrement hardens after a short period of time (about a week) into a resin-like substance. It has a color like amber (petrified tree sap; yellow-gold). This process is somewhat slow and during the course of the hardening, it becomes taffy-like in nature. The revenants (specifically grunts) collect this excrement and can shape it into hive-like structures. Usually located in dark, sheltered places (underground, etc). * They do not give off body heat. * They can naturally see in the infrared spectrum (sudden bright lights can temporarily blind them). They can not see in any other spectrum. * They are semi-intelligent. Can work together for a single goal. Can comprehend simple puzzles (like pressing a button to open a door, or climbing through an air duct to reach an otherwise inaccessible room). They are cunning, but may sometimes act stupidly (like standing on the opposite side of a chain-link fence, unable to assault the PC with a flame thrower burning them to a crisp, all the while shrieking and howling...and dying). * If beaten down to between 10 and -10 stamina, they may 'detach' a less damaged portion of their body and scamper off, leaving the rest of their body there to twitch and struggle and distract their foe long enough to escape. It will then exist as a diminished form (consult the mass/ revenant type chart). * They have no verbal language, rather they communicate to each other by pheromone transmission. This is not to say that they can not vocalize. They often growl, snarl, roar and shriek as they have learned that such noises confuse and often panic their prey. * No two revenants look alike. They are classified by their mass. But that mass can consist of any fleshy combination. Often they reform their bodies into skull-like 'heads' and tentacles for movement and combat. They can mold dead flesh into whatever form they wish but always the form is specifically geared toward locomotion and combat. 'mouths' might not contain teeth for biting, rather; jagged bone splinters may be housed in the misshapen jaws, etc. Arms usually end in jagged lengths of bone for stabbing. Sometimes a dead victim's head will remain intact sitting atop the neck of a bloated, patchwork body. The head is often recognizable by the victim's friends. The revenants have learned that this terrifies their intended victims, often making them easier to subdue and so, this is a favorite tactic. * There is always one guardian at a hive (never more or less). The size of the guardian is always proportional to the size of the hive (could potentially be limitless if the GM so desires and the revenants have enough dead flesh to account for it). If the hive is capable of supporting 100-1,000 revenants then the guardian will be a type I (basic guardian listed above - a hive will never be constructed unless there are at least 100 revenants). For each +1,000 revenants in the hive, the guardian will increase in type by +1. Guardians are immobile and never leave the hive. They are the protectors of the hive. The hive is constructed in a spherical fashion in such a way that the outer border of the hive is never more than twice the reach of the guardian's tentacle(s). All carriers reside within the reach of the guardian. The guardian can stretch its tentacles through the hive as needed, attacking trespassers as required. If a standard revenant is killed, it gives off a pheromone 'cloud' that the guardian can detect and follow to the source, thereby aiding the guardian in tracking down trespassers. It uses its tentacle(s) as sensory organs to sniff out pheromone trails left by other revenants and to perceive enemies. For combat, these tentacles can be used to bash and to grapple with and drag off targets. Example: Hive has 10,000 revenants in it. The guardian will be a type X (10) guardian with stats as follows: Damage: 14d10. Weight: 15,000kg. Sta: 1,300. Reach: 100m. * They do not use technology, ever. They fight by pummeling and tearing their victims apart through physical force. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you!  |
 March 19, 2012 - 11:35pm | I never cared for the idea of reanimated dead flesh creature like those in Dead Space. However, i feel that "mindless" ravenous zombie that is more or less "dead" in a medical sense but not necessarily in a biological sense. When you consider creations like Robo-cop the fact of the matter is the person died but in some sense in part or in whole the biological being was kept alive through artificial means. The same could hold true for a biological creature. I think it is important to acknowledge the fact that the infected being is no longer what it use to be and that it has been changed and is now under the control of the alien inside it. I can see how an alien might use another creatures flesh in order to inflitrate its way into a larger group. It could work, but I would go a different route than the Dead Space type reanimated dead flesh imho. |
March 20, 2012 - 7:04am | Thanks for the input AZ! :) Ok, so... The trouble I have with the creature idea outlined previously is how do you reanimate dead flesh? The whole idea is nifty because then you have a completely repulsive bad guy to play with (hence the reason I put this out there). But it seems like a pretty big leap to get from here to there if you get my meaning. So if this question can be suitably answered then we could cobble together a cool species to create a bit more mayhem and chaos in the galaxy. I used a microorganism operating in concert as a colony within each lump of flesh to animate it because it seemed like a plausible idea. I've no idea if that is how it works in the dead space universe, but the creature(s) in that universe worked for the overall premise...assuming we can get the premise to hold water. I don't care which way it goes (as far as how the creature(s) end up in the end) its just interesting to toy with a being that uses the dead flesh of other creatures in order to manifest itself in our plane of existence. Is it as simple as just saying; 'There it is, and it just works'? I never cared for explanations like that - they seem unfinished to me. Hence the original post. :) Next, if we are able to piece together a decent explanation of how something like this could exist, what do you envision them appearing as? Amorphous blobs of dead flesh? Nearly exact duplicates of the dead being they're inhabiting? You know, nearly every single culture on the planet that has ever existed has some sort of 'undead' mythos. Maybe something like this is an explanation of how that came to be. Maybe our core four races have similar such 'undead' mythos. Coming up with a viable creature to fill that current void seems like a pretty nifty notion to me. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
March 20, 2012 - 4:19pm | While I agree a dead flesh monster would be a scarry adverssary, the concept creates its own problem. Why bother taking over dead flesh when you can take over a living body and run it until it's dead. |
March 20, 2012 - 6:19pm | Well, it seems to me like a dead body would end up being more resilient than a living body. Living tissue would be caused pain when it was injured and I could see a case being made for the opposite when dealing with dead flesh. Similarly, you can hit a living being in several different areas and kill it. In the case of inhabited dead flesh however, I could see how damage having to be directed at one specific place in order to cause death could come into play. Of course none of that matters if the idea isn't plausible in the first place - which is why I made the original post after all. :) So with the 'zombi' idea looking like its pretty implausible (citing your arguments against it AZ :), how about something more like one of those odd little caterpillar-like things (from Star Trek TNG - from the 1st season I think?) that would crawl into the mouth of their victim and lodge at the base of the brain (If I recall they had some sort of breathing tube that they pushed through the victim's skin at the base of the skull). They could take over a living being by entering the head through one of the orifices. The being would remain alive, but unable to control their body. How does that sound? I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
March 20, 2012 - 8:18pm | That would solve a lions share of the problems when it came to the animation problem. Here's another take to consider. The alien organism is a microscopic colony that consumes the dead flesh but this takes time. As it strips away at the tissue it replaces the consumed cells with its own which is also a form of reproduction. During the process the organism takes control of the tissues it has infected. If the limb or body is still "mechanically" intact then the organisms can even cause it to move, act, and even ambulate in a life like fasshion. The host will still be dead as a door nail and completely uninvolved in the alien's actions. The colony has a collective intelligence and is very ruthlessly smart. If the host is alive when infected the host will gradually loose control of the infected limbs and organs. First becoming ill with tremors, nausea, dillerium, and intestinal distress. Then loss of control of the effected limbs and or organs. Finally the host will fall into a convulsive fit and spontaneously die. The final stage would indicate that the organism has obtained a substanial state of control over the host being. This process would take some time, i am thinking days or possibly weeks, but if the person is frail, ill, or injured the process would be faster as there would be less resistence to the alien infection. Obviously injured, damaged, decaying or severing of the limbs and parts would result in the spin-off smaller revenants. Limbs spontaneously poping off to attack someone - unlikely. However, limbs being severed, chewed, or torn off - a little more plausible and would serve the purpose of helping to expand the colony by spreading the disease. The alien organism colony inside the host wouldnt care what condition the body was in - after all its just a meal, shelter, and will soon be transformed into something else when its done. Dead space is an obvious inspiration here but I would also suggest looking at the 80's sci-fi movie Leviathan which also involved a mutation that seeming killed its host as it being transformed into something else. Aliens used a live host to getate its young but you could also use this in terms of a dead body too. This time the alien organism is feeding off the carrion and using the body as shelter as it grows and matures. Evenutally emerging from the rotting corpse to start its life cycle again. Being slowly consumed from the inside out would be a pretty horrific element to any game. while the alien or alien colony is maturing it takes control of the body's functions (everything except the higher functions that would be controlled by a living brain). I think you could make a go of it with the original concept by I would suggest allowing yourself to think outside the box and move beyond the basic concept set down by stories like dead space. |
March 21, 2012 - 7:12pm | Alrighty then AZ, thanx for the input! I'll get to work on this critter and post it here for your perusal in a day or two when I get it done. :D I'll use flesh eating bacteria as a model to fashion these guys after I think... I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
March 22, 2012 - 3:16pm | Revenants (NPC race): Micro-revenants are microscopic organisms akin to flesh eating bacteria. In game terms this means that combat with a revenant in this form is restricted to medical treatments and does not involve the Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn combat rules. This situation changes as the revenant's life cycle progresses however, and is detailed below. In their microscopic form, these creatures can be harmed by certain antibiotic applications (omnimycin) and some chemical applications (bleach and other such caustics). Open flame and high heat (boiling or hotter) will also destroy a revenant colony. They can however, survive a vast array of destructive forces. This is accomplished by simply going dormant. They can be frozen solid and, once rewarmed, become active again. They can be encased in mud with the lump of mud eventually petrifying, but once cracked open and exposed to an atmosphere, can again become active (thereby living for millenia). They can even survive the void of space (so long as such exposure does not cause them to become completely desiccated in the process) by simply becoming dormant until such time as conditions permit their return to activity. In order to remain active all they need is a degree of warmth (any temperature above freezing and below boiling), a liquid medium in which to move about (preferably water or something close – like blood) and some small amount of oxygen (it doesn't take a whole lot at all, about 100 parts per million will allow them to function), and a food source. The absence of any one (or all) of these requirements does not mean that the revenant will perish, it is more likely that it would only cause them to go dormant until such a time as the conditions for activity are met. They eat any animal protein they encounter in order to sustain life and do not care whether that flesh comes from an unintelligent beast or a thinking being. They infect a victim through physical contact and do not require a wound to gain entrance to the host's body, simple contact will suffice. Revenants communicate to each other through touch. A revenant's 'body' is covered with tiny hair-like growths (cilia) that are in constant motion, thereby propelling the tiny creature through the liquid environment in which it lives. Aside from allowing movement, these cilia also transmit thoughts from one revenant to another instantaneously through simple contact. This enables a revenant 'colony' inside a host creature access to a collective mind, allowing for instant communication between all micro-revanants that make up the colony. A colony of revenants may start out as only a few (a dozen or so) individual organisms. Once they are able to infect a host, they quickly begin to multiply. They do so by attacking and killing an individual living cell, and then consuming it. After consumption, the revenant is able to divide itself through the process of binary fission. Consuming another dead cell allows the organism to divide again, and so on. In this way the revenant is essentially replacing the host's cells with other revenants; or, in other words, revenant procreation. This process proceeds at an exponential rate until the 'death' of the host creature/being at which point, the revenant will metamorphose into a different form (detailed below). One very dangerous aspect of a revenant is that, once they have infected and taken over a living host, they are able to assimilate that host's knowledge, eventually assimilating the depth of knowledge of an entire race if they are able to assimilate enough of that race's population to account for all of it's collective knowledge. One colony (micro or macro) can pass on its assimilated knowledge to any other colony simply by touch. Over the course of time this ability has allowed these organisms to achieve an awareness of self and intelligence. Though their biology (in their microscopic form) prevents them from utilizing their intelligence to create such things as tools or technology, it in no way hampers their ability to force their hosts to do so for them. Symptoms of Revenant Infection (each stage is cumulative with the stages that follow it): Assuming the victim is healthy. Ill or otherwise compromised victims would deteriorate at a much faster rate (it is left to the GM to determine, but it seems plausible to reduce the time it takes for the transmutation process by half). On average, a host being (about the same mass as a human) may expect to begin to experience flu-like symptoms (nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, diarrhea) accompanied by the site of contact being extremely painful (-10% to all actions), swollen, an off 'greenish' color that fluoresces under a black light and is warm to the touch (of course, touching the infected area would pass the infection to the individual that just touched it) within 24-36hrs after exposure (stage 1). 8-12hrs later the area of first contamination will begin to exhibit signs of necrosis (stage 2). For each hour thereafter, the necrosis will continue to advance about 2.54cm (1in) in every direction radiating away from the point of first contact. The victim will begin to lose the ability to control those parts of their body that have become necrotised by the revenant infection. For the sake of simplicity, if the revenant infection covers 5% of the victim, then the victim looses control of that 5% of their body that had been infected and subsequently necrotised. Once 25% of the victim's body (about 60hrs for an adult human) has been necrotised the revenants will have made their way throughout the entire body of the victim and will be able to exert full control over the functions of the body (stage 3). During this time period the revenant colony will be in full control of the host's body. The host will still be conscious (though oddly, no longer feeling any pain or other discomfort) and able to think, though it will seem more like a dream or rather, nightmare state to the victim. Meanwhile, the revenant will be able to move about (precluding the possibility that the host has sustained damage and can not move about, etc) with the host's body and accomplish those tasks/skills that the host was capable of doing previously (including speech!). The revenant colony will also be completely aware of the host's family and loved ones and if they happen to be within reach, may consider them easy targets for colonization. Once 50% of the body (about 60hrs for an adult human) has been necrotised the body will cease to function (die) due to septic shock and organ failure (stage 4). After the host body dies the corpse will exude a sickly, mucous-like substance that will form over the entire corpse and harden like a cocoon. 72hrs of inactivity later the revenant will emerge in its new form (see below). Any technological implants that the victim had will have been purged from the body and will remain in the biological material left in the cocoon. Such devices are unusable by the revenants. The whole process takes on average, about 10 days. If any infected flesh is excised (in any manner that does not completely destroy it) it will continue to carry the revenants infecting it at the time of excision. Meaning, unless excised infected flesh is completely destroyed (flame works particularly well!), the flesh in question will remain capable of infecting any other flesh it comes in contact with. If the piece of flesh in question happens to have an ambulatory ability (a hand for example), it is possible for the diminished revenant colony residing in that hand (in this example, it could also be a partial torso with a functioning arm still attached to it, etc) to move itself to a different location in order to avoid eradication. It would then be free to restart the cycle all over again if at all possible. Once dead, the host is dead. It's knowledge lives on in the revenant colony but absolutely nothing else of the original host survives. Treatment: Stage 1: Treatment at stage 1 consists of massive doses of omnimycin (4 per day for 12 days), during which time the victim will be feeble and sickly, unable to lift themselves out of bed and wracked with all the symptoms of stage 1 infection during the first 10 of the 12 days of treatment. If any dose is missed during the course of the 12 day regimen, then another day (and 4 more doses of omnimycin) will need to be added to the recovery period. If a full day's worth of inoculations are missed (at any point during the treatment) then the entire regimen would have to be started over. Stage 2: Treatment at stage 2 consists of the excising of the necrotic tissue as well as the (seemingly) healthy tissue at least 2.54cm (1in) in every direction from the area of necrotic tissue; in addition to the treatment detailed in stage 1 above. Stage 3: Treatment at stage 3 consists of the treatments detailed in stages 1 and 2 as well as the continual application of hyperbolic oxygen therapy in a hospital setting. Even then there is a 50% mortality rate. Stage 4: Once the revenant infection has reached this level there is no further treatment available. Macro-revenants are much different than the micro-revenants. Once the metamorphosis has been completed, the revenant emerges as a grotesque semblance of the creature that had previously been consumed. The revenants utilize the endoskeletal structure of other beings in order to fashion their colony around it and use it as a vehicle to give them access to mobility on a larger scale. Think of it as their way of 'constructing' a 'space ship' through a biological process; bioengineering after a fashion. This allows them the freedom to break the bonds of their microscopic nature and exist in a completely different universe; in a macro form. Therefore, once they emerge from their cocoons they look like a skeletal form of the being that they consumed (a rat would look vaguely rat-like, a human would look vaguely human, etc), albeit covered in a flesh-like material (appearing something like a desiccated corpse and about ½ the mass of the original creature/being). This flesh-like material is actually the bodies of millions (or even billions) of micro-revenants taking the place of the flesh that had originally covered the endoskeletal structure. They work in unison to actuate the limbs in order to affect a mobility consistent with that which was originally enjoyed by the victim. They are completely unable to create flesh and are only approximating it in order to cover the skeletal framework and give them the ability to move on a macro scale. Similarly, they are completely unable to create organs; they have no need of them anyway. They can 'hear' and 'see' by using their cilia to perceive sound, like sonar. They also can not speak in this form, except with each other as they have no way of creating vocal cords by which to express themselves in a manner compatible with such forms of communication. They can however, understand verbal speech just fine, as long as they have previously assimilated a victim with knowledge of the language being spoken. One of their weakness' however, is that they are effectively using their purloined skeletal system as a marionette. Which means that they have very limited fine motor control. They can affect melee combat as effectively as the original victim could have. They can even do other things like fire weapons (they never have to bring the weapon to their shoulders to aim however, as their perception is 360 degrees and does not originate from eyes, but rather, their whole body is a sensory organ). What they can not do is fabricate such technology on their own. Because it takes fine motor control to construct fine circuitry and whatnot. Sure, they may know how to do it, but their digits/appendages simply will not allow them to do so no matter how dexterous the original host had been. They would therefore, have a need to appropriate whatever goods they require rather than relying on producing it themselves. In a pinch, they could use their hosts (during stage 3 of infection) to produce something. This would present some barriers however as the third stage of infection only lasts a couple days (+/-). They could conceivably change out hosts as needed but this measure would be pretty extreme. The possibility however, does exist. Poor fine motor control also means that they are a bit slower to react to stimuli than your average human (-10 DEX/RS and -1 Initiative). Another weakness of the revenants is their communication, although that is also one of their strengths. They can instantly speak to millions of individual micro-revenants simultaneously (strength) so long as they are all in contact with each other (weakness). This holds true with their macro form as well. Each macro form is a colony unto itself consisting of millions or billions of individual revenants. But in order to communicate with another such colony, the two would have to be in physical contact. The revenants have worked around that limitation to a degree, by keeping any area that they inhabit moist. Macro-revenants moving about will therefore remain in constant contact with micro-revenants moving about the moisture of their surrounding environment and in turn, with any other macro-revenants in the area. This also means that, for any creatures/species other than revenants, revenant controlled areas are biological hot zones where simply moving about is deadly unless biohazard precautions are strictly adhered to. Once a macro-revenant has left that moist boundary however, they are effectively on their own. Thus, working in conjunction with each other over long distances is very difficult for revenants When fighting with a macro-revenant the GM should use the average abilities of the assimilated victim for the macro-revenant's abilities. For example; a giant creature assimilated by a revenant colony had a stamina of 400. The new macro-revenant will also have a stamina of 400. Exhausting the stamina of a macro-revenant does not kill the thing. It only means that enough damage has been done to the endoskeletal structure to render the macro-revenant incapacitated. To destroy the creature it would have to be burned, bleached or some similar method of destruction would have to be employed. This does not suggest that the creature will eventually heal and become ambulatory again. It simply means that the micro-revenants involved are still very much alive and still very infectious. Touching the 'corpse' will cause infection. It should be noted that using an explosive device on such a creature could, in the long run, prove disastrous. Because doing so will distribute live micro-revenants over a large area and indeed, could 'splash' the creatures onto unprotected creatures/beings and in essence, aid in the distribution of the revenant colony(s). Any physical contact with a micro or macro-revenant outside of strict quarantine protocols will result in revenant infection. Ability Scores (these ability score adjustments supersede the ability score adjustments listed for any victim of revenant assimilation): STR/STA +0 DEX/RS -10 INT/LOG +10 PER/LDR +0 IM -1 Revenants have no appreciation of art. The concept of family is completely alien to them. They have no regard for sentient life, anything consisting of animal protein exists to be eaten by them. They view any other race as nothing more than a source of food. Communication is simply a means to direct their numbers in order to attain more food to continue to grow. They have no desire to 'talk' with their food and attempting to do so will only give them time to infect the speaker. The death(s) of other revenants mean nothing to the ones left alive, they have no regard for grief. Similarly, they have no appreciation of sympathy, honor or anything remotely related. They exist in order to expand. That they comprehend all to well. When using this entity the GM should be aware that they could have a vast knowledge (depending upon how advanced the GM wishes them to be) and should be played as such. These beings would be extremely cagey and tactically smart. They should not be played as if they are simple animals or stupid in any way. Note: Fleshy creatures that have no skeletal system (like dralasites) exist as food sources for revenants (in their minds). Just because a creature has no endoskeletal structure to be purloined by a revenant colony does not mean they will not infect and consume that creature. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
March 22, 2012 - 9:54pm | Excellent. With the dralasite though, I would use it in the same way except the revenant form would be an oozy slimy blob that moves hydrostatically being pushed along by the collective movement of the colony. |
March 23, 2012 - 6:08am | Alrighty then AZ, I'll make that change and get to work on a short scenario outline to use with them. I'll post the change below so you can edit it in for your immediate use if you wish/need to. Would it be alright to list you as helpping with the creature when I send this off to SFMan? :) I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
March 23, 2012 - 6:29am | Alright, here's the correction. This 'Note' section replaces the 'Note' section from above. Note: For the sake of simplicity, this body of work was written from the perspective of the revenants interacting with other creatures consisting of an endoskeletal structure. These beings can interact in a similar fashion with any fleshy organism (dralasites with no skeletal system at all and/or creatures which utilize a carapace/exoskeleton like vrusk) in a similar fashion. In fact, they would likely prefer assimilating creatures that have exoskeletons because that would provide more protection and security for the inhabiting colony. In the case of a fleshy creature with no skeletal system, the revenants infect, consume and assimilate them in the same fashion. But the end result is akin to a mucous-coated micro-revenant being viewed on a large scale. Instead of swimming about their environment however, this form of macro-revenant would move about hydrostatically using the combined efforts of the colony to do so. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! |
