Wake Up The Exterminator!

[Azmere]

So someone said something in Chat about Mizahar needing more 'everyday' monsters. It got me thinking and after replacing a gear and greasing the zerks I settled on something that I think could be a valued asset.

SPIDERS!

Every region should have some kind of large arachnid that terrorizes people, right?

My purpose for the discussion is simple.

* Does this already exist?
* What are some ideas for locational variances?
* What would be some practical uses for them? (Pest control, silk, poison/antidote, etc)
* What are your thoughts on the matter?

Azmere

[Nivel]

I love spiders but Giant spiders are kind of standard MMO fair so something needs to be added to them to make them more unique.

I also think I heard someone on hear talking about making spiders that crawl inside people and use their webs to control them. I think it was Firenze who was talking about that idea but I could be wrong.

Edit:

Cool looking spiders :

Possible hypnotizing spider







(this one especially freaks me out)

I'm thinking mesmerizing spiders could work or maybe they produce a paralising agent that they spit or let out in a misty vapour form.

Mantis creatures are also pretty cool..just saying. you could maybe add attributes from them to make the spider monsters even more epic.

Mantis monsters :

[Azmere]

I love spiders but Giant spiders are kind of standard MMO fair so something needs to be added to them to make them more unique.

I agree but I also think we need to be careful not to exclude something just because it's standard fantasy fodder. I mean, every MMO has wolves and snakes, too.

I also think I heard someone on hear talking about making spiders that crawl inside people and use their webs to control them. I think it was Firenze who was talking about that idea but I could be wrong.

I read that article and it sounds wonderful. My thinking is less monster, more fauna. There is a lore article on a type of lizard that can grow large enough to become a mount and it is broken up into four types. That's direction I'd like to go with this in so far as to explain to a PC that each region has its dominant bug. Cyphrus has this type and they average 2-3' long and are very fast. Eyktol has scorpions that are 4' long but only attack when cornered because they'd rather just burrow into the sand and disappear than fight. Anywhere on the Suvan sea one runs the possibility of encountering ruthless crabs that are mostly less than 2' across but travel in schools of a dozen or so and will attack a random swimmer for no reason. So on and so forth...

I'm thinking mesmerizing spiders could work or maybe they produce a paralising agent that they spit or let out in a misty vapour form.

This is a bit specific and a bit OP for an entire species. Though it might be cool for say... the queen of the jungle spider to do this.

Mantis creatures are also pretty cool..just saying. you could maybe add attributes from them to make the spider monsters even more epic.

I hadn't thought of including mantis... but this would certainly fall within the realm of what I'm going after.

Thank you for the pictures and ideas. I really want this to be more of a nuisance animal than a monster. Something that a PC can throw into his or her plots to give it a little spice but not necessarily be the entire purpose. Thanks again for your help.

[Xen]

Lucid Lurkers are already horrific and yet strikingly beautiful arachnids that will fuel Amunet´s nightmares. However, now you want to make a common arachnid/fauna? How ingenious and cruel.


I have an arachnid I´ve been keeping on the back burner of my word document file for the longest. It´s in a somewhat complete state, existing between in the planes of development and editing. I´ll post a sample of it below...just to get the nightmare fuel ignited.

What it looks like...

Secret :

Basic Data:--
Name: Bousbadas: Snake Tongue for ¨ Cozener Spider ¨
Name Breakdown: Bows´ Bah-Dahs
Threat Level: Medium
Frequency: Low
Location: The Cloud Forests to The Jungle Wilds
Life Span: Ten Years
Breeding Season: Spring and Summer
Traits & Characteristics: Mild Intelligence, Highly Stealthy, Excellent Jumpers

More Data:--

History:

Secret :

Boubadas were simply solitary spiders before the Valterrian—sluggish and imposing in size—these arachnids sometime spent days, and or, weeks in pillars composed of their finely woven silk in wait of prey. Bousbada's at this time relied mainly on their sense of touch, hearing, and partially, their poor sight to catch their prey, which consisted of insects, frogs and lizards. They were basic arachnids, living much like most ambush predators within Falyndar's insect food chain.

Appearance:

Secret :

Boubadas have tan bodies, but a few are known to have dark brown or completely black bodies too. Their leg joints are completely black and the outlines of their eyes, along with their fangs, and pedipalp are bright orange in color. The eight acute black eyes they posses are very sensitive to movement and seem to glow with a strange and eerie kind of sentience. A person looking into the eyes of a Bousbadas will feel that there is intelligence and intent both behind its eyes and actions. A Boubadas is only about ten inches wide with long fifteen inch long legs that can move swiftly to carry its hairy body.

Abilities:

Secret :

Boubadas do not posses extravagant abilities. The Valterrian only blessed this arachnid with size, higher intelligence, enhanced sight and not much else. It retains its ability to produce thick silk, though, which is very difficult to tear if it has been layered multiple times. A Boubadas intelligence allows it to understand the importance of numbers and preservation—which is why it avoids preying upon its own kind most of the time—and the need for cooperation. Boubadas meeting for the first time will instinctively communicate with one another by gesturing, touching, or chittering. If a ´conversation´ is successful, the Boubadas will form a pack or a community should they survive long enough to meet more cooperative members of their kind.

[Azmere]

Awesome! Thank you for linking the lurkers. That is what I wish to avoid. The lore actually says "the island is uninhabitable" because of these spiders. The basis of this article is to give any PC the ability to find a creepie-crawlie in their region that might scare the crap out of someone but doesn't take much to eliminate.

I love your spider, btw. If this idea gets a bit further along, I would love to incorporate it and might have you help me fill in some of the gaps in my other creatures!

Thanks again, Xen. Your input is much appreciated.

[Tribal]

Have you been playing too much Skyrim, Az?

[Nivel]

1) you're right it's impossible to be completely original all the time and they're staples for a reason. (because their cool and people are afraid of them)

2)We do need more fauna as well as monsters.

3) I was getting a bit carried away, I just like the idea of magic spiders

4) aww yah . After spiders we should work on giant mantises or maybe one region or two could get some mantises instead of spiders.


here is my basic attempts at a spider variation.

Secret :

Name: Crystal Spider
Threat Level: Medium.
Frequency: medium
Location: Sylira region
Life Span: 3 years
Size: 3 inch diameter for males, 5 Inch Diameter for females (this includes leg span)
Breeding Season: Spring and Summer
Traits & Characteristics: prefers dark and moist area's like caves, basements and stone castles. Makes silky webs which can be used in fabrics and their beautiful abdomen is often made into jewelry. Their bites can hurt quite a bit and their venom can cause a fever in most but it usually subsides in a few hours..

[Kyo]

Here, I'll try to think of regional stuff for spiders. Let's see. Uh.

Sylira--
NORTH (subarctic-- inspired by Alaska gold mines and the question where does gold come from?)

• Hot spiders that glow like stars and create golden nests to mate in.

MIDDLE (temperate-- inspired by the meaning of temperate: 'not to extremes')

• Chameleon(?) boring spiders that are incredibly hard to see/detect and infest people's rooms but you usually don't know it's there so it's like a secret nuisance (where did my car keys go? that sort of thing).

SOUTH (monsoonal-- inspired because okay it rains a lot here guys)

• Raindrop swimming spiders that climb water and travel in the clouds during dry season.

Taldera--
??



Kalea--
??



Falyndar--
WHOLE (jungle-- inspired because i like giving people problems)

• Tiger spiders that are poisonous only to myrian tigers, their poison effectively changes the tiger's temperament from normal to insane. Probably temporary? Or at least you can find an antedote.

Cyphrus--
WHOLE (grasslands-- inspired by grass)

• Spiders that braid grass into nets to tangle the feet and prey on stuff.

Eyktol--
WHOLE (desert-- inspired by sand)

• Colonies of spiders that tunnel through sand in spirals to create home-made quicksand.

Island Nations--
KONTI ISLE (coniferous forest-- inspired by white isle trees that change colors with the seasons and by Konti gifts/vision water)

• Mocking spiders that change their coloration by feeding on the color-changing tree sap (tree sap probably influenced by vision water?) of the famous Konti Isle trees and f'ing up people's Konti gifts (effectively when you're bitten by this spider your gift temporarily reverses).

AKVATAR (desert + tiny oasis?-- inspired by oasis/mirages)

• Mirage spiders that have a poison that makes you see mirages, luring you away from the fresh springs and into the inhospitable Akvatar desert-area.

Note: I only looked at some of the lore because I'm lazy and so I don't know if there are already creatures that might fill some of these niches. If so, uh, whoops?
Note 2: I put question marks beside Taldera and Kalea because I'm uncertain what regions/climates they're broken into, as their lore pages are complete stubs under development right now. Cyphrus is also under construction but I just happen to know (being a Cyphrus player) that it's grasslands and stuff.
Note 3: Obviously these are unfinished/not fleshed out. I'm just spitballin' to see if you guys like any of these ideas.

[Tribal]

Oh I like that. We need to work on your other one too, Kyo.

[Gossamer]

We've tried really hard not to have dragons, unicorns, and other standard fantasy fauna. I'd rather not start now with giant spiders. They are just such standard trope stuff.

Commonly known spiders, as long as its a good mix, is fine. By mix I mean some poisonous, some not, all different styles. Just all deadly etc... kinda makes for a yawnfest.

Its going to be really hard to get something like Dire Spiders approved.