Fantastic Stuff
Fantastic Stuff posted in Fantasy and Progress Level 3 forum comment posted by derek_holland Reskinning all Chthonic Lands fungi as living crystals adds to the beauty of those deeps as well as making it more difficult to discern which rocks are safe.
A variant of metamorphosis is growing another creature onto oneself. As each is slain, the next layer becomes active. Some attacks may harm the inner layer creatures as well as the current outer layer. (Inspired by Greater Monstrous Shell in Advanced Arcana VII.)
In the Company of Aberrations from Rite Publishing has an interesting take on otyugh- it is crazy to allow them to survive in sewers not because of the danger they pose, but what they may spawn. At first I looked through a lot of monster template, mutation and spell sources and didn't find anything that sparked a good idea on these spawn. Now I have it- aberrations shouldn't mutate like animals. Rather their spawn should be very different from the progenitors. In other words, taking creatures of other types, reskinning them as aberrations and then applying some mutations. If I ever get around to using this I will roll up the mutations then as I want something fresh (I am one of those people that doesn't like looking at old works). So here are some critters and suggestions that would likely be altered by whatever is rolled:
- Gas Spores. Large numbers of mindless floating bags that can explode with spores and who knows what sorts of energy is a disaster for a city.
- Shocker Lizards. These set off sewer gasses only when found in groups more than three. Otherwise they are good at zapping people and things in the water.
- Carbuncle. You really don't want to know what the gem is made of.
- Blink Dogs. A monster that can teleport back and forth between the sewers and surface at will is a major disaster. The sort that will empty a city of most of its population within a matter of days.
- Xorn. Similar but even scarier as they simply phase through most materials, killing those who think themselves safe behind barriers.
- Boggles. Also similar but in this case it is claws reaching out from any gap, not allowing the victims to even see the entirety of the monsters killing them.
- Basidironds. Mass hallucinations wherever the air from the sewer can reach the surface. Sounds really bad to me.
- Executioner's Hoods. I would make one major change to make them more like the aliens in The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis (CAS)- they control those who they successfully engulf. Citizens of the city would have to decide if they are willing to kill loved ones who may still be alive and can be freed.
- Grue. These are another major disaster as their capacity to shut down all magic of one elemental school (or something else with the right rolls) could reduce a wizard's guild to hedge mages. Best to use in all four forms so the PCs don't know which sort of magic will work on them.
- Skum. Not only are they well adapted to water, they could also fit another niche- mad scientist. Consider all the junk that is dumped into the sewers and what an engineer with a magical twist could do with all of it. WH 40k orks might be a good source of some tech here.
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