Vermin Inspired Weapons

Here are a few weapons I created for mite NPCs in an adventure I ran in the Mwangi Expanse.

Mandible Bill (Exotic): The beetle bill uses both the mandibles from a giant beetle, mounted side by side on a 7 foot pole. An opponents weapon can be caught between the mandibles to disarm. A mounted opponent hit by a bill takes a –1 penalty on his Ride check to stay mounted. A mandible bill can be made for 1 gp if the creator has a set of giant beetle mandibles.

Mandible Sickle (Exotic): A mantis sickle is made from an arm taken from a giant mantis. A mantis sickle can be made for 1 gp if the creator has a gaint mantis arm.

Mantis Scythe (Exotic): A mandible scythe is made from a mandible of an ant or centipede. A mandible scythe can be made for 1 gp if the creator has a mandible from an giant ant or giant centipede.

Sting Dagger (Exotic): A sting dagger is made from the sting of a giant scorpion or giant wasp. The sting dagger can be loaded with 3 doses of poison inside the sting. Each successful hit empties 1 dose of poison until the poison is used up. A sting dagger can be made for 1 gp if the creator has a giant scorpion or giant wasp sting.

Weapons ........ Cost .... Dmg(S) Dmg(M) Crit . Range . Weight . Type . Special
Light
Dagger, Sting .. 50 gp ... 1d3 ..... 1d4 ....... x3 ........ - ........ 1 lb. ....... P ... see text
Sickle, Mandible 100 gp . 1d4 ..... 1d6 .... 19-20 ..... - ........ 2 lbs. ... P or S ... trip
Two-Hand
Bill, Mandible ... 200 gp . 1d6 ..... 1d8 ....... x3 ........ - ....... 11 lbs. ..... S ... brace, disarm, reach, see text
Scythe, Mantis . 150 gp . 1d8 ..... 1d10 ..... x4 ....... - ........ 10 lbs. .. P or S ... trip

Very cool idea. Bug chitin armors and shields would also be a logical option for the little blighters. (Even carapaces being planted in the ground and used as cover / tower shields, by ranged attacking mites, or those using 'longspears' or other reach weapons, could be cool, particularly if they are poking down from a ledge just out of melee weapon reach at the PCs.)

Will these particular mites gain some sort of free proficiency in these weapons, which could be considered 'Mite weapons?'

If not, perhaps the mites could have a special weapon training feat that gives them proficiency in all of these bug-derived chitin weapons for a single feat.

Other bug-derived stuff might include nets or snares made of spider-silk, tanglefoot bag-like goop made from gooey spider-silk, burning gas grenades made from bombardier beetle spray (less acid damage, more visibility penalties equal to being sickened + dazzled, from the stinging corrosive mist), 'torches' made from fire beetle glands, etc.

Mandible and mantis scythe should have their names switched, but I like it!

And yes to chitin armor. Ac would be one or two lower, but would weigh a quarter of metal.armors, somdthing like that.

Chitin armor is always cool.

This might be bordering on goofy or pushing too far into the realm of biotech, but a "probiscus"-styled weapon with some sort of nasty bladder that both injects who-knows-what and extracts a copius amount of blood, along with that terrible gunk that keeps the bleeding going after the weapon is removed....

Okay that maiy be a bit much.

edit-maybe it could also work as a sort of giant botfly egg injector...okay that's way too much.

And Druids should be able to use it.

edit-maybe it could also work as a sort of giant botfly egg injector...okay that's way too much.

I am reminded of a whip I suggested for Shore to the Sea that was a conch shell that extruded a 15 ft. long stinging nematode, similar to a venomous jellyfish tendril or anenome frond.

Also, say no to botfly-injector-spears. That's just wrong!

And gross.

And did I mention, wrong?

Ew.

I worked this up for a game I had, but ended up never using it (nobody wanted to go explore the desert). :)

Chiton Armor
Chiton Armor is made from the armor plates of giant insects. Each insect can contribute enough chiton to make medium armor two size categories smaller than it is. Chiton from multiple insects can be combined to create larger armors. Each doubling of the number of insects used adds one to the size of the armor. For example, a medium insect has enough chiton plates to create armor for a tiny creature. Two medium insects have enough chiton plates to create armor for a small creature, and four have enough for a medium creature.
Chiton is difficult to work with without destroying it, so increase the DCs of creating all chiton armor by 10. However, chiton armor is considered masterwork (do not further increase the DC for MW, it's part of the increase already). Chiton armor costs as much as mithral armor of the same size, due to the expensive alchemical processes used to fuse and preserve the chiton without a living body. In addition to being non-metallic (thus allowing Druids to use it), chiton armor is treated as one size category lighter for purposes of class abilities and movement restrictions. Chiton armor reduces the ACP by 2, increases the maximum dex by 2, and decreases the arcane spell failure by 5%. The wearer must still have proficiency with the actual category of armor, as normal. Only rigid metal armors can be made of chiton (plate mail, brigandine, scale, breast plate are fine, but chainmail cannot be).

So basically, it works very similar to mithral, but less arcane spell failure reduction combined with wearable by druids.

That was just a sample of the stuff I have made. I really enjoy throwing vermin at players because they are not seen often. I have created almost a dozen new vermin with a swarm for each. I am actually working on an Arcadia campaign that is focused on mites, vermin, and Skraeling (Native American equivalent with new weapons and archetypes) heavy. I can't wait for Inner Sea World Guide and Ultimate Magic which are both updating and adding new vermin stuff.

Special Material:
ChitinChitin is harvested from vermin. While chitin is lighter than steel, it is restrictive to movement. Chitin armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. This decrease does not apply to proficiency in wearing the armor. A character wearing chitin full plate must be proficient in wearing heavy armor to avoid adding the armor's check penalty to all his attack rolls and skill checks that involve moving. Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from chitin are increased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonuses are decreased by 1, and armor check penalties are increased by 1.

An armor or shield made from chitin weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of chitin. Armors and shields fashioned from chitin are always masterwork. One vermin produces enough chitin for a single suit of masterwork breastwork or banded mail armor for a creature one size category smaller than the vermin. By selecting only choice pieces of chitin, an armorsmith can produce one suit of masterwork half-plate or full plate for a creature two sizes smaller. In each case, enough chitin is available to produce a light or heavy masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided that the vermin is Large or larger.

Due to the rarity of chitin, double the price of armors and shields including the masterwork quality when sold at a market. If you have harvested chitin (using DC 20 Survival check on a vermin corpse), then the price is 1/2 of normal after adding masterwork costs. Chitin has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 5.
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Bot-fly Injector Spear idea is awesome, taking it. I can add it to my Cockroach Antenna Whip, Pincer Man-catcher, and etc.

Other bug-derived stuff might include nets or snares made of spider-silk, tanglefoot bag-like goop made from gooey spider-silk, burning gas grenades made from bombardier beetle spray (less acid damage, more visibility penalties equal to being sickened + dazzled, from the stinging corrosive mist), 'torches' made from fire beetle glands, etc.

Fire beetle glands make an alchemist fire type item, bombardier beetle makes an acid flask, stink bugs make an obscuring mist with a nausea affect, and etc.

I worked this up for a game I had, but ended up never using it (nobody wanted to go explore the desert). :)

Chiton Armor
STATS OMITTED

So basically, it works very similar to mithral, but less arcane spell failure reduction combined with wearable by druids.

I really like the idea of combining multiple vermin to make.

mdt wrote:

I worked this up for a game I had, but ended up never using it (nobody wanted to go explore the desert). :)

Chiton Armor
STATS OMITTED

So basically, it works very similar to mithral, but less arcane spell failure reduction combined with wearable by druids.

I really like the idea of combining multiple vermin to make.

Honestly, you kind of have to if you want chiton at lower levels. There's just not enough vermin big enough to make full plate chiton for a medium creature.

I also do the same with dragonhide, if you have enough for tiny full plate, and get enough for two sets, you have enough for small full plate. Get enough for two sets of small full plate and you have enough for medium full plate. All without having to go kill a Collosal dragon. :)

Of course, if you want your energy resistance cost reduction, you have to find enough of the same type of dragon (or mix the kinds with the same resistance).

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

mdt wrote:

*STUFF*

Honestly, you kind of have to if you want chiton at lower levels. There's just not enough vermin big enough to make full plate chiton for a medium creature.

I also do the same with dragonhide, if you have enough for tiny full plate, and get enough for two sets, you have enough for small full plate. Get enough for two sets of small full plate and you have enough for medium full plate. All without having to go kill a Collosal dragon. :)

Of course, if you want your energy resistance cost reduction, you have to find enough of the same type of dragon (or mix the kinds with the same resistance).

I know its a little off topic but I like this idea. Would you say that if you mixed two different types of dragons equally could you get the energy resistance of each but half as effective? (Either the resistance is halved or the resistance only works 50% of the time)