Required: Detailed information on the trox

[TheBulletKnight]

So, my GM has tasked me with gathering information on the mysterious, monstrous, and terror-inducing Trox. I want to play one, but he wants me to find more information because the Bestiary 4 and Advanced Race Guide don't give enough information, as he is the type of GM who prefers the actual freedom of roleplay rather than being controlled by chances fickleness.

He wants me to get things like minimum and maximum height and weight, ages, coloring, what creature they're most likely related to(I persoanlly say spiders), whether they have live birth or lay eggs, whether they have one cute little Troxling at a time or give birth to hordes of little ones.

I am asking for your own opinions on their ecology, society, how they act towards other races, how other races see them, typical habitats. I call upon the infinite wisdom of the internet, and all the harshness and foolishness that entails.

[Damir]

(in no particular order, more or less off the top of my head)

Weights: There aren't really any large races to start our guesses off of. Ogres are said to be, on average, 650 lbs. The trox are similarly big and burly, so that might be a start.

Ages: Why not have a race that ages fairly fast, for once? A race that never grows old enough to rebel (of course, that failed - but it was the idea behind it), and is always curious because everything is always new. Something like:

adulthood in 5 years, middle aged in 11, old at 17, venerable at 25, max age 25+2d6

Long lived enough to not have to deal too much with aging and death in the middle of an adventure arc (and if the aging is an issue - maybe they never really grow old? They take a penalty once at 15ish - or just none at all - and then die at 25+2d6. Why breed a slave race which deteriorates slowly over time [and gets smarter!]? You want them up and running as normal right until they hit the expiration date), but short enough that they experience life differently (and generational play might be a major factor for long adventures).

Height: I'd put them as tall as a large creature might be expected to be, to emphasize just how burly and scary they are (and add more fun when walking around little people houses). They might have been made to walk on all fours in smaller tunnels, a behavior they probably try to avoid on the surface.

Relative: The appearance, the strength, the clans, and the burrowing sort of suggest some kind of giant cave ant as their long lost relative to me. Looks like they have a tail, so either the ancestor was a very bizarre ant (it's the darklands, though, so that's not too surprising) - or maybe there was some weird creature splicing involved.

Colors: Duergar hate cheer, so they're probably pretty drab and utilitarian greyish red, greyish blue, greyish green, greyish tan. Whatever got the job done. To follow that, perhaps bright colorations (a genetic rarity) are revered among some groups, due to how much they stick out compared to the others.

Habitats: Hmm, the stat block says tropical deserts - but I suspect they might like some jungles, swamps, and forests. After living in darkness for so long, I'd think they'd find a bit of shade to be comfortable.

On the other hand, maybe they keep a nocturnal lifestyle. They burrow into the sand during the day (if they aren't being ordered around - but slave owners would probably realize that the creatures worked better at night) and emerge at night to be a terror in the dark. Their burrowing might also help them find water for themselves (and their captors).

They've got to eat a ton. Either there's big prey around (I'm imagining several of them surrounding and bringing down elephants and the like just by sheer tenacity and grappling. In fact, these guys would be pretty epic hunters/hunted with a bulette - just clinging on for the death or life struggle as the bulette tries to rip them off - diving down underground [both have burrow] and leaping into the air in the process.), or perhaps they are forced into slavery partly because their captors can promise food (those who run find themselves hungry and without a lot of knowledge about how to fend for themselves in the harsh empty desert - if they don't die rampaging a nearby settlement, they return for promises of food).

Society: For some variety, I'd suggest that many of the clans haven't had any formal contact with each other since their emergence. Each adapts to the area around it. Some get enslaved, and the slave-born are a very different culture from the free-born.

Due to the divided nature, the short lifespan, and the slavery, they're a culture without a voice. Individuals learn and adapt so much, but are rarely able to communicate this in a really meaningful way. Those who do pass on knowledge must do so in ways that can quickly and easily be passed along. In enslaved societies, it's unlikely they'll learn to read much - it's probably by song (since stories are too threatening to the slavers).

In freer places, they might hold storytellers in great renown, or have simple dances and performances (think mini-plays, steeped with a lot of symbolism) which communicate many stories at once.

But when we talk about renown - how much renown can someone gain in such a short life? Perhaps they don't look at individuals the same way, since everyone is replaced so quickly. Society is more concerned about the community's story as a whole and how everyone contributes to this base of understanding.

For their interactions with others, I think they'd exhibit the best of youth. They're unashamedly inquisitive and thoughtful - they're trying to learn about and understand the world around them, and easily placated and fooled by the strategems of others (they were, more than other races, "born yesterday"). It's not that they're dumb or dull - but that they just don't have the experience to deal with everything at once. Hedonists, idealists, maniacs - they're basically what humans are to elves in most settings, dangerous but noble in a way.

Reproduction: If they die fast, they probably need to bear a lot of children fairly quickly. I'd lean towards eggs - then you have communities based around protecting those young, possibly without regard to who birthed who (there's no "father" or "mother" - just an "aunt/uncle" term for all people of the last generation).

[Jesse Brake]

Sorry for thread resurrection, but thanks for these ideas Damir. I have a PC who is playing a Trox in my Iron Gods game and was looking for ideas on their culture.

As far as reproduction, I am using the term "clutchmother" as a station of reverence to a trox female that guards eggs.

For society, I enjoy the idea of a form of storytelling to be a puppet-esque show, with their larger arms holding stage setting or changing it, while their smaller arms manipulate shadow puppets made from painted and dyed animal hides.

[MMCJawa]

FYI a bit more about them was published in Inner Sea Races...they are basically alien explorers from the insect dominated moon of Nchak, who upon arriving on Golarion were captured and enslaved by Duergar.

[Tobaris]

Damir wrote:

(in no particular order, more or less off the top of my head)

Weights: There aren't really any large races to start our guesses off of. Ogres are said to be, on average, 650 lbs. The trox are similarly big and burly, so that might be a start.

Ages: Why not have a race that ages fairly fast, for once? A race that never grows old enough to rebel (of course, that failed - but it was the idea behind it), and is always curious because everything is always new. Something like:

adulthood in 5 years, middle aged in 11, old at 17, venerable at 25, max age 25+2d6

Long lived enough to not have to deal too much with aging and death in the middle of an adventure arc (and if the aging is an issue - maybe they never really grow old? They take a penalty once at 15ish - or just none at all - and then die at 25+2d6. Why breed a slave race which deteriorates slowly over time [and gets smarter!]? You want them up and running as normal right until they hit the expiration date), but short enough that they experience life differently (and generational play might be a major factor for long adventures).

Height: I'd put them as tall as a large creature might be expected to be, to emphasize just how burly and scary they are (and add more fun when walking around little people houses). They might have been made to walk on all fours in smaller tunnels, a behavior they probably try to avoid on the surface.

Relative: The appearance, the strength, the clans, and the burrowing sort of suggest some kind of giant cave ant as their long lost relative to me. Looks like they have a tail, so either the ancestor was a very bizarre ant (it's the darklands, though, so that's not too surprising) - or maybe there was some weird creature splicing involved.

Colors: Duergar hate cheer, so they're probably pretty drab and utilitarian greyish red, greyish blue, greyish green, greyish tan. Whatever got the job done. To follow that, perhaps bright colorations (a genetic rarity) are revered among some groups, due to how much they...

The Alien origin is rather boring to me so here are some of my ideas based on Damir's initial concept.

Weight:
I agree on the weight concept roughly though perhaps somewhat lighter as chitin can be surprisingly lightweight so perhaps a max weight of 650 for anything barring a Trox Bloatmage(Shudders).

Ages: I'm of two minds on this, on the one hand a short-lived race makes some sense from a slaver perspective especially if they are working them to death. However the ranges proposed are nearly goblin short. And without magic aiding their growth they would need to eat almost constantly during their growth phase to reach the size they do in such a short time. So perhaps double the initial range.
Mature: 10 middle aged: 22 old: 34 venerable:50 max: 50+2d6(or 4d6)
My other idea being they are biologically immortal(like the myth about lobsters) but are also hard-wired so they gain no age benefits due to their memory dulling beyond a certain point or something.

Relative: I think the closest guess I could make for them if bred by the Duergar would be. Orc(or Ogre) mixed with antlion or giant antlion.
For those that don't know This is an Antlion and ThisThis is why they scared the crap out of me in old D&D manuals.

Other than that I agree on most points although as an added point given how far the art for Trox shows the back plates extending I imagine they could be used for communication and threat displays if they clack them together. So yes the giant pincer toothed monster can also probably make noises that sound like the worlds biggest meanest Rattler. Given their tremorsense this sounds especially likely and may even be how they secretly communicate and sing while slaving under the Deurgar.