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Actually, Takasi's earlier post got me thinking about the ecosystem on the Isle of Dread. I saw a show about Africa a couple years ago, and it said without the dung beetles, the whole place would become quickly covered in....you know, dung.
So magnify that in relation to the size of dinosaurs, as well as considering the comparatively small size of the Isle of Dread, and you'll realize that the place needs scads of giant scarab beetles rolling 2 foot diameter "soccer balls" (or footballs for our friends across the pond) hither and thither.
Then, dang. Imagine the horse flies. Or dinosaur flies. They must be 6 inches long. What fun it must be to get bitten by one of THOSE things every few hours. Dreadful.
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Actually, Takasi's earlier post got me thinking about the ecosystem on the Isle of Dread. I saw a show about Africa a couple years ago, and it said without the dung beetles, the whole place would become quickly covered in....you know, dung.
So magnify that in relation to the size of dinosaurs, as well as considering the comparatively small size of the Isle of Dread, and you'll realize that the place needs scads of giant scarab beetles rolling 2 foot diameter "soccer balls" (or footballs for our friends across the pond) hither and thither.
Then, dang. Imagine the horse flies. Or dinosaur flies. They must be 6 inches long. What fun it must be to get bitten by one of THOSE things every few hours. Dreadful.
Good thoughts, Ranger Rick. Maybe you would like to add some stats for the various flora and fauna (maybe just change the name on some of the vermin in the MMI or something). A prehistoric horsefly could have the stats of a stirge without the attach feature so all you would really get is a nasty bite as long as you can move to fend it off.
FH
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Or...they DO have the attach feature, but it's not as nice as a stirge's needlelike proboscis. They punch their heads into the intended victim, latching on with a raspy harpoonlike tongue with reversed hooks on it. Leaves a viscious puncture wound when the fly is removed. More like a bullet than a dart.
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Or...they DO have the attach feature, but it's not as nice as a stirge's needlelike proboscis. They punch their heads into the intended victim, latching on with a raspy harpoonlike tongue with reversed hooks on it. Leaves a viscious puncture wound when the fly is removed. More like a bullet than a dart.
Do you keep the con damage? What about the regular damage? maybe make the injury bleed like the Wounding ability instead of the con damage. Kinda fits with a vicious puncture wound.
We work well together, my friend!FH (maybe they have silver mouth parts;))
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I think we need to have a "nuisance" encounter table to add to the trek across the Isle. Threats that really don't particularly challenge the party but would drive home how miserable this island is to the heroes. Maybe some flora that shoots out sticky sap with some seed pods onto a pc when he/she disturbs the leaves that does no damage but makes the trek more of a hassle. Minor vermin with weird properties that are mostly just disgusting or annoying.
I want the group to feel profound relief when they finally reach the outskirts of "civilization".
Whadda ya think? Should we try to come up with some stats and a chart? Maybe just have the party encounter 1 or 2 of these a day instead of rolling a % to see IF they have an encounter. Some night encounters would be cool too, like a 4' slug (harmless) crawling across a sleeping pc and freaking him/her out in the middle of the night. Hee-Hee, I would love to see the players face with that description!
FH
Creative Director
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That's an interesting idea, but you need to take care with it. Originally, there was a section that detailed the various nuisances you face on the Isle of Dread, like the oppressive heat, the strange diseases, the parasites you expose yourself to when you drink the water, and of course, the pests like dung beetles and clouds of mosquitos and poison frogs and stinging nettles and all the rest. We decided to leave this out because while it might add realism to the location, it also adds complexity. If your group enjoys battling relatively minor environmental issues as much as it enjoys battling monsters or exploring new realms or roleplaying, by all means add stuff like this in. Just keep an eye on it. If the adventure suddenly starts to feel no fun, if your players are suddenly putting all their resources into escaping the island (and the rest of the campaign) by the time they first reach Farshore, you've gone too far.
My experience running "Isle of the Ape" several times tells me that this level of complexity isn't always a good idea. The best way to handle it, I think, is just via description. Take pains to mention the heat, the pests, and the dung beetles, but don't clog the game with their effects.
err.. earth already has elephants without the need for superlarge dung beetles..
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Some night encounters would be cool too, like a 4' slug (harmless) crawling across a sleeping pc and freaking him/her out in the middle of the night. Hee-Hee, I would love to see the players face with that description!
FH
"You are awakened when you feel something cold, and wet, and slimy slithering across your left leg. then, it starts to slither across your right leg, and pauses. It slides back off of your right leg. Now it's slithering up between your legs.
What do you do?""I throw a can of beer at the dungeonbastard."
Aaaaaaaah. How do you win in D&D? Shoot. How do you NOT win?
err.. earth already has elephants without the need for superlarge dung beetles..
In fact earth has Dung Beatles that are essentially unchanged since the time of the Dinosaurs. Modern Dung Beetles evolved to push around Saurapod Dung. When the Dinosaurs died out they just found other dung to push around. These days its Elephant Dung that keeps them gainfully employed.
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Yeah, maybe use this chart very sparingly for the first trek but use it more for the upcoming delve into the heart of the Isle.
And on the Dung Beetle discussion......we have ants, centipedes, scorpions, etc that all have evolved and never reached 10' long. Doesn't mean D&D can't have it. Magical world and all that, lets not muck it up with evolutionary facts.
I am gonna try to get some time today or tomorrow to piece together 5-10 encounters and stats(if needed) to get the dung ball rolling.
FH
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I've been Googling "dung beetle fossil" this morning.
Haven't found much of use yet; most of what I get is scholarly journal pieces that cost $15 U.S. to open up. And I don't care $15 worth. I guess Jeremy Mac Donald is right, but I just like the image evoked by a foot-long dung beetle pushing a 3-4 foot diameter ball along the ground, like Sisyphus.