RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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My party discovered the effects of the savage tide at kraken cove yesterday. Of course they took the opportunity to do something tricky. I have to answer a question before the next session, so any opinions would be welcome. The question's at the bottom.
What went down:
First of all they did a detect magic in the area, which immediately set me to wondering. I threw them a bone and gave them lingering (dim) aura, as far as they could see. They hadn't fought the monkeys yet and I didn't want to reveal all the good stuff about savage creatures, but they kind of forced me.
"Is it also hanging in the air, this dim aura?" they asked, inocently.
"Why, yes it is indeed, detective"
"Are there insects in the jungle?"
"Why, yes, I'm sure there are all sorts of bugs wandering around the ground and on the trees"
"Great. I capture a few bugs in a glass jar, including one of the vicious ones."
(Cursing that I hadn't prepared a savage swarm of ants encounter)
"Fair enough - there are a few beetles with way too many horns, one with a tentacle instead of a leg, and they are mauling some sort of rodent on a tree trunk nearby. You brush a few in the jar with a stick."
"Okay - when the lid is on and seals it is airtight - do they still act crazy?"
"Yes they do." (Aha!)
"When the lid's sealed it's pretty good soundproofing, Mr. DM..."
"And they're still crazy." (Ooo, clever but wrong!)
"I open the jar and poke the little bug with a stick til it's dead."
(dammit - there goes the big surprise) "It's tougher than you would expect (do insects go to -10???)and when you kill it, it bursts. Green stuff sticks to the stick and a wisp of smoke curls up from where the wood is scorched."
At this point I had the party shelled with fruit and nuts by a troop of savage monkeys, who then attacked, which kept us busy for the rest of the night.
The question
The acid in the jar is now green powder. The party hits it with Detect Evil, Magic and Poison. What should it display?
And while we're on the subject, what should a Savage creature display? (Okay, it'll detect as evil - and chaotic if they do detect chaos, but will it detect as magical? Dim, lingering aura? Which school? Argh!)
What do you think?
Well, the savage creature template can be added to "any intelligent corporeal aberation, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid" so you can't use it with vermin.
I think the powder don't react to Detect Evil, Magic or Poison, it's just real mundane dried acid powder. And I'd say savage creatures are chaotic and evil creatures but not magical one.
Sounds like a fun change, I'd leave it.
I'm having a similar quandary myself, as to if a fiendish symbiote might detect as magic.
Savage Deathbug ... players' nightmares are made of these ... Savage Superdeathbugs ... demonic fantasies are made of those!
Since you've "house-ruled" an exception there carborundum (^_^), I would suggest the following:
Detect Magic: dim magical aura of transmutation, entire cone of view, persists for 1d6 days after the pearl detonated within the initial 'blast zone'.
Detect Chaos/Evil (on the powder): nada (if done on the crystallizing acid before it fully crystallizes, the strength would start at overwhelming and deteriorate every few rounds to dim as it crystallizes). If an infected critter (rather than one of the initially transformed), the initial aura strength would likely remain at faint until reaching dim upon crystallization, which would persist for - say - an hour or so before fading completely.
Detect Poison: again, nada on the powder and acid; it wouldn't work on a savage critter either, as the Savage Fever uses the disease mechanics.
Sounds like a fun change, I'd leave it.
Sounds like a fun change. I'm having a similar quandary myself, as to if a fiendish symbiote might detect as magic.
Actually, I do not think a fiendish symbiote would be detectable at all barring x-ray vision (as they cannot ordinarily perceive the creature without such methods otherwise). This presumes an internalized symbiote, not an external, visible one.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I might Retcon it, since it's a minor thingy and the template does work by reducing Int.
It's food for pondering.
Nice idea for categorizing the Evil and magic, Turin - thanks!
One funny moment in the fight - the Spellthief used those Claws of Darkness (Forgotten Realms) to catch a monkey before it jumped on her. (They give shadowy claws and 10'reach.)
She then grappled it to throw it away with an Action pointed feat emulation of Throw Anything.
Unfortunately this meant technically bringing the squirming little bugger into her square for the throw - standard grapple rules, right?
So it bit her in the face :)
When she threw it she went for maximum height and when it came down it burst, soaking the wizard in acid for the full 6 points! Brilliant!
The barbarian also spent three rounds trying to catch another one to throw it away and kept rolling really low on the touch attacks - it basically clambered all over his front and back, taking small chunks out of him :)
I don’t actually think Detect “Evil” would detect anything. Much like the Tarrasque (Who is True Neutral) these savage creatures are strictly overcome with an insatiable hungry (much like big T as well). If the creatures were of evil alignment before hand? Sure.
Detect Chaos would obviously detect the Choatic Subtype.
Detect Magic (On Savage Creatures) wouldn’t detect anything on the changed creatures themselves, detecting magic on a Celestial or Fiendish creatures doesn’t reveal anything magical, they are simply outsiders. Same applies for the Savage Creatures.
Detect Magic (Area/Air) No argument here. I defiantly agree with the above. Lingering Transmutation.
They have the chaotic subtype, to they will radiate a strong chaotic aura.
They're evil aligned, but they have no evil subtype and don't draw divine power from an evil source, so they'll only radiate a faint evil aura, just like normal evil monsters.
The savage pirates, for instance, will radiate the same evil as any other 1st-level chaotic evil pirate, but they'll radiate much stronger chaos because they have that subtype.
They won't radiate magic unless they have some magic items. The shadow pearl's effect is instantaneous, not permanent. Once they're turned savage, that becomes their natural state.
Note, however, that there will be a lingering chaotic, evil, magic aura on EVERYTHING in the area due to the recent trigger of a chaotic evil magical artifact-class item. They may get some false readings on non-chaotic, non-evil, and non-magical targets because of this.
Doh! Insects = vermin! Darnit :)
Shame, really - imagine a savage deathbug :)
The disease is spread through bite attack. If you survive the bite, make the fort save. Anyone ever survive a bite from an insect? (OK if you didn't you wouldn't post, but that is not the point). It's like the West Nile scare! Fortunately the save DC is based on creatures hit die and a mosquito probably has what 1/60 HD? whew escaped that epidemic.
The disease is spread through bite attack. If you survive the bite, make the fort save. Anyone ever survive a bite from an insect? (OK if you didn't you wouldn't post, but that is not the point). It's like the West Nile scare! Fortunately the save DC is based on creatures hit die and a mosquito probably has what 1/60 HD? whew escaped that epidemic.Doh! Insects = vermin! Darnit :)
Shame, really - imagine a savage deathbug :)
Flat DC of 11, minimum possible barring a low CON score...
^_^ Any chance of spreading Savage Fever I'd take :P
Flat DC of 11, minimum possible barring a low CON score...
DC 10 + 1/2 HD is min 10 - rounds down. Plus low con, right. I think one of the vermin in MM has a DC 9 poison.
DC 10 + 1/2 HD is min 10 - rounds down. Plus low con, right. I think one of the vermin in MM has a DC 9 poison.Flat DC of 11, minimum possible barring a low CON score...
A DC 9 is better than nothing at all... ^_^ Savage Cockaroaches for the win!
A DC 9 is better than nothing at all... ^_^ Savage Cockaroaches for the win!DC 10 + 1/2 HD is min 10 - rounds down. Plus low con, right. I think one of the vermin in MM has a DC 9 poison.Flat DC of 11, minimum possible barring a low CON score...
Stepping on that sucker will still melt your foot in a painful acidic ick *grin*
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Note, however, that there will be a lingering chaotic, evil, magic aura on EVERYTHING in the area due to the recent trigger of a chaotic evil magical artifact-class item. They may get some false readings on non-chaotic, non-evil, and non-magical targets because of this.
This is how I described it to my players (they watched for 2 durations of detect evil after the monkeys)"you see everything in the area tinted in an aura, it seems to dissipate faster from the open air than around objects, and dissipates even slower around living objects, but it does seem to be dissipating. interestingly the spots where the monkey acid burned through the deck, and several spots on shore seem to repulse the aura" I did this to preempt the first question of "why weren't the 2 savage pirates attacking each other" when they were attacked on the beach.
related question: savage herbivores.... would they just go around attacking trees/plants and strip mining the forest around them?
related question: savage herbivores.... would they just go around attacking trees/plants and strip mining the forest around them?
I would/did run it as an acute case of rabies - attack/assault/fend off the nearest creature in a frenzied rage. Think "moose bull in rutting season"... worked well, especially when they got attacked by some pig(let)s which had escaped from Kraken's Cove - my guys snuck up overland to the smuggler's complex for added stealth... and straight into an attack by pigs and a frenzied bunch of "kamikaze chicken" ( I lowered the acid damge upon death for those - smaller bodies, less acid to spalsh about.. )