Pathfinders loading up on Stingchucks

[KestlerGunner]

So lately I've been heading to games and have been pretty weirded out by seeing lots of 'respectable' Pathfinder Society agents with belts packed full of humanoid shrunken heads filled with live, biting insects.
Needless to say, I have some questions.

What is the price of a Stingchuck?
Are they PFS legal?
Where do the severed heads come from?
Why are the insects inside the severed head always alive?
How long does a Stingchuck last before the 'best-before' date?
Who prepares the severed heads and why don't they charge for their services?
Why?
WHYYYYYYYYYY?

[Sior]

KestlerGunner wrote:

What is the price of a Stingchuck?

I'm guessing the price is the 9 pound weight to one, honestly...

Quote:

Are they PFS legal?

Apparently, by the additional resources page...

Quote:

Where do the severed heads come from?

Kindly donated by the Aspis Consortium ;-)

[Jarred Henninger]

To be honest, my barbarian is the only person I ever see with a stingchuck. And he only carries them around because they make him laugh. But to the questions!

0
Yes
How many people did you kill to finish the scenario?
Trade secret
Trade secret
Me
Because I'm awesome

[Flutter]

I too am disturbed by this trend of sending poor, helpless insects hurtling into combat under such unsanitary conditions.

[Kyrie Ebonblade,]

Tried to shoot one of them in the bad guys hand when I ran into them.

GM wouldn't let me do it.:(

[Streamwalker]

Thomas Graham wrote:

Tried to shoot one of them in the bad guys hand when I ran into them.

GM wouldn't let me do it.:(

I think there might be a Gunslinger ability that allows you to do that.

[Kyrie Ebonblade,]

Streamwalker wrote:

Thomas Graham wrote:

Tried to shoot one of them in the bad guys hand when I ran into them.

GM wouldn't let me do it.:(

I think there might be a Gunslinger ability that allows you to do that.

I was willing to hold my action till the dude pulled one out. He'd hit me with two. GMnsaid nope So I shot the guy point blank for 40 points

[Matthew Morris]

Remember Pathfinders. Using a little bit of blood to learn spells is evil.

But consuming souls or using the heads of your foes as weapons is fine!

[Tamec]

Matthew Morris wrote:

Remember Pathfinders. Using a little bit of blood to learn spells is evil.

But consuming souls or using the heads of your foes as weapons is fine!

A pint of fresh blood is not a little bit....it's 10% of the blood in the (human) body. When I think of a little bit I picture the blood needed to test for insulin. If you still think it's a little bit remember this next time you are out for drinks and get a pint...first time I got one after reading that spell I thought, "holy <bleep> you have to drink that much blood."

[kinevon]

Tamec wrote:

Matthew Morris wrote:

Remember Pathfinders. Using a little bit of blood to learn spells is evil.

But consuming souls or using the heads of your foes as weapons is fine!

A pint of fresh blood is not a little bit....it's 10% of the blood in the (human) body. When I think of a little bit I picture the blood needed to test for insulin. If you still think it's a little bit remember this next time you are out for drinks and get a pint...first time I got one after reading that spell I thought, "holy <bleep> you have to drink that much blood."

Yep, a pint is 16 fluid ounces, 2 full cups.

[Ocelotl Moon Champion]

I use these all the time. They are great thematically for Mwangi Characters. They are cheap, somewhat effective, and not really all that disturbing compared to some other legal options. All of my character's Stingchucks are self-made (in fluff at least). After all remember that there is a legal Arcanist archetype who regains his arcane pool from murdering with magic his defeated enemies. This character of mine is designed off a Aztec Jaguar Knight, and is the stealthy night half orc bred for war champion of his primitive Mwangi tribe (couldn't think of another place to put an Aztec like jungle tribe... you know what with no real info about Arcadia yet.) Ocelotl uses a Terbutje and shield. My wife plays his partner/watcher Cuauhtli Sun Champion (a half elf spear specialist barbarian built like an Aztec Eagle Knight). We joined the Society looking to grow in power, wanting to eventually challenge Ruthazek and his Demon overlord Angazhan.

"I hail from a land of mist and danger, where a moment of distraction can cost a man more than his life. Giant Demon infested apes roam at will, thinking they own the lands, and you whine about a skull filled with insects. You wouldn't even make it to nightfall in my lands."

[LazarX]

KestlerGunner wrote:

So lately I've been heading to games and have been pretty weirded out by seeing lots of 'respectable' Pathfinder Society agents with belts packed full of humanoid shrunken heads filled with live, biting insects.

Maybe this is the norm for your area. I've yet to hear about or see anyone do this in the NYC area PFS meetups.

Hence the danger of assuming that what you encounter is the norm for everyone.

[nosig]

Why do people think these things are legal in PFS? we keep going down this path...

Has something changed to make these things available?

here are some earlier threads on this....

Nov.2011

April last year

July last year

[andreww]

nosig wrote:

Why do people think these things are legal in PFS? we keep going down this path...

The SRD lists them as being in adventurers armoury. Additional Resources says everything in the 2nd printing is legal with a few exceptions. The Stingchuck isn't one of those exceptions so if its in the second printing its legal.

[nosig]

Ocelotl Moon Champion wrote:

I use these all the time. They are great thematically for Mwangi Characters. They are cheap, somewhat effective, and not really all that disturbing compared to some other legal options. All of my character's Stingchucks are self-made (in fluff at least). After all remember that there is a legal Arcanist archetype who regains his arcane pool from murdering with magic his defeated enemies. This character of mine is designed off a Aztec Jaguar Knight, and is the stealthy night half orc bred for war champion of his primitive Mwangi tribe (couldn't think of another place to put an Aztec like jungle tribe... you know what with no real info about Arcadia yet.) Ocelotl uses a Terbutje and shield. My wife plays his partner/watcher Cuauhtli Sun Champion (a half elf spear specialist barbarian built like an Aztec Eagle Knight). We joined the Society looking to grow in power, wanting to eventually challenge Ruthazek and his Demon overlord Angazhan.

"I hail from a land of mist and danger, where a moment of distraction can cost a man more than his life. Giant Demon infested apes roam at will, thinking they own the lands, and you whine about a skull filled with insects. You wouldn't even make it to nightfall in my lands."

bolding mine -

how? I understand why you add the "in fluff at least", because we can't make these in PFS, (no Crafting in PFS, except for Gunslingers, Poisoners, and Alchemists/Investigators and even then there is no Craft DC for them). And as James Jacobs pointed out, maintaining them (in a home game) would be a real issue ("Also, keeping your stingchucks fed and taking care of them is important, and if you ignore that, your GM has the right to have your stingchucks escape and get in your hair or pants or whatever."). And there are no rules for maintaining Stingchucks....Sounds like a real YMMV issue.

[nosig]

andreww wrote:

nosig wrote:

Why do people think these things are legal in PFS? we keep going down this path...

The SRD lists them as being in adventurers armoury. Additional Resources says everything in the 2nd printing is legal with a few exceptions. The Stingchuck isn't one of those exceptions so if its in the second printing its legal.

and so - how do you buy them? they have a price of '--' ....

[Ferious Thune]

Additional Resources wrote:

Pathfinder Player Companion: Adventurer's Armory

Only the 2nd printing of this book or the 1st printing augmented by the current errata (released 7/21/11) are legal for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

Everything in this book is legal for play with the following exceptions: a pseudodragon is not legal for purchase unless you're a wizard with the Improved Familiar feat, elephants are never legal for play, and armored kilts are not legal.

I don't see anything in that to imply they aren't legal, and I don't think that entry in the Additional Resources has changed anytime recently.

A quick glance at the posts you linked didn't show anything saying they are illegal either. Though I admit I didn't read all of each of the threads.

[Jeff Merola]

nosig wrote:

andreww wrote:

nosig wrote:

Why do people think these things are legal in PFS? we keep going down this path...

The SRD lists them as being in adventurers armoury. Additional Resources says everything in the 2nd printing is legal with a few exceptions. The Stingchuck isn't one of those exceptions so if its in the second printing its legal.

and so - how do you buy them? they have a price of '--' ....

So does a club or a quarterstaff or a sling. "--" means "free".

[nosig]

so.... is it the opinion of the majority of people on here that they are free and available to anyone (with a copy of the Adventurers Armory)?

wow... I have a lot of Alchemists to add them too. 0 cost and freely available is going to make them very common - as common as sticks and stones....

I can see real maintainance problems though, like, can I store them in a Handy Haversack, or do they run out of air and "die"?

[andreww]

nosig wrote:

so.... is it the opinion of the majority of people on here that they are free and available to anyone (with a copy of the Adventurers Armory)?

wow... I have a lot of Alchemists to add them too. 0 cost and freely available is going to make them very common - as common as sticks and stones....

I can see real maintainance problems though, like, can I store them in a Handy Haversack, or do they run out of air and "die"?

I have always held Haversacks and similar extra dimensional storage spaces as not having a supply of air so if I were running any stingchucks stored in them would die fairly quickly. Also the 9lb weight is likely to dissuade most people from carrying many of them as well as the likely impact on most social skill checks of carrying around the hollowed out heads of humanoid creatures.

[nosig]

andreww wrote:

nosig wrote:

so.... is it the opinion of the majority of people on here that they are free and available to anyone (with a copy of the Adventurers Armory)?

wow... I have a lot of Alchemists to add them too. 0 cost and freely available is going to make them very common - as common as sticks and stones....

I can see real maintainance problems though, like, can I store them in a Handy Haversack, or do they run out of air and "die"?

I have always held Haversacks and similar extra dimensional storage spaces as not having a supply of air so if I were running any stingchucks stored in them would die fairly quickly. Also the 9lb weight is likely to dissuade most people from carrying many of them as well as the likely impact on most social skill checks of carrying around the hollowed out heads of humanoid creatures.

So... YMMV on the maintainance.

as they are available and free, I'll just pick them up along the way as I need them. and the small ones would only be half weight anyway. And I can get the other players to carry some of the extras...

[BigDTBone]

LazarX wrote:

...assuming that what you encounter is the norm for everyone.

OP didn't do this. OP states, "this is what I'm seeing, here are my questions." No assumptions of any kind.

[Ascalaphus]

Tamec wrote:

Matthew Morris wrote:

Remember Pathfinders. Using a little bit of blood to learn spells is evil.

But consuming souls or using the heads of your foes as weapons is fine!

A pint of fresh blood is not a little bit....it's 10% of the blood in the (human) body. When I think of a little bit I picture the blood needed to test for insulin. If you still think it's a little bit remember this next time you are out for drinks and get a pint...first time I got one after reading that spell I thought, "holy <bleep> you have to drink that much blood."

And also you're drinking a pint of blood as a standard action.

Most fratboys would grant you some respect if you could chug a pint of beer that fast; do it with blood and they might just elect you president. I still want to make Chuck The Necromancer.

---

Re: stingchucks and alchemists;

9 lbs is serious weight. And the bugs might not survive in a haversack, or might actually crawl out and damage the haversack. Table variation here could be ugly.

That said, I've contemplated using these for both financial and terror reasons. After a couple of levels alchemists profit so much from day jobs that resupply costs cease to be an issue. And I can garner just as much terror using Desiccating Lubricant. Plus, having a nonlethal splash weapon is extremely useful as an alchemist.

[KestlerGunner]

Can any budding entomologists weigh in and let us know how long it would take for a hollowed-out humanoid head's worth of bitey insects to suffocate to death?
We also need to know how much remaining air can pass through dead tissue to reach the insects within, and how this might change in an extradimensional space.

Are these ridiculous questions?
NO! THIS IS PATHFINDER!

[Tamec]

Ascalaphus wrote:

Tamec wrote:

Matthew Morris wrote:

Remember Pathfinders. Using a little bit of blood to learn spells is evil.

But consuming souls or using the heads of your foes as weapons is fine!

A pint of fresh blood is not a little bit....it's 10% of the blood in the (human) body. When I think of a little bit I picture the blood needed to test for insulin. If you still think it's a little bit remember this next time you are out for drinks and get a pint...first time I got one after reading that spell I thought, "holy <bleep> you have to drink that much blood."

And also you're drinking a pint of blood as a standard action.

Most fratboys would grant you some respect if you could chug a pint of beer that fast; do it with blood and they might just elect you president. I still want to make Chuck The Necromancer.

I did find a youtube video showing someone chugging 36oz of beer in 5 seconds. So one pint in 3-4 seconds is doable...

[BigDTBone]

KestlerGunner wrote:

Can any budding entomologists weigh in and let us know how long it would take for a hollowed-out humanoid head's worth of bitey insects to suffocate to death?

We also need to know how much remaining air can pass through dead tissue to reach the insects within, and how this might change in an extradimensional space.

Are these ridiculous questions?
NO! THIS IS PATHFINDER!

In a bag that has enough air for a man for 10 minutes; a 9 pound head of insects would run out of air in about 4 hours.

[Nefreet]

nosig wrote:

so.... is it the opinion of the majority of people on here that they are free and available to anyone (with a copy of the Adventurers Armory)?

wow... I have a lot of Alchemists to add them too. 0 cost and freely available is going to make them very common - as common as sticks and stones....

I believe that's why the OP created this thread ;-)

[BigNorseWolf]

nosig wrote:

andreww wrote:

nosig wrote:

Why do people think these things are legal in PFS? we keep going down this path...

The SRD lists them as being in adventurers armoury. Additional Resources says everything in the 2nd printing is legal with a few exceptions. The Stingchuck isn't one of those exceptions so if its in the second printing its legal.

and so - how do you buy them? they have a price of '--' ....

Same way druids buy mistletoe.

[Nefreet]

I just imagine a group of Pathfinders travelling overland to a large trade city.

PC: "Ayup, there's the gates. What shall we buy while we're here? Food? Horses? Weapons?"

GM: "A large crowd of people spots you, and begins heading in your direction. The smell of rot precedes them..."

Player: "Uh-oh, what, zombies? Are they hostile? What are they doing?"

GM: "They seem to be villagers... and they're holding... severed heads... swarming with flies..."

Player: "What the..."

Villagers: "Here, take these Stingchucks! They're free!!!"