I just picked up Horror Realms and fell in love with the Farnvale setting. My only question is this, if the PCs kill the Bodytheif what happens to all 1,450 pod-spawn? Do they just shut down? Do they drop dead? Are they self aware entities far enough removed from the Bodytheif that they can keep going about their lives? This is such a fun concept but there is no mention of what happens if the Overmind dies.
Bodytheif and Pod-spawn can be found in bestiary 4 page 20 or the usual online sources.
If no one can find an official ruling I'm just going with a mini poll on this post. If a pod-spawn becomes the new Bodytheif I'll treat it as they decay into a thick goo which plants the seeds of a new Bodytheif which grows to "maturity" in 2D8 weeks.
Poll, the pod-spawn:
A: Can not function socially without an overriding Hive-mind and go psychotically ferial killing each other and anyone else nearby in an effort to Darwinistically create a new candidate to become a new Bodytheif.
B: The strongest/ or oldest among them becomes a Bodytheif.
C: They all just shut down and stand around until they decay into mulch (like the leaves of a plant which has been cut off at the root).
D: They attempt to keep up the facade in the Bodytheif's absence.
E: They drop dead
P: I don't know I'm just a Potato person too trying to live my potato life.
Hmmm....
You're right, I don't see anything specific in the rules. I don't even see anything that would actually show real connection between the bodythief and podspawned beyond telepathy.
I guess I would go with B/D.
The podspawned just continue to go about their lives like before, but with no bodythief to propagate more.
At some point, they may be able to grow a new bodythief from a seed recovered from the destroyed bodythief. Or your idea that the oldest podspawn could evolve into a bodythief.
Maybe a new bodythief will naturally be drawn to the location of an established colony of podspawned.
We don't have any information about bodythief reproduction, so it's not clear if they come from podspawned or seeds or what. But they are plants so either option makes sense.