Anyone have any ideas on how to handle the encounter? I considered using a modified dune trapper, but a bloody timiris is a pretty specific creature. I know I could just stat one up, but it'd be great if someone already has... ?
Munchies.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Honestly, probably wouldn't be worth the effort. The timris was a quick "sample-monster" meant to inspire GM's new to Athas of Dark Sun's nature. Probably just a mutation of something else (blood-sucking brambleweed?). I don't think it's a huge blow to ToA to not have the Timris.
As I said, it's more of a trap than a monster ... think about all it really did was constrict.
By the way, tolliver ... it's spelled 'was'. :D
Originally posted by flip
By the way, tolliver ... it's spelled 'was'. :D
Oh. Sorry. My german instruction consists of WWII movies.
I agree with flip that a Bloody Timiris is more of a trap, but considering it's an organism ("It's Alive!") I'd say it's more like a violet fungus.
Very well. I'll stat it up meself. Cheers!:whatsthis
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Speaking of "violent fungi," anyone ever see that X-Files with the big underground fungus that dissolves people, but feeds them hallucinations so they aren't aware of it? Now that sounds like a DS monster!
I've used that in a World of Darkness campaign, as well as d20 Modern, and my homebrew setting. I loved the idea, and it's a great challenge for the players to figure out what's going on.
"Wait. Do you remember how we got here? I don't have any burns on me; why not?"
Sweetness.
Yar, I've used this one more than a few times. Best deception campaign I ever ran was in the Outer Planes on Limbo. Following a logic-train, I came up with this: if anything can be formed out of the randomness, what about an entire village?
The PCs gated in from Athas via an artifact below Tyr (had to get them to Planescape somehow) and landed in a small, picturesqe village. The village has minor defenses and is relieved to see newcomers. There are several things going on: 1) the PCs were higher-level, so I went with the "attrition" technique - don't let them sleep and don't let them heal, 2) The village was attacked randomly by weird, frog-like critters (slaad) and bizarre critters that seemed to be everything at once (chaos beasts), 3) Villagers would randomly disappear, 4) The strange "border" surrounding the village was slowly closing in.
In actuality, the entire village was a random creation of Limbo, and was slowly dissolving back into the chaos. The PCs had no idea what was going on until they were floating in the Limbo-soup, the village completely dissolved away. Man, they were paranoid after that one. Then I took them to Nimicri. Heh - I'm a bastard.
:embarrass
Note this is a stat block version, not a full Monster Manual style write-up so advancement isn't included (neither is the descriptive text talking about how it grapples and uses its thorns and all that). I suppose you drop a bunch of hit dice into it if you wanted a Gargantuan Timiris, but letting the PC that gets burned by this thing out alive seems a'ight.
Bloody Timiris CR 4; Huge plant; HD 8d8+35 (71 hp); Init +1; Spd - ; AC 17, touch 5 ff 17; Base Atk +12; Grp +22; Atk/Full Atk - ; SA improved grab, blood drain; SQ plant traits, water lure, tremorsense; AL N; SV Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +1; Str 24, Dex 4, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 2, Cha 2.
Skills & Feats: -; Toughness, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Improved Initiative.
Water Lure (Ex): The center of a bloody timiris consists of a oil-coated membrane that looks and acts like water in all ways. Once a creature physically touches the membrane its nature becomes obvious, but otherwise creatures must make a Spot DC 36 to tell it’s not water. There is typically a narrow tunnel big enough for a Medium-sized creature to crawl through; once one does it has effectively entered the timiris’ space which provokes an attack of opportunity, which the timiris uses to grapple its prey.
Improved Grab (Ex): A bloody timiris may attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can use its Blood Drain ability.
Blood Drain (Ex): A bloody timiris can suck blood from a living victim with its thorns by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round.
There she is. Best I could do.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
3) Villagers would randomly disappear, 4) The strange "border" surrounding the village was slowly closing in.
Hey, that's also a stargate episode man! Small world, same ideas everywhere I guess.
Originally posted by Pennarin
Hey, that's also a stargate episode man! Small world, same ideas everywhere I guess.
I remember that episode, heh.
Almost on 5th season, woo!
Yruumm...Earth Final Conflict...yruumm. :D
Originally posted by Pennarin
It is, it is. Not that serious though, since they wisely decided to go with some humor from McGuyver himself. Works very well. You don't finish an episode not remembering its content or finding it boring, and you look forward to the next. I could name names of series I watched that I barely remember, but I won't stoop so low.
Yruumm...Earth Final Conflict...yruumm. :D
Hey, I liked that show. Great ideas, and I loved that the main characters coulod (and habitually did) get killed. Nobody was safe in that series. And many of the ideas from it I've already incoprerated into campaigns. Then again, I also liked X-files and Stargate SG-1. There's many Sci-fi series' I like.
Andy Richter Controls the Universe.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
X-files I dug. Liked the first 5 seasons of Bab5 (only started watching it in season 3, though).
Andy Richter Controls the Universe.
There was....umm..... only 5 seasons of Bab5. That was the intention from the beginning. Dude who wrote it had the plots & basic scripts for all 5 seasons before the first season was started. he made only a few changes as the series progressed. Crusade was cool too, but it was killed by TNT after the first 10 (or 11?) episodes. The TV movies were good too.
Originally posted by Pennarin
Millenium (Carter rules!) is now on dvd. Everything I didn't understand or grasp I can now, plus I get subtitles for those times when Frank Black was a little too incomprehensible...
There was....umm..... only 5 seasons of Bab5. That was the intention from the beginning. Dude who wrote it had the plots & basic scripts for all 5 seasons before the first season was started. he made only a few changes as the series progressed.
Didn't they go on and make a sixth season that completely bombed (because there really wasn't any story left to tell)? I seem to remember that and it ended with what's-his-name dying at the very end. Yar, I know it was written for five seasons, but I thought that they tried to drag it out for one more. Notably, the public had none of it.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Didn't they go on and make a sixth season that completely bombed (because there really wasn't any story left to tell)? I seem to remember that and it ended with what's-his-name dying at the very end. Yar, I know it was written for five seasons, but I thought that they tried to drag it out for one more. Notably, the public had none of it.
They did some time acceleration of the last two episodes of the 5th season that kinda shows a "happily ever after" sort of end, with Sherridan heading out to die. But that was the 5th season.
the show that bombed was "Crusade" - which was about the space ship "Excalibur" a new form of vessel that was basically the ship design to replace the White Stars, and the crew were off to find a cure for the Drak plague that had infected Earth, from one of the TV movies. Basically was a spinoff, and is where I drew a lot of information for a Techno Mage. The show had incredible ratings as the fans loved the series, as it was fresh & new, but then TNT decided to cancel it, fearing that since it was Sci-Fi, it wasn't going to keep up the ratings it had (TNT really doesn't like Sci-fi, it was impressive that Bab5 lasted the whole 5 seasons). Plus, they didn't let the Sci-fi network pick up the series to keep it alive, until after all of the contracts expired years later and the cast & crew were off doing other things. TNT didn't even show the episodes in the right order. Basically, they pulled a Paizo.
Sci-fi Network was supposed to have a new series based on the Rangers, with a new TV movie, but I never saw the movie/pilot, and haven't heard anything abouit the series. I personally love that entire setting, and thus I have run Bab5 Campaigns (which are a d20 syst3m setting). Unfortunately, I didn't own the books, a friend in TN did, so I don't have them here now
But I'll have to snag them myself.(talk about hijacking a thread)
PS: Futurama rules.
The premiere of the movie was on the Sci-fi Channel. Didn't gather enought ratings to warrent the follow-up series.
Straczynski cookep-up this race older than the Shadows and infinitely more dangerous, but it felt like a bad episode of Voyager.
I far more believed the mighty threat of the aliens in the B5 tv movie Thirdspace. There was beautiful narration by Lyta Alexander, channeling a genetic memory of the Vorlons warning «Do not open the gate!». A blast. Very funny jokes too. When the jokes in a new series or tv movie are actually funny its a good sign of the general health of the endeavor, IMO.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Really? Haven't watched that show. The movie had some interesting ideas, but pretty much sucked (no, don't shoot the ugly kid!!! Awwwww...). Figured the series wouldn't be much better. Not so?
Blasphemer!
The movie freaking rocked! Especially the ultimate version.
Though I've always liked ancient egypt and other ancient civilizations and always felt that there was no way in hell the Egyptians built what they did without a little outside help from somewhere.
Originally posted by Pennarin
It is, it is. Not that serious though, since they wisely decided to go with some humor from McGuyver himself. Works very well. You don't finish an episode not remembering its content or finding it boring, and you look forward to the next. I could name names of series I watched that I barely remember, but I won't stoop so low.
Yruumm...Earth Final Conflict...yruumm. :D
Exactly! I was hating it at first too because I loved the movie so much, but then I actually sat down and watched the series, now I'm hooked!
Don't get me started on Earth Final Conflict, first season was great, first part of the second season was good, it started sucking majorly after that.
And then there's the dreaded Enterprise....boo!
Originally posted by xlorepdarkhelm
And many of the ideas from it I've already incoprerated into campaigns.
I've incorporated the skreel (sp?) into my DS campaigns before and will probably make a 3.5 version of it.
Made it a lifeshaped artifact that though that was one of the last living artifacts that actually evolved with the times, hence that is why they can manipulate psionic energy now.
Originally posted by NytCrawlr
And then there's the dreaded Enterprise....boo!
Bah, with all of the time travel episodes that exist in any Star Trek, it leads to a precidence of virtually endless changes to the space/time continuum. You can't honestly think that with all of this going on that you could get any sense of the words "continuity" or "cannonical" out of it :P
Good or bad, sci-fi serieses occasionally have some really cool ideas for roleplaying games. which is about the only real reason and motivation I have for watching sci-fi and fantasy, as well as reading books in those genres.
Although, I do like what Piller has done with The Dead Zone series.