Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 26, 2007 6:14:47	I'm reading some old Dragon issues. In #32 I found an interesting monster, the magical crossbreed between giant scorpion and orc, the scorpiorc.
#2 culture20 Jan 26, 2007 19:00:12	Perhaps his assumed name is "Gargantua" ;)
#3 eric_anondson Jan 26, 2007 19:34:54	It could be interesting to have Telomax being an Herathian mage and some scorpiorc free in the Dark Jungle. Heck, placing them in the Orc's Head Peninsula he wouldn't even need to animal growth scorpions. He could crossbreed orcs of the Dark Jungle with manscorpions.
#4 Cthulhudrew Jan 26, 2007 20:36:17	Here's another interesting idea for some kind of Herathian breeding experiment: The Gorilchnid from MMIII
#5 zombiegleemax Jan 27, 2007 2:41:06	The Gorilchnid from MMIII Interesting... do you have a monster sheet? To know hit dice, damage, intelligence, etc etc
#6 havard Jan 29, 2007 7:11:49	Interesting... do you have a monster sheet? To know hit dice, damage, intelligence, etc etc Could be in the SRD? Cool idea about the Scorpion-orc Herath connection Arcanda. Let us know if you develop it further! Havard
#7 gazza555 Jan 29, 2007 8:00:48	Could be in the SRD? Not from MMIII, AFAIK only creatures from the original MM are included in the SRD (plus some others from Epic Handbook, Manual of the Planes etc) Regards Gary
#8 havard Jan 29, 2007 8:04:57	Gary: Yeah, you are probably right. Here's another interesting idea for some kind of Herathian breeding experiment: The Gorilchnid from MMIII I am interested in this idea of the Herathians getting involved in the Dark Jungle. Are they using these creatures as an attempt to get more power within that realm? Havard
#9 Cthulhudrew Jan 29, 2007 9:53:50	I am interested in this idea of the Herathians getting involved in the Dark Jungle. Are they using these creatures as an attempt to get more power within that realm? I forgot to look at the stats for them this weekend. As I recall, though, Gorilchnids are generally CN- and don't seem to be overtly hostile or anything. If my recollection is correct, I'd say they could just be another example (a la the Shazak) of Herathian experimentation- in this case, on Nimmurians- and the result either escaping or being let loose to breed true in the wild. I wouldn't imagine the Nimmurians would be all that keen on the Gorilchnids, so there might be a lot of hostility between the two. The Scorpiorcs might be a second attempt at creating a more warlike and controllable race for the Herathians, based on the design of the Gorilchnids, though. Something they can use against the Nimmurians and Orcs of the Dark Jungle. Maybe they are the Herathians footsoldiers in the underground realms of the region?
#10 olddawg Jan 29, 2007 13:26:21	The proximity of Herath, Dark Orcs, and Nimmurian manscorpions does lend itself to the scorpiorc-as-Herathian experiment, with the caveat that none of the canonical Herathian experiment races (shazak, gurrash, cayma) ever evidenced any type of chimeric amalgamation. [Contrast with the dragon-created frelon from SC/OHP Monstrous Compendium]. I'm less inclined to support the Gorilchnid only because gorillas are absent from the natural fauna of the region. An orangchnid or monkeychnid yes, but not a gorilchnid [and yes, I'm setting aside the giant white ape of the Jungle from X9]. However, Herath isn't the only place with aranea. Isle of Dread and the Great Escarpment could provide gorillas. In fact the Great Escarpment would be perfect - ready access to the Nithian/Thothian relics (and their documented amalgamation magical creations). OldDawg
#11 Cthulhudrew Jan 29, 2007 14:34:03	I'm less inclined to support the Gorilchnid only because gorillas are absent from the natural fauna of the region. An orangchnid or monkeychnid yes, but not a gorilchnid [and yes, I'm setting aside the giant white ape of the Jungle from X9]. AFAIK, the only notions of any kind of primates on the SC (other than humans) are the apes you mention in X9 and (possibly) the Neshezu (a sort of orangutan-orc). Otherwise, I don't think of anything that stands either for or against apes. If you allow for the possibility of orangutans, then gorillas would be more likely to appear than monkeys, as monkeys are less closely related than orangs and apes- if you adhere to a RW science type of viewpoint, which, admittedly is kind of paradoxical to the nature of a magical fantasy setting like Mystara. I was always fond of the white ape in X9. One of the few things about that module I actually liked (it was such a hodgepodge; that and X6 could have been really good.) Wonder what it's story was- maybe another case of Gargantua getting his hooks into something? However, Herath isn't the only place with aranea. Isle of Dread and the Great Escarpment could provide gorillas. In fact the Great Escarpment would be perfect - ready access to the Nithian/Thothian relics (and their documented amalgamation magical creations). The aranea on the Isle of Dawn seem to be a lot more xenophobic and less magically inclined than the Herath from the only source we have on them (M4), although they do appear to themselves be the product of crossbreeding (planar spiders and non-intelligent crab spiders, which when you think about it is just eww... like humans interbreeding with chimpanzees, or possibly more appropriately, lemurs or something. Just more proof of the twisted decadence of Arachne Prime, I guess.) I mainly suggested the Herath connection because of the proximity of Herath and Nimmur, but if we were to move these guys somewhere else, I'd probably suggest somewhere in Davania as a better alternative.
#12 gazza555 Jan 30, 2007 2:59:22	Gary: Yeah, you are probably right. Perhaps we could have a complementary thread converting 3.5 creatures to BECMI D&D rules. ;) Regards Gary