Producers
- Thread starter Avery
- Start date
I've always said all those nasty critters so dangerous to Travellers need things like pigs and cows to eat, but pigs, cows, and chickens aren't that interesting unless you get really creative.
But I can imagine rafts of plankton that give off waste gases that might be hallucinogenic or toxic to humans which could be the taint in an atmosphere...
"Cows" that are as nasty and dangerous as a Cape Buffalo...
And chickens, welllll...
But I can imagine rafts of plankton that give off waste gases that might be hallucinogenic or toxic to humans which could be the taint in an atmosphere...
"Cows" that are as nasty and dangerous as a Cape Buffalo...
And chickens, welllll...
I'd personally welcome a mention of alien plants and non-combat related animal encounters, for flavor. Maybe also mention where the producer primarily gets -its- energy from. ie. bacterial, photosynthesis, geothermal, other chemical, etc.
And maybe, some notation after the UPP of degree of biodiversity if life is present, f'ex:
0 = no life,
1-3 = relatively narrow bands of speciation - either from early in a planet's life-line, from extinction level events, K'Kree pogroms, pollution or whatever.
4-7 = Average for lifebearing planets within known space.
8-9 = Garden worlds little touched by sentient development or 10's that have been developed, or perhaps melange worlds where lots of foreign life-forms have been brought in to supplement the native species. Heavily sought out and exploited by both pharmaceutical companies and culinary pioneers.
10 = Extreme speciation, biological treasure troves. Local diversity of species may be such that given many different, but similar life-forms at a glance, an outsider might think each originated on a different planet. SuSAG and the like would target such worlds and sink billions into R&D there to develop new medical, military, anagathic, psionic and other applications.
And maybe, some notation after the UPP of degree of biodiversity if life is present, f'ex:
0 = no life,
1-3 = relatively narrow bands of speciation - either from early in a planet's life-line, from extinction level events, K'Kree pogroms, pollution or whatever.
4-7 = Average for lifebearing planets within known space.
8-9 = Garden worlds little touched by sentient development or 10's that have been developed, or perhaps melange worlds where lots of foreign life-forms have been brought in to supplement the native species. Heavily sought out and exploited by both pharmaceutical companies and culinary pioneers.
10 = Extreme speciation, biological treasure troves. Local diversity of species may be such that given many different, but similar life-forms at a glance, an outsider might think each originated on a different planet. SuSAG and the like would target such worlds and sink billions into R&D there to develop new medical, military, anagathic, psionic and other applications.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
But not every animal has to be exotic. You need some mundane stuff. Why shouldn't pigs be pigs?
IMTU I've left the question of 'Ancients' open. Maybe the universe was seeded with all the necessities of life (producers, prey species, etc) by some intelligence, or maybe the fact that there are flies and roaches on every darn world in the universe is just some (as yet) unfathomable quirk of evolution, some 'preferred path'. Maybe humans are on that preferred path.
And maybe humanity has taken lots of domesticated breeds out there as a matter of survival, comfort and familiarity.
The mundane stuff isn't mentioned because it's, well, mundane. It's under the radar of your average adventurer.
Speaking for myself, of course, but sometimes a Referee doesn't want to spend half an hour looking up/generating the stats of a farmyard full of exotic purple animals, he just wants to say 'there are some pigs and chickens in the yard and the dog's got fleas'.
Seems like a secondary behavior characteristic for some. Ants would only be Producers for Anteaters in locations where there are Anteaters - in locations where there aren't Anteaters, an Ant characteristic would probably be Gatherer or Eater. It seems more of an end result than a creature's goal or main activity. Example: an Apple Tree doesn't make apples for my benefit - that's just a side effect. The Apple is a seed container to make more Apple Trees.
Just my opinion, of course. And maybe I'm misunderstanding something that's going to be new in T5.
Glad to see you back!
Speaking for the Scouts...
I rather like the idea of a Producers class of animal, if for no other reason than for those who dig on the exploration and science end (say like sabredog's kid and her Scout who is very in to the whole native life side of the game).
Just my two CrImps.
I rather like the idea of a Producers class of animal, if for no other reason than for those who dig on the exploration and science end (say like sabredog's kid and her Scout who is very in to the whole native life side of the game).
Just my two CrImps.
Speaking for myself, of course, but sometimes a Referee doesn't want to spend half an hour looking up/generating the stats of a farmyard full of exotic purple animals, he just wants to say 'there are some pigs and chickens in the yard and the dog's got fleas'.
That's pretty much what I meant, but was just throwing out some ideas on how even "mundane and harmless-looking" animals and plants can be more exotic or dangerous than you think.
The Cape Buffalo (a big cow type thing of all things) is considered the most danger game animal on a continent that has really big kill er cats with lots of teeth. Players landing on a new world might have a joke played on them by the locals, "Hey let's go cow-tipping"...and then it's off to the alien rodeo where the players gets sprayed by the "cows" by some gawdawful stink spray, or who knows what while the locals laugh hysterically.
Or the plankton mats that in certain oceans give off a waste gas that is a mild hallucinogenic in humans. Hmmm, maybe we can bottle this stuff and sell it on the next world we go to? Of course harvesting it means having to deal with the huge grazers that cruise just under the surface of the traveling mats and might accidentally suck one of the players' boats into the its mouth...
And who says the dog's fleas can't be burrowing parasites that cause some zombie disease unless you remembered to get your shots before visiting Bob on the planet Alfazar, where the cursed little critters live - but the colonists have so long ago become immunue to the effects that they don't even think about telling you?
Speaking of which, I have about 20 pages of handwritten notes I'm still transcribing, not including the info on the Kimapli Cheshire Cat I finished last night, so I'm banging away at the keyboard all weekend to get this stuff down for all.
For some reason the rust monster from D&D comes to mind. But, instead of a large armadillo like animal, imagine they're micro-miniature "termite" like creatures. Perhaps their effect is subtle. That is that nice hardened alloy ACR your character has slung over his shoulder, that spat out AP rounds... now, no longer works? 
Oh I loved that critter! Everyone soooo underestimated it all the time. I remember how one guy stepped up and hit it with his sword and was so angry about his sword dissolving into rust, then the thing started eating his armor - and everyone else was scared to death to get anywhere near it even though the thief had a bow!
Yeah, sometimes a goofy looking, harmless acting thing ought to turn out to be a horrible fiend in some unsuspecting way.
I had an idea once of a siren type carnivore that used a an appendage that looked like a small furry cute rodent-thingy that it would dangle out in front of the bush the monster lurked in. It was like land-based angler fish.
When some unsuspecting person went all "Awwww, it's so cute!" and reached down to pet the little fuzzy thing the beast's gaping maw lunged out and snapped them up and ran away.
Yeah, sometimes a goofy looking, harmless acting thing ought to turn out to be a horrible fiend in some unsuspecting way.
I had an idea once of a siren type carnivore that used a an appendage that looked like a small furry cute rodent-thingy that it would dangle out in front of the bush the monster lurked in. It was like land-based angler fish.
When some unsuspecting person went all "Awwww, it's so cute!" and reached down to pet the little fuzzy thing the beast's gaping maw lunged out and snapped them up and ran away.
