So i had an idea about a fantasy equivalent of mecha. Would have to change the name to something else though...

Anyway, the idea is that in this world, the main magic is the ability to graft things to people that give them certain abilities. Great heroes, the rich and elite units pay to get grafts and they do all sorts of things.

Animal, vegatable or mineral in fact. A ruby eye may allow you to see in the dark, a club foot is exactly that, a club as a foot, a fungal garden would supply a ready source of food or maybe poison. Dragonfly wings, thorny knuckles, coral arrays, snake fingers, rat teeth, bear jaws and all other kinds of crazy shit can be grafted to the character.

So you have all these wierd people wandering around in a vibrant, very natural world. The hammerhead guard stops a visitor to his city who has an ear slug moving around his face and an external lung. His companion has a wheel instead of a foot and a quartz magnifying array on his eye, to help in aiming his arm crossbow.

Sounds cool to my addled brain. Anything even remotely like it? It's an organic version of mecha i suppose.

More like an organic/fantasy version of cyberware or whatever they call it in Cyberpunk/Shadowrun/Transhuman Space.

To get the fantasy feel maybe use a term based on "chimera"...?

Quote from: Elliot WilenMore like an organic/fantasy version of cyberware or whatever they call it in Cyberpunk/Shadowrun/Transhuman Space.

To get the fantasy feel maybe use a term based on "chimera"...?

Yep, exactly. Organic cybernetics basically. It came to me last night when i couldn't sleep. I think it was a carry-over from machine gun leg woman in Grindhouse. Except it's all natural grafts that are done by magic and other than that it's a typical fantasy world.

It would be super cool to go up against a villain with a dragon's head and porcupine quills on his back, guarded by his elite cadre of guards that have scythes grafted onto their arms and iron grafted onto their bodies for protection. Harpoon lad shots from the shadows where his chameleon skin matches the colour of his surroundings. The heroic boar tusked knight then confronts them and...ooh, i'm getting carried away.

I think this term will serve.

teratology

noun
the branch of biology concerned with the development of malformations or serious deviations from the normal type of organism.

Something along the lines of Dark Sun's lifeshapers ?

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RSomething along the lines of Dark Sun's lifeshapers ?

Regards,
David R

Christ, dunno. I only played DS a couple of times, many, many moons ago. I played a half giant IIRC named Ben Nevis, man mountain. Got his leg hacked off...

Quote from: One Horse TownChrist, dunno. I only played DS a couple of times, many, many moons ago. I played a half giant IIRC named Ben Nevis, man mountain. Got his leg hacked off...

Never good when that happens.

Lifeshapers were a kind of biotech...insect like devices if I remember correctly which gave it users certain benefits.

If I remember correctly.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RNever good when that happens.

Lifeshapers were a kind of biotech...insect like devices if I remember correctly which gave it users certain benefits.

If I remember correctly.

Regards,
David R

Sounds similar then, except the idea here is to expand it into animal, vegatable and mineral grafts. Compound eyes has just gone on my list though! Spider eyes, stone legs, body whiskers, all kinds of stuff. It seems cool to my mind, but may seem a bit doo-lally until you get used to the idea.

Splicers is somewhat similar, but it's more Sci-Fi than fantasy.

Sounds like you want fantasy cybertech, not mecha. For fantasy mecha, see Rune Stryders.

Quote from: One Horse TownI think this term will serve.

teratology

Well ... that's accurate and precise, but not really evocative.  Is there a reason that you're not going with something that has a bit more resonance?  Like, you started talking about this and I immediately flashed on many of the fight scenes in Full Metal Alchemist.  Why not just call the art "Alchemy"?

Quote from: pigames.netSounds like you want fantasy cybertech, not mecha. For fantasy mecha, see Rune Stryders.

Yeah, you're right. More's coming to me as we speak. I might write it up as a d20 supplement or something as an alternative to magic.

Quote from: pigames.netFor fantasy mecha, see Rune Stryders.

Or the warstriders in Exalted, for that matter.

As for a name:

Labyrinth of Gaea

:confused:

Quote from: GrimGentOr the warstriders in Exalted, for that matter.

or Warforged in Eberron...

Tony: I doubt i'll use terratology, but it summed up what i was aiming for. As for Alchemy, dunno. I did actually come up with a Lich d20 Prestige class called the Fleshsmith a while ago (homebrew). So i reckon i'll go for something like that; Fleshmoulding or Fleshsmithing.