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How about monstrous snails?
Snow moving, but armored, and some species of snail can spit paralytic venomous barbs.
For starters- that second comic pic is creepy and I do not like it at all.
Snails are very creepy creatures. The thought of a giant carnivorous one? Gah!!! I remember watching a nature show where there was a cone snail or something in the ocean. It shot out a poison barb, stung a fish, then slowly enveloped it's mouth around it and ate it alive. It was horrible....
[video=youtube;30zgbn_QffM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30zgbn_QffM[/youtube]
Imagine that at three to four hundred pounds or more.....
Quote from: Cave Bear;930988Spoiler
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How about monstrous snails?
Snow moving, but armored, and some species of snail can spit paralytic venomous barbs.
The slugs in the king kong movie with jack black were pretty nasty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTWYQhTT388
Quote from: RunningLaser;930992For starters- that second comic pic is creepy and I do not like it at all.
That's Uzumaki for you. ^^
Love Uzumaki... great, mindbending stuff.
When I was a kid I'd let snails crawl on me... tickly little rasping as they crawled. 'crawled'? 'oozed'? 'wiggled'?
I put together a race of horrible snail centaurs for my last 4e campaign. I wanted something different from the usual goblin/kobold/goon fare for the PCs to face. I called them cenchos in an indirect reference to Irish myth, gave them slow movement speed but superior defensive tactics, and based their appearance on the killer hermits from Final Fantasy III:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/b/b8/FF3NES-KillerHermit.gif/revision/latest?cb=20080217174326
They dripped acid and spoke like slow-motion drunkards. Some of them had gems embedded in the center of their shell whorl that granted them limited magical powers.
There is of course the flail snail. A giant snail with 4 morningstar flail like tentacles.
IIRC RuneQuest had a firebreathing Chaos snail.
Quote from: DavetheLost;931024IIRC RuneQuest had a firebreathing Chaos snail.
You're probably thinking of dragonsnails. In addition to the basic, snail x dragon they are chaos creatures with potentially a wide range of weird abilities.
Of course, there's also the Molnang (Death Snail) from "The Dragon's Bestiary" in
Dragon #126... Nothing like being chased down in Gamma World by a hyper-aggressive, super-destructive snail whose eye beams are like black beam rifles, secretes slime that causes 10d6 damage, and leaves a track of burned ground that causes 1d6 damage alone. Not to mention it has a shell that can be cut into shields capable of reflecting "beams of heat, light, radiation, sound, etc., as well as acid and black rays". If you're lucky enough to survive the encounter and have the vibroblades to cut the shell, you can make a tidy profit. If you're hungry and have time to wait, you can leech the acid out of the meat. Just to be sure to cook it thoroughly to avoid contracting muscleworms ("More Mutant Fever",
Dragon #108).
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If you ask me, I'd rather face the laser bears (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?35518-Funny-Responses-to-player-actions).
Later!
Harl
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;931016I put together a race of horrible snail centaurs for my last 4e campaign. I wanted something different from the usual goblin/kobold/goon fare for the PCs to face. I called them cenchos in an indirect reference to Irish myth, gave them slow movement speed but superior defensive tactics, and based their appearance on the killer hermits from Final Fantasy III:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/b/b8/FF3NES-KillerHermit.gif/revision/latest?cb=20080217174326
They dripped acid and spoke like slow-motion drunkards. Some of them had gems embedded in the center of their shell whorl that granted them limited magical powers.
I haven't played Final Fantasy III in almost a decade... was that monster anything like Ymir from Final Fantasy VI?
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ymir_(Final_Fantasy_VI)
I had a DoomSnail in a 5e adventure where the heroes were fighting a demented water temple.
High AC, low movement, low Dex...poor thing got shredded by Sacred Flame.
I have a race of xeno snails in my sci fi home brew. They have three nervous systems only one of which is senient.
Based kind of on the sea snail that shoots super fast poisened barbs. Humans have an unconcenss nervous systemthat controlblood preasure and dygestion and a concess nervous system that waves their arms around. With the snails I reversed it. And added cybernetics on top.
Weird...I've actually been writing/playtesting an adventure (http://daegames.blogspot.com/search/label/snail%20cult) that has the characters exploring the temple of a snail cult (using my own D&D-ish system, but also doing it for Dungeon World).
Some art I did for it:
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One of Robert E Howards Conan stories (the hall of thevdead) had a giant snail as the main monster.
The acid-spitting giant snails from the D&D RC were an absolute nightmare for my PCs.
Thanks for sharing your art. I really like the snail mage.
Quote from: rgrove0172;931054One of Robert E Howards Conan stories (the hall of thevdead) had a giant snail as the main monster.
That was an unfinished/unpublished story that was finished by L. Sprague de Camp. Is seems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hall_of_the_Dead#L._S._de_Camp.27s_version) de Camp was responsible for the giant snail.
Quote from: The Butcher;931056The acid-spitting giant snails from the D&D RC were an absolute nightmare for my PCs.
Players always hate monsters that dissolve magic items. Go figure. :D
Quote from: Cave Bear;931037I haven't played Final Fantasy III in almost a decade... was that monster anything like Ymir from Final Fantasy VI?
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ymir_(Final_Fantasy_VI)
In the sense that they alternated a more defensive mode with a more offensive mode between rounds, yes, but not quite as punitive as the VI version.
The basic mechanics of 4e made mode-switching monsters pretty straightforward and rewarding, but I should be able to recreate them in 5e with little effort.
Welp, I now, and I mean this seriously, have respect for the Flail Snail design concept. I totally accept it as viable, and creepy, monster.
Quote from: Bren;931097That was an unfinished/unpublished story that was finished by L. Sprague de Camp. Is seems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hall_of_the_Dead#L._S._de_Camp.27s_version) de Camp was responsible for the giant snail.
Players always hate monsters that dissolve magic items. Go figure. :D
Technically your right of course.
Quote from: ArrozConLeche;930994The slugs in the king kong movie with jack black were pretty nasty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTWYQhTT388
Those are more like worms, with lamprey-like mouths. The CGI makes their movements look a little fake, though.
Quote from: Cave Bear;931001That's Uzumaki for you. ^^
Any manga by Junji Ito is sure to give you the chills for sheer surreal weirdness and unsettling scenes. Also check out the 2000
Uzumaki movie.
In my DCC campaign, the city of Arkhome is practically maintained through harvesting of giant snails for their meat and milk.
Quote from: RPGPundit;931817In my DCC campaign, the city of Arkhome is practically maintained through harvesting of giant snails for their meat and milk.
Snails are delicious but the thought of "snail milk" churns my stomach.
Quote from: ThatChrisGuy;931866"snail milk"
Another terrible thing this thread has given us....
Quote from: RPGPundit;931817In my DCC campaign, the city of Arkhome is practically maintained through harvesting of giant snails for their meat and milk.
It wouldn't make sense for it to be actual milk, so what the heck is it?
Quote from: 3rik;931973It wouldn't make sense for it to be actual milk, so what the heck is it?
The ooze they secrete to slide on?
Numbing to the touch and very slippery; an excellent grease for the mill axle as well as alchemical raw material.
Quote from: 3rik;931973It wouldn't make sense for it to be actual milk, so what the heck is it?
You've heard of "Man Milk" yes? That ain't actual milk either.
Dot dot dot.
Quote from: 3rik;931973It wouldn't make sense for it to be actual milk, so what the heck is it?
How about a substance that is horribly poisonous to most creatures the snails traditionally had to fend off, but alas, turned out to be delicious to whatever humanoids discovered and enslaved them in Pundit's city? Bonus RP points if it is a deadly poison to some player races but not others. :devilishgrin:
Switching gears, how about some inspiration?
Check out the mechanics of the snail-boss thing in the old SNES game Demon's Crest (at about 3:05 in the video):
[video=youtube;qM2QXOMF9f4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM2QXOMF9f4[/youtube]
Note the way it controls the flow of water in the chamber by blowing it in or out.
Quote from: 3rik;931973It wouldn't make sense for it to be actual milk, so what the heck is it?
It's the paralytic venom that these things...
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Quote from: RunningLaser;930992For starters- that second comic pic is creepy and I do not like it at all.
Snails are very creepy creatures. The thought of a giant carnivorous one? Gah!!! I remember watching a nature show where there was a cone snail or something in the ocean. It shot out a poison barb, stung a fish, then slowly enveloped it's mouth around it and ate it alive. It was horrible....
[video=youtube;30zgbn_QffM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30zgbn_QffM[/youtube]
Imagine that at three to four hundred pounds or more.....
...shoot at their prey before swallowing them whole.
Humans use it as an anesthetic for their biomantic procedures, or as a recreational narcotic.
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;932132Switching gears, how about some inspiration?
Check out the mechanics of the snail-boss thing in the old SNES game Demon's Crest (at about 3:05 in the video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM2QXOMF9f4
Note the way it controls the flow of water in the chamber by blowing it in or out.
I love combat with forced movement effects (hence, why I am a 4E fan.)
Not snails, but Magic The Gathering does have a variety of kooky slug creatures:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?output=spoiler&method=visual&type=+%5bslug%5d%7c%7csubtype%3d+%5bslug%5d
The Mega Man games feature a variety of robot snail things if you like constructs in your fantasy, including the bizarre Crystal Snail robot master (starts at 2:24):
[video=youtube_share;6jCya5UlJqE]https://youtu.be/6jCya5UlJqE?t=2m24s[/youtube]
Quote from: Cave Bear;932189It's the paralytic venom that these things...
...shoot at their prey before swallowing them whole.
Humans use it as an anesthetic for their biomantic procedures, or as a recreational narcotic.
All things I didn't know and am lifting for my adventure!
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Yikes...
I'll be seeing him in my nightmares.
Cone snails are terrifying! So lethal!
As a child at the beach we were taught to give a wide berth to sea snakes, even if they were drying up dying in empty oil drums, because they can still spasm and bite you, or you might step on a sand covered dead head and inject yourself with venom. And also to never just pick up a pretty shell without knowing what you're doing because you might just grab a cone snail with one still left alive inside... and die (quickly!). The cigarettes with lingering cherries, discarded soda pulltabs, medical waste syringes, and 3rd degree burning sand were further down the list of dangers at the beach.
Things to teach children who ever might visit the Persian Gulf or Red Sea back in the day. :)
Man, I just use giant snails as pack animals and flail snails as guard beasts.
Thanks for giving me new ideas!
In our old RQ2 campaign, we had a Morokanth who rode a Giant War Slug into battle, it was a bit slow but great for climbing up walls.
Check out all the medieval snail combat illustrations on this Imgur gallery. (http://imgur.com/account/favorites/bboNK)