Cerilian Vegepygmies

[Sepsis]

Greetings,
As I was thinking about swamp minions for a Black Dragon the thought of
Mold Men (or Vegepygmies) crossed my mind. I had in the past used these
creatures as slaves for BDs (in other campaign settings). In these other
instances I've always portrayed the Moldies as being very in-tune with the
natural surroundings of their forest, this is already exemplified in the MM
by the Mold Men's association with Thornies, Shriekers, and Russet Molds
(not to mention Myconids, which will be mentioned later). What I'm now
wondering is, what if any effect would the relation between nature and
Mebhaighl have on Moldies. This same question could be asked of Treants,
Myconids, and other sentient plant or fungal life. Its true that most such
forms of life are either too unintelligent or "uncivilized" (for want of a
better term, referring to the ability to "see" the big picture) to be
affected by this power, but socialized and highly intelligent ones should
have some connection to Mebhaighl. At least IMO. I was thinking Vegepygmies
could have a "Shaman" class of sorts to help show this relationship. As for
Myconids, being a bizarre telepathic-like race, I can't help but think
Psionics here (GASP!!). Perhaps they could each have a Wild Talent, or
maybe Myconids could be considered members of the Psionicist class, their
level being equal to their present Hit Die. Of course they would be
restricted as to what Sciences and Devotions they could get, although which
ones I'm still unsure of. I'm also thinking that Psionics would work for
Treants as well, but again I've given it enough thought to say exactly how
I would apply them. Anyway I'd love to hear other thoughts on this subject
that anyone might have.


Sepsis, richt@metrolink.net (ICQ:3777956)

"War is a matter of vital importance to the State;
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It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
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[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Mon, 16 Feb 1998, Sepsis wrote:

> As I was thinking about swamp minions for a Black Dragon the thought of
> Mold Men (or Vegepygmies) crossed my mind. I had in the past used these

I've always used these creatures as Shadow World inhabitants of areas that
correspond to areas of rich plant growth in the material world. So, in the
Erebannien Forest, the Shadow World appears like a great skeletal forest
filled with dead and dying trees with pale leaves and huge tree-sized
fungi living on and among them, and in which vegepygmies and other
fungi-kin and dangerous plants abound. It makes an interesting difference
to the usual "lots of undead wandering around aimlessly on a grey plain"
approach to the Shadow World that I typically use for plains and hills
areas.

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[Daniel McSorley]

>> As I was thinking about swamp minions for a Black Dragon the thought of
>> Mold Men (or Vegepygmies) crossed my mind. I had in the past used these
>
>I've always used these creatures as Shadow World inhabitants of areas that
>correspond to areas of rich plant growth in the material world. So, in the
>Erebannien Forest, the Shadow World appears like a great skeletal forest
>filled with dead and dying trees with pale leaves and huge tree-sized
>fungi living on and among them, and in which vegepygmies and other
>fungi-kin and dangerous plants abound. It makes an interesting difference
>to the usual "lots of undead wandering around aimlessly on a grey plain"
>approach to the Shadow World that I typically use for plains and hills
>areas.
>
See, that sounds unusual to me. I usually run the shadow world as being
empty, devoid of movement and sound, with just the sickly plants as the only
evidence of life. There is always the hint of something lurking, watching
the characters, but they rarely see it. It sounds like you have the SW be
full of undead the way the "real" Cerilia is full of humans and demihumans.
I got the impression (from the Iron Throne) that they never really saw much
life except those spiders, until the battle with the undead.
Daniel McSorley
mcsorley.1@osu.edu

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Tue, 17 Feb 1998, Daniel McSorley wrote:

> See, that sounds unusual to me. I usually run the shadow world as being
> empty, devoid of movement and sound, with just the sickly plants as the only
> evidence of life. There is always the hint of something lurking, watching
> the characters, but they rarely see it. It sounds like you have the SW be
> full of undead the way the "real" Cerilia is full of humans and demihumans.
> I got the impression (from the Iron Throne) that they never really saw much
> life except those spiders, until the battle with the undead.

Well, I'm an impoverished BRer because I have never read any of the BR
novels (I had read a few of the FR ones and was rather underwhelmed).
Although with the good rep they get on this listserv I am seriously
considering giving them a try. I did overstate my case a bit: I don't
really have armies of undead marching around or tending undead farms full
of undead cattle, etc. (undead cattle, now there's an interesting idea...
). For the most part I portray the SW as stark and
barren, but I tend to portray it as corresponding to the area of Cerillia
the players entered it from, in part because that what they EXPECT to see.
I personally believe that the Shadow World is made of a fluid substance
that is given form by the expectations, desires, and especially the fears
of those who enter it. Sort of like a dream realm run amock to nightmares
and chaos. I picked up one of the Monstrous Compendia recently, where it
described a number of creatures from a "Nightmare Court" located in some
sort of dream realm, which made both dreams and nightmares for sleepers. I
assume that this was stuff for Ravenloft, but was unfamiliar with the
particular source for the material, but I imagine the SW to be somewhat
similar to the Nightmare Lands. Actually, I originally based my concepts
off of equal amounts of the Umbra from WW's Mage: the Ascension, and
"shifting shadow" from the Amber books by Zelazny. It is a realm of
subjectivity, where perception and expectation become actual and your
worst enemy is your subconscious fears, your fatalism and your cynicism.
Why are halflings stereotyped as happy-go-lucky rogues? Because they are
used to the idea that if you expect someone to be friendly to you they are
more likely to actually be so, and they are used to aquiring things by
wishing them so. Also explains why its so important for a party to have a
halfling guide when trekking through the SW: the group may have not been
noticed by the army of zombies marching along a bone-yellow road because
the halfling expected that they would not be noticed.

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[Daniel McSorley]

>Well, I'm an impoverished BRer because I have never read any of the BR
>novels (I had read a few of the FR ones and was rather underwhelmed).
>Although with the good rep they get on this listserv I am seriously
>considering giving them a try. I did overstate my case a bit: I don't
>really have armies of undead marching around or tending undead farms full
>of undead cattle, etc. (undead cattle, now there's an interesting idea...
>). For the most part I portray the SW as stark and
>barren, but I tend to portray it as corresponding to the area of Cerillia
>the players entered it from, in part because that what they EXPECT to see.

BR Novels == Good literature, best TSR stuff I've read.
Undead cattle..... Oooooh, I like this. :)

>Why are halflings stereotyped as happy-go-lucky rogues? Because they are
>used to the idea that if you expect someone to be friendly to you they are
>more likely to actually be so, and they are used to aquiring things by
>wishing them so. Also explains why its so important for a party to have a
>halfling guide when trekking through the SW: the group may have not been
>noticed by the army of zombies marching along a bone-yellow road because
>the halfling expected that they would not be noticed.
This strikes me as a particularly good explanation, I may use this
sometime.
Daniel McSorley
mcsorley.1@osu.edu