Is it possible to make giant ants scary to a 15th level party?

[Land Outcast]

Unfai, unfair, Infinity beat me to it

 

[Daalbar]

If you want to do some creative modification to the ants as described in the rules, there are literally thousands of species to play with... for instance, the bulldog ant -- fast, active, with good vision, small colonies but each individual has a stinger with paralyzing venom and large clasping mandible that they use to lock onto prey with and drag back to the colony (can you say grapple rules?)

http://www.ento.csiro.au/ecowatch/Primary/hymenoptera/pages/bulldog.htm

Or have you ever seen how army ants subdue creatures much larger than themselves? Individuals grab hold to each extremity and stretch them out while others close in to bite and dismember. Grappling rules again.

Or maybe you'd like to try out a giant species of odontomachus ("trap-jaw" ants). These ants carry their mandibles open at a 180 degree angle and run up to bump a prey item with trigger-hairs near the mouth which causes the scyth-like mandibles to snap shut with great force. In some of these species, the mandibles are like shears. I saw a species from southeast asia in a lab several years ago -- the workers would run at a cricket, then you'd hear an audible "snap" and then the cricket would be knocked back in one direction while the ant itself flew back in the other and one of the crickets' legs would be lying on the ground.

http://www.myrmecos.net/ants/odontomachus.html

 

[ceratitis]

cool thread
i love bugs.
Z

 

[szilard]

I'd toss in swarms of immature ants (using Centipede swarm stats). When mixed in with advanced giant ants, the immune-to-weapon-damage swarms should add a serious challenge.

-Stuart

 

[ceratitis]

I'd toss in swarms of immature ants (using Centipede swarm stats). When mixed in with advanced giant ants, the immune-to-weapon-damage swarms should add a serious challenge.

-Stuart

that wont work, ants are holometabula which means the immature ants aren't simply little ants they are larvae and are very limited in what theyy can do (basicly eat and s... like a human baby). for an immature swarm you need a hemimetabula bug like termites (the white ants is a misnamer).
of course this is fantacy so you can do what you like.
Z

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

You could just use the statististics for Formians and skill call them Ant, too. (That's not that different from using templates).

If you want to add class level, Fiendish Ants should do the trick - IIRC, they get an Int of at least 3 then (though I am not certain if that is 100 % legal, but who cares, as long as it's fun and the players still have a chance to survive )

 

[nameless]

Swarms of normal-sized army ants or fire ants would definitely be scary for your party, since nobody is a spellcaster and swarms are immune to weapon damage.

To represent the truly huge number of ants present, you might want to use the mob rules from the DMG II if you have it available. They basically turn normal-sized creatures into swarms.

I'd shy away from advancing them or templating them, because that would require a reason that they became larger/magical. A hive of giant ants is freaky enough, you don't need them to be half-dragon for no reason to scare your players.

 

[Fishbone]

Something like mobbing rules(for every successful grappling ant all other ants get a +2 on attacks and grappling, in the DMG II).

 

[szilard]

that wont work, ants are holometabula which means the immature ants aren't simply little ants they are larvae and are very limited in what theyy can do (basicly eat and s... like a human baby). for an immature swarm you need a hemimetabula bug like termites (the white ants is a misnamer).
of course this is fantacy so you can do what you like.
Z

These are giant ants in a fantasy world that we're talking about. Their young can look like just about anything.

It is also possible that there is another whole caste of mature giant ants that are really, really tiny that serve to do any of a number of things....

-Stuart

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Any suggestions? I'm not asking anyone to do the work. I'm just asking for pointers to appropriate rules. I'm thinking maybe poison, swarm rules, stuff like that.

Pick your poison (or whatever other methods have been suggested - advancement, templates...). Just so long as you pump them up to 1950's B-movie size you can scare the crap out of anyone.