What Hangs Out With Formians?

[Tar Markvar]

I like the idea of ankhegs in the colony. That makes a lot of sense. As do dire ants.

I also like the idea of an enclave of escaped slaves hiding out in the colony. If I did that, I could have a queen in the colony with less game-balance guilt (the party averages about level 10, but I give them a +1 EL in a D&D setting because they have Dragonstar equipment), since the slaves would be willing to help.

The idea of devils manipulating the formians is a bit less attractive, if only because I want to show the ants as manipulators in and of themselves. Being involved in a hive mind with beings of up to 20 Intelligence makes it difficult to be controlled by any outside force, I would imagine. I want the formians to seem cold and heartless and ruthless and infallible, so they should be the controllers, not the controlled.

The point of the journey is to find the starship in the colony and take control of it, but I want it to be interesting. I think the formians, given four human generations with the technology, could have assimilated that as well, so the warriors could be wielding laser rifles, et al.

What are your impressions of a formian colony? Would the tunnels be carved meticulously and square (as their tendency toward order would dictate), or are they ant enough to simply make hewn caverns? Would there be all sorts of hidden areas, or would they bother, since anyone who belongs in the colony would know their way around instinctively through the hive mind?

I have precious little material on the formians, but I want them to be formidable and scary foes. Any pointers?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Look to real life I say. Specilized spiders like the phase could prey on them and yet remain hidden. Some types of plants, assassin vine, shrieker, phatom fungus or violet fungus. Maybe an ooze, an otyugh, or rust monster. See stirges as possible too.

 

[Loric]

perfectly circular tunnels, branchings at precise angles, major intersections having 2,4, or 8 tunnels laeding off, that kind of thing I think. It definitely reinforces a sense of order and completion, not to mention dedication.

Loric

 

[Fade]

What about Xill?

LE insectlike outsiders. And they can use 4 blasters at once.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

That`s funny.
In my campaign (which uses DragonStar rules), Formian will invade the galaxy. They planned this since several generations. They conquered the next galaxy (perhaps one of the Magellan clouds), and mated there, until they were native outsiders. And now they are going to attack...

I think they will have adapted to modern technology, so I would really love to have some fomorian warriors or at least some of the higher ranking fomorians to use double & quadruple weapons.
We will see...

Be aware that there is no reason for the Fomorian to only rely on lawful slaves. They could also dominate some chaotic beings (just to show them what law means ). You could throw some Troll Slaves (good, strong workers, aren`t they?), or maybe some good fighters. It migt be interesting to throw some people at them the characters new from earlier times, but I think this is possibly to late now. But maybe some historic figures.
(General Granson, the leader in several battles, got lost when he and a small group of soldiers were sent to investigate the place of the Formians.. And now he is on their side..)

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Ghostmoon]

I think Andy Collins put it best when he was describing the Formians and their ships in the Spelljammer setting presented in Dungeon Magazine #92: Pure "function over form". The discussion on the topic may interest you: Link

This to me is important to keep in mind. I believe that the Formians would utilize whatever was locally available (i.e. the flora and fauna of the world the ship crashed on) as well as the resources of the ship itself. Also, if you want have some unique monsters, perhaps the ship was carrying several monsters in cryo before it crashed. Alternately, the still active, but defective, reactor core of the crashed ship sporadically opens gates to other worlds and the Formians use whatever comes through (I am unfamiliar with DragonStar, so I am not sure if this works).

The Formians also have several ways to pry information out of the survivors (Charm Monster, etc) and are intelligent, so I doubt they would have difficulty in working out how the devices of the ship work. Also, they very may be able to repair it given the time and effort (Myrmarchs can Teleport without Error, so may be able to take a slave and go on replacement part runs).

Lastly, I think the colony would be reminiscent of an ant-hill: Organized and extremely efficient. I don’t think they would bother with perfect corridors and angles, as this would put needless form over pure function.

Sounds like a great encounter...Good luck!
Ghostmoon

 

[Horacio]

I think they will have adapted to modern technology, so I would really love to have some fomorian warriors or at least some of the higher ranking fomorians to use double & quadruple weapons.
We will see...

This brings to my mind images of WH 40k tyranids...
I think they share the same hive mind concept, and the many arms, and the micghty jaws...

 

[CWD]

Well in my fantasy Africa campaign, formians hang out with giraffes! (long story)

 

[LoneWolf23]

To be honest, I really like the Formians, but I figure they could use a bit more variety to their numbers. WotC's Formian Observers are a nice new touch (They're basically Formians specialized in analysis, telepathy and scouting, and give bonuses to their comrades whenever they scan people), but to be honest, I feel the Formians could use more specialized elements, a bit like Starship Troopers' Bugs.

Ideas for expanding the Formians:
-Flyer Formians (they have flying ants, after all); Flying Warrior variants [Take standard Warrior, add wings: 30 ft (good)][
-Brute Formians; Large Warrior variants with large, bulky mandibles (like a stag beetle) [Use Large warriors, alter Bite Damage to 3D6+1]
-Riders: Tiny Taskmaster variants who focus on controlling individual non-formians by riding their backs and focusing their mind-control abilites on that individual, controlling them entirely.
-BeastMaster: Taskmaster variant with Dominate Animal instead of Dominate Person. (or perhaps another variant with a spell that does the same to vermin?)
-TerrorMaster: Taskmaster variant with Dominate Monster instead of Dominate Person. Usually rarer then Taskmasters.

Also, the Taskmasters' use of dominated creatures must definetly be considered. As the Monster Manual write-up of Taskmasters indicates: "They do not enjoy controlling others but believe it is the only efficient way to spread the hive to all places, a desirable end for all rational creatures. If a taskmaster can manage to "conscript" a laborer without using it's dominate person ability, it will."

This makes Taskmasters a good opportunity roleplaying: instead of having the hive populated with mind-controlled humanoid slaves, why not have it populated by willing human servants, who actually like the harsh but fair life of the Formian Hive-City. Maybe the Hive moved into a region torn by war or disaster, bringing the stability of Law and Order into the area, conscripting the native population into joining the Hive's workforce in exchange for food and protection.

Heck, following inspiration from Dragon #296's "Followers of the Forbidden", how about a prestige class of Formian Worshippers, seeking to emulate the perfect order of their Insect-like patrons?

Hope this helps.

 

[Snoweel]

Slackers like hanging out, and slackers with the axiomatic template would just love watching Formians work, so:

Axiomatic Slacker
Medium-Size Outsider (Lawful)
Commoner 10
etc,
etc,
etc...