What would a slaad say?
Mouseferatu
Hero
Just from reading this so far, I feel like a more philosophically-minded slaad really out to sound like Inspirobot...
Oofta
Legend
I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of slaad, but nothing in the current version that I know of says they're insane. Chaotic, hate order, kill modrons on sight? Sure. Unlike gibbering mouther for example I don't see anything in the current MM that says they babble or are incoherent.
That may be different from previous versions and if they work that way in your campaign it could be interesting. I'm just objecting to the assumption I see now and then that CN is always the same as saying bat-
crazy.
Satyrn
First Post
I'd wind up having it holler out a battle cry as it engaged the PCs. Something like "let us slay these cretins," mumbling at the end so that last word sounds like croutons. Also, stealing from Guns n' Roses, when asked how he's doing, the slaad would respond "cool and stressing."
I'm not very helpful.
I'm not very helpful.
toucanbuzz
No rule is inviolate
I like giving bad guys a "catch phrase" in my campaign notes, always good stuff.
Slaadi don't say anything as they're communicating in Telepathy, which means they won't sound like an idiot referring to themselves in the 3rd person. Rather, the characters will be hit with pure thoughts. This could be images, sounds, smells, pretty much anything that sums it up. Prior edition descriptions of Telepathy have said it's "communication" (so players can communicate back), but just like communication, it's tough to carry on 5 different conversations.
For example, rather than say "I'm going to rip you apart," the slaad instead bombards the character with imagery of the character being ripped apart by the slaad's oversized and exaggerated claws, blood spraying everywhere, with the iron-tang smell in the air. The thought is conveyed in a way the target would understand. If the target is a Modron, it instead would perceive its parts being disassembled and placed out of order by the big claws, no blood.
But, it's unlikely a slaad would communicate a foe being ripped apart, and that's because of their ecology.
To know what the typical slaadi might say, you can look why they exist (going back to my Planescape days). The low INT ones were red & blue, the grunt soldiers tasked with scavenging battlefields of the Blood War for food and wounded prisoners to impregnate with eggs or curse. They'd like to tear down all the established hierarchies to make themselves more powerful, but they don't organize well and don't agree on who should follow who other than who tends to be more brutishly powerful. They also decorate their foreheads with tattoos of status and accomplishment, so Red and Blue won't have many at all. Both exist to procreate by infesting victims, then taking them to prison camps to make sure they give "birth." It's the only way they can reproduce, and it's an overriding aspect of their existence. So, slaadi aren't going to be thinking about ripping you apart. They're thinking how good a host you're going to make.
Red Slaad: Lowest of the low, they like to gang up in numbers and torment/slaughter smaller groups. They're predictable and uninspired and probably not ever up for simple conversation. But, slaadi usually want prisoners as you can't birth more of them (power in numbers) from dead people. So, a desperate hunger image, a need to see claws rip into skin, to open a wound, to see blood flow, to hear that glorious sound of a wounded creature on a battlefield that signifies weakness.
Blue Slaad: If a slaad took troops to war, it'd take the Blue. Like reds, they are vicious bullies. Perhaps go with their nightmarish prison camps. Impending excitement to see the characters writhing on the floor of a urine and feces smeared cage, to hear the laments of these weak, fleshy monkeys, and to know they've served their purpose, combined with the above excitement at a wound.
All in all, they're not really going to be up for scintillating conversation, nor clever taunts. To them, the players represent one thing: a host.
Slaadi don't say anything as they're communicating in Telepathy, which means they won't sound like an idiot referring to themselves in the 3rd person. Rather, the characters will be hit with pure thoughts. This could be images, sounds, smells, pretty much anything that sums it up. Prior edition descriptions of Telepathy have said it's "communication" (so players can communicate back), but just like communication, it's tough to carry on 5 different conversations.
For example, rather than say "I'm going to rip you apart," the slaad instead bombards the character with imagery of the character being ripped apart by the slaad's oversized and exaggerated claws, blood spraying everywhere, with the iron-tang smell in the air. The thought is conveyed in a way the target would understand. If the target is a Modron, it instead would perceive its parts being disassembled and placed out of order by the big claws, no blood.
But, it's unlikely a slaad would communicate a foe being ripped apart, and that's because of their ecology.
To know what the typical slaadi might say, you can look why they exist (going back to my Planescape days). The low INT ones were red & blue, the grunt soldiers tasked with scavenging battlefields of the Blood War for food and wounded prisoners to impregnate with eggs or curse. They'd like to tear down all the established hierarchies to make themselves more powerful, but they don't organize well and don't agree on who should follow who other than who tends to be more brutishly powerful. They also decorate their foreheads with tattoos of status and accomplishment, so Red and Blue won't have many at all. Both exist to procreate by infesting victims, then taking them to prison camps to make sure they give "birth." It's the only way they can reproduce, and it's an overriding aspect of their existence. So, slaadi aren't going to be thinking about ripping you apart. They're thinking how good a host you're going to make.
Red Slaad: Lowest of the low, they like to gang up in numbers and torment/slaughter smaller groups. They're predictable and uninspired and probably not ever up for simple conversation. But, slaadi usually want prisoners as you can't birth more of them (power in numbers) from dead people. So, a desperate hunger image, a need to see claws rip into skin, to open a wound, to see blood flow, to hear that glorious sound of a wounded creature on a battlefield that signifies weakness.
Blue Slaad: If a slaad took troops to war, it'd take the Blue. Like reds, they are vicious bullies. Perhaps go with their nightmarish prison camps. Impending excitement to see the characters writhing on the floor of a urine and feces smeared cage, to hear the laments of these weak, fleshy monkeys, and to know they've served their purpose, combined with the above excitement at a wound.
All in all, they're not really going to be up for scintillating conversation, nor clever taunts. To them, the players represent one thing: a host.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Came here for this and was not disappointed.
I'd play up the implantation thing with its dialogue. To me, it's the thing that's most terrifying about the Slaad and what really separates them from demons.
I'd play up the implantation thing with its dialogue. To me, it's the thing that's most terrifying about the Slaad and what really separates them from demons.
CubicsRube
Hero
Not really conversation oriented, but thought you might like this:
http://themonstersknow.com/slaad-tactics/
http://themonstersknow.com/slaad-tactics/
Henry
Autoexreginated
[video=youtube;pVcbasIb8lQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVcbasIb8lQ[/video]
Dessert Nomad
Adventurer
"What? Get out of here, I'm not dressed yet!" Oh, wait, I think I misread the question.
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