Updating
Monarch Scorpion Working Draft.
Is there anything else much to change compared to the monarch, other than HD and possibly abilities? Damage and size are the same.
Well there were a few things.
Firstly, the original Master Scorpion, Shattados the Cruel, was immortal so we could add some kind of ageless or immortal trait if we want to make this a general feature of Master Scorpions. Personally, I'd rather that be a side-effect of the cursed artifact that turned Shattados into
the Master Scorpion — the
scorpion crown.
Secondly, the Monarch Scorpions "
seem to be another result of Shattados’s curse, magically altered normal scorpions now grown to enormous size" apparently as a result of the
scorpion crown's curse. Furthermore, the Master Scorpion lived in ruins infested with monstrous scorpions of all sizes plus Monarch Scorpions. I'm thinking our Master Scorpion ought to have the ability to create and possibly attract Monstrous Scorpions and Monarch Scorpions. Maybe it causes normal scorpions to turn into Tiny monstrous scorpions and gradually grow in size, and once they pass Huge size they turn into Monarch Scorpions rather than Gargantuan Monstrous Scorpions?
Thirdly. There's nothing definite about what control, if any, the Master Scorpion has over scorpions, but presumably he has at least some influence over them. The description of his chamber says Shattados is "attended by 10 monarch, 10 giant, and 20 huge scorpions, and 15 manscorpions". The word "attended" implies the scorpions cater to his desires and/or needs in some fashion.
Fourthly, the curse of the
scorpion crown also turned Shattados the Cruel's human followers into manscorpions. I'm not in favour of our generic Master Scorpions having this ability - it seems unlikely one would even have human followers to transform - but we ought to mention it in connection to the
scorpion crown.
Fifthly, In the original adventure, if the
scorpion crown was destroyed all the Monarch Scorpions and Manscorpions it created were also destroyed. However, if the Master Scorpion it is linked to dies, the other monsters created by its curse remain. That makes me to prefer having any monstrous scorpions and Monarch Scorpions created by a generic Master Scorpion have their own independent existence, and also leads me to my final point...
Sixthly, I think we should stat up the
scorpion crown.