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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 6839607" data-attributes="member: 57383">Okay, I've made some progress on an Isopterite Hive draft, so I'll post the first half now and add the second half to this post when (if?) I finish it.Here we go:ISOPTERITE HIVESAn isopterite hive is a complex of tunnels, chambers and galleries with walls lined with resin. Isopterite resin is a special material isopterite workers can regurgitate, see Construction for more details. The entire hive reeks with an ammonia-like smell emitted by the resin it is built with.The hive is normally excavated deep in the earth, but portions of it may be hollowed out from the interior of giant trees or built on the surface in the form of rock-hard towers of mixed mud and resin that may soar hundreds of feet high.Information of general conditions within the hive and what chambers and structures it may contain is provided below. General Conditions of an Isopterite HiveAll isopterite hives share the following properties.Construction: The walls, floors and ceilings of the hive are reinforced with a lining of isopterite resin, a material formed from a mixture of chewed-up wood and isopterite stomach fluids. Its strength is comparable to rock or reinforced masonry (Hardness 8, 180 hp for 1 foot typical thickness, Break DC 35).Isopterite resin gives off a poisonous vapor described in hive miasma, below.Isopterite resin requires regular maintenance with special stomach secretions produced by isopterite workers, otherwise it begins to slowly grow weak and brittle and stops producing the hive miasma. This means that the walls of a dead or abandoned hive are likely to collapse under their own weight sooner or later.Darkness: The interior of an isopterite hive is normally pitch black. These insect folk are able to navigate and act in darkness, so they keep no lights in their hive.Hive Miasma: The gasses given off by isopterite resin have two significant properties. Firstly, they are toxic (see Miasma Toxin below). Secondly, they cause fires to burn more brightly and quickly (see Blaze Acceleration below).Miasma Toxin: In the open air outside the hive the vapors from its resin are malodorous but harmless. The denser vapors inside the hive are a toxin that will slowly kill almost any living creature that breathes air. Isopterites are immune to Miasma Toxin, as are a few other creatures such as aspis and [X?] The speed at which this toxin progresses varies depending on its concentration. Normally, a creature exposed to hive miasma must make a DC [X] Fortitude save when they first breathe the toxic vapors plus an additional DC [X] Fortitude save every 30 [?] minutes they continue to breathe the toxin. Chambers with more concentrated hive miasma require more frequent Fortitude saves – the most intense Miasma Toxin is in Resin Storage Chambers (see below), which require a Fortitude save every minute. The series of Fortitude saves only ends when the creature is able to breathe fresh air again.The first time a creature fails a save against Miasma Toxin it feels a painful irritation in its eyes, mouth and other sensitive parts – treat this distraction as the Dazzled condition. The second time a creature fails a save it starts coughing and choking, taking a –2 penalty to skill checks and ability checks. The third failure results in the creature being Sickened (q.v.) by chest pains and retching. A fourth failure results in unconsciousness. A creature rendered unconscious by hive miasma must continue making Fortitude saves and takes 1d4 [?] Constitution damage every time they fail.The Constitution damage is the only lasting effect of Miasma Toxin. All the other unpleasant symptoms completely disappear if the affected creature breathes fresh air for 4d6+16 [?] minutes. This also "resets" how many times the creature failed its save against Miasma Toxin to zero. A delay poison spell will prevent Miasma Toxin affecting its target for the duration of the spell, and a neutralize poison spell will "reset" their exposure to zero failed saving throws.Blaze Acceleration: The vapors inside an isopterite hive cause combustible materials to burn with twice their normal brightness (i.e. a torch will illuminate a 40-foot radius instead of a 20-foot radius). However, combustibles also burn twice as quickly, so the torch would burns for 30 minutes instead of 1 hour like it normally would. This effect does not cause the materials to burn any hotter, so it does not increase any fire damage the combusting materials might inflict. Blaze Acceleration only affects mundane combustible materials that require oxygen to burn. It has no effect on magical fire.Navigation Strings: Strings of a brown, slightly sticky material hang from the ceiling of every passage in an isopterite hive. They hang in such thick curtains the line-of-sight visibility in isopterite passageways is restricted to 20 feet. The string material is a form of exuded resin whose porous structure absorbs and retains isopterite scent markings, serving a similar purpose to maps, sign posts and message boards in a humanoid city. Each string contains a scent-coded map of all the passages and chambers near it, with directions to each. Isopterites use navigation strings to tell where they are in the hive and post notices containing basic information – along the lines of "food storage #7 running low, work team scent-of-crocuses assigned to restock".Isopterite chambers have sheets of navigation string affixed to their walls. The colour and texture of these sheets is indistinguishable from the construction resin of the walls, but a creature with the Scent ability might notice the difference. These sheets are usually evenly spaced around the circumference of the chamber, with additional sheets flanking each entrance.Isopterite scent-markings are unintelligible to most other creatures. Structures of an Isopterite HiveIsopterite hives always contain royal apartments, hatcheries, rest chambers, storage chambers for food or resin, and waste dumps. Some isopterite hives contain additional features, such as ventilation towers, fungal gardens, wells or water tanks.*More To Come*</blockquote>

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