Do you miss the piercer?

[Vanuslux]

Also known as "an-entire-ecology-specifically-evolved-to-attack-people-walking-around-in-underground-areas."

Thought they were silly back in the 1E days, and never used 'em much then. I think I used darkmantles once in 3E/3.5, but that was only because they were already in the adventure (a Dungeon Magazine adventure, IIRC).

The thing is that the ecosystems of the fantasy underground are a lot more diverse than the real world in the sense that as far as we know we don't have massive civilizations that have been living underground for ages...so the evolution of such creatures isn't as improbable as one might think.

 

[Mark Hope]

Reference to an old TV show.

Heh, OK. never heard of it (although when I clicked on the link, my gf gasped and said "Oh, I used to watch that!"). She is clearly from more erudite stock than I...

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Yes, I do miss the piercer. And the cave fisher too.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Hate the ones that get ya in the middle of the desert

Only used them in modules that had them in it. They weren't very exciting once they fell.

 

[painandgreed]

I missed them along with Rot grubs, trappers, etc and bought Tome of Horrors within a week of buying the core three books of 3.5.

 

[Shadowslayer]

I've always liked them, and was pleased that the Necro's decided to carry on some of the stranger 1/2e critters. I got the ToH when it first came out way back when, so it is still a foreign idea for me that these critters have somehow gone away and are now making a comeback. They've always been in my games.

Piercers I tend to use as a trap, much like some wizards will use a shrieker as an early alarm system. For all I know, their purpose (falling on unsuspecting passersby) could be the reason they were bred, altered, engineered, or created...however you explain them.

The neat side effect for using piercers at least once, is the paranoia it creates the NEXT time they go into a cave with stalactites. As a DM, you can make that kind of paranoia work for you.

Great pic in the Tome too.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Did it drop onto people? I thought I remembered it not doing anything until people put it on like a hood - although, I may just be misremembering it that way because of the name.

I don't really miss the piercer, anyway. They fall into the category of "screw-you" monsters that I never really liked. "Oh, look, stalactites - screw you, it's a piercer!", "Oh, look, it's a chest - screw you, it's a mimic!", "Okay, certainly the FLOOR is safe - screw you, it's a trapper!" I never dug on that style of monster.

As an aside, "screw-you" monsters are not to be confused with the "screw-your-stuff" monsters. "Boy, I sure like my plate mail - screw your stuff, here's a rust monster!", "Well, at least I still have this swell magic shield - screw your stuff, here's a disenchanter!" Bah, I say!

I fail to see how losing your stuff is worse than losing your life. If I total my car and some D&D angel drops in and says, hey, you can have your car back, but we'll take your leg instead, I think I'd rather have my leg.

 

[Frost]

I think they'd be best as a hazard nowadays

Although Necromancer Games originally wrote them up as a creature in the first Tome of Horrors, they have revised them as a hazard. They are listed that way in the Rappan Athuk Reloaded monster book, and I think the revised stats (i.e., the hazard ones) are in another Necro book too, maybe Tome of Horrors 2.

 

[mara]

I fail to see how losing your stuff is worse than losing your life. If I total my car and some D&D angel drops in and says, hey, you can have your car back, but we'll take your leg instead, I think I'd rather have my leg.

The Raise Dead line of spells can be found in the player's handbook. Raise Magic Item can not. Over the course of an entire campaign, resources can be found to fix pretty much anything that ails a character, including missing legs, but once the Sword of Ubercool is gone, it's gone.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I used piercers once in 1st ed. (in a Judge's Guild adventure if I recall correctly). Thought that the critter was dumb at the time, and replaced it with other things in later adventures. If I wanted something to fall from the ceiling and maybe hit someone I just called it a 'rock' and left it at that.

The Auld Grump