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The Ecology of the Phasm (unpublished 3.5 "Ecology" article)
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8235218" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>THE ECOLOGY OF THE PHASM</strong></p><p></p><p><em>In the lightless bowels of the Underdark, a blob of protoplasm quivered and spasmed, finally splitting down its middle and falling away from the expanding rift bisecting its shapeless body, causing it to collapse into two separate piles of matter. Each blob was about half the size of its former self, a mass of swirling colors: reds, blues, streaks of green and purple.<strong>[1]</strong></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>For a moment, each blob was motionless. Then, as if on cue, the masses began to quiver back and forth, the colors swirling around each form as they redistributed the matter making up their shapes. One began rising into a stout column, colors spreading and streaking along its form as it started to take on a humanoid build; the other swelled up and took on a darker coloration, its outer hue mirroring that of the rock all around it. By the time it had taken on the full appearance of a small boulder, the one beside it had finished its own transformation and now stood recognizably as a male<strong>[2]</strong> svirfneblin, complete with grayish skin, a bald pate, and a wispy, white mustache and goatee. He wore drab clothing, as did most of his kind.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Hey!” said the svirfneblin aloud, stretching his mouth after speaking as if trying out something he hadn't done in a while. “Looks like I've got the memories of our time as Pothelwick Glintpebble.”<strong>[3]</strong></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><Indeed,> thought the boulder to his newly-formed twin.<strong>[4]</strong> <I have no such recollection of such a person ever having existed.></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“It's as good a form as any, especially since we've both been reduced in mass,” replied Pothelwick.<strong>[5]</strong> “In fact, I think I'll spend a fair bit of time as Pothelwick while it's still somewhat comfortable to do so.”</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><You do that,> replied the boulder telepathically. <I intend to cogitate for a year or so, sifting through my memories and seeing what's worth keeping.><strong>[6]</strong></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Have fun with that,” replied the svirfneblin, wandering down the Underdark corridor in the direction he recalled there being a deep gnome settlement. It had been decades since he'd last been that way and he was curious to see what all might have changed there in his absence.</em></p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>1.</strong> The swirls of color in a phasm's natural form are various sensory organs. They, like the rest of the creature's amorphous body, can change size and coloration as the creature alters its body to mimic any of a variety of living or unliving forms.</p><p></p><p><strong>2.</strong> Phasms are entirely asexual creatures but can adopt the form of creatures of either gender at will.</p><p></p><p><strong>3.</strong> A phasm stores its memories at various nodules all around its amorphous body. As it changes form, these nodules move about, although similar memories are most often stored together. When a phasm splits into two – its completely asexual method of reproduction – the memory nodules are evenly distributed between the two smaller forms thus created. Thus, each creature is not only half the size of the former “parent” creature but retains half of its prodigious store of memories, including the recollection of the various forms it has adopted over the span of its prior lifetime.</p><p></p><p><strong>4.</strong> Phasms normally communicate telepathically to those others within 100 feet possessing linguistic capabilities. While they can also speak Common aloud, the ability to communicate by thought alone comes in very handy when adopting a form normally incapable of speech – like a boulder.</p><p></p><p><strong>5.</strong> A full-grown phasm in its standard, amorphous shape is about five feet in diameter and two feet tall in the middle, looking somewhat like an oversize, multicolored fried egg weighing in at some 400 pounds. When it splits into two, each newly-formed “offspring” has half of the original creature's mass and size. A phasm can change shape at will but can only assume forms of roughly its own size or larger; a full-grown phasm (of Medium size) would not be able to normally “squeeze down” to a Small svirfneblin form without becoming very dense (as it will still weigh around 400 pounds despite being compressed into a three-foot-tall form). Adopting forms larger than the phasm is much easier, especially if the creature creates hollow “pockets” in its larger form, concentrating on keeping the entire exterior looking like it's supposed to. A recently-split phasm, at 200 pounds, is still much more dense in svirfneblin form (or that of a similarly-sized creature, like a kobold or a goblin) than would be a true deep gnome, but it isn't as uncomfortable for the phasm at that stage of its life than it will be later on, once it's grown and regained much of its former mass.</p><p></p><p><strong>6.</strong> A phasm can only grow to be so big before it must split into two smaller creatures. Similarly, the memory nodules spread throughout its body can only hold so many memories – about a century's worth – before the older memories fade away to make room for newer memories. Some phasms choose to allow the older memories to fade away and be replaced with newer ones, while others do what they can to preserve the older memories deemed worth saving. By entering a trancelike state, the phasm can “rewrite” specific older memories into the nodules as newer memories, allowing the originals to fade away but be given new life as a more recent memory. (In effect, the phasm's newer memory will be of reliving the experience of recalling the older memory.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8235218, member: 508"] [b]THE ECOLOGY OF THE PHASM[/b] [i]In the lightless bowels of the Underdark, a blob of protoplasm quivered and spasmed, finally splitting down its middle and falling away from the expanding rift bisecting its shapeless body, causing it to collapse into two separate piles of matter. Each blob was about half the size of its former self, a mass of swirling colors: reds, blues, streaks of green and purple.[b][1][/b] For a moment, each blob was motionless. Then, as if on cue, the masses began to quiver back and forth, the colors swirling around each form as they redistributed the matter making up their shapes. One began rising into a stout column, colors spreading and streaking along its form as it started to take on a humanoid build; the other swelled up and took on a darker coloration, its outer hue mirroring that of the rock all around it. By the time it had taken on the full appearance of a small boulder, the one beside it had finished its own transformation and now stood recognizably as a male[b][2][/b] svirfneblin, complete with grayish skin, a bald pate, and a wispy, white mustache and goatee. He wore drab clothing, as did most of his kind. “Hey!” said the svirfneblin aloud, stretching his mouth after speaking as if trying out something he hadn't done in a while. “Looks like I've got the memories of our time as Pothelwick Glintpebble.”[b][3][/b] <Indeed,> thought the boulder to his newly-formed twin.[b][4][/b] <I have no such recollection of such a person ever having existed.> “It's as good a form as any, especially since we've both been reduced in mass,” replied Pothelwick.[b][5][/b] “In fact, I think I'll spend a fair bit of time as Pothelwick while it's still somewhat comfortable to do so.” <You do that,> replied the boulder telepathically. <I intend to cogitate for a year or so, sifting through my memories and seeing what's worth keeping.>[b][6][/b] “Have fun with that,” replied the svirfneblin, wandering down the Underdark corridor in the direction he recalled there being a deep gnome settlement. It had been decades since he'd last been that way and he was curious to see what all might have changed there in his absence.[/i] - - - [b]NOTES 1.[/b] The swirls of color in a phasm's natural form are various sensory organs. They, like the rest of the creature's amorphous body, can change size and coloration as the creature alters its body to mimic any of a variety of living or unliving forms. [b]2.[/b] Phasms are entirely asexual creatures but can adopt the form of creatures of either gender at will. [b]3.[/b] A phasm stores its memories at various nodules all around its amorphous body. As it changes form, these nodules move about, although similar memories are most often stored together. When a phasm splits into two – its completely asexual method of reproduction – the memory nodules are evenly distributed between the two smaller forms thus created. Thus, each creature is not only half the size of the former “parent” creature but retains half of its prodigious store of memories, including the recollection of the various forms it has adopted over the span of its prior lifetime. [b]4.[/b] Phasms normally communicate telepathically to those others within 100 feet possessing linguistic capabilities. While they can also speak Common aloud, the ability to communicate by thought alone comes in very handy when adopting a form normally incapable of speech – like a boulder. [b]5.[/b] A full-grown phasm in its standard, amorphous shape is about five feet in diameter and two feet tall in the middle, looking somewhat like an oversize, multicolored fried egg weighing in at some 400 pounds. When it splits into two, each newly-formed “offspring” has half of the original creature's mass and size. A phasm can change shape at will but can only assume forms of roughly its own size or larger; a full-grown phasm (of Medium size) would not be able to normally “squeeze down” to a Small svirfneblin form without becoming very dense (as it will still weigh around 400 pounds despite being compressed into a three-foot-tall form). Adopting forms larger than the phasm is much easier, especially if the creature creates hollow “pockets” in its larger form, concentrating on keeping the entire exterior looking like it's supposed to. A recently-split phasm, at 200 pounds, is still much more dense in svirfneblin form (or that of a similarly-sized creature, like a kobold or a goblin) than would be a true deep gnome, but it isn't as uncomfortable for the phasm at that stage of its life than it will be later on, once it's grown and regained much of its former mass. [b]6.[/b] A phasm can only grow to be so big before it must split into two smaller creatures. Similarly, the memory nodules spread throughout its body can only hold so many memories – about a century's worth – before the older memories fade away to make room for newer memories. Some phasms choose to allow the older memories to fade away and be replaced with newer ones, while others do what they can to preserve the older memories deemed worth saving. By entering a trancelike state, the phasm can “rewrite” specific older memories into the nodules as newer memories, allowing the originals to fade away but be given new life as a more recent memory. (In effect, the phasm's newer memory will be of reliving the experience of recalling the older memory.) [/QUOTE]
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The Ecology of the Phasm (unpublished 3.5 "Ecology" article)
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