The Official Cicada Swarm Help Thread

[PugioilAudacio]

This thread is for all those who are having to endure the swarm. Share your experiences and try to stay sane. At the end I'm thinking of making an adventure based off of this - if I live through it that is.

A SHORT TIMELINE:

1. First there were a holes in the ground. Maybe a few shells sited.
2. Then the shells were everywhere. Not many actual cicada's were sited - but one could see the amount out based on the shell count.
3. The noise started. One began to hear clicking sounds akin to a low powered edger. Bugs began to appear everywhere.
4. The high-pitched siren sound started. Bugs were littering the ground everywhere. One could hardly walk for the corpses and shells.
5. Despite the incessant noise people began to ask "Is this it?" The first few bugs took to the air.
6. The sounds increased in volume. It now hurt to stay outside for long periods of time. Many bugs started flying.
7. They....are....everywhere. They have developed advanced tactics. Bugs will rest on the ground, trees, ledges etc. When people approach they will hover near you for a second and then swoop at you. If you dodge, they will make one more pass and then land on the ground. People do weird, crazy, spontaneous dances trying to get bugs off of them (if you don't go mad, it is often quite funny).
8. The Present: They are flying everywhere, they are on the ground everywhere, the noise is everywhere and their tactics have improved. Instead of landing on the ground after a bombing run they will fly back up to an overhanging tree in preparation for the next run.

Share your tales of woe. Feel free to add content for an adventure. I'm going to tape a sound track of them and play it at varying volumes during the adventure - depending on player location and time of day. They too must feel The SWARM!!!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

We don't get these swarms up here in the Boston area, but I have experienced them on a couple of visits to the D.C. area. I think this is a fantastic idea for an encounter to freak out the players. I may just <yoink> this...although I'm not sure how many of my players will get it.

 

[Storminator]

I was recently in Baltimore, and I walked out of the conference building and heard that weird musical buzzing. I pinpointed the source to ....


...that half of the world! It was pretty unreal. There was a forest across the road, and the whole thing was singing. Really, really bizarre.

PS

 

[Chronosome]

I'm pretty glad I'm in Boston, too. Icky ick ick.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

It's not that bad, really.

First, they aren't especially loud. Well, you'll notice them if you're outside, but I haven't had any problems indoors. They do rather sound like first series Star Trek phasers when they're all going, though.

Second, they're rather funny, really. You'll see some flying around, and they're the definition of Clumsy Flyers. They bounce off you, your dog, the wall, and can't deal with wind at all.

Brad

 

[Henry]

In honor of the Cicada season, I recently had the PC's in our game encounter GIANT cicadas. They entered an abandoned structure and had "shells" the size of footballs EVERYWHERE.

Then the PC who was scouting was chased almost out of the area by them.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

So I was thinking of some ideas about this last night. Here are a couple of suggestions:

1) make the shells bone white so the ground appears littered with bits of bone that crunch underfoot as the party walks through the area.

2) Make then cannibalistic. Whenever the party crushes one, have a swarm of them jump on the corpse and devour it - maybe have the ones eating them actually grow right before the party's eyes as they devour their deceased swarmmate. Eventually there are only a few hundred very large cicadas left.

 

[Painfully]

These things are in the Far East all the time. It is kind of tranquil to be in the middle of a trail with trees all around, and hearing the cicadas. It's no more different to me than hearing crickets at night. They don't typically bother people.

When I was young, I had a cousin that caught one, and poked a tiny hole in the wing to tie a string there. The other end of the string was tied around a small tree. We kept it by a window. Parents, this is what happens when you don't let your kids have a puppy dog.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Anyone want to post d20 stats for a cicada swarm? I could use a cannibalistic, Underdark-dwelling variety myself ...

 

[RangerWickett]

I am reminded of the tale that Nicola Tesla glued a bunch of flies to a piece of paper or something, and managed to use them to power a device as they buzzed their wings.

I'm in Atlanta, and I haven't seen a single cicada yet. Ought've I?