There's arachnids in them thar forests.

[thalmin]

The Black Tower module from Midkemia Press had some strange beasties called "Gold Moths" that looked like gold coins. When they swarmed, they would completely cover their victim, interlock their wings, turn up the temperature, and cook the victim in its own juices.

 

[Buttercup]

*COUGH*youplaypokemon*COUGH*

The only thing I know about pokemon is that there seems to be lots of money and bad artwork involved. So I'm not sure why my idea suggested pokemon to you. Am I supposed to be hurt or insulted by your comment? Or is it a complement?

 

[Buttercup]

The Black Tower module from Midkemia Press had some strange beasties called "Gold Moths" that looked like gold coins. When they swarmed, they would completely cover their victim, interlock their wings, turn up the temperature, and cook the victim in its own juices.

Now that's nasty. Cool, but nasty.

 

[Orius]

Every right thinking person hates the disgusting, bloated, abominations that are spiders, big or small (Well, that goes for all us arachnophobes, anyway, and its probably one of the most common phobias. Though I haven't been so bad since I killed a tarantula on my bed in Cyprus some years ago-somehow, ordinary house spiders seem a lot less threatening after that!)

I think the spiders get the edge, though, because they attack from ambush and/or trap their prey in webs. They have poison (frightening) and to top it off they like sucking their prey dry whilst its helpless-yukk. These are all "horror" elements. I'm with professor Tolkien on this one...

Hey, I like spiders! You saying I'm crazy?!

But yeah, spiders get a workout on D&D because people are more scared of them than say, mosquitoes, moths, etc. That's why giant spiders always show up as scary monsters.

 

[Richards]

I did up a textile moth (AKA "cloth moth") that is to fabrics what a rust monster is to metal. Textile moths aren't all that big, but they'll eat their way through your cloak of charisma or robe of eyes in no time.

Also, the old Gamma World game had blaash, mutated moths that blasted radiation from their bodies.

Johnathan

 

[ConnorSB]

The moths in Perdido Street Station (spoiler warning for the book)

Spoiler

had wings that could basically "hypnotic pattern" at will. They ate people's dreams by sticking thier tongues into people's mouths and up into thier brains, and sucking the metaphysical life out of them. Thier excrement was literally the castoffs of a thousand dreams, and it would swirl down onto the city, troubling people's dreams with the half-remembered, half eaten nightmares of the slakemoth's prey. The milk they give to thier young is a drug so potent it kills unless heavily cut, and even then it is on par with cocaine.

Their bodies existed on multiple planes of existance, and so it was almost impossible to kill them by any "mortal" wound. They could in fact use thier multiplanality to fold themselves or expand, being able to literally slip through cracks.

Killing them required the combined effort of the Mayor, the best scientist in the city, the biggest and shadiest mob boss in the city, the self-prophesizing God of Machines, the entire city militia, a mysterious being called The Weaver, the worlds half-machine equivelent of Jack the Ripper, and a bunch of mercenary adventureres, as well as what was effectivly a nanotech engine. Yah, they were some badass moths.

 

[ConnorSB]

Spoiler

Oh, and some psionic parisites with mirrors too

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

It could be worse. What if you had to deal with carnivorous squirrels (1st MMII)? It'd be like that bunny from Holy Grail, but without the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

 

[Ashwyn]

The only thing I know about pokemon is that there seems to be lots of money and bad artwork involved.

My avatar wants to have a word with you.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well, what if giant moths exuded really strong pheremones? Other moths would be attracted to them, but maybe everything else would be put to sleep. Or made nauseous. And maybe these giant moths would have several different kinds of scents they could exude. And maybe they are meat-eating moths....

You know, I really like this idea.

Did not Poe have a story of killer moth?