They're back: Return of the Slivers. [Updated 24/8-2005: Beware the Overlord!]

[Krishnath]

And here she is, in all her terrible glory!

Bow before your Queen!

Can't wait for you to get that Sliver Overlord up and running... Or custom slivers for that matter. She is as nasty as she was in the old edition threads.

Yeah, she is, even though I had to reduce her CR.

 

[MetaruSonikku]

Wonderously Wonderful!

She is everything that was promised, and perhaps a touch more.

I stand here in awe. Magnificent job!

 

[Krishnath]

She is everything that was promised, and perhaps a touch more.

I stand here in awe. Magnificent job!

Thank you. *bows*

 

[Cheiromancer]

Should she be played like the Borg queen? I.e. as having a personality and goals of her own, while her children are egoless drones who exist to serve the collective?

 

[MetaruSonikku]

I would imagine that, since each Sliver has an Intelligence score, that they aren't actually drones in any regard. However, since every Sliver exists to ensure the survival of the species and to protect and serve the Queen, it may seem this way.

The Queen is intelligent enough to be her own entity, with her own dreams and goals. Those dreams and goals, via telepathy and desire to "protect and serve the Queen" eventually become the goals of the Slivers under her.

 

[Krishnath]

I would imagine that, since each Sliver has an Intelligence score, that they aren't actually drones in any regard. However, since every Sliver exists to ensure the survival of the species and to protect and serve the Queen, it may seem this way.

The Queen is intelligent enough to be her own entity, with her own dreams and goals. Those dreams and goals, via telepathy and desire to "protect and serve the Queen" eventually become the goals of the Slivers under her.

And we have a weiner...ehr...winner!

Basically, indevidual slivers are smart enough and self-sufficient enough to still function should the sliver queen be eliminated. Additionally, some of the smarter slivers, most notably the other noble slivers (brood, essence, magma, synapse, toxin, and overlord), actually often have agendas of their own, although any such agendas would never be in conflict with the wishes of the queen and thus the hive. In fact, it is not unusual for a noble sliver to have agents of other sentient species outside of the hive.

 

[MetaruSonikku]

In fact, it is not unusual for a noble sliver to have agents of other sentient species outside of the hive.

Cause folks tend to scream when a swarm of slivers goes grocery shopping...

"THE SWARM REQUIRES ORANGE JUICE!!"

 

[Knight Otu]

*Snickers*

I suppose a comparison could be the Zerg, in a way. A queen is equivalent to the overmind, and the nobles similar to the cerebrates, or whatever they are spelled.

 

[MetaruSonikku]

The Cerebrates of the Zerg each controlled their own Swarm via massive telepathy, so in that respect, the Sliver Queen could almost be likened to a Cerebrate more. The Noble Slivers would be like your hero units (Torrasque, Devourer's Child, etc.)

Now, the Overmind controls all the Cerebrates, so you'd need some sort of UBER Sliver that would be the guiding force behind the Queens... I suppose one could equate that to some Epic Super Advanced Sliver Queen. Slap a couple of Templates on her majesty to simulate that level of advancement, ramp her up to a Colossal creature, and maybe you'd have something close. Maybe hit her with the "Axiomatic" and the "Creature of Legend" templates or something, maybe even "Celestial" or ...

I think I just gave myself a hernia... An Axiomatic Sliver Queen of Legend....

 

[Knight Otu]

I've been comparing the outlook a bit more than the hierarchy, though the hierarchy also played a part. A sliver queen is comparable to the overmind in that she sets the goals for all slivers in the world (plane), and the nobles/cerebrates work towards these goals, "tainted" by their own outlooks. As far as I remember, the cerebrates did have some differences in outlook and personality.



Not that a super-queen is out of question...