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Wandering Monsters: Living Traps
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6141505" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>I think it's a solid idea to have a range of lethality for things like rot grubs and throat leeches. This becomes especially true if healing is more difficult and less expected than it is in a 3e/4e style game -- if HP attrition is a real threat, then having a throat leech that does some damage until someone takes care of it, or an ear seeker that deals some damage, and having each maybe have some bang-on effect (can't speak after drinking a throat leech; can't hear after an ear seeker goes into your brain) that might be removed with some healing or rest...that becomes essentially an encounter with a single kobold or a single goblin or something: easy to solve (a few die rolls) but potentially hazardous. </p><p></p><p>It's worth noting that these critters aren't just punishments for random PC behavior, either: they come into play when a PC tries to gain some advantage. The PC tries to dig into places to get treasure, or the PC tries to bypass using rations and water and tries to survive in the dungeon, or the PC tries to listen at every door in order to get the drop on enemies. Saying that sometimes, these actions might get you damaged/afflicted and harassed, sounds totally like fair game. Heck, even if it WAS just random, it's no more random than any other creature encounter. Viewing the ear seeker as a "punishment" for listening at the door is like viewing a wandering monster as "punishment" for walking down a corridor. </p><p></p><p>They're part of the challenge, not just unfair "gotcha" critters (ESPECIALLY if they're not of the nigh-instant-death variety).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6141505, member: 2067"] I think it's a solid idea to have a range of lethality for things like rot grubs and throat leeches. This becomes especially true if healing is more difficult and less expected than it is in a 3e/4e style game -- if HP attrition is a real threat, then having a throat leech that does some damage until someone takes care of it, or an ear seeker that deals some damage, and having each maybe have some bang-on effect (can't speak after drinking a throat leech; can't hear after an ear seeker goes into your brain) that might be removed with some healing or rest...that becomes essentially an encounter with a single kobold or a single goblin or something: easy to solve (a few die rolls) but potentially hazardous. It's worth noting that these critters aren't just punishments for random PC behavior, either: they come into play when a PC tries to gain some advantage. The PC tries to dig into places to get treasure, or the PC tries to bypass using rations and water and tries to survive in the dungeon, or the PC tries to listen at every door in order to get the drop on enemies. Saying that sometimes, these actions might get you damaged/afflicted and harassed, sounds totally like fair game. Heck, even if it WAS just random, it's no more random than any other creature encounter. Viewing the ear seeker as a "punishment" for listening at the door is like viewing a wandering monster as "punishment" for walking down a corridor. They're part of the challenge, not just unfair "gotcha" critters (ESPECIALLY if they're not of the nigh-instant-death variety). [/QUOTE]
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