Has there ever been an indepth look at the deepspawn?

[DMH]

Is there some product that covers them and their ability to duplicate creatures?

 

[Echohawk]

According to my notes, deepspawn have appeared in the following sources:

• FR11: Dwarves Deep (1990)
• Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (New Edition) (1993)
• Monstrous Manual (1993)
• Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor (2000)
• Monsters of Faerûn (2001)
• Lost Empires of Faerûn (2005)

The first three are 2nd Edition and have (as far as I can tell) exactly the same 2nd Edition style full-page monster entry. The next two sources have near identical 3.0 deepspawn, and Lost Empires has a substantially revised 3.5 version.

All of these sources have some information on their duplication ability, with Lost Empires looking about the most detailed. But it is more crunch than fluff. The monster entry give the mechanics of how the ability works, but not much more than that, based on a quick examination.

Let me know if you'd like me to take a closer look at any of these sources. It is quite possible that there is deepspawn fluff hidden elsewhere in the books; I just scanned the monster entries.

 

[Shade]

I don't believe they've ever gotten an Ecology article in Dragon.

 

[DMH]

Thanks. I was just wondering if they could duplicate a specific person (of any race) multiple times and if their progeny could gain levels. If either or both is true, then deepspawn become much more interesting and useful.

I could add them obviously, I was just wondering what the books mentioned.

 

[Echohawk]

I think so. "A deepspawn can spawn only creatures identical to those it has physically consumed. Each spawn possesses even the learned abilities (such as class levels, skills and spells known) of the original but retains only dim memories of its former life. Only Large or smaller corporeal, living creatures native to the Material Plane can be spawned. After spawning, a deepspawn must wait 4d6 days before doing so again."

But there's an implied CR 4 to 6 limit on the spawn.

 

[freyar]

You could also try asking around at Candlekeep; someone there might know (or point you to a FR designer or author who's worked with them). They even have a Q&A thread with Ed Greenwood (a good read, in general), though he's overwhelmed at the moment.

Speaking of Candlekeep, it might be fun to get them to host a deepspawn ecology if we wrote one up.

 

[DMH]

There are 2 answer threads there, the better one: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2111&SearchTerms=deepspawn (the last post has the answers).

The other thread had one spiffy idea I was considering as well- allowing deepspawn to consume their progeny after they gain levels. This allows them to produce both the "basic model" and the advance one. Think of a band the PCs encounter where all the individuals look and think the same yet have different classes (beyond those at consumption).

The thread on what to feed a deepspawn missed the most obvious- a sorcerer. A deepspawn with a dozen or two copies of a sorcerer could have them working on spells and magic items as well as improved traps for its lair. Add in a duergar farmer that grows fungi and rothe and it doesn't have to worry about food for itself or the progeny.

They are a poorly developed monster with so much potential.

 

[DMH]

And one last idea- abeil, da fong and kr'awn (the latter 2 are from Atlas' Fantasy Bestiary) have queens/royalty/breeders that could be consumed by a deepspawn and then duplicated ad nausem to produce as many hives as possible loyal to it. Humanoids, including humans, would have a tough time surviving under such an onslaught. The PCs may even have to assist in an evacuation if any are to survive.

 

[freyar]

That's a nice adventure idea, too! You could possibly throw formians into the mix, also. Of course, we need to figure out deepspawn psychology to see if they want to take over anywhere. I'm actually seriously tempted to write an ecology article for them sometime, once I get some other conversion projects done.

 

[DMH]

All life wants to expand its territory, why not the deepspawn? With the more land (above or below ground) they have control over the more progeny they can produce- both spawn and offspring. And, with lots of land, offspring and siblings can be viewed as allies and not compedators (sp).

With such an ecology, one big question is can the spawn reproduce and if so, are those offspring also enslaved to the deepspawn?