Special Conversion Thread: Microscopic Monsters
Cleon
Legend
Updating Working Draft.
There's Protiston. The unique hive-intelligent chaotic evil spellcasting slime mold.
Cleon
Legend
Sure.
There isn't much to go on for Protiston though, it just says it's highly intelligent, casts spells as a 12th level MU, and can somehow "giantize" microorganisms.
Cleon
Legend
Here's everything the article's got on it:
One creation I’ve developed that may serve to introduce giant single-celled beasts to a campaign is Protiston, who may or may not exist at the option of the DM. Protiston is giant slime mold, a type of creature (described below) which alternates between being a swarm of individual amoebae and a colony that looks like a large, distorted mushroom. Each individual amoebal cell carries a certain amount of information, so Protiston functions much like a very slow computer.
Protiston (as it was named by the mage who discovered it) began as a simple collection of single-celled creatures in a large body of water, such as a sea or an ocean. At some some point in the distant past, Protiston became so large and complex that it acquired intelligence, and slowly thereafter gained magical skills. Being of such an alien intelligence, Protiston has no understanding at all of “normal” human thought, and regards everything around it as either a food source or “hostile environment” to be overcome and destroyed. No one knows for sure, but the chaotic evil alignment detected from Protiston may stem from either Protiston’s innate disregard for all other forms of life, or from some form of association with the demon prince Juiblex (which might explain how Protiston gained spellcasting abilities). Little else is known of this being’s origins or intent, save that it wishes to “eat” the entire world or shape it to benefit itself. Few beings are even aware that this creature exists — and few who have found it have lived to tell about it later.
As presently constituted, Protiston inhabits the interior of a large coral atoll (or a calm, shoreline cavern, if placed in an inland sea by the DM). Numerous support colonies of amoebae may be found around it. Although a single thought in Protiston’s “mind” may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few weeks to complete, Protiston is highly intelligent and has gained the powers of a 12th-level magic-user, being able to cast spells like push, shield, continual darkness/light, ray of enfeeblement, stinking cloud (above water), hold person, protection from normal missiles, slow, hallucinatory terrain, plant growth, cloudkill (above water), hold monster, telekinesis, transmute rock to mud, and control weather. Other spells may be possible, but no spell will be used that involves fire or that considers other beings to be intelligent (such as charm spells). Select Protiston’s spells as if it were the only intelligent being around, and everything it might encounter was a mindless food source or part of the environment.
In addition to spell-casting abilities, Protiston is somehow able to magically or biologically increase the size of single-celled creatures, using these creatures as guards and helpers. Note that among these creatures, only Protiston is evil. The others are all neutral and unintelligent, and work to Protiston’s advantage only according to circumstances.”
***
Protiston should be regarded as an advanced form of Dictyostelium, having maximum hit points at any stage. About 30 colonies of Dictyostelium make up the whole of Protiston, and each is scattered up to 300’ apart across several caves or atolls. The power of Protiston’s magic may vary from place to place, depending on the number of colonies in the area, but would be powerful in the sporocarp stage. Protiston may be considered psionic as well (developed as the DM wishes).
Protiston (as it was named by the mage who discovered it) began as a simple collection of single-celled creatures in a large body of water, such as a sea or an ocean. At some some point in the distant past, Protiston became so large and complex that it acquired intelligence, and slowly thereafter gained magical skills. Being of such an alien intelligence, Protiston has no understanding at all of “normal” human thought, and regards everything around it as either a food source or “hostile environment” to be overcome and destroyed. No one knows for sure, but the chaotic evil alignment detected from Protiston may stem from either Protiston’s innate disregard for all other forms of life, or from some form of association with the demon prince Juiblex (which might explain how Protiston gained spellcasting abilities). Little else is known of this being’s origins or intent, save that it wishes to “eat” the entire world or shape it to benefit itself. Few beings are even aware that this creature exists — and few who have found it have lived to tell about it later.
As presently constituted, Protiston inhabits the interior of a large coral atoll (or a calm, shoreline cavern, if placed in an inland sea by the DM). Numerous support colonies of amoebae may be found around it. Although a single thought in Protiston’s “mind” may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few weeks to complete, Protiston is highly intelligent and has gained the powers of a 12th-level magic-user, being able to cast spells like push, shield, continual darkness/light, ray of enfeeblement, stinking cloud (above water), hold person, protection from normal missiles, slow, hallucinatory terrain, plant growth, cloudkill (above water), hold monster, telekinesis, transmute rock to mud, and control weather. Other spells may be possible, but no spell will be used that involves fire or that considers other beings to be intelligent (such as charm spells). Select Protiston’s spells as if it were the only intelligent being around, and everything it might encounter was a mindless food source or part of the environment.
In addition to spell-casting abilities, Protiston is somehow able to magically or biologically increase the size of single-celled creatures, using these creatures as guards and helpers. Note that among these creatures, only Protiston is evil. The others are all neutral and unintelligent, and work to Protiston’s advantage only according to circumstances.”
***
Protiston should be regarded as an advanced form of Dictyostelium, having maximum hit points at any stage. About 30 colonies of Dictyostelium make up the whole of Protiston, and each is scattered up to 300’ apart across several caves or atolls. The power of Protiston’s magic may vary from place to place, depending on the number of colonies in the area, but would be powerful in the sporocarp stage. Protiston may be considered psionic as well (developed as the DM wishes).
Cleon
Legend
Does the "30 colonies" mean it's a hive creature made from thirty swarms/slugs?
freyar
Extradimensional Explorer
We've got
We seem to have some freedom there. The simplest thing to do would probably be to make a single swarm that takes up a large space along with a really big slug (even sporocarp). However, the swarm rules only allow a 10 ft space, and the variation of magical power might argue for X independent swarms with a group hive mind, where X=30 at present.
and
We seem to have some freedom there. The simplest thing to do would probably be to make a single swarm that takes up a large space along with a really big slug (even sporocarp). However, the swarm rules only allow a 10 ft space, and the variation of magical power might argue for X independent swarms with a group hive mind, where X=30 at present.
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