Wanted: Sea Monster Sighting Reports!

Jakob · Post by **Jakob** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:04 pm

Just one thing: for schedule reason, I cannot work on Dragonov too (it's 11 pm here, and I just finished the daily pages of the translation -_-).

If it's not a problem, I'll send just the stats of my NPC. Anyone can work on Dragonov?

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:09 pm

News flash, folks: DwarfPcFan from the WotC boards has agreed to add his sea drake to the mix, and to tackle the sea serpent chapter!

Here's the list of choices, and who's called dibs on what, as they stand....

Sea stalkers/seawolves: (NeoTiamat)

Sea spawn: (DeepShadow/Nathan)

Marine lycanthropes: Ray, shark & orca phenotypes, plus new ones. (Eel?)

Kraken/soul-kraken: (Mangrum [soul-kraken stats]; Nathan)

Unnatural beasts: Wight whales, skeletal sharks, aquatic ghost brutes, malasynep (Frostburn), etc. These could be given a (short) chapter of their own, or just a sidebar here and there whenever appropriate. (Malasynep - Jakob)

Marine undead (generic): Bowlyns, jolly rogers, lacedons, sea zombies, and aquatic remnants could all fit here, plus the mermaids from Death Undaunted and possibly new variants. (Jolly roger - cure)

Marine undead (template): Sea of Sorrows vampire (as per CotN:V), Nocturnal Sea vampire (aka Mystara's "velya"), sea zombie lord, lacedon lord. Sea vampire spawn for the SoS strain could also appear here.

Marine fey: Drownling, dread sirine, kelpie, corrupted nerieds & nixies. (Kelpies - DeepShadow)

Reavers: Nomadic bands and their habits. If they have civilized relatives, we'll leave such settled reavers for another netbook.

Scrags/merrows/vodyanoi (umber hulk version, not Frostburn's): All of these have had at least a brief appearance in Ravenloft modules or domain descriptions, so should rate at least a sidebar, or perhaps share a chapter on big, brute-force undersea thugs.

Will o' sea/blackskate/caller from the deeps: Not related, but they're all extremely weird creatures that might not carry a chapter by themselves, so it might be better to group them together under a "spooky mysteries" theme. (Caller from the deeps - Jakob)

Kopru/morkoth: (Nathan)

Dragon eel/sea drake: Yes, people say dragons don't fit Ravenloft. But these guys might, as they're pretty classic "sea serpent" archetypes. The dragon turtle could go here too, if presented spookily/mysteriously enough; 'Aggie' from Forlorn and the avanc could both rate a mention, as could the Arden Bay sightings of a sea serpent. (DwarfPcFan)

Dread selkies: These could have a short chapter of their own, or could appear alongside sea stalkers or lycanthropes, if the in-character authors don't know the difference. (Isabella)

Langoir (QtR9), giant starfish (Ship of Horrors), hammerclaw (Stormwrack) : A chapter on deadly, vicious sea-beasts would give DMs more ammunition for maritime adventures, as well as giving these guys a place in the netbook. Still, we need more big, dumb, hungry sea monsters ... suggestions, anybody?

Scyllan: Took another look, and this thing could actually work well in Ravenloft, as a rare aquatic fiend ... especially if its reality wrinkle enhances its ability to trap ships.

So far, so good! Lots more critters to go around, though; I'll wait a little longer before I call dibs on anything myself.

NeoTiamat · Post by **NeoTiamat** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:13 pm

You can probably count on me for something else after the Sea Stalkers are done, but again, I'll see what gets left over when I finish up Sea Stalkers (shouldn't take me all that much longer)

Nathan of the FoS · Post by **Nathan of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:21 pm

Jakob wrote:Just one thing: for schedule reason, I cannot work on Dragonov too (it's 11 pm here, and I just finished the daily pages of the translation -_-).

If it's not a problem, I'll send just the stats of my NPC. Anyone can work on Dragonov?

17th level ranger who's a mountain loup-garou, right? Yeah, I can do that.

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:28 pm

NeoTiamat wrote:You can probably count on me for something else after the Sea Stalkers are done, but again, I'll see what gets left over when I finish up Sea Stalkers (shouldn't take me all that much longer)

The deadline for text submissions will be well after the holidays, so there should be plenty of time for you to do more than one section if you're up to it, NeoT.

Any preferences? Maybe you could tackle the other sea-lycanthropes also, considering how you're already doing seawolves/stalkers (most widespread & best-known marine phenotype)?

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:30 pm

Nathan of the FoS wrote: 17th level ranger who's a mountain loup-garou, right? Yeah, I can do that.

If you don't have access to Mordenheim or the short story Dragonov appears in, Nathan, I can check if there are any particular feats or skills he should have.

steveflam · Post by **steveflam** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:40 pm

Um what about sea-vampires? Er I mean Vampire/Merfolk ?

Nathan of the FoS · Post by **Nathan of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:10 pm

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:
Nathan of the FoS wrote: 17th level ranger who's a mountain loup-garou, right? Yeah, I can do that.
If you don't have access to Mordenheim or the short story Dragonov appears in, Nathan, I can check if there are any particular feats or skills he should have.

Yes, that would be good, thanks!

NeoTiamat · Post by **NeoTiamat** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:17 pm

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:
NeoTiamat wrote:You can probably count on me for something else after the Sea Stalkers are done, but again, I'll see what gets left over when I finish up Sea Stalkers (shouldn't take me all that much longer)
The deadline for text submissions will be well after the holidays, so there should be plenty of time for you to do more than one section if you're up to it, NeoT.

Any preferences? Maybe you could tackle the other sea-lycanthropes also, considering how you're already doing seawolves/stalkers (most widespread & best-known marine phenotype)?

I haven't really thought that far ahead. Sea Stalkers are still only a third done, and there are the introductory stories. We'll see. Don't hold yourself back on my account.

Nathan of the FoS · Post by **Nathan of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:28 pm

Rotipher of the FoS wrote: Marine lycanthropes: Ray, shark & orca phenotypes, plus new ones. (Eel?)

I thought Joel had claimed these?

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:36 pm

Did he? I know he'd claimed octopus-related critters. Presumably that would include were-octopi, if such things exist in the Misty seas....

How's about it, Joel? Wanna write up were-octopi for this book? How about a little fluff-text on weresharks, wereorcas (from the Whal domain), and wererays?

Were-eels were also suggested as a new phenotype; I think we can leave were-walruses out of it, even though VRGtWerebeasts mentions rumors of those as well. (Some things are better dismissed as the TSR writers' little joke.

)

Nathan of the FoS · Post by **Nathan of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:45 pm

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Did he? I know he'd claimed octopus-related critters. Presumably that would include were-octopi, if such things exist in the Misty seas....

How's about it, Joel? Wanna write up were-octopi for this book? How about a little fluff-text on weresharks, wereorcas (from the Whal domain), and wererays?

Were-eels were also suggested as a new phenotype; I think we can leave were-walruses out of it, even though VRGtWerebeasts mentions rumors of those as well. (Some things are better dismissed as the TSR writers' little joke. )

You're quite right--it was only the octopuses. (Oddly enough, octopi is not a correct plural--I keep forgetting this myself.)

I suppose I had better finish what's on my own plate before I ask for seconds from the menu.

Rotipher of the FoS · Post by **Rotipher of the FoS** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:47 pm

tarlyn wrote:Um what about sea-vampires? Er I mean Vampire/Merfolk ?

AFAIK, it's not even been established if there are any merfolk in the seas of Ravenloft: it's possible that they've never existed there, or that the reavers ate them all. If there are any around, they'd be subject to the same marine-vampire templates as other humanoids.

I'm tempted to call dibs on the aquatic versions of the standard template undead (aquatic vampires; sea zombie & lacedon lords) myself, FWIW. Playing around with template features is just plain fun. But I'll give it a little longer to see if anyone else takes an interest.

NeoTiamat · Post by **NeoTiamat** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:11 pm

Out of curiosity, what intelligent aquatic species *are* there? Canon, at any rate. I think Reavers are at least half-civilized, but are there Sahuagin? Kuo-Toa? Etc.

The Giamarga · Post by **The Giamarga** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:50 am

Many of the critters on Roti's list are intelligent enough. If you mean civilized QtR9 describes Kuo Toas as the Lovecraftian Deep Ones of Ravenloft, it mentions Sahuagin society too. I'm not sure if merrow would be considered civilized.

Guys read QtR9, it has loads of good stuff on the seas!

On another note, are there any new critters in the NS report? Qtr9 has some. Sea Zombies and Sea Vampires iirc. There's also a nice Kraken Hunter Ahab-like NPC in there who's worth salvaging. (Maybe as a narrator for the Kraken reports? ...or use his captains log)

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Wanted: Sea Monster Sighting Reports!