Defining the "Mystery Creature".

[SSgt Baloo]

Last night I had a dream. In it, I was part of a largish colonizing mission to some distant, Earthlike planet. The native wildlife was, for the most part, exotic, but nonthreatening. After dark however, it became apparent that there was something unexpected prowling the night.

 

Only a few night patrols were keeping an eye on things once the sun went down, and that's when the wierdness started up. Citizens were reporting strange, colorful lights in the surrounding trees. When the patrols began investigating, they'd see colorful lights, then start losing coherence (as if they were under the influence and couldn't think straight), then stop communicating altogether. Somehow, I could tell what was going on from a distance, but could not see the creature(s). Somehow the creatures were causing the patrolling officers to vanish, leaving their vehicles untouched (in some cases the vehicles were locked from tyhe inside with the keys still in the ignition). There wasn't any clue as to what was happening to the vanishing patrols but I could tell that the creature(s) were phasing in and out of reality, and guessed that the missing people were being taken to a nearby dimension. There was a sense that people inside buildings were somehow protected even while those outside, even in locked vehicles, weren't safe.

 

Your job? Given the description of the mysterious creatures, describe them (or something very like them) in HERO system terms. What are these things doing to the missing people? Are they intelligent? Hungry? Curious? Dangerous?

[Barton]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

At first blush, creatures with mind control, ego attacks, and teleport as a attack. Also I would add images to create lights to "lure" the patrols out.

Do they kill the patrol troops or just keep them for study/ransom?

If you made the creatures smart then they would study/ransom them back, it not humans maybe become a tasty snack.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

Do they kill the patrol troops or just keep them for study/ransom?

 

If you made the creatures smart then they would study/ransom them back, it not humans maybe become a tasty snack.

 

That's the thing. In the dream it wasn't clear just what these things were up to. That leaves you clear to design them as you see fit, and others to design them differently.

[Curufea]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

I'd take the narrative approach and work out cause based on effect. Give the players some storytelling plot power and come up with the reasons themselves.

Give them a mystery, and feed them clues that seem to substantiate whatever theory they come up with. Once they have enough clues to decide "Ah, this monster is doing this, because it has these motives and these powers" - THAT is when you write the monster to be exactly that.

 

On a side note - this is pretty much how I do the plot in my fantasy campaign. Let the players retcon things for me and help create the world.

[assault]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

As a GM, I have no idea what they are up to.

 

As a player, this would be a situation where I would try to apply my standard colonisation protocols, and convince the colonists to not go out on patrols, but instead to concentrate their population in a few easily defensible positions.

 

Patrolling is what you have robots/drones for. Clearly in this case, one of two things is happening:

Either (a): something was missed during the initial exploration of the world/area;

or (: the colonists are amateurs and incompetents.

 

Or both, of course.

 

Given the apparently inter-dimensional element of the "monsters" (a) is presumably the case.

 

Unfortunately, nothing can be done about inter-dimensional creatures. The obvious conclusion is to abandon the colony, evacuate the colonists and monitor the world from orbit, perhaps with a few observation drones left behind. Then again, the latter might not be a good idea if the critters can interact with electromagnetic systems: you may end up teleporting them up to your observation stations...

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

I'd take the narrative approach and work out cause based on effect. Give the players some storytelling plot power and come up with the reasons themselves.

Give them a mystery, and feed them clues that seem to substantiate whatever theory they come up with. Once they have enough clues to decide "Ah, this monster is doing this, because it has these motives and these powers" - THAT is when you write the monster to be exactly that.

 

On a side note - this is pretty much how I do the plot in my fantasy campaign. Let the players retcon things for me and help create the world.

 

Yep! Some of the best gaming sessions take off in unexpected directions, with some minor plot point turning out to be the linchpin around which the entire scenario revolved. I am a firm disbeliever in forcing the characters into situations they're too strong/smart/clever to get into just because the scenario calls for it.

[austenandrews]

Re: Defining the "Mystery Creature".

 

Personally I'm fascinated by ecosystems and evolutionary niches. The creatures don't have to be intelligent, just evolved to fill a particular niche. Maybe the arrival of Earth biology has brought them food/resources beyond their native niche, so they're expanding out of control. So the question becomes, what role would these extra-dimensional thingies have evolved to fill? And why do humans (or other Terran organisms) overfeed them?