Plant mechs and ooze mechs

Medieval fantasy mechs powered by steam, magic, or the labor of a thousand slaves.

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Nero's Boot
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Plant mechs and ooze mechs

Post by Nero's Boot »

I have an idea, but it'd be good if others here could help me out a bit. Basically, my idea is two new types of mechs: Plant mechs, grown by the myconids, and ooze mechs, the aboleth version of undead mechs.

I'm wanting to get some idea tossed back and forth, stir the pot a little, and see what floats to the surface. Hell, we could even make a Netbook out of the whole idea!

Right now, I'm just testing the waters, and seeing if any interest in such a project exists. Anyone interested in working on such a project?

Basically, the ideas I have right now go as follows:

Plant mechs are originally the design of the myconid race, a species of fungi-men that once taught the elves the art of agriculture. As myconids, like all underdeep races, felt the pinch of refugees from the surface, they heard of and came to be curious of the mechs from the surface world. Also, as the drow, derro, and aboleths came to the surface in their own mechs, myconids came to need mechs of their own, to simply defend what simple territory they had to begin with!

But as myconids are not known for their mastery of magic, they had to take a different tactic, one that better suited their environment and cultural skills: They would grow mechs, giant hollowed-out plant-creatures that could serve as mobile communities.

Using their mastery of fungi, the myconids grew giant, many-legged fungal spores that could move about the underdeep without worry from attack. At first, these giant living mechs were slow and cumbersome, but now, the myconids are having their first real successes in breeding fast and limbre mech designs.

Ooze mechs, on the other hand, are designed by the aboleth race, and have yet to be seen out of the Stygian depths. Brine worms, while innovative, are small and hardly combat-ready, and if punctured, can lead to the suffocation of the aboleth inside.

Having heard of the myconid plant mechs and the elves' animated mechs, the aboleths took to the breeding of ever-larger and ever-more-compliant oozes, to act as troop transports for the eventual invasion of the surface world. Even now, these primitive super-organisms reach full growth for the first time, and the aboleth prepare for the first field tests...

--so, anyone intrigued enough to help? NB
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Sword Guy
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Post by Sword Guy »

I'd be interested in helping out. Those ideas sound cool, and I'd be interested in working on rules for an "organic" or "living" mech.

Any particular things you want? Prestige classes are a bit of a specialty with me, as is equipment. I could work on a "weapon template" added to another weapon, which makes it take on organic qualities or something . . .

Just a thought. Great ideas!
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Nero's Boot
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Post by Nero's Boot »

Sword Guy wrote:I'd be interested in helping out. Those ideas sound cool, and I'd be interested in working on rules for an "organic" or "living" mech.
Welcome aboard!
Any particular things you want? Prestige classes are a bit of a specialty with me, as is equipment. I could work on a "weapon template" added to another weapon, which makes it take on organic qualities or something . . .
Prestige classes, maybe, but only for those that help breed and design new plant mechs and ooze mechs. We need to work on the mechs themselves for a bit first, before we start working on mech-related classes and prestige classes.
Just a thought.
Again, welcome aboard!
Great ideas!
Thank you!

--I'm looking forward to getting started NB
Commala-come-come,
The battle's now begun,
And all the foes of men and rose
Rise with the setting sun.
spyderalien
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Post by spyderalien »

Personally, I love the idea of a plant mech.A venus flytrap mech would be pretty cool to see.
spyderalien
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Post by spyderalien »

I'd help out, but I don't really have much to contribute.
Nero's Boot
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Post by Nero's Boot »

spyderalien wrote:Personally, I love the idea of a plant mech.A venus flytrap mech would be pretty cool to see.
Yeah, I agree.

--it would be pretty awesome NB
Commala-come-come,
The battle's now begun,
And all the foes of men and rose
Rise with the setting sun.
Nero's Boot
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Post by Nero's Boot »

Anyone still interested in helping me with this?

--because if so, PM me and we'll talk NB
Commala-come-come,
The battle's now begun,
And all the foes of men and rose
Rise with the setting sun.
MagusRogue
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Post by MagusRogue »

plant mechs and constructs are now possible with the organic construct template in Steam Warriors, using Organic Steel.

A truly plant-like mech prolly would have a special quality that allows it to regrow (what, 20% to give the mech Fast Healing or some such?) and would have to be made of Wood, making it vulnerable to fire as well.
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Quetzi
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Post by Quetzi »

I believe there's also a few druidic mechs in the mech manual, made of hollowed out trees.

There was an aboleth mech in their too, but I don't actually have the book so I can't remember what it was. It was some sort of giant bubbly oozish thing I think.

Edit: And while I think of it, Nero's Boot, you're driving me insane by saying note well at the end of every post.
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Reese
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Post by Reese »

yeah, there's one living plant style mech in the mech manual

i'v had ideas bumping around in my skull for a druidic mech crafted entierly out of wood,a nd then having the ironwood spell cast on it on a daily basis by the operator

the question is, what stats would having an entierly wooden mech have, and how would they change with the application of the ironwood spell?

the first could be answered by looking at the entries for the dark dryad and the spell that animates it, but that leaves the second for interpretasion

(Ironwood lasts only 24 hours, and can't be made permanent, so there's a real chance that any mech made as such would be wooden at the time of an ambush)

--edit--

and, just as an aside... there's a material in one of the recent Races of books, Wildwood, that naturally regenerates any damage dealt to it so long as it gets a minimum amount of sunlight per day (more if soaked in water)

it sounds to me that, if wildwood trees exist in highpoint, they would be an excelent candidate for turning into dark driad style mechs (becasue, hey, if they regenerate damage taken when in the form of armor, then a tree of that type could almost certainly survive being hollowed out and made in to a mech)
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