Children of the Night: The Wild Things

[Speedwagon]

It's been a bit since I made a new post on the forums, and given that I have a bunch of posts to respond to or contribute to, it might be a tad irresponsible of me to make another new thread so quickly. Yet here I am!

We're all familiar with the various Van Richten's Guides and the Children of the Night anthology series. They've done an excellent job of both adding a lot more variability (mechanically and lore-wise) to the classic staples of horror and differentiating them from the run-of-the-mill templates in the various monster manuals of the game. They're so beloved that even today, you see threads on Liches, the Ancient Dead, the Walking Dead, and even Elementals & Giants!

But there's a specific niche of monster that tends to be overlooked, both by Ravenloft fans and by most D&D fans: the plant-type monsters and the beast-type monsters. Initially, I called them "the Man-Eaters" at first, as they're a much more mundane menace than the likes of Fiends or Vampires but still deserving of respect. The plant and beast category has been long overlooked, despite horror films that are essentially creature features (Jaws, The Ghost and the Darkness, Cujo, Anaconda, Congo, Lake Placid, Cocaine Bear, The Revenant, Pirahna, Little Pet Shop, etc). I think there's potential in a very man vs. nature instead of purely supernatural focus. That isn't to say that such creatures wouldn't have some salient abilities that would differentiate them from their run-of-the-mill counterparts, but that it's a good way to throw experienced Ravenloft players off their game; this time the creature is a bear, not a werebear or an undead bear, albeit one with a backstory and some interesting abilities (that blur the line between mundane and magical). This can also throw off a party that has the likes of druids and rangers from an in-game perspective: it's one thing that they are opposed to ghosts or the fey and what not, but they are character classes that rely heavily upon animal companions and some sort of communication with them. Furthermore, while I originally called them "Man-Eaters" that isn't entirely the case----many plot hooks, story seeds and ideas regarding plants and beasts don't have to involve a straightforward hunt against the creature, as most creature-feature films tend to fall into the pattern of doing. So by calling them "the Wild Things", it leaves a lot more leeway for other types of stories to be told.

The 3e/3.5/3.X supplement Heroes of Horror has a section on animals and vermin that I found useful to restate here: "Today we think of animals as creatures of instinct rather than embodiments of evil. Many ancient tales, however, attribute a sense of malice to certain night hunters, such as wolves, rats, cats, bats and spiders (it is no coincidence these same creatures are frequently associated with vampires, hags, and other evils). Something as simple as dropping the rule that all animals be neutral or making some (or all) animals be evil can have a major impact on the campaign. For even non-low-level characters, the howling of a wolf in the distance becomes more than just scene-setting ambience but a true sign of danger. You need not make animals evil for them to become scary----a pack of hungry wolves stalking a dark road at night, or a colony of venomous spiders who dwell within the beds and the privy of the local inn, should be enough to frighten low-level PCs. Animals that are harmless on their own can be controlled by beings more intelligent and more malignant than themselves. The beauty of using animals is that, once you've decided why they've become a threat, they have an overwhelming advantage of numbers; as Alfred Hitchcock pointed out in The Birds, they're literally everywhere".

On the note of blurring mundane and magical, I have an idea that I shall propose here that I had shared with Jeremy16 and was initially planning to keep specific to the Wildlands. That being the idea of "spandrels", which I borrowed from the Great and Small RPG blog and their write-up of King Crocodile. Links here: https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... ts_22.html & https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... nimal.html.

The basic idea behind spandrels is best explained in the articles above, so I'll repost it here: ""spandrel" refers to secondary traits that animal characters can acquire through adventuring and experience. In most cases, these will be the traits of other species, but in campaigns with classic or modern fantasy elements, they can also be magical "items" that become part of the character's biology. For example, a rabbit PC who defeats a dog that was trying to eat her or her friends could be rewarded with one of the dog's unique traits, such as Ultravision, Versatility, a +2 on lore checks to understand longpaw devices, or perhaps the dog's better base Movement Rate". This is also applicable to magical items: "For instance, suppose a lion Warrior uncovers a cache of longpaw treasure that includes a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons. If she eats this sword, the magical bonuses will be transferred to one of her natural attack forms of her choice... say, her bite. Henceforth, one of her natural attacks will be bite +1, +3 vs. dragons. Finally, magical spandrels can be claimed by foes who defeat their possessors, just as Species Traits spandrels can be. Thus, an animal who defeated the lion Warrior described above could claim the bite +1, +3 vs. dragons as her own. In these cases, however, the spandrel retains its current form and cannot be converted into a different natural attack; the magical bite attack remains a magical bite attack ever after, no matter which species claims it."

I believe that it's such a good idea that I plan to write the animal cultures and gimmicks of the creatures of the Wildlands (and the domain more broadly) around it, as it differentiates the Wildlands from the other "wilderness" domains of Ravenloft in a very captivating way that only strengthens the original write-up's focus on "animals as intelligent as humans and that can talk". If you're looking for more discussion on the Wildlands (and Farelle as well), I'll shamelessly plug the thread I made on the topic: https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/for ... hp?t=11231. As for how it relates to this thread, I think that the "spandrel" idea serves as an example of what sorts of salient abilities can be used for certain animals, whether they be in or out of the Wildlands.

I can also provide many examples in real life of horrifying "man-eaters", with a list below:
* Champawat Tiger
* Tsavo Man-Eaters
* Gaver Tigers
* Dhurbe the Elephant
* Mary (Mighty Murderous Mary)
* Osama bin Laden the Elephant
* Topsy the Elephant
* Tyke the Elephant
* Man-Eater of Segur

* Wolf of Ansbach/Siossons/Gysinge
* Azaria Chamberlain disapperance
* Sloth Bear of Mysore
* Cocaine Bear
* Gus the Central Park Bear (not a killer)
* Bear 141
* Sankebetsu Brown Bear Incident
* Medieval animal trials for pigs
* Gustavo the Congo Croc
* Yateveo
* Vampire Vine
* Bladderwort Plant
* Pitcher Plant
* Sundews
* Flypaper trap plants
* Romani legend of gourds & pumpkins that drain blood
* Triffid
* Puya Chilensis
* Sweet traps

And some links here to spark the imagination: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eater & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eating_plant. Not to mention that one can think of sasquatches as a great way to blur the lines between man and beast (Dr. Markov called), the cats of Ulthar from the Lovecraft short story, and another underappreciated niche: giant bugs (going full arachnophobia or THE BEES or more).

With all of the above in mind, I figured I would open this thread to both discussion and brainstorming on what such potential "man-eaters" may look like. Feel free to add your own ideas, and let's hope we get to at least 6, if not 13! The fun part about CotN is that it also allows near-hits and wiggle room (like the beholder-looking golem or Vjorn Horstmann). So post away!

[KingCorn]

I appreciate animal and nature horror (especially cheesy stuff like Guy N. Smith's Crabs series). But I don't think its enough to warrent a Children of the Night or Van Richten Guide.

However, one could make articles using other characters as guides for this. Evil or dangerous plants could be presented by the notes of Ivana Boritsi or a treatsy by Professor Abelhous Nicholsi. Meanwhile dangerous fauna could be the study of Professor Pacali (remember the QtR article Creeplings, Fidgets, and Crawlers). Necroctic animals and phsyiology could be the study of any of the remaining faculty at the University of Il-Aluk as they adapt to their undead state.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

This all reminds me of a Buffy episode, where a bunch of teens are possessed by the spirits of hyenas due to a shamanic ritual. Even setting the possession bit aside, the in-universe lore about those particular hyenas is compelling; the legends that they'd hide just beyond the circle of a campfire's light and call out to prospective victims in the voices of people they knew. It suggests a more-than-animalistic malice and cunning.

[IanFordam]

This all reminds me of a Buffy episode, where a bunch of teens are possessed by the spirits of hyenas due to a shamanic ritual. Even setting the possession bit aside, the in-universe lore about those particular hyenas is compelling; the legends that they'd hide just beyond the circle of a campfire's light and call out to prospective victims in the voices of people they knew. It suggests a more-than-animalistic malice and cunning.

Ah, yes, that episode! That's a good example of what might be done to tap into the superstition surrounding a wild beast.

[Jeremy16]

On the note of blurring mundane and magical, I have an idea that I shall propose here that I had shared with Jeremy16 and was initially planning to keep specific to the Wildlands. That being the idea of "spandrels", which I borrowed from the Great and Small RPG blog and their write-up of King Crocodile. Links here: https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... ts_22.html & https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... nimal.html.

The basic idea behind spandrels is best explained in the articles above, so I'll repost it here: ""spandrel" refers to secondary traits that animal characters can acquire through adventuring and experience. In most cases, these will be the traits of other species, but in campaigns with classic or modern fantasy elements, they can also be magical "items" that become part of the character's biology. For example, a rabbit PC who defeats a dog that was trying to eat her or her friends could be rewarded with one of the dog's unique traits, such as Ultravision, Versatility, a +2 on lore checks to understand longpaw devices, or perhaps the dog's better base Movement Rate". This is also applicable to magical items: "For instance, suppose a lion Warrior uncovers a cache of longpaw treasure that includes a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons. If she eats this sword, the magical bonuses will be transferred to one of her natural attack forms of her choice... say, her bite. Henceforth, one of her natural attacks will be bite +1, +3 vs. dragons. Finally, magical spandrels can be claimed by foes who defeat their possessors, just as Species Traits spandrels can be. Thus, an animal who defeated the lion Warrior described above could claim the bite +1, +3 vs. dragons as her own. In these cases, however, the spandrel retains its current form and cannot be converted into a different natural attack; the magical bite attack remains a magical bite attack ever after, no matter which species claims it."

I believe that it's such a good idea that I plan to write the animal cultures and gimmicks of the creatures of the Wildlands (and the domain more broadly) around it, as it differentiates the Wildlands from the other "wilderness" domains of Ravenloft in a very captivating way that only strengthens the original write-up's focus on "animals as intelligent as humans and that can talk". If you're looking for more discussion on the Wildlands (and Farelle as well), I'll shamelessly plug the thread I made on the topic: https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/for ... hp?t=11231. As for how it relates to this thread, I think that the "spandrel" idea serves as an example of what sorts of salient abilities can be used for certain animals, whether they be in or out of the Wildlands.

I know I was originally against this idea for animals in the Wildlands (I wanted to maintain the horror of the domain by emphazing that even though the inhabitants could talk they were still wild animals) but "spandrels" are such an interesting concept that it's beginning to grow on me! If it were framed in a more sinister way, such as explaining it as a mechanism of evolution tainted by the Dark Powers, that would give it the patented Ravenloft twist that would hook people in!

[Speedwagon]

On the note of blurring mundane and magical, I have an idea that I shall propose here that I had shared with Jeremy16 and was initially planning to keep specific to the Wildlands. That being the idea of "spandrels", which I borrowed from the Great and Small RPG blog and their write-up of King Crocodile. Links here: https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... ts_22.html & https://greatandsmallrpg.blogspot.com/2 ... nimal.html.

The basic idea behind spandrels is best explained in the articles above, so I'll repost it here: ""spandrel" refers to secondary traits that animal characters can acquire through adventuring and experience. In most cases, these will be the traits of other species, but in campaigns with classic or modern fantasy elements, they can also be magical "items" that become part of the character's biology. For example, a rabbit PC who defeats a dog that was trying to eat her or her friends could be rewarded with one of the dog's unique traits, such as Ultravision, Versatility, a +2 on lore checks to understand longpaw devices, or perhaps the dog's better base Movement Rate". This is also applicable to magical items: "For instance, suppose a lion Warrior uncovers a cache of longpaw treasure that includes a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons. If she eats this sword, the magical bonuses will be transferred to one of her natural attack forms of her choice... say, her bite. Henceforth, one of her natural attacks will be bite +1, +3 vs. dragons. Finally, magical spandrels can be claimed by foes who defeat their possessors, just as Species Traits spandrels can be. Thus, an animal who defeated the lion Warrior described above could claim the bite +1, +3 vs. dragons as her own. In these cases, however, the spandrel retains its current form and cannot be converted into a different natural attack; the magical bite attack remains a magical bite attack ever after, no matter which species claims it."

I believe that it's such a good idea that I plan to write the animal cultures and gimmicks of the creatures of the Wildlands (and the domain more broadly) around it, as it differentiates the Wildlands from the other "wilderness" domains of Ravenloft in a very captivating way that only strengthens the original write-up's focus on "animals as intelligent as humans and that can talk". If you're looking for more discussion on the Wildlands (and Farelle as well), I'll shamelessly plug the thread I made on the topic: https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/for ... hp?t=11231. As for how it relates to this thread, I think that the "spandrel" idea serves as an example of what sorts of salient abilities can be used for certain animals, whether they be in or out of the Wildlands.

I know I was originally against this idea for animals in the Wildlands (I wanted to maintain the horror of the domain by emphazing that even though the inhabitants could talk they were still wild animals) but "spandrels" are such an interesting concept that it's beginning to grow on me! If it were framed in a more sinister way, such as explaining it as a mechanism of evolution tainted by the Dark Powers, that would give it the patented Ravenloft twist that would hook people in!

Ask and you shall receive! The original write-up in Islands of Terror had the animals "giving their powers" to King Crocodile to chase away the "hairless apes", so I believe that while the "spandrel idea" (as presented in the Great and Small RPG blog) might've been present since the beginning, I think you're on the money that it has been corrupted by the Dark Powers in some fashion after they drew in the Wildlands to Ravenloft. That and the potential idea of the Wildlands being the origin of some of the beastwere creature types in some fashion.

If anything, I'm quite glad that I've given a new way to look at the Wildlands for people!

[Pizza]

I’d be happy if someone just started triffids

[Hell_Born]

I’d be happy if someone just started triffids

Well, I don't know how useful this is to you, but a book called the Creature Codex produced by Kobold Press has stats for a 5e plant monster called the Warlock's Trumpetbloom that is clearly a triffid.

[Speedwagon]

Funnily enough, Kobold Press's products (Tome of Beasts 1-3 & the Creature Codex) have a bunch of really interesting ideas for plants and beasts that I'm going to bring up in this thread (once I have the time today and finish certain grad school homework). So thanks Hell_Born!

[Solan]

I’d be happy if someone just started triffids

Well, I don't know how useful this is to you, but a book called the Creature Codex produced by Kobold Press has stats for a 5e plant monster called the Warlock's Trumpetbloom that is clearly a triffid.

I always figured the Lashweed monsters in Ravenloft 2nd edition Monstrous Compendium, Appendix III, were clearly triffids.