/cyoa/ - Choose your own adventure

>>1278

>>1278

well this is awesome sign me in

just needs more mind control and also maybe choose how is your army is going to behave say insectoids can have colonies and you become king/queen or reptilians can have tribes or shit and depending on that you could alter BIR but also add risk of getting attacked, i mean a big colony would be suspicious if suddendly a bunch of women dissapeared while maybe a mamalian pack would be less notorious and harder to track but has to be smaller or something like that

>>1278

>>1280

>all bodies are bestial by nature

So does this mean we can't be monstergirls/-boys?

How exactly do limb count and the various limb purchases work together?

Any chance for there being an option for acquiring a third Greater Ability?

A good start, here's to hoping you'll continue your great work.

Oh finally, a CYOA for ants!

>>1286

sirry about that, trying to figure that out and how to enlarge it with out bluring the fuck out of it

>>1285

I didn't want to get to OP but i think we might be able to. Also I am definally going to add Monster girls/boys

>>1283

I hadn't though of colonys/nests yet but thats a very good idea

>>1290

Maybe replace "ape-like" with "human-like", to make it more clear that you _can_ be a monsterboy/-girl (or something that looks like one), i.e. more-or-less a human with some monster bits (either in addition to, or instead of, the usual human ones).

>>1296

Apes are humanoid, so you might as well replace that particular bit of text with something else. Especially since you've clarified that the 50/50 option is the one that allows the most human-like features.

>>1297

Good idea, I just wanted to make sure that it was clear what each option entailed, but thanks! Any criticisms helps

nigga you need more shit to buy btw this is awesome

I'll be looking forward to that. Don't give up. However, define what "Prodigals" are, for example.

And I know it's been said before but you could make a way to obtain a third Greater Ability. Most CYOAs have a "Drawbacks" portion that allows for a greater choice at some (usually) managable cost; so why not have something like that? Would be nice to have a combo of Majesty, Lover Beast and Corruptor. And doesn't Lover Beast kind of make Brainwashed somewhat redundant, or the other way around? Or is Lover Beast merely a highly emotional attachment while in Brainwashing, you are simply in charge?

>>1302

>And doesn't Lover Beast kind of make Brainwashed somewhat redundant, or the other way around? Or is Lover Beast merely a highly emotional attachment while in Brainwashing, you are simply in charge?

Seems to me that Lover Beast gets you loving partners, whereas Brainwashing gets you devoted slaves.

>>1302

if he adds the risk factor of being a monster and probably being hunted for the abomination you are it should be more of a drawback but if thats not enough maybe add nemesis/hunters

and add tiers for the things to buy or reduce the points cause 50 is too much

>>1333

those are the kind of elder horrors than can destroy your soul, not in a inmediate way but the mere fact that those exist and the knowledge that they do is enough to destroy hope, enough to make you question your sanity and enough to lose faith in all gods or spirits but those that lie in the deep unforgiving void

This is the single greatest choose your own adventure thing I've ever seen. Bless you, pervy anon.

But could you maybe make these images a little larger and more readable next time, the text is tiny.

>>1432

Not that anon, but the image is still around the same dimensions as the other ones (~825 x ~585).

>>1432

[not that guy]

Yeah, it's better. Marginally. The pictures are starting to look like something (could still stand to be a good bit larger), but the text needs to be about twice as big (I mean, twice as tall and proportionally wider).

>>1436

>putting it all together so it's not like 9 images

You could just open the first picture in paint or something, expand the vertical limits of the image to fit the rest of the pictures, then copy-paste them there.

>>1432 Tip: it'd look better if the columns were spaced out more. And the purple column could just be a row at the botttom. It'd read better.

I like the idea but a lot is under explained. Things cost points but I don't have any? There are other monsters? And I don't understand how Majesty would work?

Anyway, I really love this. Please continue this

I'd love to post some refinements in grammar and clarity for this but I've never made a CYOA, is there a default template or something that folks use? Is it just MS paint?

>>1439

The picture you're replying to is part of the multi-picture CYOA that OP is gradually working on in this thread. See >>1340 and >>1377 for the preceding parts of the CYOA.

>>1456

Thanks.I'm looking forward to this

>>1278

Lesser Traits

Disguise (gotta be able to hide among the sheep) [H]

Bond (They are forever mine) [BR]

Predator [T]

Formed (They're gonna cum so hard they can't think)[T]

Greater Abilities:

Corruptor (Let's make their bodies mine)

Brainwashing (And their minds)

Adaptations: Bindings, Spinerette Gland

Size: Giant.

Build: Centaur

Mates: Nice Witch, Breeder

Know what? I’ll give this a whirl, but that’s because I’ve spotted something that seems ambiguous. As far as the hybrids go, do they get any advantages that their hybrid races do, or none at all aside for potentially having a big BIR? It just seems to me they’re taking a heavy hit there. A fair compromise might be to give them access to their discounts as well, but no free abilities. The other side you can take with this is to give them the free abilities, but no discounts.

As their potential for having a huge BIR is there, another way to look at it is that it needs to be nerfed. Perhaps they can’t exceed a particular percentage (Can not exceed 50% for example) or conversely, different math. (Add up the total BIR, than reduce it by 25% OF THE TOTAL) for example. I’ll post an example. Let’s say someone is trying to make a griffon. Because I like griffons. Griffons are awesome. So are dragons.

Species

Hybrid (Mammalian, Avian, Hybrid BIR 70%)

Now, that’s a friggen huge BIR right there. With the 25% hit though, they would still get a hit, but it would still be fairly high. (It would be about 52.5% here.)

Disadvantage: Cannot swim.

Lesser Abilities

Snap (BR)

Flay (EN)

Gaze (H)

Predator (T)

Greater Abilities

Blaze (Lightning)

Majesty

Body Size: Average

Body build: Bestial

Adaptations

Claws: 1 point

Utility Claws: 1 point

Talons: 2 points

Humanoid Hands: 5 points

Jaws: 3 points

Feathers: Fur: 1 point

Heavy Hide: 2 points

Winged: 5 points

Birth Mark: 5 points

Durability: 10 points

Strength: 10 points

Thermal: 5 points

Mates

Old Friend: V8

Cop: V4

Stay at home mom: V3

As you can see, giving the discounts, but not the free adaptations may be good, as it means they will still need to buy them, which takes off from the points they get. While they might get duel discounts, they will still need to buy what they need, rather than having it automatically. My key concern about the other solution I presented is that they would end up not being all that great, and people will see it. Even in CYOAs, people do run their numbers after all.

Considering restrictions are a thing now, it's actually good now. They have a unique advantage, but they get no discounts or free stuff. The others do get free stuff, but they have restrictions. Which is good.

I may run some numbers later (God knows I would make an excellent QA person for games.) but for now I can't think of anything off of the top of my head that is breaking the living crap out of the game like how hybrids were before your update. They needed that nerf honestly, which was why I was testing percentages and such. Honestly, it might be best to make it an average between the two. (So if it's a Mammalian/aquatic hybrid, it gets 28% BIR rounded up) but that's actually math that people typically don't like doing.

Just keep it where it's at, I think it's fine personally.

I feel like your first goal should be to make the images bigger, so that they can be read without having to strain the reader's eyes.

>>1482

You said u wanted DRGN? K

DRGN

Reptilian (R) BIR 20% NR Eggs

Scales (Free)

Generally slower and less dextrous

Cannot take Mammalian adaptations

Lesser abilities

Fitting (Br)

Battery (En)

Gaze (H)

Chosen (T)

Greater Abilities

Blaze (FIRE!)

Back Again

Body Size

Giant

Body build

Bestial

Scales (free)

Utility claws (1)

Dire Claws (10)

Humanoid Hands (5)

Jaws (4)

Winged (10)

Durability (10)

Gulper (5)

Extrasensory (Smell) (4)

Mates

Survivor (10)

Breeder (5)

As you can see here, the theme is "Fuck you, I'm a dragon." The point is not subtility or hiding, because fuck you, I'm a giant fire breathing sentient tank-lizard with wings that can fuck just about anything up. You might not be the fastest thing, but those people NOT able to run the hell away from you are going to find themselves in a generally bad situation, considering you are one mothafawker that straight-up won't die, and can crush just about all resistance.

>>1482

First, thank you for including the NR and these improved discount/restrictions do incentivize the different forms and hybrid better. Hybrid having a flat 10 on BIR is a great reason not to just always choose it though so that works well. I have some questions though:

First what program are you using to make these because seriously the text is still really hard to read when it's on small images like this (slightly innebriated so don't take that one too harshly)? Next, Why can't avians swim when penguins, loons, and other diving birds exist (as an alternative you could point out that avians have a faster metabolism and have much less durability thanks to hollow bones)? And lastly, why does humanoid on the form chart cost five points (the same price as the bonus it gives you) but 50/50 cost 10 (same price as many of the higher end breeding modifications) and not give you anything in exchange?

>>1495

Oh right and what does 'spawn' mean? Is it instant birth?

>>1501

Then, might I suggest that the 50/50 should include some variety of bonus in the next revision? I only bring it up because of the humanoid hands one for humanoid, mehanical benefit for mechanical cost right? Anyway The bird thing makes sense and spawn is sensible for a step between the maturation time of live birth and the helplessness of eggs. I really like this new territory and lair setup, although it looks a little limiting for city lairs vs rural lairs. I suppose if you squint lake andforest make sense for city as well but mostly it seems only sewer warehouse and apartment are for the city. Still it's a great place to start and it gives us more to work with. I really do love this CYOA you're doing, by far my favorite!

>>1503

Fair enough. Warehouse effectively covers a parking garage as well, but most major cities are build up on older cities, meaning things like clocktowers, churches and other historical sites are still available as spaces. Also unmentioned for major cities are ghettos, filled with abandoned homes and forsaken allies that police barely patrol because of the inherent danger tied into the gangs that control the spaces. And that's just leaving it to the places that are relatively free of human interference, I can think of a few more but they get a little iffy.

Like I said though, I'm absolutely in love with this whole thing so far, super happy to see more content, thank you!

>>1482

Let's examine species balance.

First of all, please clarify whether the NR affects the amount of offspring per successful insemination and whether an unsuccessful insemination results in a useless pregnancy period or if an insect with Grit can just fuck a girl twenty times in one night and be pretty much guaranteed a successful pregnancy, low BIR rate be damned. Since the pregnancies presumably last nine months (as it never gives gestation periods for different species), whether it takes ten nights or one doesn't make a huge difference to the rate at which you create offspring anyway. On the other hand, it's pretty gruesome to have stillbirth rates of 80-90% be the norm. Regardless of how all that shakes out, for purposes of this analysis I will assume that having four times the BIR means having four times as many offspring. On a related note, the difference between an add-on and a normal white-box adaptation is really unclear. None of them have pre-requisites so what's the difference between all of them? Plus, some of the upgrades don't appear to be upgrades to any other adaptation, like spines. What's the difference between the blue box spines adaptation and the white-box jaws adaptation? I mean, obviously one is spines and the other is jaws, but they both have no prerequisites so how come they're different colors? It's confusing.

Individual species examination:

Mammals have high BIR rate, get four points of adaptations (although feather/fur is a little overcosted for being what comes down to a good winter coat - sure, as a monster you probably can't wear a winter coat, but is lairing in Bermuda so terrible a fate that you'd spend four points of precious adaptation to avoid it?), and can have a total of twelve points of adaptation discounts. Both heavy hide and claws are useful for combat builds, which means that any larger mammals will be picking up a free 6 points from those discounts. Stealth mammals might get them as an ambush weapon. Disguiser mammals won't bother with either of them. Mammals are locked out of not only all 20 points of [IN] adaptations, but also the entire extra limbs tree. BIR is generally priced pretty high so my assumption is that a high BIR rate is supposed to be a big deal, and if, as I'm assuming, twice the BIR rate means twice the offspring, that's definitely a major bonus for team mammal, as it opens up a Zerg rush strategy for them. Overall, Mammals are built to be combat- or ambush-oriented monsters that build up a horde of offspring in a relatively short amount of time.

>>1519

>cont

Now, you'd expect the Zerg rush strategy to be Insectoid but they're pretty 'toss. They get 6 points of free adaptations and an additional 14 points of discounted adaptations. They are locked out of 16 points of [AV] adaptations, but 10 of those points are from Winged, which is very similar to the discounted Beetle Wings. The only thing insectoids are really missing out on is the anti-monster talons option. Their fairly cheap access to flight and dirt-cheap light armor means that they definitely want to focus on mobility and will probably want to be a rural monster tracking down small, weak parties of potential mates over a wide area. Also for that reason, they'll probably want a stealth and agility based build. Their big drawback is their poor fertility rates and I am assuming that when their mates lay eggs, they lay them one at a time, as a clutch would completely obviate this strategy. Sure, takes you ten times as long to get her pregnant, but then she produces a hundred times as many offspring, so that would mean the insects 'drawback' is still a net win for them. But with such low BIR and an assumption that this will actually mean something, insects are weirdly specialized towards hiding out in the wilderness as ambush predators in very small numbers, rather than darkening the skies with their wings and falling upon entire cities full of mates, carting them off to their lair and being so densely populated that you get people saying we should take off and nuke the whole place from orbit. Insects are perfectly well balanced, but if you'd like to have them do their swarm thing, swap their disadvantage from being a BIR cap (which hardly makes a difference since there's barely enough abilities and adaptations to get them over 50% in the first place) to having offspring which are much, much weaker than the originator of the species (i.e. the player). Then you can go ahead and have their rare successful pregnancies result in dozens of eggs being birthed at once for the swarm thing. It is important that they retain a low BIR, though, because otherwise they're just flat-out better than Mammals. So long as Mammals get their kids faster than Insectoids, they remain competitive even though Insectoids will ultimately have more of them.

Reptilians get a whopping 8 points of adaptations for free, but their other discounts are the overcosted 6 point multi-eyes and the quite helpful Claws. Which, by the way, requires itself. I assume that's supposed to read "requires Utility Claws." Anyways, Reptilians have a middlingly low BIR, are slow, and are locked out of heavy hide, maybe also feather/fur (which is both [M] and [AV]) and presumably not Claws (which is both [M] and [R]). That should be clarified. They don't give a fuck about any of that shit because instead of Heavy Hide they have the identically costed and presumably equally useful Scales defense for free, and Feather/Fur (if they're even locked out of it at all) can be solved by just moving someplace warm. Their drawback means that they're either going to be an ambush predator, with their prey caught in a vice grip before they can even start running, or a direct assault predator. But the latter brings about retribution and the low BIR rate of the Reptilians means it'll be longer than normal before they can build up a swarm to fight with, so Reptilians shine in the earlygame, when personally being an invincible badass means more than having a low BIR because no one's had time to have a lot of kids anyway.

>>1520

>cont

Avians are crazy OP. They have an NR which may or may not result in lots of offspring at once, but regardless of that their BIR is the second highest so they won't want for numbers. They start out with fourteen points of adaptations for free and get another six points discounted. They're locked out of 20 points of [IN] adaptations, 10 points of which is very similar to the 10-point adaptation they get for free, and while Compound Eyes and Carapace are nice adaptations they are hardly anything that any particular build can't do without. Compound Eyes will certainly be missed since it would combo spectacularly with the Avians' high flight speed, but there are plenty of other options along those lines and Avians get the most important adaptation for a speed build for free so they're still definitely ahead. Their drawback is that they can't swim which basically just means that Avians and Aquatics don't want the same bits of territory and therefore will not fight each other. Which comes across less like a disadvantage for Avians and more like an advantage for Aquatics. Without their fragility, Avians are an incredibly flexible species. Their flight makes them unmatched pursuit predators in wide open spaces and also works great with ambush tactics, their discounted talons, high BIR rate, and lack of any combat drawbacks means they're good for fighting for control of large population centers, and their drawback isn't. Avians badly need their fragility back and I would strongly consider not giving them flight for free. It's already one of the best adaptations in the CYOA and they get it discounted. Flightless birds exist.

Aquatics get gills and the fins adaptation (not listed) for free. This allows them to survive indefinitely in a place that is inhospitable to their mates, but also to other monsters and, for the most part, human civilization. Aquatics have 18 points of discounted adaptations, but Multiple Eyes is overcosted. They do have access to Bio Electricity, however, which is a great adaptation, overcosted at 12 points but well worth it at 6, which means it's basically the exclusive domain of Aquatics. The ability to stun on contact is basically an I Win button with a melee range, effective against both potential targets and rival monsters, but not so good against, say, Coast Guard patrol boats with mounted machine guns looking to turn you into mincemeat. Aquatics have a pretty terrible problem in that sooner or later people will stop going to the beach, but you only need to abduct a few mates and secure them someplace hard to locate and then you don't actually need to interact with land-based civilization ever again. And, in fact, you almost can't do so, except as a raider. Aquatics are playing such a different game from the others that they basically can't be imbalanced. Their answer to Mammal Zerg rush, Avian general OPness, and Reptilian lategame tank rushes is all the same: Go live in water. The others don't want the territory you've got. It's worth noting that Spawn sure sounds like it'd be a kickass NR, but it's still unclear exactly what having different NRs does.

>>1521

>cont

Hybrids are just terrible. Reptilians and Aquatics both kind of get the short end of the stick (although Aquatics are bailed out by other species having no strong incentive to fight them in the first place) but Hybrids are the worst. Zero points of free adaptation, zero points of discounted adaptation, tied with Insectoids for worst BIR, and while NR isn't detailed, Live Birth doesn't seem like a very good one compared to Eggs and Spawn, if it makes a difference at all. In exchange for this, they get no weaknesses, although many species have fairly trivial weaknesses in the first place, and they aren't locked out of any adaptations, but most species aren't really missing the adaptations they're locked out of much in the first place.

The difference between a 40% BIR and a 10% BIR is that the 40% gets four times the breeding power of the 10% (if we assume, as I have been, that higher BIR translates into proportionately higher rate of offspring production, rather than just tacking a few days onto what is already a months-long gestation period, which would make Mammals badly unbalanced and Hybrids a total joke). The difference between 70% BIR and 40% BIR is that the 70% BIR gets nearly double the breeding power. The gap between the old system's Mammal/Avian Hybrids and regular Mammals is about the same as the gap between Mammals and Reptilians, and it's barely worth the lack of any free or discounted adaptations, let alone in need of being nerfed down to the worst.

Now, the "add BIR together" paradigm does still have a problem, which is that a Hybrid's only significant advantage under that paradigm is their very high BIR rate, and being a Mammal-Avian Hybrid maximizes that advantage, which means that other Hybrid combinations are flat-out inferior. Hybrids should just get extra points flat-out. 5 points if you bump them up to 30 or 40% BIR, 10 points if you don't. All the other species get at least 4 points of adaptations, often much more (holy shit Avians) in addition to having discounts. Hybrids not having any restrictions doesn't even begin to make them competitive when other species are only locked out of 5-10% of adaptations in the first place.

>>1522

>cont

I don't really have anything to say about the abilities and mates, they seem perfectly fine and interesting, but a couple of adaptations are kind of wonky. Pincers break light armor, jaws break medium armor, but they have identical costs. Jaws should be more expensive or else have some kind of explicit drawback. Venom is badly overcosted since it doesn't come with its own delivery system and can only affect one target at a time, so regardless of the chosen effect it's not standing up to Spines, Scales, or even some less than 8 point adaptations like Jaws. Venom either needs to come with a built-in delivery system or else it should only cost 4 points, slightly more than poison for its ability to affect monsters. It's not really clear if Heavy Hide is heavy armor or not, so it should be made obvious in the description. There isn't any medium armor option. It would make sense to have Heavy Hide actually be medium armor (rename it to Thick Hide to avoid confusion) and be costed at 6 points instead of 8. Feathers/Fur is overcosted. All it gives you is the ability to operate in cold climate, which means if you don't have it you can just move to warmer climate. Not a big deal. It should probably be 3 or even just 2 points.

Tremor allows you to feel vibrations through the air, water, and solids. That is all three types of matter, so it is basically the same as most of the other perception adaptations put together, and it's not even the most expensive one. It either needs to cost 12 points (still cheaper overall, but since it's the most expensive option that just means it's the go-to for perception heavy builds and people who're looking for a little bit of perception while focusing on something else won't be able to afford it) or it should only work through solids and liquids, not through the air, and be bumped down to 5 points like Bright Eyes and Thermal. Multi Eyes is overcosted, should only cost 4 points. Having 360 degree peripheral vision is certainly helpful, but not more helpful than infrared that works through walls, scenting that works across miles, or the enhanced reaction time of Compound Eyes. Similarly, Bright Eyes isn't as helpful as Thermal. Both Multi Eyes and Bright Eyes should be costed at 4 points.

Enhance Lactation is extremely expensive for something that has no benefit except being someone's fetish. It shouldn only be four points. Likewise, none of the cock-related ones should be so damn expensive. Enlarge, 15 points? Even the smallest beast cock is still bigger than average, why would anyone pay 15 points to be even bigger? They should all be 2-4 points.

>>1523

>cont

I will echo the odd choices in the body build section. Being humanoid is a 5-point cost for a 5-point advantage. Being 50/50 is a 10 point cost for bugger all. It mostly comes off like the CYOA is just passive-aggressively telling people who want 50/50 monsters to fuck off. I don't think this section even needs to be there. If people want to be a monster boy/girl, a humanoid beast, or a centaur type creature, then they're going to need the human hands adaptation. Other than that, leave it up to people's imaginations. Alternatively, have human hands be a prerequisite for Humanoid and 50/50, but don't associate any point cost to the body build. Just like body size and species, you just pick one.

For lairs, my assumption is that once full grown the offspring run off and find lairs of their own. Otherwise, the amount of offspring that can be kept in even the largest of lairs is much too small. If the goal is to propagate the species, then the endgame needs to be the overthrow of human society and enslavement of humanity as a breeding population, both because the growing clan can't hide its increasing numbers past a certain point and because the number of monsters is limited by the number of human mates so you want to have as many human women available as mates as possible. So long as you have to hunt them individually, you will never have 100% of all human women in your territory as mates for you and your offspring, so sooner or later you'll want to set up your horde as the new rulers.

Also, offspring of giant monsters presumably grow to be giants (except Insectoids, whose offspring might be drones much smaller than the queen progenitor), and offspring of small monsters presumably grow up to be small, so it's odd that you can have the same number regardlesss of what your size is.

>>1524

TL;DR my recommended changes

Mammals are fine.

Insects are balanced, but they're bad at making swarms. Take away their 50% max BIR disadvantage and replace it with a disadvantage that their offspring are about 1/100th as strong as the parent. Additionally give them an advantage that when their pregnancies are successful, they create 100x as many offspring at once, not just 1-3.

Reptiles are pretty good, but could probably use a minor boost. Reptiles and Avians are pretty closely related, so I think Reptiles deserve to share the 30% BIR.

Avians are crazy overpowered. They need to have their fragility weakness back and they shouldn't get winged automatically, just the discount price on it.

Like Reptilians, Aquatics are a little bit underpowered. Bump them up to 20% BIR, since Reptilians have vacated it.

Hybrids are horribly underpowered. Either give them 10 extra points or increase their BIR to 30% and give them 5 extra points and leave it at 10%.

Exactly how strong different armor classes (light, medium, and heavy) should be explicitly stated. Are they immune or resistant to knives? Pistols? Rifles? Rockets? And so on. This puts both the armor and the weapons that can pierce the armor into context.

Jaws should cost 6 points. Venom should cost 4 points. Heavy Hide should be renamed Thick Hide, should be medium armor, and should cost 6 points. Feathers/Fur should cost 2 points. Tremor should only work through solids and water, not through the air. Multi Eyes and Bright Eyes should only cost 4 points. Enhance Lactation and all of the penis based adaptations should cost between 2 and 4 points.

Finally, body builds shouldn't cost anything. Humanoid and 50/50 require that you have the humanoid hands adaptations, but other than that you just pick one and none of them should cost anything, just like body size and species.

>>1519

>>1520

>>1521

>>1522

>>1523

>>1524

>>1525

First off can I just say thanks man, this kind of feed back on the numbers and such really helps! I dare say I didn't break it down in any where near as much detail as you did. Anyway lets get to it

As of now I am currently re doing the adapatains and am going to do a section for each species type to make it easier and give more options. So all things like Jaws and armour I am going to deal with right now same with body costs.

>Insects are balanced, but they're bad at making swarms

I thought about making swarms but I think that swarms would be hard to balance. I personally want players to actually give a damn about their offspring but thats just me. Now saying this I've not yet touched on birth/spawn as I want to get adapations nailed first.

>>1526

This is what I'm planning for species changes

>Insects

As with above, however they will be better at making swarms,

>Reptiles

Get a buff to 25%

+ In the coming adapations overhaul are going to get bonus aquatic options to open up that avenue of play

>Avains

Like you say they are going to more fragile, almost to the point of glass cannons, but are still going to keep getting flight for free, this is not going to change, sorry

>Aquatics

They are going to stay unchanged however they will get the most new stuff in the coming Adapations update,

>>1527

I find it ok that insects have problems mating with mammals and making viable offspring… I also find interesting the swarm option, but swarm doesn't have any business being weak… However a strong swarm without drawbacks would be imba as fuck…

So I thought about something very dark.

It wouldn't be mandatory in any way, but possibly an insect subset [horror] or something.

suppose that, in a way, insects work with infecting potential mates rather than impregnating them. Something like, insect larvae are haploids that are born very weak, and weak without an outer shell and basically incapable of feeding on their own and surviving for more than a few days, but able to infect and mess with a human host, in such a way that they can take genes from said host and complete their own genetic sequence using the host better genes and taking refuge inside the body like a parasite would. However, because the host would basically be somewhat chewed upon by the larvae, death is not an uncommon occurrence. Normally the host would have a chance of losing health or dying as a % and then the host age and strength would be rolled and altered by a number of factors like how many larvae the host is nursing. A drawback on top of this option (to make it considerably worse but giving a large chink of points to the player), larvae develop quicker but burst through the organs and devour the host always taking away health and having a chance of insta death (like alien), while an improvement would allow insectoids to be birthed normally at a slower rate and also paying costs for it (like the other alien movie).

This would permit to form swarms very quickly because even if one larvae dies before completing the process, at least one out of ten would survive. Because the insect would be constantly filling the nest with eggs, if it doesn't want the larvae to die the hunting tactic would have to be vastly more aggro, and keeping a cicle of constant attacks would require a steady supply of energy (food), both of which would make it more visible. Larvae would mature quickly and expand very early, instead of gaining experience and independence, operating mostly by instinct or pheromone transmited orders while having different maturity stages that would allow them to become more and more self aware, brave and powerful, when very young they would start as cleaners, then healers, builders, enforcers, and eventually soldiers-explorers, before undergoing their own metamorphosis, and becoming fully intelligent egg factories and having their own offspring. Because prey would become scarce very quickly, soldiers and explorers not only are programmed to go after more hosts, but also to drive other monsters away from their territory (very much able to launch cunning suicidal attacks), which means other people should be warry of insectoids nesting near their hunting grounds (and the pressure between having to choose between guarding one's base or going out to hunt). also certain strains of insectoids may be able to use males as hosts (as a bought perk), because they wouldn't need a female to reproduce. Perhaps using males leads to making non fertile drones with only limited functions and a shorter lifespan, just to not make it that much of an advantage.

Basically combining certain aspects of wasps (the parasitic reproduction) ants (older sisters and brothers will go out and fight while the stronger, younger ones remain safe and protect the nest, probably only having a few viable queens, probably massive swarm attacks on an area after the current one is depleted), and spiders (using ambush tactics and expanding their burrows for defence, eating other monsters for food).

Again, these are just ideas. Anything useful you might take while disregarding the rest. Similar refurbishes are possible for other races, I could provide more feedback if this is good enuff.

Also though on a cheatty build that was both cheatty and broken (thus only good for NPC world drawbacks) but I'll post that later, maybe.