Custom Insect Swarm Power

[ways and means]

I am working on a master of the swarm power for a plot npc in my game and was having trouble getting it right so am looking for advice on how other people would do it.

The aim of the Power is to incubate a swarm of nasties inside an opponent and when he is taken out (probably using the venemous trapping) cause a swarm of nasties to burst out of him and attack everything in the zone other than the insect master. So far I am working using a mod of venemous claws and breath weapon to represent the inpregnation process but am having trouble figuring out how to stat a swarm of insects that attack everyone other than the owner of the power. Does anyone have any ideas how this could be done using the DFRP system.

[sinker]

If you just want a one time effect (or one solely devoted to this one NPC) and not a power that you expect PCs to pick up then you could just say that when he takes someone out it creates an environmental hazard or a single zone wide attack. Charge one or two refresh for it. One of the other options could be modeling it after summoning and binding, but that's already pretty hand-wavy in the first place and not really quick or easy, so I figure just do whatever works.

[Michael Sandy]

Since it is a new swarm that is created, you could define it as a Summon, where it uses the being taken out as fuel to power the complexity of the summon of another of its kind.

Or just look at how Black and Red Court Vampires are dealt with.  Both of those are monsters that can make more monsters by using their victim's body.

As for the swarm powers:
Flight
Physical Immunity (catch is zone wide attacks, fire and gas)
Venomous claws
Gaseous form

Pack instincts (swarm instincts) and echoes of the beast could be appropriate as well

Possibly include a stunt to reflect the alien mind, just in case someone tried to use mental powers or the Sight on them, or just have a bunch of aspects to reflect that.

[Michael Sandy]

Other concepts that would use the same gimmick:

Classic zombies:  venomous bite that eventually turns target into a zombie.  In most zombie movies the bite is incurable, which in game mechanics would probably be a stunt or two that treats the poison as if it had been inflicted by much stronger fists attack.  But the zombification is usually a bit slower.  Maybe it does damage every scene (ie 15 minutes) instead of every exchange.

Naturally, any mechanic that makes it too easy or quick to turn a victim into a new monster could result in the world getting consumed by bug swarms, zombies or vampires in short order.

And the casualty count could go very fast in a hurry if the swarm gets beyond the initial summoners command.

Oooh, creepy adventure idea:  Party has to go into the Nevernever to find the source of the swarm to cut it off.  Otherwise, more and more swarms will just keep getting summoned from the Nevernever...

[Sanctaphrax]

I can think of a few ways to do this.

I recommend the Amorphous Form and Dangerous Aura custom powers.

Gaseous Form + Dangerous Aura gives you pretty much everything you need.

A stunt giving zone-wide attacks with Fists would also work.

A reflavoured Wizard's Constitution could represent the way that the hive replenishes itself.

Also, I agree with most of what Michael Sandy said.

If you like, I can write the swarm up for you. Just tell me how powerful you want it to be and what interpretation you like best.

[Michael Sandy]

Expanding on my earlier point:

Any monster that can rapidly reproduce itself is likely to be a very central issue in the campaign.  PCs are very likely to want to squash it as early as possible, as hard as possible.  There is no such thing as "excessive force" in containing a zombie incursion.

If you make the swarm generated by one victim formidable, then even monsters like the Black Court look like acceptable allies in wiping them out.  After all, if the swarm generated by one victim can so easily make more of itself, they could wipe out the Black Court's food supply.  And if they gain power in numbers, they REALLY have to be taken out fast.

So I suggest that at least the early individual swarms not be that powerful.  Scary, especially their implications, but not much harder to deal with than individual zombies are in zombie movies.

But if the summoner is unchecked, then later swarms would be bigger, hungrier, maybe with Blood Drinker so they can heal themselves if they kill a prey in combat.

Perhaps you could introduce that development after the swarms have devoured a vampire of some species.

I suggest writing up the swarm generated by one victim as fairly weak.  The swarm generated by a lot of victims together would have the AoE physical attacks and higher stats.

If you don't want them replicating TOO fast, have the individual swarms WITHOUT the poisonous attack.  Only when several swarms merge into a larger one does it get the ability to implant a new swarm.

[ways and means]

The Power I was originally thinking of creating would have been more like Sanctaphrax idea in that killing an enemy would be a justification for some area damage which would disappear at the end of the scene like the Bioshock Plasmid,intimidating rather than powerful.  But after reading what people have said about the potential dangers of ever expanding swarms I think I will now go for the most dangerous version possible just because I can now use it for plot rather than another scary NPC assassin.

I will now probably use some form of Sponsored hive magic for the NPC Hivemaster with a gimick that it can gain power by how many people have been previously killed in the scene and give any insects summoned in this way the ability to lay eggs in the bodies of the deseased which will hatch in a couple of scenes time.

[Sanctaphrax]

So, would you like me to write this up for you?

And if so:

How powerful should they be?
Would you prefer Gaseous Form + Dangerous Aura or a more traditional monster build?

[ways and means]

I would be really helpful if you write it up for me, they be pretty powerful enough that in massive numbers they could pose a real threat too post submerged level characters. I might mod them a bit if they spawn from the body of anything particularly powerful.   

[Sanctaphrax]

Okay, here's a basic mook swarm. It's dangerous by most standards, but I don't think it's up to the power level that you want. I'll put up a much tougher elite swarm later.

Basic Swarm (Feet In The Water)

High Concept: Man-Eating Magical Bug Swarm
Other Aspects: Loyal To The Summoner, Incubated In Human Flesh, Apocalypse Scenario
Skills:   
Great: Fists
Good: Endurance, Athletics
Fair: Stealth, Alertness, Survival
Average: Investigation, Intimidation, Conviction, Discipline
Stunts:
Spread Out (Fists): May take a -2 penalty to hit in order to attack an entire zone.
Powers:
Lay Eggs [-0] (Creates new swarms out of taken-out victims. Plot-device power, so no refresh cost.)
Wings [-1]
Blood Drinker [-1]
Pack Instincts [-1]
Echoes Of The Beast (Insect) [-1]
Extra-Dangerous Aura [-3]
Amorphous Form [-1]
Physical Immunity [-8]
The Catch (Standard Swarm Vulnerabilities) [+4]
Inhuman Recovery [-2]
The Catch (Dispersal) [+1]
Total Refresh Cost:
-14
Refresh Total:
-8

[Sanctaphrax]

Elite Swarm (Chest Deep)

High Concept: Man-Eating Magical Bug Swarm
Other Aspects: Loyal To The Summoner, Incubated In Human Flesh, Apocalypse Scenario, Holy Shit That Is A Lot Of Bugs!
Skills:   
Superb: Fists, Endurance
Great: Athletics, Alertness
Good: Intimidation, Survival
Fair: Discipline, Investigation
Average: Conviction, Stealth
Stunts:
Spread Out (Fists): May take a -2 penalty to hit in order to attack an entire zone.
Custom Stunt Of Questionable Balance (Fists): No penalty for attacking an entire zone.
Custom Stunt Of Even More Questionable Balance (Fists): May make poison maneuvers against entire zones.
We Have Reserves (Endurance): Extra mild consequence.
Powers:
Lay Eggs [-0] (Creates new swarms out of taken-out victims. Plot-device power, so no refresh cost.)
Venomous Claws [-3]
True Aim (Fists) [-1]
Wings [-1]
Blood Drinker [-1]
Pack Instincts [-1]
Echoes Of The Beast (Insect) [-1]
Large Hyper-Dangerous Aura [-6]
Amorphous Form [-1]
Physical Immunity [-8]
The Catch (Standard Swarm Vulnerabilities) [+4]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]
Supernatural Recovery [-4]
The Catch (Unknown for Toughness, Dispersal for Recovery) [+0]
Total Refresh Cost:
-29
Refresh Total:
-21

[Michael Sandy]

Area poison attacks are very dangerous.  Especially since they require an endurance success against fist 6.  The poison doesn't go away if the defender saves once, either.

One hit by that elite creature, and everything in the zone is going to die without medical treatment.

I think that restricting the poison attack to what the swarm is focused on is sufficiently deadly.

I do think the swarm should be able to do a maneuver against everybody in the zone.  "Everybody in the zone has the aspect 'bugs are crawling all over you'"  That means any AoE directed at the swarm will hit people who have bugs on them.

Something else to make them creepy:

Those biting insects?  They just sucked a little of your blood and then flew off to an evil thaumaturgist.  Yes, that means those bugs will follow you and attack you sometime when it really isn't convenient.


I think one of the creepiest things about fighting such a swarm would be if the summoner can direct it so that it has tactics.  And if the swarm has some bodies to feed on to replentish itself with Blood Drinker.  So the swarm flies off, nibbles on a pedestrian and comes back at the party.  Or even if it just chews up some of the expendable cultists for food.

I suggest reducing their power a bit, but having several swarm units in the encounter.

After the encounter, the party should feel tired, covered in bug guts, and unless they somehow lucked out and got the summoner, be aware that they could encounter even more bugs next time, putting some time pressure on them.

[ways and means]

I am ok with Area Poision attack it make sense for the creatures (thousands of stings, suckers etc) and at the refresh level I am dealing with most of the PC have toughness powers which reduce the effectiveness of poison immensly, I know that most enemies can be taken out by posion inventually but in my experience with creatures with toughness powers won't be that badly effected in the usual length of a combat. For the level of refresh my players are on they will pose a real challenge to my party.

[Michael Sandy]

I would put the Nevernever location associated with the source of the bugs close to Summer.  Strong life force and unregulated growth seems like a twisted summer thing.

I vaguely recall some Lovecraftian horror that involved a swarm of bugs.

A couple of ideas:
If you go with a large number of weaker swarms, then you can have a siege scenario, where the party forts up, perhaps with magic walls, or improvised defenses, dealing with the bugs poring slowly through, and having to figure a way out or to reverse the siege. Make it more of an endurance fight, as the total number of bugs seems endless.  If the bugs do things like suddenly withdraw into the roof or floor, or other tactical maneuvers, the party will wonder after the battle if they actually got all of the swarms.

Options for fighting the swarm:

Form a Raid(tm).  Get lots of insecticide, lots of anti-bug armor.  Perhaps fireproof suits (thaumaturgical prep?) and just burn everything.

Find the local bat cave, and bring a few million allies to the fight.

Go after the source, in the Nevernever

Scholarly:  use pheromones to lure the bugs, talk to a beekeeper, find out what preys on various bugs.  Maybe get a type of tiny parasitic wasp that lays ITS eggs in that kind of bug.  A human controlled swarm may not engage in the normal self-cleaning anti-parasite mode that an uncontrolled swarm would.

Massive quantities of flypaper

Thaumaturgy:  Use the swarm against itself.  Magic directed at one example of the tightly linked swarm could affect all, provided the party can pump enough power into their thaumaturgy before the link burns out.

[Michael Sandy]

If your party is nearing Senior Council status, and most have toughness, then yeah the elite makes a good mook for them.

I am guessing the summoner has Lawbreaker 1st and 7th.  If he is challenging Senior Council level parties, he is backed by a Major threat from beyond, not just a lucky warlock.