One of my players has expressed interest in acquiring and piloting a Carrier Beetle (renamed Elephant Beetle in my...
One of my players has expressed interest in acquiring and piloting a Carrier Beetle (renamed Elephant Beetle in my game).
Animal handling rules and mechanics aside, I'm interested in leaning into the book's references to how giant insects are different from mammals, possessing "none of the intrinsic empathy", with riders basically clinging on.
Has anyone had much experience/thoughts with how to play this? Having the animal be amusingly/annoyingly micromanaged or else it will wander off, plow through dangerous terrain? Having it become distracted, or aggressive, at a moment's notice? Having to give it incredibly simple instructions?
Animal handling rules and mechanics aside, I'm interested in leaning into the book's references to how giant insects are different from mammals, possessing "none of the intrinsic empathy", with riders basically clinging on.
Has anyone had much experience/thoughts with how to play this? Having the animal be amusingly/annoyingly micromanaged or else it will wander off, plow through dangerous terrain? Having it become distracted, or aggressive, at a moment's notice? Having to give it incredibly simple instructions?
In my game, giant insect mounts are managed with a driver's pouch that has different scented materials, so you can entice or slow your mount, communicating with chemical cues. Learning to ride them is learning to adapt their reactions to the prompts humans have developed with their chemical lures.
ReplyDeleteDifferent insects have diffent levels of complexity. Like for a beetle pulling a cart, you've got something like a fishing pole, with a lure on the end, to get them to go forwards, side to side, or stop. For a leaper, you might have a peppery dust to throw at the top of the head to provoke a jump, and hooks embedded into the corner of the eye sockets to steer once airborne. Etc.
That's genius
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