Topic: Moisture-sucking moth swarm - looking for attack mechanics ideas

[Jengada]

I'm creating a desert moth that swarms creatures at night, invading any bodily orifices to get at the creature's moisture. I'm pondering a few ideas for how that attack would work, mechanics-wise, and want to consult the hive mind. Thoughts? Analogs?

[brole]

Wow I've never thought of that.

One approach would be to use RR vs. a level dependent on the swarm size. Modify for repellents.
Now it depends how to handle resolution.

A RR fail means an undefended attack using the tiny creature table but use dehydration criticals instead due to the moth's thirst for moisture.

I'd go with 1 RR per night.

[Jengada]

Wow I've never thought of that.

One approach would be to use RR vs. a level dependent on the swarm size. Modify for repellents.
Now it depends how to handle resolution.

A RR fail means an undefended attack using the tiny creature table but use dehydration criticals instead due to the moth's thirst for moisture.

I'd go with 1 RR per night.

You're much kinder than I am I like the RR for swarm size, and I especially like the idea of a repellent. Are there dehydration crits? (I'm always amazed at the unique crit charts floating about, that I've never heard of!) I was thinking it would be like a CO-draining effect, with a major penalty for all actions while the target has bugs actively crawling into its nose, mouth, and possibly butt.

[Hurin]

The original Spell Law gives Sorcerers spells like Dehydrate, but doesn't really spell out exactly how to handle them, mechanically.

RMU Spell Law advances the ball by giving the Sorcerer spells more specific details, which might be helpful. Here for example is the wording of the spell Desiccation:

19. Desiccation – The target immediately begins to dehydrate and weather as if in a wind-blown sandy desert.
Target is immediately at a -10 penalty to all actions and loses 1% of his total hits. For each round that the caster
concentrates, the target takes another -5 penalty and 1% of total hits. If the caster maintains concentration for 10
consecutive rounds, animate targets will be reduced to dried out husks, dying. If the target gets out of range or the
caster stops concentrating, there is no further damage, but the penalty and hits loss remain. The hits can heal
normally, but the penalty recovers at a rate of 10 per day, assuming regular hydration. A Cure Disease spell can
remove the penalty, once the hit loss is healed.

There is a Starvation/Dehydration crit chart in RMC V, p. 109.

Enjoy!

[Spectre771]

If the moths invade any orifice, they are smaller in size.  Suffocation would be an issue, not to mention insanity as moths lodge themselves in the victim's ears.   

RM2 has Starvation/Dehydration Crit table.
You can use the Stress Crits or Mental Crits as secondary crits as someone's head is being invaded by bugs. 

Egad, this is giving me the creepy crawlies!  Try not to think of this tonight when you go to sleep.  Spiders really don't crawl into your ears or up your nose when you're asleep.   

[Jengada]

Egad, this is giving me the creepy crawlies!  Try not to think of this tonight when you go to sleep.  Spiders really don't crawl into your ears or up your nose when you're asleep.   

You don't want to know the things that are in my search history, after thinking up this evil

[technobabble66]

FWIW, there’s an X Files episode that has a very similar concept: season 1 episode 20, Darkness Falls. One of the better episodes so worth a watch if you haven’t already.

In terms of mechanics, I like the RR mechanic, so I’d probably go with that. Maybe modified for different general types of clothing/armor etc. Either once a night or every few hours.
Beyond that, I’d decide how you want to be applying damage, or more to the point, what types of damage you’re after.
IE: whether you want simple attritional damage (eg: -10 penalty &/or -10 hits for every failed RR) or if you want randomly determined “special” damage off a crit table that’ll scale from minor to major effects. Or maybe a bit of both, eg: fail the RR by 1-20 is just a simple penalty, by 20-30 is an A crit, by 30-40 is a B crit, etc.
I think if it’s more like an environmental type of effect, I’d go simple. If it’s more like a monster to be actively defeated, go the crits or combo.
I’d also consider how easy it is for the PCs to counter/avoid these effects and heal/recover. If they’re weak I’d be more inclined towards simple attrition. If they have lots of options then it’s crit time, baby!

Can’t help much with crit table choice, I’m afraid. Though I did think there was a dehydration crit table in one of the RM2 companions...

Just my 2c

[Jengada]

This is why I consult the hive mind - several good ideas I'm going to work with. So now my question is, anyone know a Companion that has rules for suffocation/asphyxiation/drowning or anything similar? Because it occurred to me, that's the most powerful, immediate effect of 20 or 30 moths forcing themselves into your nasal passages, sinuses, and airways.
My players are going to hate me. More.

[Jengada]

Ok, so this is embarrassing. I realized I should search the forums for "suffocation." The first link returned was this:
http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?topic=18164.msg219151#msg219151
Which is something I posted. So I'll shut up now.

[Spectre771]

One of the later Companions (Arms Companion?) has rules for drowning.  These will fit nicely with suffocation-by-moths.  I'll look for the specific books later today.  Drowning mechanics and the Dehydration/Starvation crit table.

[Jengada]

I got this creature mostly put together, but it turned out the bigger issue was the suffocation - if they get in your trachea, you'll be dead well before you dehydrate. So with no suffocation rules in RM2 (or RM***) I read up on medical literature and some other systems, and put together rules I'll use for that part. Some back of the envelope stats suggests the timing to unconsciousness, start of tissue damage, and death are pretty realistic.
Here they are, FWIW:

Each round the character is endangered, they must make an RRCO. If their airway is completely obstructed, the attack level is equal to the character level. If the character is in an oxygen-poor environment but still getting some air, the attack level can be decreased proportionately. For example, at 10% oxygen, AL=½ character level.
If the RR succeeds, the character does not suffer any damage. If it fails, the character loses Exhaustion Points equal to the failure margin.
Simultaneously, the character will automatically begin to panic. Each round the RR fails, the panic modifier on all actions is -50. If the RR succeeds, the panic modifier is only -20. This only applies to actions, not RRs.
When Exhaustion Points reach zero, all remaining and future RR failures become stat reductions. Each round, randomly apply the RR failure to CO, ME, or RE. If it reduces CO, reduce the CO bonus accordingly. When any stat reaches zero, the character is dead. There is no HP damage from suffocation/asphyxiation.
If the character survives, half of stat loss is permanent and can only be healed by magic. The other half heals at a rate of 5 points per day of full rest, 1 per day of activity.

[Spectre771]

I found the info I was looking for.  This may be helpful for you.

Drowning/Suffocation
  RMC-VII (pg25) - Drowning Efficiently:  While drowning may not seem to apply, it is effectively the same as suffocation.  You could use the same mechanics.  Instead of lungs filling with water, the moths could be blocking the trachea.  Both mechanics prevent oxygen from reaching the lungs.  Page 25 states "A drowning character has his Constitution divided by 10 (round normally) in rounds before he starts suffering damage." 

Page 27 has the Drowning Critical Strike Table with fun items ranging from from "Little damage + 3 hits" to "Epiglottal failure results in the 'Big Gulp' +17 hits -20 for 5 rounds due to gasping" to "Extreme pressure combined with asphyxiation result in a colorful hallucination before death." 

There are lots of good ones in the table and where 'liquid' is used, you can substitute 'moths' and it still works pretty well and actually makes the crit results really more colorful and pretty horrifying!  I love it!

Starvation/Dehydration
   RMC-V (pg104) - Starvation/Dehydration: These are for longer, drawn out effects expected to last days.  You can speed up the time table for your purposes here and use rounds instead of days for the dehydration results.  It explains the RR method vs. Starvation vs. dehydration vs. dehydration+starvation.  The crit result is determined by the amount the RR fails by.   The attack level is cumulative dependent on the number of "days" (substitute "rounds" for your moth attack). 

The description also includes temporary stat loss should the victim survive.  Delirium, unconsciousness, and death results are detailed as well.

Holding Breath
    Arms Companion (pg 72-73):  There is an optional skill called Holding Breath that can be purchased at cost as Body Development.  "The time the average character can go without breathing is between 1 and 5 minutes.  Characters can hold their breath for: (Constitution / 20) Minutes"  The Holding Breath skill increases the number of rounds the PC can go without oxygen.  The example given states a PC with 100 Constitution and 10 skill ranks of Holding breath can last for 50 rounds.  Holding breath will be a nice benefit for the PC choking on moths!  There is also a chart for penalties while holding breath based on the number of rounds that have passed.

Something to note here, if I assume I am of average Constitution (i.e.: 50) the result is 50/20 - 2.5.  I can't hold my breath for 2.5 minutes!  I am definitely above average in Constitution.  Maybe using Con/30 is a little more realistic here, especially if the PC is panicking and has insects invading his orifices.

[Jengada]

Thanks, Spectre. This is helpful and reassuring in the sense some of it mirrors what I home-brewed, above. The use of RR failure margin for effect seems an efficient way to reduce a potential drawn-out series of die rolls for each round.
Color text from crits is an interesting thought. I was just going to go with things like "You panic as you feel incessant brushing and crawling sensations in your nose and mouth." Or "Breathing rapidly becomes difficult, and you throat feels parched as the dry moths push their way into your lungs." Or "An intense ache explodes in your ears as they push their way into your skull, and sinuses." Or "You bat them away and manage to cover your face and ears. The moths swirl around for a few seconds, and suddenly you feel them coming up your pant legs."
That should get the point across.