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bocephus · 03-20-2023, 12:11 PM

I like it, its got a lot of possibilities.

I would probably use it a little differently.
How I could see using it, would be to lower the IQ to more like 11/12. It would also think more slowly, it might react quickly to stimulus at a certain threshold, but actually pondering a question would be like talking to an even slower version of LotR "Treebeard" character. Not dumb, it just lives at a different speed than the PCs.
It doesn't seem to have motivations with 'depth', and it's restrictions are fairly simplistic and easy to circumvent within reasonable limitation. Its still potentially 'smarter' than average, but it has a lot going on and it experiences reality different than PCs. Making it IQ18-20 makes it a super intelligence as well as alien thought processes. It seems too automatically push it into a god like status. No real question about its nature since it's automatically smarter than, as well as completely alien to anyone trying to study it.

I would also suggest that any group of beings above some limit 5/6/8/10... would get it's attention as well. That would at least make it nervous, even if its just 2 humans, 1 elf, 1 gnome and 6 dwarves. A group without any humans or elves might be left more or less alone, but if there is one of these "restricted beings" present the others might well be under their control (much like a pack of wolves in Bortgjiem Skog). It would certainly understand accomplishing goals through the control of other creatures, it would have to project that potential onto any group.

Sport hunting implies too much. I would say allow hunting or don't, using the idea "sport" hunting leaves far too much interpretation. Since its answer to "some humans did a bad thing", was no humans allowed.... I gotta think it would act the same with regard to hunting, or hunting is just the way of things and hunting is allowed. How would it even realize the difference between sport and subsistence hunting from the perspective of a PC?

I could see other restrictions though: no harvesting of living trees, no constructions (maybe you get away with a rope bridge, but not a bridge suitable for horses/carts/wagons), maybe no fire (again its really hard to be subjective about that one, but it's probably experienced at least some lightning strikes that have caused natural fires), no introducing foreign plants (like seeding kudzu or the like),

If it hates necromancy, build on that a little. Why does it hate that? How does it recognize it? Does it have a natural counter effect to it, does the presence of necromancy cause some sort of pain/damage? (while it might drop everything to attack undead, it might also be uniquely susceptible to the energies/attacks that animate them) What has happened in its past that brought necromancy so specifically to it's attentions?

Does it have hard borders, are they easily apparent? Again im picturing Fangorn where it seemed like the Forest just came to a point and stopped, but outside that boundary was grassland. That could just as easily be a giant woods that at some point you are in Bortgjiem Skog but there really isn't a way to know that you made that transition from a regular woods that just exists around it. Does it protect its borders as aggressively as its 'center'?

You have a really interesting back drop here, Id love to see more detail about how you end up using it.

03-20-2023, 12:11 PM	#4
bocephus Join Date: Apr 2019	Re: Self aware forest I like it, its got a lot of possibilities. I would probably use it a little differently. How I could see using it, would be to lower the IQ to more like 11/12. It would also think more slowly, it might react quickly to stimulus at a certain threshold, but actually pondering a question would be like talking to an even slower version of LotR "Treebeard" character. Not dumb, it just lives at a different speed than the PCs. It doesn't seem to have motivations with 'depth', and it's restrictions are fairly simplistic and easy to circumvent within reasonable limitation. Its still potentially 'smarter' than average, but it has a lot going on and it experiences reality different than PCs. Making it IQ18-20 makes it a super intelligence as well as alien thought processes. It seems too automatically push it into a god like status. No real question about its nature since it's automatically smarter than, as well as completely alien to anyone trying to study it. I would also suggest that any group of beings above some limit 5/6/8/10... would get it's attention as well. That would at least make it nervous, even if its just 2 humans, 1 elf, 1 gnome and 6 dwarves. A group without any humans or elves might be left more or less alone, but if there is one of these "restricted beings" present the others might well be under their control (much like a pack of wolves in Bortgjiem Skog). It would certainly understand accomplishing goals through the control of other creatures, it would have to project that potential onto any group. Sport hunting implies too much. I would say allow hunting or don't, using the idea "sport" hunting leaves far too much interpretation. Since its answer to "some humans did a bad thing", was no humans allowed.... I gotta think it would act the same with regard to hunting, or hunting is just the way of things and hunting is allowed. How would it even realize the difference between sport and subsistence hunting from the perspective of a PC? I could see other restrictions though: no harvesting of living trees, no constructions (maybe you get away with a rope bridge, but not a bridge suitable for horses/carts/wagons), maybe no fire (again its really hard to be subjective about that one, but it's probably experienced at least some lightning strikes that have caused natural fires), no introducing foreign plants (like seeding kudzu or the like), If it hates necromancy, build on that a little. Why does it hate that? How does it recognize it? Does it have a natural counter effect to it, does the presence of necromancy cause some sort of pain/damage? (while it might drop everything to attack undead, it might also be uniquely susceptible to the energies/attacks that animate them) What has happened in its past that brought necromancy so specifically to it's attentions? Does it have hard borders, are they easily apparent? Again im picturing Fangorn where it seemed like the Forest just came to a point and stopped, but outside that boundary was grassland. That could just as easily be a giant woods that at some point you are in Bortgjiem Skog but there really isn't a way to know that you made that transition from a regular woods that just exists around it. Does it protect its borders as aggressively as its 'center'? You have a really interesting back drop here, Id love to see more detail about how you end up using it.