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Old 08-08-2016, 11:24 AM   #11
Nymdok
 
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Originally Posted by Tallor View Post
Oh... a puppeteering intrigue. Now we just need a faction that's powerful and crazy enough to make that kind of move.
Id make the 'faction' the parasites themselves. Make em super smart and super arrogant.

'We make humans better than what they actually are. We up lift the heathen human savages in productivity and organization. We give them purpose. Without us, they will never achieve their full potential. Sure we may exhaust the human bodies, but look at what we accomplish? Surely thats worth the sacrifice of these lesser beings that really aren't more than food sources, transportation and labor and could barely be considered sentient much less Scolecient'

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Old 08-08-2016, 04:39 PM   #12
doctorevilbrain
 
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What is scolecient? I couldn't find it on Google.
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Old 08-08-2016, 06:46 PM   #13
Nymdok
 
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What is scolecient? I couldn't find it on Google.
My trying my hand at word smithy. :)

If Homo Sapiens are Sapient, then scolecoids (worms) might call them selves scolecient. Vermiforms might consider Vermient, but I thought that sounded too much like Vermin.


Nymdok

There has got to be one guy on these boards who can go into greater detail about what the nuance in definition is.
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Old 08-08-2016, 09:58 PM   #14
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I don't like creepypastas, they are generally silly, but you may find inspiration from this one: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...FwESpUGfDQtgGw

A one time use drug that last forever is not going to be much use in cornering a market- inevitably everyone will get a dose eventually (removing sleep from the human condition altogether).

But sleep is important, its how we process daily memories, and perhaps more importantly it when our brains literally 'wash' breaking down harmful buildups.

Creatures that do not sleep get around this by selectively putting sections of their brain to sleep, or having very strong autonomous functions so that they can sleep on 'autopilot'.

The drug therefore must be intended to:
1. Selectively put some parts of the brain to sleep
2. Replicate the 'sleep functions' of sorting memories and breaking down harmful buildups
3. Allow the body to go into a more complete autopilot, saving the waking sentient brain for when real decision making is required.

The parasite was supposed to achieve #3, obviously something went wrong.... but what?

Take it in a horror direction- all of the parasites are linked in a psycic gestalt, what went wrong was that there were enough of them to achieve group sentience- and they are pushing the brain into autopilot, and then piloting the body for there own ends. The series of unfortunate events that allowed the test to expand to the whole hospital was there parasite hive mind, making subtle psionic changes (push a vile here, cut a hole in a delivery tube there, etc)

The REAL challenge is that all of the minds of the people are now trapped, displaced from their bodies into a prison of the psycic gestalt; the only way to fix the problem, enter the gestalt and fight it from within- complete with altered landscapes and impossible physics in the mini astral-plane created by the parasites.

More worrysome, the hive-mind gets stronger with more members- if it can infect an entire planet it will become a super-mind, effectively a god, and from there it will be trivial to dominate a galaxy.

Critical point- The bodies are not just manic, they are CHANGING- if they remain infected their power grows, who knows what will happen if they can go weeks without sleep.

Bonus points- if you ever wanted to let your PCs gain some psi powers entering the gestalt and fighting the hive mind then coming back to their formerly infected bodies they can find some useful alterations to how their mind works.

Alternate- There is no reason this must be a psicic phenomenon, it could just as easily be eldritch forces slowly weakening the barriers between this universe and the beyond through their attachment to sleepless bodies. Instead of a group mind the gestalt is the 'lead' for an incomprehensible eldritch horror, and entering a true altered reality may be required to fight it.
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Old 08-08-2016, 10:00 PM   #15
Bilanthri
 
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Originally Posted by Tallor View Post
Oh... a puppeteering intrigue. Now we just need a faction that's powerful and crazy enough to make that kind of move.
Or a single entity that has broad scope of power and influence. The parasites being the faction is a good idea. I was thinking, ever seen "Ghost in the Shell"?
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Old 08-09-2016, 01:09 AM   #16
Tallor
 
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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
I don't like creepypastas, they are generally silly, but you may find inspiration from this one: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...FwESpUGfDQtgGw
Actually, my idea was based on the RSE creepypasta, and its spiritual successor "Necrosleep"! :P

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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
A one time use drug that last forever is not going to be much use in cornering a market- inevitably everyone will get a dose eventually (removing sleep from the human condition altogether).

But sleep is important, its how we process daily memories, and perhaps more importantly it when our brains literally 'wash' breaking down harmful buildups.

Creatures that do not sleep get around this by selectively putting sections of their brain to sleep, or having very strong autonomous functions so that they can sleep on 'autopilot'.

The drug therefore must be intended to:
1. Selectively put some parts of the brain to sleep
2. Replicate the 'sleep functions' of sorting memories and breaking down harmful buildups
3. Allow the body to go into a more complete autopilot, saving the waking sentient brain for when real decision making is required.

The parasite was supposed to achieve #3, obviously something went wrong.... but what?
I imagine autopilot subjects aren't terribly fun to talk to. They could become semi-literal office zombies!

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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
Take it in a horror direction- all of the parasites are linked in a psychic gestalt, what went wrong was that there were enough of them to achieve group sentience- and they are pushing the brain into autopilot, and then piloting the body for there own ends. The series of unfortunate events that allowed the test to expand to the whole hospital was there parasite hive mind, making subtle psionic changes (push a vile here, cut a hole in a delivery tube there, etc)
That's genius. It reminds me of an old DF-style monster I based on the "Cranium Rats" from oooooold D&D. Basically just large-ish rats with psionic hive mind. More rats meant more smarts--which made them less likely to get into traps!

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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
The REAL challenge is that all of the minds of the people are now trapped, displaced from their bodies into a prison of the psychic gestalt; the only way to fix the problem, enter the gestalt and fight it from within- complete with altered landscapes and impossible physics in the mini astral-plane created by the parasites.

More worrisome, the hive-mind gets stronger with more members- if it can infect an entire planet it will become a super-mind, effectively a god, and from there it will be trivial to dominate a galaxy.

Critical point- The bodies are not just manic, they are CHANGING- if they remain infected their power grows, who knows what will happen if they can go weeks without sleep.
This would work really well with the cosmic horror theme I was going for with this adventure. I'm not sure how anyone could actually save someone from the parasite, though.

...WAIT.

What if there's a "failsafe" -- a nanoswarm designed specifically to find and eat the parasites? The heroes would have to dig deep into the place, find the lab, and pull the switch... before the parasite-zombie-folk get them! o.o

I'll need to think of a good name for the failsafe. Maybe the Sandman Protocol, since it also results in everyone passing out.

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Bonus points- if you ever wanted to let your PCs gain some psi powers entering the gestalt and fighting the hive mind then coming back to their formerly infected bodies they can find some useful alterations to how their mind works.
I'd definitely add psionic abilities to my heroes given the chance. And maybe an adventure hook to get a hold on their new psionics before the Elder Things reach out to them.

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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
Alternate- There is no reason this must be a psychic phenomenon, it could just as easily be eldritch forces slowly weakening the barriers between this universe and the beyond through their attachment to sleepless bodies. Instead of a group mind the gestalt is the 'lead' for an incomprehensible eldritch horror, and entering a true altered reality may be required to fight it.
If Elder Things reach out to sapient creatures in their dreams, it makes perfect sense to reach deeper to those with psionic abilities, especially telepathy.
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Old 08-09-2016, 06:59 PM   #17
Tallor
 
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Bumping this thread since game night is tomorrow...
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Old 08-10-2016, 02:51 AM   #18
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Please, tell us wich of the different alternatives did you choose and what happened during the session. :)
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Old 08-10-2016, 03:08 AM   #19
simply Nathan
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Originally Posted by Nymdok View Post
If Homo Sapiens are Sapient, then scolecoids (worms) might call them selves scolecient. Vermiforms might consider Vermient, but I thought that sounded too much like Vermin.
Actually if they had the same language we do, somehow, they would also have given themselves "sapiens" in the taxonomy for their own species name because of what these word actually mean.
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Old 08-10-2016, 05:54 PM   #20
Tallor
 
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Please, tell us wich of the different alternatives did you choose and what happened during the session. :)
I'll be gaming soon, but here's the notes
  • The station is situated on a small planetoid revolving around a gas giant. Gravity is low and there's no artificial gravity quite yet (though I may change that. I'm not sure)
  • Hospital was supposed to be active today, but an unknown threat caused a lockdown that hasn't been reported yet. It's been quiet for two weeks.
  • The adventurers should do their best to not kill any of the "zombies" around the place, since there's a tiny chance they can live due to...
  • The Sandman Protocol. It's a failsafe that pumps nanotech into the whole facility. The nanobots are airborne and specifically target the parasites. It's the only way to actually stop them! The protocol is named so because the parasites cause sleeplessness, and when they're nullified, everyone passes out as they recover.
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