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Old 02-12-2019, 07:52 PM   #1
David L Pulver
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Default The Kraken

These are interesting creatures, but a few things are mysterious:

- How many hexes do they and their shell occupy?

- Can they move out of their shell? No MA listed, so maybe not...

- If a creature can breathe underwater, a Kraken can't seem to harm them, as their only attack involves drowning. Can they do HTH damage with tentacles, or strike with a beak or something?
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Old 02-12-2019, 09:38 PM   #2
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Default Re: The Kraken

At ST 60 it's got be at least three hexes. As it seems to be a Ammonite it ought to be able to jet around for a short period of time. No beak but but it ought to HTH at least as well as the octopus.
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Old 02-13-2019, 01:53 AM   #3
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Default Re: The Kraken

Quote:
Originally Posted by David L Pulver View Post
These are interesting creatures, but a few things are mysterious:

- How many hexes do they and their shell occupy?

- Can they move out of their shell? No MA listed, so maybe not...

- If a creature can breathe underwater, a Kraken can't seem to harm them, as their only attack involves drowning. Can they do HTH damage with tentacles, or strike with a beak or something?
Do Krakens have a shell??? I never visualized them that way before -- interesting!
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Old 02-13-2019, 08:36 AM   #4
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Default Re: The Kraken

I have seen with and without shell. But if they can drag down a ship, has to be 3+ megahexes.
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Old 02-13-2019, 01:22 PM   #5
David L Pulver
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Default Re: The Kraken

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Originally Posted by JLV View Post
Do Krakens have a shell??? I never visualized them that way before -- interesting!
It surprised me, too, but the rulebook says they lurk in a shell. I wonder if they might keep treasure there from victims they have pulled in and munched on?

I am putting a kraken in an underground pool in a labyrinth I am designing.

Given the emphasis on dragging people on land into the water, I wonder if the Kraken as described is supposed to represent the "watcher in the water" from Moria in Fellowship of the Rings.
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Old 02-13-2019, 03:44 PM   #6
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Default Re: The Kraken

What shell style will you use?
  • Curled up like a snail
  • Spiral unicorn horn
  • Clammy bivalve
  • Chaos turtle
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Old 02-14-2019, 03:06 AM   #7
JLV
 
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Default Re: The Kraken

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Originally Posted by David L Pulver View Post
It surprised me, too, but the rulebook says they lurk in a shell. I wonder if they might keep treasure there from victims they have pulled in and munched on?
Wow! I completely missed that! I guess my eyes sort of wandered past a lot of the monster descriptions after the first couple looked exactly like the originals...

Quote:
Originally Posted by David L Pulver View Post
I am putting a kraken in an underground pool in a labyrinth I am designing.

Given the emphasis on dragging people on land into the water, I wonder if the Kraken as described is supposed to represent the "watcher in the water" from Moria in Fellowship of the Rings.
That sounds reasonable as a supposition, though my objection would be that in classical literature the Kraken was so enormous it could haul down whole ships and their crews. I'd think if a "Watcher in the Water" was wanted, you'd do something a lot smaller for the purpose, and leave the actual Kraken to the deep waters. But hey, what do I know? ;-)
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Old 02-14-2019, 12:19 PM   #8
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Default Re: The Kraken

Quote:
Originally Posted by David L Pulver View Post
These are interesting creatures, but a few things are mysterious:

- How many hexes do they and their shell occupy?

- Can they move out of their shell? No MA listed, so maybe not...

- If a creature can breathe underwater, a Kraken can't seem to harm them, as their only attack involves drowning. Can they do HTH damage with tentacles, or strike with a beak or something?
I would have them be 7 hexes - for two reasons. The first is that Dark City Games has a paper miniature for a 7-hex Kraken available as a free download (as part of the Orcs of the High Mountain paper minis set). The second is that, at 60 ST, it just "feels" like a 7-hex critter.

I would think the Kraken would have two modes of movement- a "walk" using it's tentacles, and an "escape" jet, which must be in a straight line. Just for S&G. So if we give it an MA of 12, that lets it "walk" 6 and attack and "jet" 12.

For attacking - if it can't drown someone it grabs, it might just get bored and let them go. Or bash them against an undersea rock. But, I would expect a kraken to have a beak and a bite attack.
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Old 07-27-2020, 03:06 PM   #9
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Default Re: The Kraken

I always imagined these things as much larger than Melee scale.

https://theconversation.com/the-real...y-kraken-52058

I personally rank The Kraken as one The Named, like Leviathan, Jormungander, Big Bird and Godzilla.

It's kind of funny to see stats attached to it. :) YMMV
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Old 07-27-2020, 08:58 PM   #10
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Default Re: The Kraken

I've not used them much, but when I have, they were a megahex, and they were more or less like a giant nautilus with nastier tentacles. I gave them a beak with which to dice up meals, and I gave them MA 6.
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