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Old 07-01-2020, 07:52 AM   #41
Shadekeep
 
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

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Vance was undenyably versatile, few authors could write both Ellery Queen and Dying Earth...
Just so. And he was also a jazz musician.
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Old 07-03-2020, 08:48 PM   #42
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

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No Chitin: I acknowledges Dragon Masters first, right in the front of the game, then The Last Castle, and Hellstrom's Hive.
Augh. Thanks. I had forgotten Hellstrom's Hive. Gave me nightmares, that did.
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Old 09-02-2020, 04:27 PM   #43
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Default Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

I'm Necroposting, but I have a homebrew sword and planet game that I revived from its 1979-80 version,and I have Bugs in it. They are one of the more fun groups of NPCs...

1.3.5 Isopterans (Bugs): These eusocial insect like creatures gather in Hives. They exercise tremendous control of their own genetic makeup and each Queen can create new Queens, Thinkers, Soldiers, and Workers. Some Hives have learned from their contact with other races and can create specialized functions – Engineer, Elite soldier, philosopher, etc. While each creature retains some individual traits only some castes have high enough functions to truly be considered individuals in the human sense. In addition, each colony has its own colonial intelligence and some of these hive minds are very smart and long lived.

In order to relate to outsiders Isopterans long ago became dedicated Communists. Each Hive adopts a different Marxist ideology which to some extent governs the Hive’s behavior. Some Isopterans break off from their Hive and live with other races – these retrograde bourgeois individualists may be encountered in cities and exhibit the most individuation of any Bug. Some of the oldest colonies believe that there was once one single great Hive that was shattered by the brutality of invasion by the alien Illerians when they arrived to terraform the world. Philosopher caste Isopterans speculate that their adoption of Marxism with its teleological end goal of communist society is grasping at the reconstruction of a super Hive.

Here are a few of the larger Hives that are known in the region.

Juche/Self Reliance Hive: This insect colony on the edge of the Western edge of the Cracks has adopted the harsh isolationist doctrine of Juche/Suryong (Leader based, North Korean style) communism as its guiding tenant. The Colony has largely cut itself off from the larger world, does not engage in trade, and executes seemingly random attacks on all outside forces. These attacks are demonstrations of jawai – a commitment to aggression as the best form of self-defense. The Colony does allow passage through its territory for a fee but groups passing through are sometimes are requisitioned by the colony as food or serfs, which makes travel a risky proposition at best. Travelers who have made the trek report finding statues and shrines to the Suryong – or “dear leader” along the roads.

This Hive is despised by other Bugs who criticize its quasi-religious elements as “false consciousness,” hearkening back to the days when Queens ran everything. Juche Hive is also hated and feared by the Neanderthal and Reptoids unfortunate enough to live near it. The Edil have tried several times to organize a crusade of extermination against this noxious Hive but it was always considered too much trouble to destroy due to its relative remoteness. In some ways Jurche hive buffers the region from monstrous incursions from the Cracks.

Red Autarkist Hive: This large Hive holds to a strict vision of rural empowerment and glorifies food production. The Hive deliberately restricts Bug castes with higher thinking ability, so there are less Thinkers and no high-level caste bugs, no Thinking Soldiers, Philosophers, Artisans or Engineers. This has led to a poorer weaker Hive over time, even resulting in some famines. The Red Autarkist Hive is inwardly focused and rarely interacts with the outside world, but members can be extremely aggressive when encountered.

Three Represents Hive: A newly reorganized large Hive in the wastes between Mizzete and the Glass Tree this colony uses Maoist rhetoric but applies a very pragmatic mercantilist logic to its actions. The Colony is especially interested in infrastructure and trade and is rebuilding an old road that connects them to the larger trade routes between the three cities. Soldiers from this Hive protect the roads and these Bugs generally have a good relationship with the Convoys. Three Represents Hive produces some finished goods as well as food. This Hive is of growing importance to the system of trade in the land, currently they are helpful to the trading families, but some naysayers speculate that if they rebuild the roads that’s just one step away from controlling the roads. Recently the Hive established a “development bank” which makes loans in the cities for infrastructure projects. Some of the Trading Families view this with alarm, others with approval.

Socialist League Hive: This Colony located near DOME 7 is inspired by the work of William Morris and places a strong emphasis on the production of arts and crafts. The group is much less rigid in its ideology than the other Hives. They have an unusually independent Thinker/Artist class called “Ruskins” that has emerged over the last few hundred years. This colony allows human and Reptoid to participate in their work and some non-Bug artisans join one of the Hive’s many artisan co-operatives. Arts and high-quality household goods produced by this Hive are in high demand throughout the North. Occasionally works of real artistic genius appear here. This hive accepts individual difference and nuance more than any other, its higher caste members are more able to communicate with other intelligent creatures.

Last edited by DrewAstolfi67; 09-02-2020 at 09:30 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 09-07-2020, 10:04 AM   #44
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DrewAstolfi67 View Post
I'm Necroposting, but I have a homebrew sword and planet game that I revived from its 1979-80 version,and I have Bugs in it. They are one of the more fun groups of NPCs...

1.3.5 Isopterans (Bugs): These eusocial insect like creatures gather in Hives. They exercise tremendous control of their own genetic makeup and each Queen can create new Queens, Thinkers, Soldiers, and Workers. Some Hives have learned from their contact with other races and can create specialized functions – Engineer, Elite soldier, philosopher, etc. While each creature retains some individual traits only some castes have high enough functions to truly be considered individuals in the human sense. In addition, each colony has its own colonial intelligence and some of these hive minds are very smart and long lived.

In order to relate to outsiders Isopterans long ago became dedicated Communists. Each Hive adopts a different Marxist ideology which to some extent governs the Hive’s behavior. Some Isopterans break off from their Hive and live with other races – these retrograde bourgeois individualists may be encountered in cities and exhibit the most individuation of any Bug. Some of the oldest colonies believe that there was once one single great Hive that was shattered by the brutality of invasion by the alien Illerians when they arrived to terraform the world. Philosopher caste Isopterans speculate that their adoption of Marxism with its teleological end goal of communist society is grasping at the reconstruction of a super Hive.
This is really neat! It's different from the Hymenopterans in that it's more of a race than a group of "monsters". It reminds me of Traveller's Droyne (which I loved as a kid).

I never made the link between hives and Communism. In my opinion, full-on Communism or Socialism could never work for humans because the larger the population, the radically worse the inequities will be, and government can't affect that (see "Scale," by Geoffrey West for why this happens), and you also have those sticky issues of greed, selfishness, and other types of corruption.

An alien species, however, might actually pull it off and volunteer to clean sewers or attend years and years of school with no reward other than "doing the right thing" (true Communism as opposed to Socialism). The idea of combining castes with Communism seemed kind of strange to me at first but in a government where there is no money and everyone takes only what they need (no greed) and volunteers to work for free and help everyone in need (no selfishness), maybe biological castes would actually make that work.

Nothing says top-down control like a hive but If they really are Communist, the bugs would have to have free will (otherwise "Communist" is meaningless). If none of these bugs ever have a desire to improve their lives at the expense of others, I wonder what their personalities would be like.

Very interesting stuff to play with at the table!
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Old 09-07-2020, 11:28 AM   #45
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

These vegetal creatures from the New Monsters thread fill the niche of Hymenopterans.

Last edited by Shostak; 09-07-2020 at 01:37 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 09-07-2020, 01:02 PM   #46
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

Shadekeep's first 2019 Dungeon of the Month featured a nice Hymenopteran analogue, the Mellipheon: https://shadekeep.com/files/dotm/DOT...Mellipheon.pdf
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Old 09-27-2020, 11:36 AM   #47
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

Quote:
An alien species, however, might actually pull it off and volunteer to clean sewers or attend years and years of school with no reward other than "doing the right thing" (true Communism as opposed to Socialism). The idea of combining castes with Communism seemed kind of strange to me at first but in a government where there is no money and everyone takes only what they need (no greed) and volunteers to work for free and help everyone in need (no selfishness), maybe biological castes would actually make that work.

Nothing says top-down control like a hive but If they really are Communist, the bugs would have to have free will (otherwise "Communist" is meaningless). If none of these bugs ever have a desire to improve their lives at the expense of others, I wonder what their personalities would be like.

Very interesting stuff to play with at the table!
Thanks Zot! I got the idea for this from a Charles Stross story called Missle Gap...its great!

The Bugs make for really fun NPCs. The Three Represents Hive is based on modern China, where my sister in law is from. They are shrewd business bugs, and are sometimes criticized for abandoning communist ideals. They are even more cut throat than the merchants.

There is a Juvenile Queen living in the city that serves as home base for the players who is masquerading as a human, and studying human society. She is a sometime patron for the PCs.

Last edited by Andrew Hackard; 09-27-2020 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 09-28-2020, 11:54 AM   #48
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Default Re: Who will replace the Hymenopterans?

I'm loving the giant ants in Hexagram 5; maybe a smarter than average nest of those bad boys could be a good stand in for the Hymenopterans?
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