Anti-critters

[fmitchell]

Just for the heck of it, I started brainstorming inversions of traditional creatures of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.

From previously-published sources I know of:

• Nilbogs from AD&D's Fiend Folio, goblin-like creatures healed by physical damage and harmed by healing magic,
  
• Nilmergs from RuneQuest (2nd edition), tiny creatures with an instinct for repairing machines,

So far I've come up with the anti-vampire, which needs to donate its blood every few days or grow progressively weaker. Its blood magically heals wounds or diseases of a comparable humanoid, or, if the humanoid is in perfect health, grants a burst of energy that translates into increased strength, increased speed, or a resistance to disease. However, imbibing anti-vampire blood too often could turn the user into an anti-vampire, compelled to give his own blood away. Since most people -- especially in a medieval world -- regard this as weird and disgusting, anti-vampires are more often persecuted than sought after.

Another vague idea, inspired by Doctor Who, is the "inverse Daleks". Version A is a race of tiny creature encased in a metal shell, who, after surviving a genocidal war, now prowl the galaxy trying to prevent wars and save inferior species from extinction. Version B is a race of huge, brutish creatures with computer implants in their heads to help them think; radiation and biological weapons left over from their genocidal war made them nigh-unkillable but would have reduced them to non-sapience had their implants not taken over. (Version B might also count as "inverse-Cybermen".)

Anyone have any other ideas?

[Brian Vilarino]

Interesting idea. I'm not totally sure it would work though. As with just about anything, opposites attract. If you have a Vampire that needs to drain blood to survive and then an Anti-Vampire that needs to give its blood away, I would think that they would seek each other out. This would stop the need for regular vampires to drink the blood of other creatures.

However, I think one scenario that might work with Anti-creatures would be to have them be a minority of sorts. Maybe there be one of it's kind and all of the regular creatures of that type are seeking it out for it's power. Characters could be hired to protect the anti-creature from it's opposite.

[fmitchell]

Interesting idea. I'm not totally sure it would work though. As with just about anything, opposites attract. If you have a Vampire that needs to drain blood to survive and then an Anti-Vampire that needs to give its blood away, I would think that they would seek each other out. This would stop the need for regular vampires to drink the blood of other creatures.

Maybe if you put it in D&D terms, Vampires draw their energy from the Negative Energy Plane, and Anti-Vampires from the Positive Energy Plane. So one of several things can happen:

• Like matter and anti-matter, vampires and anti-vampires would annihilate each other if one tried to feed off the other.
  
• Vampires don't draw sustenance from anti-vampires, and anti-vampires don't find relief from vampires. Both require ordinary living organisms.
  
• A vampire would cure an anti-vampire, and vice-versa.
  
• An anti-vampire would lose his curse and become an ordinary mortal again, but a vampire would die the true death.
  
• Contrariwise, a vampire would become an ordinary mortal (as per the D&D resurrection spell), but an anti-vampire, deprived of the positive energy that kept him alive, would wither and die.
  
• Any of the above could happen, which is why neither party wants to attempt the experiment.

[Brian Vilarino]

I like the idea of the anit-creature (or the actual creature) loose it's template per se. It would definately give either one a reason to stay away from the other. I like the contrary idea as well. I think that that would actually work better. Using the vampires as an example, it could actually make for a good adventure. You have a vampire that didn't want to be a vampire in the first place. So, he decides he finally wants to die. In order to do that he needs to become human again and searches for an Anti-Vampire. Of course, the characters are there to protect the anti-vampire and so it goes.

[rabkala]

A better idea, is to just get rid of the original creature and insert the anti-creature. Give the players a surprise or two in your world.

The jackal-were in D&D were kind of anti-creatures. They had the normal animal shape but could turn into humans.

[DungeonMaster]

I absolutely love that idea....anti-creatures....nice!!! That gave me a mental hard-on.

[fmitchell]

That gave me a mental ____-__.

There's an image I never want to encounter again.

[templeorder]

I've used this sort of thing to great effect before. I even have something like it in my current campaign... to make a long story short, the nest they steal from is guarded by a hive-like community of spiders that heal and close wounds with their webbing (i've used ants that heal before too), the ancient mother at the center will direct her people to capture that PCs who will of course fight against them. If the PC's figure it out, the spiders can heal them and their webbing can be used as bandages that heal against the real culprits - the venerable looking and seemingly defenseless bovine like race that sent them on their mission.