Swarm Lord O.C.C.

[taalismn]

Yeah, Slappy knocked this one out of the park. Chucks artwork for it is simply amazing too.

Ah, I can imagine! Can hardly wait...
Need something to tide me over until the next Robotech books emerge....

[Princedarkstorm]

Cool! Looking forward to reading it!

[Blackbunny2]

Someone give me a pointer here! If you buy locusts for 35 bio -e you get 50 of them?
How do I calculate dmg for that? or can you only release bugs in waves of 20-40-60 etc?

[The Galactus Kid]

I would allow you to release 10 of them. You would roll the damage from a swarm of 20 and divide it in half. I use the swarm lord in my weekly game as an NPC and I'm waiting for a player to roll one up because they can be pretty disgusting. Personally, though, I'll wait for the Rifter to come out so they can roll one up "by the book"

[NMI]

Got Rifter #51 today.
2 new O.C.C.'s
1 is the "Metamorph" - will review in a separate thread.
The other is our beloved Swarm Lord.
First off, let me say that the picture on page 32 [and all of Chuck's art] KICKS BUTT!!!! Damn boy, you got some skillz!
Second, I have not completely compared the Swarm Lord as it appears in the Rifter vs. how it appears in this thread, but...




.... we do get 1 new Hive Insect [I could have sworn others said there were 2]

The Hive Insect is the: Flybys
Basically they are like high-speed, razor sharp, flying fletchette rounds or arrowheads!
Damage: based on the size of the swarm
Bonuses: very accurate in their attacks and extremely agile
Bio-E Cost: 25 per 50 insects
Special Bio-E Enhancements:
* High Frequency Blades: Double damage
* Hardened Carapace: increase M.D.C. of swarm by 50%, due to higher survivability, increase duration of attack by 50%
* Increased Size: 4-5 times larger then standard. Double M.D.C., less destroyed when attacked, however increased size reduces speed.
* Enhanced Flight speed: speed increased by 40%, accuracy of attacks is also slightly increased.
Base damage starts at with a swarm of 20 doing 3D4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4 melees with an area of affect of 25' upwards to a swarm of 100 insects dealing 4D6+4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4+2 melees affecting up to a 75' area. Additional bugs beyond this increase the area of affect.

I purposely did not give full details. They are pretty cool!

[Princedarkstorm]

Waiting for mine in the mail !

[slappy]

Got Rifter #51 today.
2 new O.C.C.'s
1 is the "Metamorph" - will review in a separate thread.
The other is our beloved Swarm Lord.
First off, let me say that the picture on page 32 [and all of Chuck's art] KICKS BUTT!!!! Damn boy, you got some skillz!
Second, I have not completely compared the Swarm Lord as it appears in the Rifter vs. how it appears in this thread, but...




.... we do get 1 new Hive Insect [I could have sworn others said there were 2]

The Hive Insect is the: Flybys
Basically they are like high-speed, razor sharp, flying fletchette rounds or arrowheads!
Damage: based on the size of the swarm
Bonuses: very accurate in their attacks and extremely agile
Bio-E Cost: 25 per 50 insects
Special Bio-E Enhancements:
* High Frequency Blades: Double damage
* Hardened Carapace: increase M.D.C. of swarm by 50%, due to higher survivability, increase duration of attack by 50%
* Increased Size: 4-5 times larger then standard. Double M.D.C., less destroyed when attacked, however increased size reduces speed.
* Enhanced Flight speed: speed increased by 40%, accuracy of attacks is also slightly increased.
Base damage starts at with a swarm of 20 doing 3D4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4 melees with an area of affect of 25' upwards to a swarm of 100 insects dealing 4D6+4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4+2 melees affecting up to a 75' area. Additional bugs beyond this increase the area of affect.

I purposely did not give full details. They are pretty cool!

Thank you thank you. I did have another bug type lined up called the Spit Bug but it felt a little redundant. At first I wanted them to deliver the viral immobilizer liquid to incapacitate targets but the Weavers already took care of this need. Then I figured have them release a spray of acid but once again they pretty much copied the Stingers. I may eventually add another bug type to the forums. I think the Spit Bug may still work with the same liquid from Spore Dischargers.

The Swarm Lord has always been a favorite but the Metamorph is a new personal fave as well. I hope people like it. Chuck's art alone makes it well worth it.

[slappy]

Someone give me a pointer here! If you buy locusts for 35 bio -e you get 50 of them?
How do I calculate dmg for that? or can you only release bugs in waves of 20-40-60 etc?

Yeah you get 50 but you generally want to release smaller swarms to save "ammo." Although I must admit not having damage for 10 was an oversight. You can always get with your GM to agree on damage amounts for odd numbers. You can see in the damage for each insect there is a sliding scale. Going from 20 to 40 increases damage from 5D8 to 8D8. To go down to 10 I would make it 3D8. I hope that example helps. I'll give my opinion on any specific example you have.

[NMI]

Someone give me a pointer here! If you buy locusts for 35 bio -e you get 50 of them?
How do I calculate dmg for that? or can you only release bugs in waves of 20-40-60 etc?

Yeah you get 50 but you generally want to release smaller swarms to save "ammo." Although I must admit not having damage for 10 was an oversight. You can always get with your GM to agree on damage amounts for odd numbers. You can see in the damage for each insect there is a sliding scale. Going from 20 to 40 increases damage from 5D8 to 8D8. To go down to 10 I would make it 3D8. I hope that example helps. I'll give my opinion on any specific example you have.

you figure that if a swarm of 20 did 5D8 M.D. [max 40 M.D.]. then a swarm of 10 would do half the damage, in this case 5D4 M.D. ?

[Shark_Force]

the even lazier way would be to simply roll full damage for a swarm of 20, and divide by 2.

[Premier]

Got Rifter #51 today.
2 new O.C.C.'s
1 is the "Metamorph" - will review in a separate thread.
The other is our beloved Swarm Lord.
First off, let me say that the picture on page 32 [and all of Chuck's art] KICKS BUTT!!!! Damn boy, you got some skillz!
Second, I have not completely compared the Swarm Lord as it appears in the Rifter vs. how it appears in this thread, but...




.... we do get 1 new Hive Insect [I could have sworn others said there were 2]

The Hive Insect is the: Flybys
Basically they are like high-speed, razor sharp, flying fletchette rounds or arrowheads!
Damage: based on the size of the swarm
Bonuses: very accurate in their attacks and extremely agile
Bio-E Cost: 25 per 50 insects
Special Bio-E Enhancements:
* High Frequency Blades: Double damage
* Hardened Carapace: increase M.D.C. of swarm by 50%, due to higher survivability, increase duration of attack by 50%
* Increased Size: 4-5 times larger then standard. Double M.D.C., less destroyed when attacked, however increased size reduces speed.
* Enhanced Flight speed: speed increased by 40%, accuracy of attacks is also slightly increased.
Base damage starts at with a swarm of 20 doing 3D4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4 melees with an area of affect of 25' upwards to a swarm of 100 insects dealing 4D6+4 M.D.C. per melee for 1D4+2 melees affecting up to a 75' area. Additional bugs beyond this increase the area of affect.

I purposely did not give full details. They are pretty cool!

Glad you got the Rifter 51 as I was wondering who all else got their copy by now. Definitely curious about reviews on the Metamorph O.C.C.(lets hear them please...).

Thank You for the compliments and I'm glad you guys liked the Swarmlord illustration! I had to really bust my butt for this OCC because I knew it was a fan fav from the history on the boards. I enjoyed the outcome, but not the continous work involved up to that point, . Lets just say "bugs" is still a bad word in my house. We (Slappy & I) wanted to some how showcase the Hive Armor underneath the insect swarms, but also give some examples of what it would look like with insects crawling all over it, so we did it in sections.
(NO WAY I WAS DRAWING A BEFORE & AFTER in the same YEAR!!!) The Hive Armor' s lower legs and left upper arm are "swarmed" (Swarmlord talk for being completely covered), but the other sections are exposed. This way the Players/GMs know basically what the Hive Amror looks like underneath the mass of insects. Once it is all said and done the Swarmlord really wouldn't have much of anything exposed (perhaps eyes, fingers and the soles of his feet) and will be completelly swarmed. I imagine even hand held rifles and weapons would be swarmed eventually.

Re: The additional Hive insects:
yeah I knew/suspected Slappy conjured up a few more goodies, but wasn't sure how many were going to be in the final cut. The Fly bys really caught me off guard and reading them and their bio-upgrade potentials put images in my head of what they could be doing in assassinations & overall combat. OH man... The Swarmlord is just a nasty O.C.C. to contend with in every regard. If Slappy adds the spitters or any other insect, I am certain the Swarmlord will be one of those, "man... now what ALL.... does this guy have" type encounters. Actually, come to think about it, it all ready is one of those. I think I remember GK talking about how many dice he rolled at the POH 2010 when the Swarmlord got involved and it was frightening to imagine such an onslaught. Certainly a great option for NPCs to threaten the players with. The visuals of this OCC are just wicked to imagine with all of those various insects and colorations constantly buzzing, humming and crawling all over something as large as an HA.

[Blackbunny2]

Well, for releasing 10 I was wondering about the Damage over time component?

Premier, Is it possible for you to put the swarmlord art on DA? Stil waiting for my 51, takes a while to get a copy in norway:D

[NMI]

I would say keep the duration the same @ 1D6 melees or if you feel that must lower the duration, drop it down to 1D4.

[Premier]

Premier, Is it possible for you to put the swarmlord art on DA? Stil waiting for my 51, takes a while to get a copy in norway:D

Here ya go BB2.
http://madjaguar.deviantart.com/#/d2uwvic

I also put up a few of the Metamorph illustrations in my gallery

[Blackbunny2]

My god, so much awesome!

[slappy]

Well, for releasing 10 I was wondering about the Damage over time component?

Premier, Is it possible for you to put the swarmlord art on DA? Stil waiting for my 51, takes a while to get a copy in norway:D

I would do 1D4+1 rounds at 3D8 M.D. Per round.

[The Galactus Kid]

WHATS UP SLAPPY!?! Way to return to the Splicers world with a bang. The article was great and I'm really looking forward to more stuff in the future.

[NMI]

WHATS UP SLAPPY!?! Way to return to the Splicers world with a bang. The article was great and I'm really looking forward to more stuff in the future.

He was never gone. No spaceships or dimensional magic to allow him to leave. He has merely been "hiding" out in Warlord Artemis's haven researching and preparing to kick the poop out of the Machine!

[slappy]

Oh I've been around. Just had to force myself to keep from sharing everything I've been writing.

[demos606]

Does tend to be difficult to get things provided to the board into print.

[Premier]

Does tend to be difficult to get things provided to the board into print.

Tell Us about it, we have so... many things developed that we know wont fit into the first sourcebook.

[Princedarkstorm]

Cool OOC ! LOng Live the Great Houses !!!

[TechnoGothic]

Always like the idea of the Swarm Lords. Saw Chuck's art for it at last. WOW.

What is sad, it took PB years to print this awesome concept for us.

[Premier]

Always like the idea of the Swarm Lords. Saw Chuck's art for it at last. WOW.

What is sad, it took PB years to print this awesome concept for us.

Thanks TechnoGothic, glad you liked the artwork an the Swarmlord has always been a fan fav of mine as well. I think however that you will see a strong flux of Splicers material in the time to come. I can tell you that there is ton of material being produced or already produced to fill 2-3 sourcebooks and there is a ton more that will be cranked out. The key is that Splicers fans need to push their demand for the product to Palladiumbooks and to introduce other gamers to the setting. I have found that many fans at the POH wish they could play or get their GM to run a campaign but it just doesn't happen because of the comfort zone with other settings. However, once they taste the Splice, they regret sleeping on it as long as they did. Hopefully when product is released it will draw in more fans to build the demand. The key IMHO is also setting preservation as the setting grows and blossoms. This game should be carefully groomed and only top-notch quality material furnished.

[Shark_Force]

Always like the idea of the Swarm Lords. Saw Chuck's art for it at last. WOW.

What is sad, it took PB years to print this awesome concept for us.

Thanks TechnoGothic, glad you liked the artwork an the Swarmlord has always been a fan fav of mine as well. I think however that you will see a strong flux of Splicers material in the time to come. I can tell you that there is ton of material being produced or already produced to fill 2-3 sourcebooks and there is a ton more that will be cranked out. The key is that Splicers fans need to push their demand for the product to Palladiumbooks and to introduce other gamers to the setting. I have found that many fans at the POH wish they could play or get their GM to run a campaign but it just doesn't happen because of the comfort zone with other settings. However, once they taste the Splice, they regret sleeping on it as long as they did. Hopefully when produce is released it will draw in more fans to build the demand. The key IMHO is also setting preservation as the setting grows and blossoms. This game should be carefully groomed and only top-notch quality material furnished.

and this is why presence at conventions can be a big deal.

[The Galactus Kid]

I will have to say that the presence of quality Splicers material in Rifters 50 and 51 really got some people interested. There were a handful of people in the Christmas in July grab bag thread saying they wanted and got Splicers. We just need to keep it coming.

[TechnoGothic]

THE SPLCE MUST FLOW !!!!!

[The Galactus Kid]

I think I'm going to work on an article for Rifter 53 (not the horror issue since it is too close to the deadline, if not past). My brother in law and I have a number of ideas so we would just have to narrow it down to just one. Maybe its time to finally see the engineers and librarians...hmm....

[Princedarkstorm]

I am going with playing a Swarm Lord in the next time Splicers is run by my group! Or have them encounter one when I run it!

[Premier]

I am going with playing a Swarm Lord in the next time Splicers is run by my group! Or have them encounter one when I run it!

I figured I would check in and see how your Swarmlord encounters or player are coming along?

Also, What Bug options and upgrades did you go with?

[Princedarkstorm]

I am going with playing a Swarm Lord in the next time Splicers is run by my group! Or have them encounter one when I run it!

I figured I would check in and see how your Swarmlord encounters or player are coming along?

Also, What Bug options and upgrades did you go with?

So far I have not been able to play due to work or other Real Life issues but I will keep you posted!

[vaporsight]

I just noticed something as I was rolling up a swarm lord, the swarm lord doesn't get host armor pilot as one of their occ skill programs. Was this left out on purpose? I assumed the hive armor is still considered a host armor, yes?

[The Galactus Kid]

I just noticed something as I was rolling up a swarm lord, the swarm lord doesn't get host armor pilot as one of their occ skill programs. Was this left out on purpose? I assumed the hive armor is still considered a host armor, yes?

Good catch. I need to go back and see what I did for my NPC.

[Princedarkstorm]

Well the players were freaked out by the bugs .They liked the firepower of the Swarm Lord .One of them is thinking about making one now .GRIN

[The Galactus Kid]

Well the players were freaked out by the bugs .They liked the firepower of the Swarm Lord .One of them is thinking about making one now .GRIN

AWESOME!!! Let us know how it goes.

[slappy]

I just noticed something as I was rolling up a swarm lord, the swarm lord doesn't get host armor pilot as one of their occ skill programs. Was this left out on purpose? I assumed the hive armor is still considered a host armor, yes?

That was intentional. If you look in the Splicers book you'll see that only Dreadguard get that as a standard program because they are best of the best. That doesn't mean you can't select that pilot skill as an elective.

[Princedarkstorm]

lightning bugs

[darkguyver]

What the experience table for swarm lord.

[darkguyver]

Use the exp table slappy said that fits it uses Biotic & Packmaster exp talb
METAMORPH & SWARMLORD
Levell: 0,000 - 1,950
Level 2: 1,951 - 3,900
Level 3: 3,901 - 8,600
Level 4: 8,601 - 17,600
Level 5: 17,601 - 25,600
Level 6: 25,601 - 35,600
Level 7: 35,601 - 50,600
Level 8: 50,601 - 70,600
Level 9: 70,601 - 95,600
Level 10: 95,601 - 129,900
Level 11: 129,901-179,960
Level 12: 179,961 - 229,960
Levell3: 229,961 - 279,960
Level 14: 279,961 - 329,960
Level 15: 329,961 - 389,961

[darkguyver]

been written one up I think need special sheet made for hive insects what you think.So this update is Swarm Lord Sheet over all
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=8 ... file%2cpdf

[darkguyver]

I created a character sheet for the hive insect. I'm going to uploaded to the skydrive. https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=9 ... peiTbn99tE
If corrections are needed please go ahead and do what ever corrections are needed.

[ragancy]

Hi, sorry for the english (its not my main language).

Im running a splicer adventure and someone from my group made a swarmlord (love the occ), but when i helped him make it i found a problem, i could not find the range of the insects attacks, i mean i know they hit auto if the target is slower than the insect but lets say the target is faster, then if i read right u need a to hit roll but i dont read anything about range....a target could be 500 yards away or 2000 yards away and its the same?

Impact bugs got an effective range of 1500 yards but thats the only bug i found with a range stat, if i use a lighting bug and the targets runs faster then the bug whast the range?....did i miss something?

thx for the help

[slappy]

That's the concept of living, self-guided ammo. The range doesn't matter. Impact Beetles have range because they move so fast they operate like a bullet. The rest of the bugs adjust their trajectory continuously to reach their target.

[slappy]

Why would I be insulted by flattery?

Thank you very much. I think it would be even more fun in HU with insect control powers. You should check out the four horsemen in Rifts Africa for ideas there as well. Lot of cool stuff the works better in an SDC game.

[Shark_Force]

unless i'm remembering wrong, by default all host armours have "splicer strength" which is essentially the exact same thing as robotic strength, minus the robots

(it can be upgraded, however, so you could in theory have a host armour with supernatural strength... i don't think a typical swarm lord would focus on that though)

[darkguyver]

we got make stats for this Cook Strait Giant Wetas http://youtu.be/E1wWmG0lUbs this be to cool to pass up

[abe]

if you included bees you could have both attack & binding power! (attack from the bee's stinger & binding power from the bee's wax secretions!)

[Premier]

if you included bees you could have both attack & binding power! (attack from the bee's stinger & binding power from the bee's wax secretions!)

Actually Slappy has these functions already covered very effectively and yet not overwhelming by putting too much into one species of Hive Insect. This makes the player think more strategic with their decisions of how they invest and customize their hive options:

Stingers
Stingers are shaped a little bit different than normal Hive Insects. The hard carapace covering the insect’s back comes to a single hard point above its head. This razor sharp spike is actually a hollow tube that allows the Stinger to inject its target with a powerful organic acid. The acid is incredibly damaging to metallic alloys and inorganic materials, but is relatively harmless to living tissue (no damage, just mild skin irritation). The acid acts like the insect’s blood, so this complete disgorging of all the bug’s vital fluids is always fatal. The acidic blood is also the reason why Stingers are more likely to inflict damage. Even if the target swats and kills scores of bugs before they can inject their stinger, their blood will still eat away at their prey.

Flight Speed: 70 mph.
• High Frequency Stinger Blade: The sharp spike the Stingers use to inject their acid payload can be Bio-Enhanced with a high-frequency field. This allows the little bugs to stab the injection tube deeper into their target before they release their corrosive liquid. Increase damage inflicted by a Stinger (or a swarm of Stingers) by 50 percent.
• Enhanced Flight Speed: Stingers can receive larger, more powerful wings that allow them to achieve much greater flight speeds. Increase flight speed to 100 mph.

Weavers
Weavers look like two-inch long spiders with wings. Despite their small size, they can create a mega-damage webbing that is strong enough to hold the most powerful opponents. Their sole purpose is to quickly immobilize difficult prey so that it can be dealt with by allies. Just a handful of Weavers can incapacitate a human-sized target in seconds, and large swarms can even disable giant hunter/killer robots like Assault Slayers and Battle Tracks. Lone Weavers are nearly worthless, but swarms of them are incredibly effective. On a successful strike, the swarm begins to wrap the target in super-strong webbing. Larger targets take longer to incapacitate, but once the Weavers begin, it is nearly impossible to stop them. The only way to interrupt the process is to quickly kill the insects with a flame thrower or similar weapon. Of course, this is more likely to destroy the target then free it. These Hive Insects can also quickly weave barriers and seal shut doors, windows, or other access points. Weavers do not perform suicidal attacks like most Hive Insects, but they have no idea when the job is done. They will dutifully continue to apply webbing, even to a fallen opponent, until they eventually die of old age or are individually recollected by the Swarm Lord.

[abe]

diatary wise for their bio-suits you could have a netavore (a necter based diet of course)

[Premier]

diatary wise for their bio-suits you could have a netavore (a necter based diet of course)

Actually this does give me a great idea that I must inquire with Slappy due to your suggestion Abe:.

Could a Swarmlord actually have an insect type like a 3 inch honey bee that gathers nectar and produces a sweet nourishing honey that can be poured from the hive like a cooler tap to provide limited nourishment to humans, Biotics and Omnivore metabolisms? Maybe its like a stimdose boost or temporary steroid?
Perhaps if the nectar is extracted/taken from a Gardener's garden, it has even more potent effects?
Could such Honey bees help pollinate Gardens for better expansion and habitat assessments?

Just my 2 cents