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Inq. of the Week: Blub Blub Blub?

January 28, 2008 by Dave

Colossal Octopus from WikipediaThough they may not be able to survive in-game, Bards received the most votes for being able to survive into the next edition. I voted for them, but I have to say I’m quite surprised. Druids and Monks were right there too, which probably means that all three of these classes have a unique flavor not easily replicated by another class. We’ll just have to see who makes it into the final products.

This week, I give you a fairly irrelevant question. In my D&D game, I sent them out to sea for the first time, which almost always means combat of some kind. Thankfully this time the players didn’t guess the exact monster they’d be going up against, so I was able to send them up against a steam-breathing Dragon Turtle. The combat featured some ship-side artillery from the PCs, a friendly water elemental who was able to carry the PCs into melee, and one heroic leap onto the creature’s shell. (All keeping with the Rule of Cool, of course.) That, combined with everyone at the table (except for me) having recently seen Cloverfield, I came up with the strange question…

[poll id=”63″]

Some similar creatures have been combined, but pick your favorite depiction!

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Filed Under: Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Movies, Roleplaying Games, Science Fiction & Fantasy Genre Tagged With: sea monster

About Dave

Dave "The Game" Chalker is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Critical Hits. Since 2005, he has been bringing readers game news and advice, as well as editing nearly everything published here. He is the designer of the Origins Award-winning Get Bit!, a freelance designer and developer, son of a science fiction author, and a Master of Arts. He lives in MD with e and at least three dogs.

Comments

  1. Phil says

    January 28, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    Jaws FTW!

  2. joshx0rfz says

    January 29, 2008 at 12:32 am

    I actually haven’t seen Cloverfield either. I have however seen the monster and think it’s pretty stupid. It would probably be the same effect the aliens had whenever they used their second little mouthy guy. Something goes from being creepy and terrifying to silly.

    Anyway – I now like surfing on dragon turtles.

  3. steve says

    January 29, 2008 at 11:08 am

    I was stuck between the Kraken and Leviathan , I chose Leviathan because it covers more ground. It shows up in Asian culture, Greece, all freaking over.

    Oh and Nessy aint got sh*t on Leviathan!

  4. OriginalSultan says

    January 29, 2008 at 11:23 am

    Kraken! Kraken! Kraken!

    Not only are they evil by nature (alignment LE, if I recall correctly), they are also extremely intelligent (Int 21, I believe). Ridiculous! Good thing they don’t cast spells.

  5. OriginalSultan says

    January 29, 2008 at 11:25 am

    “Ahhh yes, loligo giganticus. With a razor sharp beak that can tear steel as easily as I tear a croissant. But at heart, he is a peaceful giant.” – Sealab 2021

  6. Reverend Mike says

    January 29, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    I <3 Krakens…

    They make great pets…

  7. The O says

    January 29, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    LOL Great quote Sultan. Game, you say you sorta combined/left out certain sea monsters, but there is a critical monster missed: the Zaratan….end of discussion.

    http://www.enworld.org/cc/converted/beast/zaratan.htm

    http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/aeg_gallery/50034.jpg

  8. The Game says

    January 30, 2008 at 12:55 am

    I didn’t consider the Zaratan a “sea monster”… it’s more like a landmass with hit points.

  9. OriginalSultan says

    January 30, 2008 at 9:51 am

    I agree with The O: Zaratans should have been included. They are one of the most ridiculous monsters ever!

  10. Bartoneus says

    January 30, 2008 at 10:07 am

    Hey Josh, where did you see the monster without seeing the movie? All I’ve found online are designs done by fans who hadn’t even seen the movie yet and are mostly inaccurate, so I wouldn’t be too judgmental about it until you see it.

  11. TheMainEvent says

    January 30, 2008 at 10:23 am

    The omission of a the Zaratan was disappointing. After all, you can easily run a Zaratan-based (free wheeling adventures riding their friendly Zaratan on the high seas)campaign, but probably not a Kraken-based campaign (unless you want a fantasy treatment of Moby Dick).

  12. The Game says

    January 30, 2008 at 3:31 pm

    There’s just no pleasing you guys sometimes…

    I added the Zaratan to go along with the other turtle-like critter. However, I still contend it’s not much of a sea-monster that you’d fight, more of a mobile island you vacation on and hope it doesn’t get frisky.

  13. Reverend Mike says

    January 30, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    Wait…there’s a possibility of a hostile island w/o a break DC?…

    Balderdash!…my giant nutcracker is useless here…

    Boy I hope html works here…

  14. Reverend Mike says

    January 30, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    Sweet…

  15. The Game says

    January 30, 2008 at 9:59 pm

    Rev- you routinely have hostile islands that can be broken? Sounds epic. Does that use Improved Improved Improved Sunder?

  16. Reverend Mike says

    January 31, 2008 at 1:06 am

    I accidentally make all my characters ideal for melee combat…and with the dead level option for fighters that Wizards did that one time, I usually end up investing greater ability to break things…

    I haven’t broken many islands, but the comparison of the Zaratan to one made me recall one of those ask wizards queries…

    “Does a planet have a break DC?”…

    As a doctor of planetary physics, I’d have to say they don’t…

  17. Reverend Mike says

    January 31, 2008 at 1:11 am

    Fun Fact: If an object is accelerated constantly by Earth’s gravity in a vacuum for an hour and a half, it will reach light speed…after that, it will start gaining mass…an object with the mass of a pack of cigarettes travelling at this velocity will create a release of energy approximately equal to the largest nuclear bomb ever tested on Earth…things get more interesting if you vary the object’s substance (adamantine, thermite, sphere of annihilation, etc.)…

    Thankfully, Gate can’t be cast in real life…otherwise, the DM Cannon would kill us all…

  18. OriginalSultan says

    January 31, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Anyone remember that character Jeremy made in 2nd edition D&D that would only speak 5 words at a time, unless he encountered a Zaratan in which case he would speak incessantly? Good concept.

  19. Bartoneus says

    January 31, 2008 at 11:47 am

    How much mass will your mom build up when she’s accelerated constantly by Earth’s gravity in a vacuum?

  20. Reverend Mike says

    January 31, 2008 at 11:52 am

    Depends on how long you leave her in there…

  21. Reverend Mike says

    February 1, 2008 at 1:39 am

    I like to kill jokes…

  22. Bartoneus says

    February 1, 2008 at 10:31 am

    Kill it? Nah, that was a perfect response. 😀

About the Author

  • Dave

    Dave "The Game" Chalker is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Critical Hits. Since 2005, he has been bringing readers game news and advice, as well as editing nearly everything published here. He is the designer of the Origins Award-winning Get Bit!, a freelance designer and developer, son of a science fiction author, and a Master of Arts. He lives in MD with e and at least three dogs.

    Email: dave@critical-hits.com

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