Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Ankheg

[@mikegould6590]

I've run these guys as an "Alien Hive". I reskinned Giant Centipedes as "Ankheg Nymphs", used the standard Ankhag as a drone, and then had one Ankheg Queen (reskinned Black Dragon). To make it even more interesting, I made the mucus that sealed the eggs to the wall flammable, but the smoke created heavy obscurement and was slightly poisonous. That was a helluva game.

[@victorvaldez8869]

Here's an idea: quarter their size & hit points but give them camouflage & wings. That seems like a great variant for forested environments. They could nest in trees & need to partially dissolve their prey before bringing it back to nests in the canopy but much could remain the same. If you want to be really nasty throw in a scorpion tail with a paralyzing toxin as well as the last ditch effort of acid spit. As they are simple animals usage of a sting would be only something that could be done once every few hours before the venom sacs recovered.

[@ruhalajn]

Rewatching all of these during downtime working in COVID ICU. Thanks again, sir. Hope you guys are staying healthy down there.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah New Zealand is in total lockdown, we have a manageable situation down here thanks to effective and early leadership. I just want to pass on my respect and gratitude to you for the work you are doing, just as one human to another, thanks for protecting the species.

[@ruhalajn]

@@AJPickett ha thanks stay safe

[@almitrahopkins1873]

@@ruhalajn Bravo, sir or ma’am. I sure hope you’re still with us.

[@erroneous6947]

I’ve always liked the idea of chitin armor from giant crabs or insects. Should be really light in theory. Good for druids too.

[@mr.incorporeal7642]

This gave me trauma flashbacks of wandering into the wrong part of the map in Baldur's Gate 1.

[@drakeford4860]

Dwarven Forge Cleric Rule #1: "You can hold on to my axe, but the shield stays attached to my arm unless you want to be detached from your teeth." I'm also now imagining dwarven exterminators that hide inside cattle carcasses to be dragged down into Ankheg nest and clear out the bugs. Equal part badass and disgusting.

[@AJPickett]

That is a brilliant idea, I can totally see hard-bitten Dwarven rangers doing exactly that.

[@gerbill13]

@@AJPickett its how Xenomorph exterminators do it.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Thats so badass... "Aye ankhegs dig deep', but we dig deeper... Bunch of cheap amatures, not worth the bloody shells of their bachs..." Oh infact, you could have "ankheg" as a dwarven insult. When you think about it?

[@couchcommandoiv5528]

Am I the only person who remembers the ankheg armor from Baldur's Gate? It was lightweight, acid-resistant "plate" armor that druids could wear

[@alivecoy]

thats sick. was it light armor or just had properties of being lighter like mithril did?

[@couchcommandoiv5528]

@@alivecoy it classified as scale mail but only weighed 8 lbs so it could be worn with 6 str min

[@darkranger116]

Everytime i had a druid i would head north in the first 2 hours and grind out those shells around Baldur's Gate near the farms

[@almitrahopkins1873]

No, but I can remember Druids being able to wear most of the heavy armors in Dark Sun because almost all of them were made with shell, horn and leather instead of metal.

[@AMTallstar]

@@darkranger116 could always get the free hidden one in the nashkel farms

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

Interesting fact: Ahnkegs were the Inspirational starting point for the Hydralisk from Starcraft

[@thedarkmaster4747]

That's cool to know. 🤓👍

[@RalphGrella]

Any source?

[@DCdabest]

Can definitely see that

[@xdean816]

@@thedarkmaster4747 hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhubbbhbbbbhuubbhubhbhbhh bathroom hbubbhuhhhbbbhhbbbbubbbhbhhbbbbbubhbuhububb by by hhbbhhhbhhhbbbubbb in hbbhbbhubbuuuu by by hub by b be uhhbhbh but hbhhbhu by huhu by the uhhhb by hhbbhhhbhhhbbbubbb by h by hubhbhhhbbhbhhhbhhbbhhhhbhhbuhhbhhbh

[@OakenTome]

Hammerin' Hank They kind of do, and it’s unsurprising that Blizzard would put a more horrific, sci-fi spin on it.

[@walterbunn280]

With regards to the ecology of the Ankheg, the foul smelling liquid that the eggs and pupating nymphs exude might be a way to allow for fungal or bacterial colonization. This would be a nod towards beetle or termite ecology where the arthropod either needs or greatly benefits from colonization by some outside organism. If this is strict a mundane organism, a good candidate would be a fungus of some sort. Many insects actually feed on yeast and there's a number of ants and termites which farm it or rely on them, one way or another, entirely for their nutrition. Yeast and Fungi tend to be very high in protein, so it kinda fits with the nutritional requirements being described. That said, since this is Dungeons and Dragons, you might consider some magical form of Fungi, Ooze, or Pudding as the focus for the smelly excretion. The Gelatinous cube kinda seems about right, but you'd have to show it as a loose association between The Cube and the Ankheg. Alternative to all of that, perhaps the foul smelling liquid is the equivalent to goblin moonshine. So... with regard to the metagaming issues mentioned around 13:05: It largely depends on how much of an issue you think this is in the group, but if the group has an issue with metagaming, ask for a survival check first to avoid environmental effects like heat stroke or fatigue due to uncomfortable conditions. If the group tries to describe light armor and loose holds on their heavy equipment, that would be worth of some negatives on the reflex save when the Ankheg attacks, although it might offer a +1 or +2 bonus on a survival check to avoid Environmental effects. If you want to drive the point home, specify that the bonus or penalty is explicitly tied to the bonus or penalty received on the other check.

[@AJPickett]

Great insight and good info, thank you!

[@thejamaicanempire3561]

13:30 Asking before the game is sneaky af. I like it.

[@AJPickett]

I am very sneaky sir.

[@stephenstonge7968]

The molted shells shouldn't have as much armor, as they lack any of the underlying dermal layers that reinforce the flexibility of the shell. A prime example of this rigid/flexible layered effect is a toucan's beak and clam shells. Likewise, anyone who's raised mantids or any kind of arthropods can tell you the molts aren't as durable once shed. They're much more flexible than you would expect, but if you compare a desiccated corpse (no fluid pressure to reinforce the shell's integrity) vs a molted shell you'll see that the molt is far weaker. Also I'm curious as to how they taste. Is it like flies and butterflies which taste with their feet, cockroaches and ants which use antennae, or like mantids which actually seem to taste/smell as they eat. (Not only have mantids been recorded to avoid eating guts containing intolerable food, but I've personally seen some that are drawn to smells like the distress spray of darkling beetles, which should, and is a deterrent to most predators.

[@cawcawcaw9160]

My fifth level encounter for my party is going to be a hive of them infesting a local quarry where the vibrations from the machinery (carts, pick axes, etc.) has attracted them. Going to come up with some higher stat blocks with extra attacks, maybe give the queen a lair action or two.

[@rar000000000]

I love how much you research on every monster. Really helps bring depth to my table!

[@theGiantworm86]

Just had my party wrecked by one of those in Baldur's Gate.

[@kabedondon]

Same. I think they were intentionally put there to bottleneck players and keep you away from the City of Baldur's Gate until you are powerful enough to deal with them.

[@dawall3732]

Looks like the bad guy from the original MIB movie.

[@caseybeach360]

I just realized how deafening an animal that large would be traveling at 40 ft/6 s would be.

[@Indestructoboy]

I ran a party through a kobold lair built within an old ankheg nest. These dudes are seriously so fun to use on low level parties.

[@vadaritis]

My favorite use of ankhegs was several sessions after the party had the typical ankheg ambush, so they knew that they were in the area. Hobgoblins were assaulting, their starter town, and when the hobgoblins were charging in on the flank and from underneath the ground chariot riders with ankhegs pulling them, my players freaked out. Good times.

[@camramaster]

Awakened Ankheg Assasin. Have fun with the nightmares!

[@thelivinglands]

I'd say it's fair to let them auto-hit when they've got somebody grappled, but maybe give the character a check to half the damage. Like if they've got a warrior in their jaws, they're not just going to be letting it happen. They'll be struggling most likely, so pushing against the bite and keeping the thing from doing as much damage to them seems like a fair way of giving the player a way to actually do something about the trouble they're in.

[@joshchandler13]

Largest prehistoric insect I could find was an 8 1/2 foot millipede. 👍🏼

[@chriswilder9719]

No. Just no 🤤

[@josephfernandez8015]

Arthropods the size of an ankheg could never evolve on earth due to not having enough oxygen content in the air. During the Carboniferous period was when the earth had the most oxygen content and featured the largest land arthropod of all time, the Arthropleura, which grew nearly 8 ft long.

[@AJPickett]

Indeed.

[@jbskaggs7200]

Several theoretical ways: 1. Bacterial or Algic symbiate slime. 2. Instead of simple trachea if it had multiple lung sacks and hearts. 3. It could have anaerobic metabolism like waterbears. 4.Instead of hydroulic muscles, it could have short stich memoru muscle to negate gravity.

[@Giganfan2k1]

@@jbskaggs7200 you would also need some sort of internal skeleton to distribute the weight.

[@Menzobarrenza]

@@jbskaggs7200 Could you explain to this mere layman what "short stich memuro muscles" would mean? Searching online bore no fruit.

[@jbskaggs7200]

@@Menzobarrenza short stitch muscle vs long stitch muscle and muscle memory- refers to the length and shape of the muscle cells and contraction time, stamina, and automatic muscle memory. A Great Ape has much shorter muscle stitch, longer stamina, and longer muscle memory (holding a shape with out nerve control stimuli). This results in longer time periods of greater strength with less nervous control. Long stitch is what humans have, and though it is less strong it is more flexible and dextrous, and is more efficient in the use of energy. Where as an ape can hang longer from a branch, a human can run much longer periods than apes with less food and less rest. So a short stitch muscle structure combines with an internal and external structural platform, increased oxygen processing, along with large hollow areas of creature filled with gas bladders etc could result in a very large monster.

[@Donovarkhallum]

DND is a game about dice. I think the ankheg rolling for the bite in jaws is fine because it gives you more to narrate with flair. Say it fails. " The ankheg attempts to bite down on you but it's having a hard time crunching down with your armor holding it's jaws taught." Like any scene where a dude is being held in a beasts jaws standing up holding it open.

[@NanoMayTry]

I am fulfilled. Good stuff man, adding in little details like weather and nests is gold. I'm especially surprised anyone would keep these house-centipedes around. I love all your bug monsterologies.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

These creatures i dont think are domesticatable,but a charm monster spell with a well worded alter reality or limited wish spell works ok! My peasant wizard charmed one for the sole purpose of fertilizing farm lands and it worked for about 6 months until a rogue mage, out of cruelty and malice released it from its charm....needless to say that rogue is in the dungeons of Waterdeep!

[@definitelynotawizard2828]

I came up with an adventure a while back where a wizard that was experimenting on giant ants in a remote wizard tower (as wizards do) got killed by his escaped creations (again as wizards do) and they drove the local ankheg population into regions they aren't usually found. The idea is the players end thinking it's just a routine ankheg extermination and then after retracing the ankheg's path of destruction they find out the actual adventure is dealing with a magically enhanced giant ant colony. It's not the most original adventure (I may have been slightly influenced by the anime Hunter X Hunter) but I think it's a decent concept though sadly I've yet to get around to running it.

[@AJPickett]

That is a rock solid foundation for a campaign, nicely done.

[@hamstsorkxxor]

Another bug-hunt you say? Have you ever been mistaken for a man? ;) Seriously though, that's a great set-up!

[@ApocRNG]

They can actually be useful to farmers if cultivated. If you don't mind the occasional gobbling up of your kin and acid burns.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

While you couldn't tame them I would argue you could domesticate them to a degree. Selective breeding to make them less aggressive and possible a bit smaller so they are easier to handle. Maybe that can be part of quest. Locals have breed a special strain of them only to have them inexplicably become atavistic. And your party is hired to find out why because the domesticated varients bring a lot of money into the area.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

You can't be considered a true farmer til you breed ankhegs everyone else are just posing at farming. No one, not even kings and queens will dare to have so much as a cross word with you and the tax collector will be exceedingly polite.

[@jakecrichton562]

This reminded me of my first encounter ever. Back in 2.5 we fought two Ankegs and a handful of thrikreen. It was a fun experience I had forgotten until just a few minutes ago. Thanks AJ, happy new year. I look forward to finishing off the MM with you.

[@jakecrichton562]

@FlyingAxblade that's far more epic than what my old DM from high school put together. I'm only reaching 17 years back but it must have just been a random encounter. First fight ever though so it was worth the reminder.

[@Greenscyth22]

I always thought that the giant cockroach from MIB was a good depiction of an Ankheg. Nothing more than a carnivorous beast that explodes from the ground to take the weak and unwary. Have a wizard brew up some magical "bug spray" and be done with them all.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

I thought the same thing. Especially with those antennae.

[@ShadowCoH316]

Your Lore videos make WotC's official books look like cat calendars. Keep it up!

[@AJPickett]

Or going to a museum full of stuffed animals, as opposed to going and seeing them at a zoo.

[@briancorvello3620]

Not bad. As usual, what I liked the most was the effort you made in finding the best illustrations. If you're going to do more old monsters, how about one of my favorites, the Carrion Crawler?

[@justinbaskall8291]

He will be, he released a list on the channel discussion with all the videos he is doing next and I'm pretty sure carrion crawler is on there. Might be a few down the list though.

[@AJPickett]

Coming very soon!

[@fumarc4501]

I like that they’re not sentient, and only partially hive like.

[@Zasek2112]

I'm not sure if there's any lore about this but a game I played in a long time ago the DM made these things the favourite food of roc's. Kinda the same way you'll see crows and magpies hunting for worms, roc's hunt these things. In some areas local farmers won't want to completely exterminate ankegs because the dwarfs they trade with see their farmlands as feeding grounds for aerial mounts and can more than afford to reimburse the farmers for a few cows or sheep.

[@AJPickett]

Wow.. the image of a Roc scratching around in a farmers field like an enormous chicken is just too funny not to include in a game!

[@Zasek2112]

@@AJPickett You mean a Really Oversized Chicken? lol.

[@AJPickett]

@@Zasek2112 LOL! Perfect

[@harryrcarmichael]

Could some cleaver Kobolds make a passage under a nesting tunnel and set a trap which opens up the tunnel above the resulting cave in sending an entire - hungry - brood crashing down on the party ?

[@coletrainhetrick]

If you want it to you can, dungeon master is the dungeon master

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

I would think the ankeg would sense them and eat them

[@royriley6282]

Easiest xp in baldurs gate 1.

[@dragonturtle7645]

How do you think the Formians feel about them? They are predictable, good for the very orderly Formians. They are also both insecticide, and thus probably share some of the same needs and preferences. They might even find a way to magically make them less aggressive and more cooperative to them (and the opposite to others).

[@AJPickett]

I believe Formians would use them as pack animals and mining equipment.

[@That80sGuy1972]

I added something to this "lame" monster that has even high-level players love harvesting their shells. Magical items (like armor) made from Ankheg carapaces have a way of self-repairing. The carapace constructed item absorbs a certain degree of blood. The item uses that to self-repair ("heal" itself). So, people regularly charging into battle who do well need not maintain their armor as their own blood and the blood of others keeps up with the armor maintenance. It works to keep bugs away as well. Intelligent bugs (like Centaur Ants) find the smell of the magical items repugnant, so characters wearing such armor get a negative to interacting with them akin to someone rolling around in sewerage, garbage and rot.

[@AJPickett]

Great idea!

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett My work is done here. ;)

[@TheKing-qz9wd]

This is ingenius.

[@Ambers128]

Ankheg remind me of the movie "Them."

[@davidfletcher6703]

Armor and weapons made from Ankheg parts would be good for going up against Rust Monsters because they aren't made if metal

[@AJPickett]

True.

[@purplehaze2358]

I imagine an absolutely colossal anteater-like creature that prey on these things.

[@jakabokbotch420]

the ankheg will forever be my nemesis as a player that's my most dispised creature

[@purplehaze2358]

"A massive, aggressive, predatory insect" My ex?

[@Decado1628]

I have a low level adventure in mind using ankhegs and the players playing local would be adventurers. Thank you for the inspiration!

[@actingkeith]

The reason they make an attack against a grappled opponent rather than just making it auto-damage is because the game mechanic of Advantage significantly raises the likelihood of a Critical Hit.

[@AJPickett]

statistically, it is about the equivalent to a +5 to hit bonus, within the confines of bounded accuracy.

[@NoalFarstrider]

I want to make a "Starship Troopers" Style game with Ankhegs and some other ported monsters. But it's hard to find people who want to play an entire campaign of this...

[@NoalFarstrider]

A Tarrasque would be "The big brain!".

[@squirrellordsgaming2772]

That would be fun.

[@jaxx1258]

As an amateut entomologist and lover of Deep Rock Galactic, I would LOVE to play a game like that

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Thri-Kreen, Tohr-kreen, ankhegs, kanks and plenty of other insectoid creatures to do it.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

If you pick the idea up again, also look up Kythons. They're like Ankhegs but they woke up and chose violence.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

insects on Earth are limited by the amount of atmospheric oxygen their physiology is such that their proportional size changes to the percentage of oxygen in the environment the largest insects on Earth only existed when the atmosphere was 23 to 25% oxygen and these were quite large 7-8 foot long centipedes scorpions that measures 6 ft length and dragonflies with a larger wingspan than the arm span of your average human

[@apocalypticmoth6040]

The main problem with finding an exoskeleton is that most arthropods eat their sheded shells after molting as to not waste materials.

[@purplehaze2358]

"Look like insects, but have traits of arachnids, myriapods, crustaceans, and trilobites" What about eurypterids?

[@AJPickett]

They got kicked out of the club for not paying their dues.

[@chriscalvin5083]

good video AJ

[@ironkeepgaming1936]

My favorite prehistoric animal is the trilobite, so I like this monster a lot more now that I know that they are related. In the real world giant isopods and horseshoe crabs are modern trilobites

[@ironkeepgaming1936]

I will make a encounter with lizardfolk that use Ankegs as war beasts, there will be a shaman lizardfolk that has to use a mind control spell to tame the ankegs, so take out that shaman first

[@bangovyggas9590]

Amazing video! 👍 Keep up the awesome work!

[@brightglory5734]

They remind me very much of antlions which have always fascinated me. Do they have antlions in the Shire?

[@benjaminholcomb9478]

They do now!

[@johnnyswatts]

All insects are arthropods, but not all arthropods are insects.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

It is to be known... But what are true bugs?

[@AJPickett]

@@thedarkmaster4747 Voltswagon beetles

[@johnnyswatts]

That would be order heteroptera within the hexapoda.

[@kikiblair5132]

My brother used one as a paladin mount.

[@AJislostinthesauce]

I'm a new sub and slightly confused is there another channel called the mighty gluestick

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

No, that's what he calls his channel, even though the channel name is AJ Pickett. His *waaaay* back videos were of him making minis.

[@donblack1571]

Thank you for all this.👍🏽

[@WolfSteel1]

I think the roll necessary for the grapple to continue biting is purely for balance purposes

[@epiccthulu]

I’m also thinking of the fact that grapple is an ongoing struggle, rather than being pinned. So the target is bobbing and weaving their heads around and resisting.... but unable to move as is the main purpose of 5e grapple

[@thejamaicanempire3561]

16:20 Yeah Idk why 5E is so weary of automatic damage.

[@AJPickett]

And on the other hand, player characters get Witch Bolt. unfair!

[@TheMimiSard]

I have fond memories of the farmlands north of the Friendly Arm Inn, in the Baldur's Gate computer game, where one can agree to help in an ankheg cull by a warrior lady standing around. There is also a hole that one goes into to find a missing child which has ankhegs in it. The shells from the ankhegs can be sold off to the smithy in Belegost, and the same smithy can make an ankheg shell armour, though it takes several days from him to get it done and I dare say the game has better armour that can be stumbled across in the meantime as the waiting time cannot just be passed by sleeping it through, you have to go run around and do stuff. Though the armour stats in BG1 are not very high, I mean the best sword in the game is only a +2.

[@joshuazane3210]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed the Baldur's Gate games. I spent so many hours of my childhood on them.

[@TheMimiSard]

Oh yes, BG hit in my early 20s, and at the start of my time involved in online Fandom life. While my brother Grey had a few of the Forgotten Realms novels which I'd borrowed and read in my teens, getting into Baldur's Gate is what really led me into buying a few D&D manuals. Oh I left D&D alone through 4E, but 5E has me back as it made up for the fluff details I disliked.

[@thejamaicanempire3561]

How does a DM tournament work?

[@AJPickett]

Popularity vote, objectives, psyche evaluations, stacks of dead character sheets, I have no idea...

[@purplehaze2358]

D&D is the nerdiest thing ever. I love it

[@konradcurze394]

Says the SCP fan haha. Welcome to D&D your here forever.

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

the Armour these things drop is quite good as well

[@dallasjacob99]

used these in a game last night. The party was trying to find a girl who a hag had kidnapped. Well they go to the temple where she was killed at and fell into a nightmare. they went through the dungeon and on the second layer they found a garden beneath the earth. (The Hag's garden where she kept the children) And when they found her the hag sent ankhegs to kill the party. (they were level 4 so I sent 2 in)

[@AJPickett]

How did it work out?

[@robertwilson2516]

A standard monster with fairly straightforward usability and a proud legacy to the art of Dungeons and Dragons. 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

[@Daimon-X]

Kill it with Fireball! Kill it with Fireball! Reeeeee!

[@AJPickett]

*Reeeeeeee!*

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

imagine how bad it would be if some less than scrupulous person found a bunch of their eggs and decided to have some fun by sticking them in the bunch of corpses inside of a major settlement you know like 20 or 30 eggs scattered throughout the town in like Watersdeep or Baldur's Gate

[@NarutoUzumaki-jg4pw]

3:05 I had to rewind that real quick to make sure I heard it correctly.

[@AJPickett]

Sorry, accent.

[@purplehaze2358]

I would like to point out that I was up until 5:00 AM and I saw you upload, but was too fucking tired to watch it.

[@Donovarkhallum]

Also 4k gold for a farmer is like multiple years of income for a whole league of farmers . Stuff in towns and rent etc goes for copper on silver. Farmers probably earn a gold a day during the good seasons of harvest. But on bad months they probably make little to nothing or change crop

[@Donovarkhallum]

It's like you said tmg adventurers throwing peasants gold might get then sought out for being so rich. Five gikd to someone like that as a gift is like holy shit.

[@wailandkarisma4279]

Not the kind of nymph I'm looking out for lol.

[@blueturtle06]

Like what you said at the end about taming insects. But also makes me think back to a pictured I loved in the TMNT RPG Mutants Down Under. It showed a couple mutants using giant grasshoppers as mounts and using giant ants for pack animals. So my couple of questions are these as a player character. Would a Thri Kreen have a better chance of taming them? Would Tlincalli ever find a use for them?

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Elves in Dark Sun use Kanks as pack animals. They’re more like a beetle crossed with an ant and six feet long.

[@NanoMayTry]

Bodak Ankheg.

[@thehillz726]

Could you "tame" an Ahnkeg with enough food?

[@lisagaughan7154]

I think you can tame most animal like monstrosities with food.

[@thehillz726]

@@lisagaughan7154 then what is enough?

[@lisagaughan7154]

@@thehillz726 idk

[@thehillz726]

@@lisagaughan7154 damn it

[@lisagaughan7154]

@@thehillz726 maybe 5 tons of food.

[@Frehalo]

Thanks for this info.

[@ernestlam5632]

Ankheg and Remorhaz have a common ancestor.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Normally variation in pronunciation doesn’t bother me, but trilobite does. Three segmented body, tri-lobite. And no, I don’t know why that one is like nails on a blackboard to me.

[@erroneous6947]

I’m a geologist. One of my professors was an expert on trilobites and the Ordovician/Devonian boundary. That’s all, no point.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

@@erroneous6947 It's good for the algorithm. It gets the video more views.

[@carloss3499]

I have a character Idea My mother is white dragonborn which is my race and my father is a brass where I draw my magic in sorcerer class. So I'm basically both a white and a brass dragonborn. Now what would other dragonborns and the world think or react towards me.

[@AJPickett]

Confusion.

[@pbr-streetgang]

Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼

[@florenmage]

Bug monsters are fun to kill so alien yet so familiar also gross for some reason I have an image of a goblin tribe that hunts ankegs to use their chitin for armor now

[@purplehaze2358]

Punctuation makes your comments infinitely easier to read.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten. Hunt or be hunted. Maybe a canibalistic goblin matriachy were the men must provide enough food for their young or become it. *pictures female goblin shamans using acid spells expertly*

[@florenmage]

The Dark master I prefer not to add a battle of the sexes element in my role play but if that's what you like go for it lol

[@florenmage]

Dr Bright I have faith in yous ability ta figure it out doe : )

[@thedarkmaster4747]

blank blank I just like mirroring tropes and themes. I love the idea of navagating that said dungeon lair by learning all the complex cultural tribal nuancees of goblin behaviours which they do no deviate from. "You are what you eat."

[@thejamaicanempire3561]

Uh... what is that? 14:55

[@AJPickett]

Possible version of an Ankheg maggot? I thought that looks like something I do not want to get bitten by.

[@jackiesantos2121]

Terrifying days giant insects yeah soar like a millipede nightmare

[@axepoison255]

Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?

[@James-kj4wq]

we have clearance, clarence.

[@patrickdees5256]

14:37 darn 3 off from a 69. XD

[@garethfarrell8146]

Wow I had no idea the shells where worth so much and I had my players clear a nest hahaha. They have about 12-18k worth of shell. Let's keep that between us and will have an NPC inform them after their commissioned armour has been completed. Also the nest had an Ankheg Queen who's stats I found on dnd beyond in the homebrew, beware she can hit like a freight train i did 40 points of damage to one character in a single round with her.

[@thejamaicanempire3561]

Those prices are from older editions though where the economy supported many more items that were thousands of gold in price.

[@AJPickett]

@@thejamaicanempire3561 That is true, The shell would probably be only a few hundred gold, particularly if it was more common to find them up for sale.

[@metalk1tt3n]

Arent trilobites the ancestors to horseshoe crabs?

[@AmigoRoberto]

Yes

[@metalk1tt3n]

@@AmigoRoberto thanks ^^ found conflicting info on the webs

[@AJPickett]

Yep, and Morten(?) Bay bugs.

[@MrTotalAhole]

Graboid

[@tatsusama3192]

Me reading comments while listening like always: Why is everyone commenting about 14:50? I've seen like four or five comments on... OMG🤮

[@AJPickett]

I call him Bitey.

[@padalan2504]

There are plenty of Int 1 animals that can be tamed. I'd say that with enough effort it could work, but as it is an insect it would still be very dangerous if it gets scared or hungry.

[@galacticphoenix8335]

Do a video n the Kruthik

[@AJPickett]

Good idea

[@hiddenone5456]

Trilobites are not extinct. Rest of the video was great though.

[@hiddenone5456]

@Jujubear's Adventures Horseshoe Crabs are part of that family or am I confused?

[@hiddenone5456]

@Jujubear's Adventures I'm about 50/50 on if I'm right or not but I thought I read somewhere that Horseshoe crabs are part of the trilobite family. If I'm wrong lol which I might be can you please show me? I like to learn something new everyday.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Horse shoe crabs are ancient and very alive and crawling today.

[@hiddenone5456]

@Jujubear's Adventures Okay but they are not Trilobites? So trilobites are extinct?

[@hiddenone5456]

@Jujubear's Adventures Been outta school so long I barely remember how the 7 levels of classification works anymore forgive me. lol

[@vedymin1]

Ankheg plate mail from taerom fuiruim guys :) bg ftw ! I always killed all those mothereffers in the area despite that bint telling me to kill only ten or so :).

[@TheMimiSard]

Word, word word word! Not to mention the stray kid who ended up in that hole over eastward that has ankhegs in it. I always thought the ankheg plate mail was great armour until I reached Watcher's Keep.

[@woodslore8537]

Watching this while I sew a mimic dice bag

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

"The Mighty Gluestick presents: "A B Movie". Coming soon 😂

[@gabef9538]

If while making undead and you bond a soul to a body it wasnt from, can you have an undead beast be smarter than the living body? Lets say you bind a willing human soul to dead dog bones. Is the beast as smart as a man. What if you debone a tarask, then wish it to not heal back, fill the bones with a willing hive mind of souls, and finaly use dark pacts to seal the souls into place?

[@AJPickett]

The necromancy bucket list. I like all those ideas.

[@gabef9538]

@@AJPickett The bucket of necromantic whispers sits in the corner composting fresh chicken bones and scaps into dark questions. If you want answers, you have to test the ideas. The compost will make trees sick with spotchy leaves. The splotches spell runes and the fruit are fewwer, drier, tainted, but sweeter.

[@Backup_Dice]

Audio is a bit off :\

[@AJPickett]

How so?

[@locorocky1]

AJ, have you heard of a youtube channel called Tierzoo? I feel like it would Really be up your ally.

[@AJPickett]

Love that channel. kzbin.info/door/HsRtomD4twRf5WVHHk-cMw

[@Yuudaddy]

Kill it and make armor ;D

[@sethbrodie]

The first two images you show are not by Otis, they are by David A. Trampier. Otis drew nothing in the 1e Monster Manuel. Otis was great, but give credit where credit is due. Tramp made the iconic 1e PH cover, hundreds of illustrations throughout the rule books, and wonderful old school Dragon Magazine comic narrative Wormy (check it out if you haven't seen the Wormy comic strip. It's awesome.)