 Free Insect Spirits, Can they be stopped? |
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 Nov 2 2005, 12:10 AM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680  |
About Free Insect Spirits.
- A Free spirit can only be destroyed by knowing its True Name - A Free Spirit's True Name can only be found by going on a quest to the Spirit's Metaplane - Only Insect Shamans can go to the Insect Metaplane So how would one permanently rid the world of a Free Ant Queen if one did not have access to an Insect Shaman? Without a True Name she will merely be disrupted and will be back in a month to start all over again. I imagine there must be an answer since Ares did a pretty good job at clearing out hives, a number of which would have divested themselves of their annoying shamans long ago. Strain 3 may be a way, but they didn't use that til Chicago and they took out ALOT of hives before then. |
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Nov 2 2005, 12:36 AM
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#2
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
The Answer™: Go get access to an Insect Shaman. P.S. Ares apparently has done this (Threats 2). |
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Nov 2 2005, 12:44 AM
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#3
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
That is true, but did they have access to any of these when clearing the UB in the many years before chicago even happened, let alone before they had Strain 3 or had started research on Bugs. They were also not the only ones clearing hives.
My main concern is that Insect spirits are a major antagonist for runners to overcome, and there are many adventures where they take out Queens without Shamans. But they are Free and can simply come back in a month. How is any team supposed to stop even the smallest Queen without major Deus Ex Machina? Perhaps insect spirits do not benefit from this "We'll be back". Maybe they never thought about what a Free Insect Spirit actually means. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:04 AM
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#4
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
I was under the impression that Queens always needed a Shaman to come through from their metaplane. Disrupting them sends them back to their metaplane. Then you snuff the Shaman (if the Queen hasn't already) and you are golden till the Queen locates, contacts, and grooms another Shaman.
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Nov 2 2005, 01:15 AM
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#5
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
It does indeed say that Insect Spirits need a Shaman (Or Queen/Mother) to be summoned, but then Elementals always need a Mage to be summoned. Once things become free then things change.
It just doesn't say anywhere that a Queen can't come back like any other free spirit. I have always played it the way you suggest (I GM for SR WAY more than I play) but my present game has alot of free insect spirits in it, and after extesively reading through some of the books (MitS, Universal Brotherhood, grimoire 2nd ed, Bug City etc.) it seems to have been left out. In the Section of MitS that deals specifically withy Free Insect Spirits it says nothing about it. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:19 AM
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#6
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:19 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: 21-October 05 From: In a Starbucks™ café near you Member No.: 7,870 |
Where does it say that only insect shamans can access the insect metaplanes?
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Nov 2 2005, 01:30 AM
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#8
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
Aren't Queens free spirits to start with? Just not free to roam the meat-plane? EDIT: Well not "free" in the normal sense. But something very different happens when a Queen is banished (not just destroyed) back to the Insect Plane because it's a sucking noise that rips the awakened status clean from the Insect Shaman. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:31 AM
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#9
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
I checked out that thread before posting. That was more to do with the Shaman than the Queen. My main question with that post- How does the powerless Shaman get tot he Insect Spirit Metaplane to get the True Name of the queen?
In Magic in the Shadows in the Threats section about Insect Spirits. It says that only an Insect Shaman can visit such an alien Metaplane. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:33 AM
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#10
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Astral Gateway, perhaps. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:35 AM
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#11
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
The section on them says that they have Spirit energy LIKE free spirits but that they only become Free once the Shaman is killed, or they break away from him (That is when they get more Free Spirit Powers and that they ALWAYS become Free when the Shaman dies). Non Queens can become Free, usually Good Merges, but it's not common. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:38 AM
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#12
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:38 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: 21-October 05 From: In a Starbucks™ café near you Member No.: 7,870 |
Defeated to the draw!
This post has been edited by caramel frappuccino: Nov 2 2005, 01:40 AM |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:39 AM
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#14
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
Definitely make for an interesting meeting, since it is usually spirits who have this power. He'd better hope he doesn't run into the Place of Magic though (Though since it uses Skills it may not require him to actually have magical power). "So you want to go where with the what now?" "Hush burny boy, you got your Karma now make with the gateway!" |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:41 AM
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#15
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
I think the prime source of Insect Shamans would be those that haven't brought their Queen through yet. But that thread does discuss the possibility of the [vaguely defined] Aleph Society allowing them to regain some of their powers, or perhaps even another Queen doing so. This is an area of the unknown though because the Aleph Society is a plot end that has not yet been developed fully to explain exactly WTF is going and the implications of it on magical theory. |
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Nov 2 2005, 01:46 AM
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#16
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Target Group: Members Posts: 47 Joined: 26-February 02 From: London, England Member No.: 1,680 |
This bit caught my Eye
So for an Insect Shaman who has lost his Queen he needs to find an Insect Spirit with Astral Gateway. "No honestly, it's not YOUR True name I'll be after" <fingers crossed behind back> |
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Nov 2 2005, 03:47 AM
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#17
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
"My words are clear, but my meaning is obscure." - Noboru Takeshita Just to be clear about where i'm going with this. This is not explicit in canon, but could be used to explain from reasonably within the confines of given canon why Queens don't appear to be just popping back in a month after their hive has been wiped: Free insect spirits may have a life cycle that is different that other known free spirits, and a mobility to the meat-plane that is somewhat closer to that of the Horrors. When a free Queen insect spirit is disrupted and returns to their metaplane they do not go through the regular 1 month recovering processes of a normal free spirit to reestablish the path back. Instead they only recover a partial link, one that allows them to contact and communicate with a chosen awakened mage and become their "Totem". This shaman is needed to rebuild the "bridge" back for the free spirit to return. |
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