[X] My Assistant

[Umidori]

Oh, this took an interesting turn....

But is it feasible? And will you cruelly be taking an axe and/or wooden stake to it for 5E now that I've pointed it out? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

~Umi

[Patrick Goodman]

Well, they're Sapient, yes, but it's making the emotional connection to them to drain the Essence that I'm curious about. Insects, even sentient/sapient swarms of them, are so freakin' foreign in terms of mindset ... I'm not sure how that would work.

I don't intend to snatch it away cruelly, if that's what you're asking. I'm just trying to figure out how it would fraggin' work....

[SpellBinder]

With sugar water?

[hermit]

Insects, even sentient/sapient swarms of them, are so freakin' foreign in terms of mindset ... I'm not sure how that would work.

Doesn't Animal Control magic do exactly that?

[Patrick Goodman]

Yeah, but once they're Sapient, most Animal Control magic doesn't work. Or maybe I'm misremembering; I'm fighting a deadline, a balky washing machine, and babysitting the kids while I should be writing. I technically need to turn the network connection off, but this is kind of interesting, if not at all germane to what I'm working on at the moment.

[_Pax._]

Well, they're Sapient, yes, but it's making the emotional connection to them to drain the Essence that I'm curious about. Insects, even sentient/sapient swarms of them, are so freakin' foreign in terms of mindset ... I'm not sure how that would work.

Vampires can be Insect Shamans.

Possibly even, BEE shamans.

[CanRay]

Any proper Vampire Insect Shaman would follow Mosquito. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[_Pax._]

Any proper Vampire Insect Shaman would follow Mosquito. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

... or Flea. Or Tick. Or Bedbug.

Unless, of course, they were an Insect Shaman first, then became a Vampire. Then they could be anything at all.

[Lionhearted]

Uhm guys... Bees are extinct in the sixth world (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[hermit]

Not Dante's Bees.

[CanRay]

Uhm guys... Bees are extinct in the sixth world (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

All we need to do is find some that got trapped in tree sap, and then get a cloning program started. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Umidori]

Wait, what? How did bees go extinct? And how the fuzz does plant life continue, then?

Well, technically other insects can polinate flowers now that I stop and think about it. Wasps, flies, et cetera.

But it doesn't HAVE to be bees (although then you get tasty, tasty honey!). You could have any kind of Swarm you like. Pick something social that reproduces quickly. Ants, termites, beetles, whatever.

~Umi

[Shortstraw]

All ~20,000 species of bees went extinct?

[binarywraith]

Uhm guys... Bees are extinct in the sixth world (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

Yeah, no they're not. They even exist in Awakened forms. Siberian Bees are bastards that get to throw lightning around when they swarm.

I ruined several of my PCs' year by having their J hire them to move a hive of those things a couple miles.

[Pepsi Jedi]

There's reference in one of the books that 'Honeybees' died out. I'm not sure if they STAID dead. (( We see the threat know, you gotta think alot of places stockpiled the DNA)).

I forget where I've read it but it was an off hand comment from a poster in one of the books. Running Wild or Paranormal animals of NA or something. ((Might be in the Clutch of Dragon book where they're talking about Azlan's food production getting taken out and them being in deep crap.))

I do apoligise for not having a page, but there IS reference some where to SOMETHING about bees dieing off. I can say I remember reading it too. Just not the details or where.

[Pepsi Jedi]

Page 8 Running Wild

"The losses are not limited to obscure insects or rare species of frog. We have lost over 100 bird species that we know of. The once thriving polar bear has been reduced to a zoo attraction along with hundreds of other animals both known and unknown. Honey bees are no different. The as-yet unexplained ‘Colony Collapse Syndrome’ accelerated in 2012 and again in 2061. Albert Einstein once posited, “If we were ever to see the extinction of the honey bee, humankind would follow four years thereafter.” That has not happened, but the food web collapse resulting from the continued destruction of so many species has created conditions for even more loss of life."

[hermit]

Colony Collapse Syndrome causes a severe drop of numbers, but only among highly domesticated (European) bees. There're a number of realted species that could take over, though their honey yield is significantly lower and they're a lot harder to handle.

[Larsine]

Okay, so points against my notion - 1) it's an optional rule and 2) the additional powers are determined by the GM. But! The ruling specifically allows Sapience, so my notion is at least possible.

But there is one more crucial consideration - how Essence is handled with Swarms. (Yes, I'm breaking the Special Infected rules again. Fun, isn't it?)

So let's say you have a swarm of bees at Rating 6, with the Sapience power, which makes them a valid target of Essence Drain. You drain up to 3 points of Essence (but no more, as the Rating of the Swarm will drop with the Essence, and you only get one power per 3 points of Rating). Since bees go from eggs to full adults in less than a month, with proper management the swarm ought to replenish itself in time for your next monthly feeding.

Voila. Renewable Essence that you can keep in a small greenhouse. Keep two hives for redundancy, or just to stay ahead of the feeding curve.

~Umi

But most creatures with the essence drain power also need to digest something symbolic for the essence drain to work.

So the vampire would not be able to drain the essence from his swam of bees, since they do not have any metahuman blood, just like the ghoul would not be able to drain essence, without eating metahuman flesh.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

But most creatures with the essence drain power also need to digest something symbolic for the essence drain to work.

So the vampire would not be able to drain the essence from his swam of bees, since they do not have any metahuman blood, just like the ghoul would not be able to drain essence, without eating metahuman flesh.

Ummmmm. No. Essence Drain, and Feeding Restrictions are completely unrelated. *shrug*

[Lionhearted]

Im not going back to check but I think the original suggestion mentions Africanized honey bees that are listed as extinct in Running wild... Those glacial arcs are only for seeds no?

[hermit]

Africanized honey bees (also affectionately known as 'killer bees') have, largely unsuccessfully, been hunted to extinction ever since they were released into the wild without proper testing in the 1970s. Nobody would shed a tear if those critters died out.

European (or Western) honey bees going extinct would be a lot harder, as this would blow up nearly all agriculture as it is now. fortunately, there are five other species of honey bee to fall back on, even if they are comparatively low-yield. But since their main job is pollinating everything, that's a small price to pay.

The glacial arcs are only for seeds though, yes. Because seeds can be stored near indefinitely (some seeds found in a whooly mammoth's fur bloomed when properly treated, and they were over 10.000 years old). Animals are not so durable.

[Lionhearted]

It says honey bee (africanized, dwarf, giant) whether that's including or excluding other honey bees is hard to tell, the fluff text suggest as much.

[Larsine]

Ummmmm. No. Essence Drain, and Feeding Restrictions are completely unrelated. *shrug*

Sometimes the transfer of a token amount of physical material takes place, such as blood for a vampire or flesh for a wendigo, though this usually serves to enhance the passion or terror of the moment.

Emphasis mine.

[hermit]

It says honey bee (africanized, dwarf, giant) whether that's including or excluding other honey bees is hard to tell, the fluff text suggest as much.

Probably, though there are other honey bee species as well, and SR tech is sufficiently advanced to gengineer some honeybee like creature from other bees. All honey bees extinct makes flat out no sense though, since pollination in agriculture evidently still happens, and there are awakened honey bees around.

[_Pax._]

But most creatures with the essence drain power also need to digest something symbolic for the essence drain to work.

Royal Jelly ...!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Also: only Wendigo are specifically required to symbolically consume a part of their victim, in order to drain essence, as I recall.