Stuck with monsters

[ALB2012]

Ok so help me out here if you would.

So first set of monsters my guys meet- basically a sort of willo-the-wisp. They feed on emotions- mostly fear and despair but at a simple level. Usually they would find someone susceptible and leads them away- in this case into a swamp where the undead/semi dead live. They can possess a person until they are done then slurp them and leave.

SO they manage to lure away one of the party.. leading her off. The mages say they can only be fought with magic and so a fight ensures. One of the swamp zombies makes a few grabs etc etc but basically the heroes kick butt. I am wondering that the wisps don't seem to have much attack/defensive capability if they actually get into combat, which is a bit dull. There is this big fuss about them being a bit nasty but they seem to beaten easily enough.

Do you think this works? They aren't powerful as such but they are devious. Does this work. I dont want anything like they can mind read, at least not beyond the "this one is weak" this mind is in turmoil." The read emotions not thoughts. Ideally they would lead the thrall to the one who controls them but these ones don't have a master that the heroes meet.

I don't want them to be able to influence strongly or to say make people attack them.
I just have no idea what magic/powers they would have- if any.

 

[JonSnow]

If they are immune to physical attacks, that means they are not "weak". Also, they would realize that their own strength is deception... they are going to use that to their advantage. Suck the energy out of the victim, then get away before anyone can do anything about it. You could actually make these beings into nasty little buggers... remember, this isn't a video game. They don't have hit points and attack power... they are going to avoid "combat" with anything that can harm them.

If you're wondering WHAT to do with them... I'd suggest making them a drone-type enemy... where something else is controlling them (maybe another wizard). I think this creature has a lot of creative possibilities...

 

[ALB2012]

Thanks.

Well usually they would have a controller, these ones don't or at least not one the party meet. They meet some MUCH nastier soon enough. I am giving them confusion magic and they hunt in packs

Get in your head, lead you away and then slurp you. Hopefully you fall in the swamp and drown slowly or if they are lucky they get to possess you and have fun. Slurpy slurpy.

There are lots so the scout finds someone and calls the others and then there are many. The confusion magic makes you slow and stupid, which means either you fall in, the zombies (which are people they possess) grab you and hold you or if needs be they can leg it. Either they get more food or get away.

They just happen to meet people who can beat them up. Oddly though I have them knowing the mages are magical, maybe magic is super yummy The more powerful you are yourself the more they enjoy slurping. Or simply they have never encountered a mage. I have it if there are a few or someone who can summon them they "spore" like jelly fish.

The locals here are simple superstitious types. So get grabbed a lot.

Slurpy slurp

 

[ShortHair]

Another way to make them a nasty opponent, in addition to being nearly untouchable (as JonSnow suggests), is strength in numbers. One of them can influence a person and pull her into the swamp. A dozen could drain enough emotion out of a person to keep him or her immobile. That would give them time to bring up a hundred or so, who could start draining the life out of the victim. If there's only one weapon or spell that can affect them, your other characters will have trouble staying alive long enough for it to get around to everyone.

 

[ALB2012]

Ok something like this
A small wisp floated up from the floor, unseen, unheard. A flicker of pale green light hovering in the glow from the fire. The soulstealer felt them, the delicious emotions, the tasty life force, it was in luck they could even sense the magic here. For a while it hesitated as though contemplating the risk versus the rewards. The wisp was hungry it had not fed for some time. The group slept, even the one who had been on guard had succumbed to sleep; the soul-stealer had seen to it the sleep would not last long, it did not need to, just long enough for its purpose. The creature liked to feel the fear when they realised what had occurred, all that delicious emotion. Another wisp joined it and together they spun looking for a mind to enter. The human mage was tough and the wisps could not penetrate his defences, the elf mage was weaker but somehow she seemed wrapped in his protection, so they sought an easier target. Hovering above the blonde-haired elf sleeping in one of the cots, her mind was in turmoil, they could sense the fear and the confusion. They began to hum, a high song almost beyond hearing, more joined them flitting in through windows, cracks in the floor and walls, more and more floated in to join the feast.

 

[ALB2012]

The really nasty opponent is later. This is more a character building fight, and to fight something that isn't meant to be there. It leads into something else later. As this is the first proper fight it needs to be hard but not really hard. They are lots of the wisps and they split up. The mages tell the others they can only use magic weapons, which means the mages have to concentrate on keeping the weapons enchanted whilst the combat monkeys fight.

They manage to despatch the wisps but its like... hmmm what the hell were they? Why are they here? What have we walked into.

 

[ALB2012]

Hahah my poor guys seem to meet all the nasty things here. One nearly gets eaten by a snake, then they meet these wisps, then they meet the Boss monster of this section and get trapped and nearly get eaten on the way out. Then later they meet the main bad guy

 

[Codey Amprim]

It sounds like you have yourself a swamp community, haha.

I like the ideas and concepts of your will-o-wisps, but to answer your question, do they really need offensive/defensive capabilities like that of other creatures?

Think of what you said by calling them devious. They're pricks. So why not just have them able to run/float/zoom away so they don't die? Since they feed on their emotion, and seem to coexist with the other swamp inhabitants by luring the victims into the hands of the other creatures, I wouldnt assume them to have any really threatening capabilities.

But, if you want to spice things up a bit, why not give them the ability to combine, fusing together to make an even more powerful creature? As if they were all separate pieces of a single being, scattered around feeding. Or perhaps They answer to a master, luring their victims to him/her.

Although I don't particularly think of will-o-wisps as the type of being that could control a persons mind/body, the idea is still neat. I would have them just be able to deceive their minds to the point where it seemed like they were in a trance of sorts.

Good luck!

 

[ALB2012]

They are soul-stealers. Willo's are the nice ones. These are from the ikky nasty realm. Only these ones happen to be stuck here.

I think i have it now SO thanks for the help. I like the idea of them fusing. I can't use it in this story but they may turn up in book 3 and that would be a nifty idea

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Actually wisps could be quite nasty. Sure they may have no real offensive powers,but if they are completely invulnerable and can just sit there, basically draining people's emotions forever and leaving them depressed and apathetic that's more than enough. Imagine them being drawn in numbers to a party by their life force / vibrant emotions and slowly leaching them dry until they just run out of the desire to even move, and eventually die where they fell.

And psychological terrors are big in mythology. The cry of the banshee to rob men of their courage. The song of the sirens to lure men to their watery graves. You don't need a big sword to win a battle.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[ALB2012]

Oh yes they are part of a realm whose inhabitants are... unpleasant. For now they are "left overs" as the Realm is closed but sooner or later someone has to go sort it out

But that is a book somewhen down the line

 

[Zero Angel]

My biggest question is why do they stay to fight?

If they have little to no offensive/defensive capability to someone that knows their weakness, then wouldn't it be more likely they are driven off but not destroyed (maybe a few are slain)?

Unless they are totally mindless and unaware they are fighting a hopeless fight.

Still, to answer your original question, I think it is fine to have a warm-up battle where the heroes trounce the bad guys.

I personally would probably have them (the wisps) flee, but have some foreshadowing that there are LOTS more wisps that can do some major damage from sheer numbers alone. Or the mages caution that their magicks will attract more of the wisps than they can handle if they stick around after the battle.

 

[ALB2012]

Because the wisps don't know they know the weakness and they think, although that is not the right word, they pick on someone they know they can draw away. The foreshadowing is that these creatures shouldnt be there anyway. The adventurers are due to leave the area and not return so they wouldn't go back and deal with any escapees anyway.

 

[ahhhitswells]

Wisps are sweet but your yours sound too much like dementors from harry potter! Perhaps give them a unique characteristic like... only posses children? makes people crazy? Only lives around water?

 

[ALB2012]

These wisps are not sweet, trust me on that. They possess you or slurp out your emotions and make you a zombie.
Oh and dementors are not original ring wraiths *cough cough.

Anyway I am sorted now