How Many Lizard men eggs?
James D Andrews
How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
"Facts are the enemy of truth."
- Don Quixote - "Man of La Mancha"
Tetsubo
> For 2nd Edition game play,
>
> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>
How many lizard men do you want in your world? If you want a human
equivalent number only allow one egg per gestation period. But if you
want swarms of the things allow multiple eggs per pregnancy. As for the
number in existence at any one time, I'd say that 25% of females would
have eggs at any single moment. Or they might have set breeding periods...
--
Tetsubo
Deviant Art: http://ironstaff.deviantart.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/tetsubo57
James D Andrews
> On 7/11/2011 6:50 PM, James D Andrews wrote:
>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>
>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>
>
> How many lizard men do you want in your world? If you want a human
> equivalent number only allow one egg per gestation period. But if you want
> swarms of the things allow multiple eggs per pregnancy. As for the number in
> existence at any one time, I'd say that 25% of females would have eggs at any
> single moment. Or they might have set breeding periods...
Thank you.
Just doing a single tribe.
More questions. What would be the typical Male-Female ratio among
lizard folk?
Do Female Lizardfolk fight/patrol/guard/etc. along with males? I would
think yes, but I'm not sure.
The only source I have on the matter is the MM, and unlike for other
races, it doesn't give these details.
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
- Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')
Tetsubo
> Tetsubo embroidered on the monitor :
>> On 7/11/2011 6:50 PM, James D Andrews wrote:
>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>>
>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>>
>>
>> How many lizard men do you want in your world? If you want a human
>> equivalent number only allow one egg per gestation period. But if you
>> want swarms of the things allow multiple eggs per pregnancy. As for
>> the number in existence at any one time, I'd say that 25% of females
>> would have eggs at any single moment. Or they might have set breeding
>> periods...
>
> Thank you.
>
> Just doing a single tribe.
>
> More questions. What would be the typical Male-Female ratio among lizard
> folk?
>
> Do Female Lizardfolk fight/patrol/guard/etc. along with males? I would
> think yes, but I'm not sure.
>
> The only source I have on the matter is the MM, and unlike for other
> races, it doesn't give these details.
>
Well, lots of real lizards lay eggs and forget them. But I imagine
lizard men to be more like the crocodiles and guard their nests. So,
females that aren't guarding nests would be available for all the roles
done by males. Is there a lot of sexual dimorphism in your lizard folk?
Is one sex a lot bigger than the other? That might play a role in who is
out on the sharp end of things. Maybe the males are hulking brutes while
the females are lithe and agile. As far as sex ratio I would make it
close to 50/50. Unless you want males fighting over harems of females.
Or Queens with a covey of male mates. The whole Pon Far thing...
James D Andrews
Thanks. I'm just putting together a generic small tribe for a quickie
mission, nothing too complicated. I figure on 3 patrols and a tribal
encampment. A tribal leader, maybe a #2, and a low-level shaman, plus
eggs.
To simplify matters for the group, rather than submerged caves or such,
I'm going with crude huts, probably mud or wattle & daub at best.
Haven't decided which of the two would be best, probably mud.
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
tussock
> For 2nd Edition game play,
>
> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
Official ecology is Dragon 335, mostly that their origin story is that
of a divided god, with one part becoming the breeder and egg minder, the
other part the hunter and warrior.
A few highly intelligent hermaphrodites are born, all blessed by the
gods with spellcasting (Druid, Sorcerer), but all infertile. Females thus
find intelligent males unattractive as partners, and so they all stay in the
swamp and fight all the time.
Uh, here we go. Females bury a clutch of 1-3 foot long eggs a few weeks
after breeding, minding them for ... a couple months?, produce all males if
the tribe is hungry, balanced sexes if well fed. Young stay with females.
The eggs feed off the rotting heap they're buried in, and will starve if
removed. Overfed eggs produce only females, underfed only males.
So a routinely hungry and warring tribe will have very few females and
eggs, a long prosperous tribe will have about as many eggs as adults.
Females are identical, but avoid patrols and hunting to constantly produce
young.
--
tussock
tussock
> To simplify matters for the group, rather than submerged caves or such,
> I'm going with crude huts, probably mud or wattle & daub at best.
> Haven't decided which of the two would be best, probably mud.
The PC's would be lucky to have wattle & daub at home. Anyhoo, requires
horses, for the dung, and fair weatherproofing. Lime coats help. Mud huts
don't work in rainy environments.
Real jungle folk live in wood frame huts with green thatching over oiled
skin covers (or open walls). No one lives in swamps, but it's open walls
with a green roof or nothing, maybe an elevated hardwood floor.
--
tussock
Justisaur
Interesting. Perhaps they could even change sex as they age/grow like
clown fish. Lizards don't do that, but there several parthenogenetic
lizards. All offspring are essentially clones of the mother - with
accumulated mutations of course. It's not like PCs could tell what
sex Lizardmen are anyway. There could be several different types/
tribes so it's all up to you.
My favorite images of Lizardmen are from Trampier, and they do
resemble anthropomorphic alligators more than other lizards, which
makes sense being swamp dwellers, and swimming faster than walking.
Alligators could provide many of the answers, and bears some
similarity to the 'ecology' article. Between 2-80 eggs in clutch
averaging 37, once a year. The females do protect their young. They
don't have sex chromosomes and sex is determined by temperature at
incubation, but typically they get 5 females to 1 male, females are
larger at hatching and mature faster, but males eventually get bigger.
Now if we apply this to an intelligent social tool using humanoid what
do we get?
With that 5 to 1 F/M ratio males would be more likely to be kept as
breeding drones, or "Kings" (there's a separate "Lizard King" monster
entry in one of the 1e books) having a large number of mates, and
would be unlikely to be the fighting force of a tribe, except as last
resort. Being an intelligent species they may be able to manipulate
what gender they get from a batch of eggs, and so breed what they
want. If the king being the largest and most valuable member of a
tribe wanted he could manipulate it so that only females were hatched,
at least until such a time as he became weak and or old, and the
females could then manipulate the incubations for males. This being
the case, Kings may fight each other for control of a tribe or
'Harem', and may be encountered individually or in small violent
groups much like lions or elephants wandering the fringes of the
harems, although far less so due to the disparity and manipulation of
gender.
Opportunities for drama abound. Makes me want to run a lizardman
game :) I was always partial to them anyway.
- Justisaur
James D Andrews
Just a quickie for my folk. Considering they can't tell the difference
between undead and oozes, I don't want to complicate their adventures
too much.
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
"Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's
troublesome."
- Isaac Asimov
Justisaur
That gives me an idea... similar to yellow musk creepers. An ooze
that takes over/infects bodies.
James D Andrews
Like Olive Slime, or something else in mind?
Justisaur
> Justisaur snuck on to your hard drive to scribble:
>
> > That gives me an idea... similar to yellow musk creepers. An ooze
> > that takes over/infects bodies.
>
> Like Olive Slime, or something else in mind?
>
Figures it would already exist :/
- Justisaur
James D Andrews
Damn it!
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Thomas Prufer
And it really does exist. One of the more creepy things I have heard.
Here, a quote, snipped from
<http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/brainwashed-by-a-parasite/>:
"The spores of the fungus attach themselves to the external surface of the ant,
where they germinate. They then enter the ant’s body through the tracheae (the
tubes through which insects breathe), via holes in the exoskeleton called
spiracles. Fine fungal filaments called mycelia then start to grow inside the
ant’s body cavity, absorbing the host’s soft tissues but avoiding its vital
organs.
"When the fungus is ready to sporulate, the mycelia grow into the ant’s brain.
The fungus then produces chemicals which act on the host’s brain and alter its
perception of pheromones. This causes the ant to climb a plant and, upon
reaching the top, to clamp its mandibles around a leaf or leaf stem, thus
securing it firmly to what will be its final resting place.
"The fungus then devours the ant’s brain, killing the host. The fruiting bodies
of the fungus sprout from the ant’s head, through gaps in the joints of the
exoskeleton. Once mature, the fruiting bodies burst, releasing clusters of
capsules into the air. These in turn explode on their descent, spreading
airborne spores over the surrounding area. These spores then infect other ants,
completing the life cycle of the fungus. Depending on the type of fungus and the
number of infecting spores, death of an infected insect takes between 4-10
days."
Thomas Prufer
James D Andrews
Aren't parasites so cool
The top video is no longer available but the bottom 2 were so awesome,
and a little disgusting. I've saved the link to show my wife later,
she's fascinated by that kind of stuff.
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
Ubiquitous
>For 2nd Edition game play,
>How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
--
"If Barack Obama isn't careful, he will become the Jimmy Carter of the
21st century."
Ubiquitous
>> On 7/11/2011 6:50 PM, James D Andrews wrote:
>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>>
>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>
>> How many lizard men do you want in your world? If you want a human
>> equivalent number only allow one egg per gestation period. But if
>> you want swarms of the things allow multiple eggs per pregnancy.
>> As for the number in existence at any one time, I'd say that 25%
>> of females would have eggs at any single moment. Or they might have
>> set breeding periods...
>
>Thank you.
>
>Just doing a single tribe.
>
>More questions. What would be the typical Male-Female ratio among
>lizard folk?
>
>Do Female Lizardfolk fight/patrol/guard/etc. along with males? I would
>think yes, but I'm not sure.
>
>The only source I have on the matter is the MM, and unlike for other
>races, it doesn't give these details.
Have you taken a look at module U2, which involves the characters
raiding a Lizardman lair?
Ubiquitous
>Thanks. I'm just putting together a generic small tribe for a quickie
>mission, nothing too complicated. I figure on 3 patrols and a tribal
>encampment. A tribal leader, maybe a #2, and a low-level shaman, plus
>eggs.
>
>To simplify matters for the group, rather than submerged caves or such,
>I'm going with crude huts, probably mud or wattle & daub at best.
>Haven't decided which of the two would be best, probably mud.
I seem to recall seeing a similar set up somewhere...
Ubiquitous
>Interesting. Perhaps they could even change sex as they age/grow like
>clown fish. Lizards don't do that, but there several parthenogenetic
>lizards. All offspring are essentially clones of the mother - with
>accumulated mutations of course. It's not like PCs could tell what
>sex Lizardmen are anyway.
I seem to recall illustrations of females with mammalian properties...
Justisaur
> justis...@gmail.com wrote:
> >Interesting. Perhaps they could even change sex as they age/grow like
> >clown fish. Lizards don't do that, but there several parthenogenetic
> >lizards. All offspring are essentially clones of the mother - with
> >accumulated mutations of course. It's not like PCs could tell what
> >sex Lizardmen are anyway.
>
> I seem to recall illustrations of females with mammalian properties...
Only ones I've seen are 4e Dragonborn. To them I say Bah! Bah good
sir.
- Justisaur
James D Andrews
No. I don't have personal access. Do you know of a (free) online
source?
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road,
and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be
swept off to.
-Samwise Gamgee quoting Bilbo Baggins, edited
James D Andrews
> In article <ivfunm$fbo$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>
>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>
> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
"Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
That's it on the eggs.
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
Ubiquitous
>Ubiquitous was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>>> Tetsubo embroidered on the monitor :
>>> The only source I have on the matter is the MM, and unlike for other
>>> races, it doesn't give these details.
>>
>> Have you taken a look at module U2, which involves the characters
>> raiding a Lizardman lair?
>
>No. I don't have personal access. Do you know of a (free) online
>source?
Besides alt.binaries.e-book.rpg or buying it at drive-thru-rpg (if
it's available)?
I can drop a copy to YouSendIt if you wish...
Ubiquitous
Dammit, Now I'll have to look for those so I can sight them.
Ubiquitous
>Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>> In article <ivfunm$fbo$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>
>> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
>
>No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
>but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
>
>"Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
>skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
>
>That's it on the eggs.
How about the 2nd edition Monstrous Binder?
James D Andrews
> In article <j0a5d2$uon$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>>> In article <ivfunm$fbo$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>
>>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>>
>>> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
>>
>> No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
>> but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
>>
>> "Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
>> skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
>>
>> That's it on the eggs.
>
> How about the 2nd edition Monstrous Binder?
I don't have it. Not sure I ever did. If you have it, can you take a
look for me?
--
-There are some who call me...
Jim
Ubiquitous
>Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>> In article <j0a5d2$uon$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>>>> In article <ivfunm$fbo$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>>>
>>>> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
>>>
>>> No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
>>> but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
>>>
>>> "Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
>>> skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
>>>
>>> That's it on the eggs.
>>
>> How about the 2nd edition Monstrous Binder?
>
>I don't have it. Not sure I ever did. If you have it, can you take a
>look for me?
I've been meaning to do that but haven't had a chance.
Tetsubo
The Monster Binder says that they rarely have more than 150 members in
a group. Including females and young. And they also really like the
flesh of humans and demi-humans. I never played then as quite so savage...
James D Andrews
Pretty much what the MM says.
The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
One, two, three...
Ubiquitous
>Tetsubo was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>> On 7/27/2011 7:46 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
>>> In article<j0pq3j$80e$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>>>>> In article<j0a5d2$uon$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>>>>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>>>>>>> In article<ivfunm$fbo$1...@dont-email.me>, jamesd...@att.net wrote:
>>>>>>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
>>>>>>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
>>>>>> but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
>>>>>> skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That's it on the eggs.
>>>>>
>>>>> How about the 2nd edition Monstrous Binder?
>>>>
>>>> I don't have it. Not sure I ever did. If you have it, can you take a
>>>> look for me?
>>>
>>> I've been meaning to do that but haven't had a chance.
>>>
>>
>> The Monster Binder says that they rarely have more than 150 members in a
>> group. Including females and young. And they also really like the flesh of
>> humans and demi-humans. I never played then as quite so savage...
Wasn't there a disclaimer about those being the more savage ones?
>Pretty much what the MM says.
>The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
>settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
>that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
Man-eating tigers are Neutral...
Tetsubo
>
>> Pretty much what the MM says.
>> The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
>> settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
>> that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
>
> Man-eating tigers are Neutral...
>
Man-eating tigers are a rarity and not sapient.
Justisaur
> Tetsubo was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 7/27/2011 7:46 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> >>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
> >>>>> Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>
> >>>>>>> For 2nd Edition game play,
> >>>>>>> How many eggs would be found in a typical lizard man tribe?
>
> >>>>>> Doesn't the Monster Manual say?
>
> >>>>> No. Like lots of the entries in the MM, it gives a lot of information,
> >>>>> but leaves out lots of relevant things, too. Nobody's perfect.
>
> >>>>> "Lizard man eggs are bitter and inedible, as is their flesh, but their
> >>>>> skin is sometimes worked as scale armor (Armor Class 6)."
>
> >>>>> That's it on the eggs.
>
> >>>> How about the 2nd edition Monstrous Binder?
>
> >>> I don't have it. Not sure I ever did. If you have it, can you take a
> >>> look for me?
>
> >> I've been meaning to do that but haven't had a chance.
>
> > The Monster Binder says that they rarely have more than 150 members in a
> > group. Including females and young. And they also really like the flesh of
> > humans and demi-humans. I never played then as quite so savage...
>
> Pretty much what the MM says.
> The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
> settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
> that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
>
> One, two, three...
Then there's dopplegangers... also N, but they like to kill and
replace people. Not very N...
- Justisaur
Ubiquitous
>On Jul 28, 12:45�pm, James D Andrews <jamesdandr...@att.net> wrote:
>> Tetsubo was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>>> The Monster Binder says that they rarely have more than 150 members in a
>>> group. Including females and young. And they also really like the flesh of
>>> humans and demi-humans. I never played then as quite so savage...
>>
>> Pretty much what the MM says.
>> The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
>> settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
>> that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
>>
>> One, two, three...
>
>Then there's dopplegangers... also N, but they like to kill and
>replace people. Not very N...
If memory serves, they were originally listed as Neutral(Evil)
James D Andrews
But man-eating tigers don't take captives to have horrid feasts later,
do they? I believe they kill their prey even if they cache the yum
yums.
Ubiquitous
>Ubiquitous embroidered on the monitor :
>>> Tetsubo was thinking very hard and all he could come up with was:
>>>> The Monster Binder says that they rarely have more than 150 members in a
>>>> group. Including females and young. And they also really like the flesh of
>>>> humans and demi-humans. I never played then as quite so savage...
>>
>> Wasn't there a disclaimer about those being the more savage ones?
>>
>>> Pretty much what the MM says.
>>> The whole liking human flesh, doing ambushes, preying on human
>>> settlements, taking prisoners back for rude and horrid feasts and all
>>> that makes you wonder about their Neutral alignment.
>>
>> Man-eating tigers are Neutral...
>
>But man-eating tigers don't take captives to have horrid feasts later,
>do they? I believe they kill their prey even if they cache the yum
>yums.
Are they like their tiny semi-domesticatyed cousins who "play" with their prey?
Tetsubo
To the prey it may seem like an immoral act. But to the non-sapient
tiger it is just a play instinct. They are not doing it out of malicious
intent. Sapient beings (humans & lizard folk) have the capacity to know
that it is immoral. Therein lies the difference.