Of course, if you're looking for a less mechanics-driven reason, there's also the fact that there's very little that can 'scare' an adventurer PC it would seem. One of the things that features prominently in RL horror movies is a fear of, say, the walking dead. As such creatures are considered by adventurers to be annoying facts of life as often as not, this holds little terror for them. Similarly, demons, aberrations, and monsters in general hold little enough fear for adventurers with no particular fear of death. There are exceptions, of course, but whereas most soldiers would prefer not to encounter a group of powerful heavily-armed foes, adventurers go giant-slaying on a fairly regular basis.It's hard to put the fear of gods into adventurers for whom dealing with the terrifying and incredible is a matter of course. I'm not saying that rust monsters should be used liberally - indeed, they are supposed to be aberrations, freaks of supernature - but there should be creatures like rust monsters that can leave the boldest fighter a little nervous to say the least.
What good are rust monster?1. Rust monsters are scary as was pointed out by the last post.
2. It can be quite amusing to a not so wholesome character to watch a big dumb fighter lose his sword or armor.
3. The loss can lead to all kind of RP. a. The guy in number 2 can make fun of the fighter and make a nice enemy or at lease get pummeled a bit. b. The guy that lost X, now can go buy a new one or, perhaps through some persuasion get some friends to feel sorry and replace it. c. I'm sure there is more! Run with it.
Now, I think their existence is easily justified so on to why they aren't a big deal.
Even if you "specialize" in a certain weapon, it really is not very bright to never have alternatives. Carry an extra wooden club. Improvise and whip out a fishing pole. If it's a GM related thing, don't get locked into mechanics. Just because you are in a barren stock "dungeon/cave" room, doesn't always mean it is empty. Make sure to ask if there is anything around. Maybe there is a table, break the leg off. Maybe there are some logs/sticks. I'm sure any GM would grant you a basic wooden club to act as that table leg or log. Can't hit anything with a plain old club?? Well, of course you brought along a mage or cleric right? Just whip up a GMW and it's a super club.
Playing Rust Monster's Advocate here...There are a couple of reasons to want to create something that literally destroys magical or useful items. For one, aside from PC's foolish enough to attack CNR with their hand-to-hand weaponry, weapons don't break, don't go 'bad', don't in fact show any wear whatsoever. Rust monsters, while perhaps punishing to those who rely wholly upon metal objects, are a reasonably seldom-used monster capable of removing some of these powerful 'magical' items from play.
For one, aside from PC's foolish enough to attack CNR with their hand-to-hand weaponry
Rust monsters, while perhaps punishing to those who rely wholly upon metal objects...
...are a reasonably seldom-used monster capable of removing some of these powerful 'magical' items from play.
Of course, if you're looking for a less mechanics-driven reason, there's also the fact that there's very little that can 'scare' an adventurer PC it would seem. One of the things that features prominently in RL horror movies is a fear of, say, the walking dead. As such creatures are considered by adventurers to be annoying facts of life as often as not, this holds little terror for them. Similarly, demons, aberrations, and monsters in general hold little enough fear for adventurers with no particular fear of death.
There are exceptions, of course, but whereas most soldiers would prefer not to encounter a group of powerful heavily-armed foes, adventurers go giant-slaying on a fairly regular basis.
It's hard to put the fear of gods into adventurers for whom dealing with the terrifying and incredible is a matter of course.
I'm not saying that rust monsters should be used liberally - indeed, they are supposed to be aberrations, freaks of supernature - but there should be creatures like rust monsters that can leave the boldest fighter a little nervous to say the least.
*Shrugs* I'm not saying I necessarily agree with using rust monsters in this capacity, but sometimes a little risk - if not presented overzealously - can be an effective tool, either as a deterrent against 'run in and bash', or as a challenge to be worked around.
I cant agree with this more. Just the other day on a quest (one of my last) I rolled out the big bad guy if front of the adventurers and even though it was clear by all accounts that he was a BIG bad guy the adventurers chose to be glib with him and make fun of him.
NOTE: Next time you see a room full of rust monsters, and you dont have a monk with you, Take off your armor, disarm yourself, take off all your magic items, pull out that oak club you have stuffed in your bag, and go see how you do
What good are rust monster?1. Rust monsters are scary as was pointed out by the last post.2. It can be quite amusing to a not so wholesome character to watch a big dumb fighter lose his sword or armor.
3. The loss can lead to all kind of RP. a. The guy in number 2 can make fun of the fighter and make a nice enemy or at lease get pummeled a bit. b. The guy that lost X, now can go buy a new one or, perhaps through some persuasion get some friends to feel sorry and replace it.
Even if you "specialize" in a certain weapon, it really is not very bright to never have alternatives. Carry an extra wooden club. Improvise and whip out a fishing pole.
If it's a GM related thing, don't get locked into mechanics. Just because you are in a barren stock "dungeon/cave" room, doesn't always mean it is empty. Make sure to ask if there is anything around. Maybe there is a table, break the leg off. Maybe there are some logs/sticks. I'm sure any GM would grant you a basic wooden club to act as that table leg or log. Can't hit anything with a plain old club?? Well, of course you brought along a mage or cleric right? Just whip up a GMW and it's a super club.
I lost my prized shield on the final episode of my WLDQ to a metal eating Delver? I think it was called. It was a serious challenge to continue without, Brisbane relinquished her shield to me to continue and put herself at grave risk. I was really disheartened at the time, but it went away. It made the story that much more epic.
Much as I prefer my points to be viewed and addressed as a whole rather than dissected and addressed individually, I do have a few defenses and rebuttals for my position. You'll have to forgive me if I don't 'quote' the points that I am addressing separately - it would simply get too segmented, and I want to address just a few of my points.
I think it can generally be agreed upon that most adventurers possessed of a full compliment - or even a majority - of their allotted soul strands have what one might refer to as 'no fear of death.'
I play a character with only a single soul strand left. He's exceptionally careful about what he does in a day, and has died only once in the last three months or so. It's not an unreasonable point, I should think, to state that dying hurts, and not just fiscally. The process, at least as most adventurers frequently engage in it, is painful, and should theoretically be avoided whenever possible.
Regarding facing off against giants, again I fear I must disagree. I was not using 'powerful' as a relative term - indeed, I was attempting to be as objective as possible.
The lack of fear of death is in many cases what makes adventurers daring enough to face off against foes which - and they still are in many cases - would be considered 'mighty' by the majority of the world's population. Given the number of graves I frequently see in areas of giant spawns, it would seem that a number of the 'daring adventurers' would be inclined to agree with me.
If death is not the final blow, and holds little consequence for the adventurer who rolls lucky versus the soul mother - as so many frequently do - and banks his coin, what then is there to fear from it?
And if there is nothing, then perhaps some other consequence needs to be there for rushing into a situation instead of considering various tactics.
When a fighter sees a rust monster across the room, the tactic assumed might not be one of 'rush in and beat it to death', but rather 'find an alternate method of removing the threat'.
I haven't seen rust monsters in the areas they used to spawn recently...
...and the only anecdotal evidence I've heard of recently has been quest-related, so one would presume that such monsters are infrequently met up with when one is by oneself - perhaps this is a job for the mages and clerics and archers?
Rush in and bash IS a bad thing, if the consequences of 'rush in and bash' are unfavourable.
Without meaning to get too wordy, a few other points. There have been notions raised that a good GM can inspire an ambiance of fear without using a mechanical threat such as a rust monster. Certainly a GM can cause thematic fear, but only occasionally does this tie into a fear of consequences.
On a perhaps related note, 'removing powerful items from the economy' is viewed as a 'good thing'...
...because there's a bottomless well of the things.
Aside from rust monsters, metal eating delvers, and hitting trees, weapons don't 'go bad'. People are constantly complaining that crafting nets less and less profit each year. Part of this is due to an influx of crafters, but a not-insignificant part may be attributed to the ever-increasing supply.
While it is something of a blow for a character to lose their 'hard won' equipment - and I don't mean to trivialize such a loss, as it is a significant inconvenience - such items can be replaced. Not all losses must be essential to a story, or even thematic. If the sword was hundred-folded steel, cooled from the forge in the spring waters of Ice Reach, and then fed the blood of tyrants, that becomes a more significant loss - and certainly one which one might take a CDQ to repair. If instead you bought an iron longsword, and it cost you a couple thousand coins, it's a story roughly equivocable to "I went to the store and got a tin of beans, but they went bad so I had to throw them out."
It's still an inconvenience, and certainly you are due some sympathy, but you don't always lose a soul strand on a quest - and nor should you. Adventurers live a dangerous life.Monsters are facts of life. Adventurers grow quite adept at dealing with them, but sometimes monsters that are not threats to your life can be threats to things which are surprisingly more important, such as your material possessions. I understand that people may feel irked if they lose a valued possession, but I do believe that the rust monster is simply a different sort of consequence.Just my two cents.
Ah, but if rust monsters are only found around aberrations and ghosts, what do those rust monsters eat?Sorry, cheap shot, but they can't RELY on adventurers...