What are some good ways to signify a monster is friendly? I

>>50058258
That spider's face looks like a tiny kawaii crab.

what do prime numbers have to do with anything

1) make them disinterested in the players
2) have the players encounter some difficulty and then the spider directly helps them with it. Example - the players get stuck in the spider's web, the spider is nice and doesn't want to eat adventurers, so they cut them free and also maybe give them some big animal that got caught in the web to eat for dinner or something

>>50058287
shit, he's right

>>50058258
Make it humanoid

Make it sexy

Make it a slut

>>50058297
prime numbers are one of the classic signals of intelligence between language barriers?

>>50058258
Put some food on the ground and back away outside of striking distance.

>>50058309
/thread

>>50058320
yes, but intelligence != being friendly

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Gosh darnit you whipper snappers why do you ask shit that was answered years ago!

>>50058258
Have it notice a predicament they might be in. They're foraging for food? The spider goes off and catches a few giant flies for them, hoping they'll eat it. Looking for shelter? It spins a web above them thick enough to deflect most of the rain or just to give them shade.

>>50058409
because the monster may not know english

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>>50058309

>>50058417
>>50058320
>Have the spider write a prime number in its web
>/thread

>>50058453
so like, in greco-roman tallies, or vertexes of rotation, or arabian numerology, or...

Have the party see it doing friendly things before it sees them. Maybe it has pets or is working on a hobby. I wouldn't blindly attack a giant spider herding goats or playing drums.

If it isn't intelligent enough for that, the easiest thing is definitely for it to help them.

>>50058556
Shit, spiders would be really good at making drum-based instruments, wouldn't they?
You always think strings with spiders, but drums totally work too.

>>50058258
Have it tap Morse code instead.

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>>50058258

>>50058258
Give it a hat

>>50058602
I feel like this simple solution might be universally applicable

The spider can talk and outright says it wants to be their friend. Be sure to give it a name. Giving somethnig a name makes people more likely to sympathize with it.

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>>50058556
>>50058586

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>>50058602

>>50058258
have it give out candy

>>50058258
>>50058320
Prime numbers might be, but it's hard to communicate, and it's not a commonly known fact.

Easier would be having it indicate a 3 4 5 right triangle. Plus being smart doesn't necessarily mean that the players won't kill it. If anything, you'd want it do just do something for them.

Have them attacked by a giant eagle or something, then have the giant spider trap it in a web for them or something.

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>>50058556
This. Maybe it's heard about the group's great deeds through a newspaper/bard/crier/etc, has heard they're going to be in the area, and wants to show them it's appreciation.
They stumble upon it trying to set up hammocks, streamers, and a banner that says "Welcome heroes, you guys are awesome!"

>>50059005
What if the giant spider follows the players and picks off goblins whenever they get in a fight that dungeon?

The party has an easier fight, the spider gets mad food for almost free

>>50058481
Not even the number 7 just the word "seven" , make it really obvious

>>50059039
That could be fun, especially if you give them the sense something is lurking.

You'd need to ensure there's 'vents' or some sort of small tunnels near the ceiling that makes it very easy for it to slip away.

Maybe if they try and rest in the dungeon, they'll find when they set out that there's a web down the hall from their room that trapped a bunch of the goblins searching for them.

>>50059081
That vent thing is a good idea.
Then you could have the spider be much more obvious, and still survive.

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>>50058258
It acts in a friendly manner.

If that much is unclear, have it make a joke.

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>>50058258
Make it cute.

>tfw arachnophobe but so many cute spiders ITT

>>50059255
Yeah. It lets the players discover the Spider or spot it as it snatches one of the goblins, only to scurry away.

It's doubtful they'd find it in a network of tunnels unless they tried to smoke it out, but trying to fill the cave you're in with smoke isn't gonna turn out well for them either.

>>50059503
I feel your pain, bro.

It's in the eyes. An evil creature has a look of anger, and resentment. A good creature has a look not a welcoming look, but curiosity, and gentleness.

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>>50058320
Is there some proof for that factoid son?

>>50060615
it's quite common across science fiction that deals with first contacts?
I'm not sure what you want when you are asking for proof about a literature concept.

>>50058258
It's wearing a t-shirt that says, "FUCK ELVES".

That way if you're anti-elf you think it's one of your kind. If you sexualize elves you think it's one of your kind too.

>>50058320
>>50060643
I hate being reminded about how SF worships the ground mathematics walks on

>>50061041
Carl Sagan did it in Contact. Farscape did it. I'm sure there are other examples but none that really stick out making it an overused trope.

At least it has a basis in reality. The idea of mathematics as a common language since numbers would be the same regardless of where you are in the galaxy.

>>50061099
In Stargate ancient aliens used basic elements in sequence as a code to create lasting messages. I think drawing a triangle on the ground is more conventional though. Even less advanced species recognize a triangle and its importance in geometry.

>>50061249
"Look. It's drawing a triangle in the dirt... It's after our pointy spear tips! Quick, stab it!"

>>50058258
Make the monster imply that it's looking for a good time or it wants to fuck.

Alternatively, have the monster roll to seduce.

>Sitting out in the woods with a fire going
>It's cold as balls even with the fire
>Cloak ain't doing shit for me
>Suddenly hear rustling in the pushes and a brief shadow pass by
>Get my sword ready
>The bush rustles a bit and I stand up and call out to whatever is there
>The thing lifts a..Leg? Waves a flag
>Suddenly slides what looks like a sweater from the push
>It's made of silk
>See the fire reflect off it's eyes
>Waves it's pedipalps at me

And thus, I quit the adventuering life and helped my spider bro become a fashion designer.

>>50058258
probably the best way is to have it somehow defend them from something.

>>50061277
Meaning that you're dealing with a bronze-age culture at best and are probably more than a match if you're the alien landing there.

Drawing a triangle lets an alien know that you're smart. It doesn't really do more than that, just let's them know that they shouldn't shoot you with the assumption that you're some dumb animal.

They might shoot you anyway, but then that was probably going to happen no matter what you did.

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>>50058258
>implying you won't try to befriend every new monster you encountered
How are you going to achieve world domination without various allies in all sorts of places?

>>50058258
Make it Psionic and have it use telepathy to repeatedly yell into their minds "I am friendly spider, whaddup fellow adventurers!?" And let it float over some bugs it caught using telekinesis to offer as snacks.

>>50061426
It was a joke, anon. Suggesting the triangle is the universal symbol for stabbing implements.

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Real talk, I fucking love spiders even though the make me nervous as fuck

Every time I see one I get all itchy and anxious, but I'm happy they're around, murdering flies and mosquitoes

Here in Aus the huntsmen get big enough to eat small mice so they also do the work my fat lazy cats should be doing

>>50061566
They'd probably suspect it of mind controlling them if it was psychic.

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>>50061566

if i encountered a hideous monster telepathically whispering innocent phrases into my mind while flaunting its previous victims in my face i would immediately think it was a trap.

no-go mister DM sir.

>>50060615
Because if I tap a sequnce that goes like this:
1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.. No non-sentient creature could produce said sequence at random. The same could be said if I drew a right-triangle, and put 3 marks on one side, 4 marks on another, and 5 marks on the longest side. Which again, proves I know geometry, and therefore I'm at least capable of reasoning.

Or if I drew a dot, followed by 8 other dots with ovals running through them, as a little model of our solar system. Any alien seeing that would know we are aware of astronomy.

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>>50058602

this is so hilariously simple, yet i see no reason why it wouldn't be effective even in the most serious settings.

>displays intelligence
>displays craftsmanship
>possibility for displaying cultural symbols the PCs may recognize
>makes it cuter and more anthropomorphized
>gives it instantly recognizable characterization depending on the type of hat

i like it

>>50061765
>1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.. No non-sentient creature could produce said sequence at random.
Sure they could! It would just be really REALLY statistically improbable. Like that fucker is probably also picking successful lotto numbers.

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>>50061785
Not to metion that any female party members will find it hard to resist it's dashing charm, greatly improving initial contact.

>>50062061
>>50061785
Funnily enough, this technique DOES work for spiders, bears, and general beast like monsters, but does NOT work for humanoid monsters.

Because seeing a goblin in a hat will not stop you from killing said goblin.

>>50062217
That depends. How nice is the hat? Sunday best? Or dirty trucker style with the words "Make Elf Rape Great Again"?

>>50062275
I'm using a beat up stovepipe hat as my example hat for all these scenarios.
I would totally take a beat up stovepipe from a goblin, but not a spider.

>>50062294
Of course not. Spiders make fine silks. They should be great tailors.

Of course no doubt the adventurer spider may not have that racial aspect, having become a social outcast due to more interest in mix-maxing than needlepoint.

>>50062316
man, I need to include more terrifying spider towns in dungeons.

>>50058258
Give it an emissary/ translator.

>>50062386
>adventurers captured in webs
>dragged by spider warriors to spider village
>released in the local tavern to much cheering and song and drink
>heroes are toast of the town, the only price of hospitality is the return gift of stories from their exploits
>local spider wenches promise to be gentle with any adventurers wishing to partake of their nectar and not to bite any of their heads off mid-coitus
>when leaving the spider town council presents the adventurers with finely woven silk cloaks, bobble caps, and mittens because the dungeon gets very cold at night

>>50062502
Yes, just like that.
Except add a scene where they are physically covered in hundreds of spiders. Or maybe spider kids, if these are giant spiders.

>>50062528
Nah, if I was DMing I'd make it totally nice all the time. Only once they're far gone and probably no longer remember the way back to spider village do they discover the secret lining in their mittens with the note saying, "Guess which one of you has the egg sac concealed in your rectum?"

>>50062598
as long as there is plenty of screaming, it's all good.

>>50062598
"Oh, did any of you guys find the missing villagers you were sent for in the first place?"

>>50061765
Wouldn't spiders use base 8 or something? And wouldn't the party be too dumb to figure it out either way?

>>50062605
Could be worse. Could be like those wasps that lay eggs inside caterpillars and turn them into "zombies" that keep eating, never cocoon, and are eventually devoured from the inside out by wasp larva.

I'm sure there are spiders who happily lay their eggs inside of things.

>>50062666
I think primes are the same even in different bases?
If my math is right?

>>50062666
Spider-wizards should be prepared with translation spells. After all, with their rather inhuman mouths I cannot imagine they can manage even Common.

>>50062692
The actual value would be the same but the numbers you use to express them would change depending on the base.

There's no 3 in binary, for instance.

>>50062710
>There's no 3 in binary, for instance.
Or rather there IS but it would be 11.

>>50062666
Nah. Spiders also have those mouth-legs, so they'd have 10 digits in all.

>>50062710
>>50062727
but for the sake of tapping the numbers in sequence, it all works
>>50062733
pedipalps!

>>50061765
>Or if I drew a dot, followed by 8 other dots with ovals running through them
For approximately 75 of the last 80 years, this would be wrong. It would get progressively more wrong the further back in time you went, and could at some point in the future become wrong - possibly very wrong - again.

And that's if we're dealing with our own real solar system, and assuming that the subject creature has access to accumulated human knowledge or powerful telescopes.

Any thing that indicates that they don't consider Pluto a planet, I will kill on the spot.

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>>50059503

>>50062780
You'd be killing a lot of people if you went back in time then, as Pluto wasn't even known for much of history.

>>50062741
Godbless you.

>>50062780
>doesn't even have proper orbit
>"a planet"
LOL

>>50058258
Describe it as cute.
Make it colorful.
Or make it extremely obvious that it's intelligent. Maybe it makes artistic vignettes out of its webbing that depict a picnic with its children.
Have it leave gifts for the party in their path (small amounts of gold, maybe a minor magical item, other things your party might want but wouldn't make the dungeon too easy)

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>>50062971
Jesus, it's almost like you WANT Zapp to murder these guys.

>>50062971
>Colorful
That's generally an indication of being highly poisonous or venomous, if you ask the ranger. The sorcerer just thinks it's pretty. The bard says both.

>>50059320

Q: What did the bartender say to spider when started to tell him a story?
A: Hey there lots of legs. Now that is some spinning yarn your tell me!

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Give it an ally that can communicate.

>>50063056
They ARE spiders so even if they weren't colorful people would still be cautious. Just sayin'

>>50058453
don't you mean
>/web

>>50058258
Have it sneak up behind them unnoticed so that it would be able to easily ambush them. Then have it gently tap the shoulder of the party member at the back, and hand them an item that they recently lost. Then it leaves, turning around just before it's out of sight to wave goodbye at the party.

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>>50063056
Most dangerous motherfucker in the planet coming through. Back off, mammal!

I know, i know. Still, i couldn't resist

>>50064069
Little Known Fact: Those feathers are highly poisonous to humans unless washed with water.

>>50058320
All that intelligence means in a monster is that I have to watch out for monster allies, traps and/or ambushes.

>>50064128
What's the name of the poison/toxin?

>>50061344
>In a dingy shop a few blocks from a city dump
>Need the flies to feed spider bro
>Wizard bro scraped together a leg ring to translate what he says
>Spider bro's name is 'Gil'
>In walks noble dude
>"My good sir, I have heard that you discovered the secret of spider silks"
>Nod. Fucker better not try to enslave Gil like the last idiot
>Gil is still feasting on his remains
>Good times.png
>"I require a full suit, in the latest styles of the court."
>"You get what Gil says you get."
>whatthefuckface.png
>He finally sees spider bro
>Starts freaking when his pedipalps rub together
>"Don't worry, he's friendly. Now stand still while he runs all over your body"
>Gil is the size of a small dog
>He finally speaks
>sounds like clicks, softly sighed vowels, and soft phlegmy constanants
>Leg ring kicks in
>"Greetings buyer! I wish to show you my skills with my butt thread!"
>facepalm.png
>"It's silk, not butt thread"
>"But is thread that comes from butt!"
>Not. Helping.
>Noble dude faints
>"Can I eat him?"
>Not sure if bad idea or good idea.

>>50061805
Imagine a creature that hunts sentient beings searching for sentient life. It does a brief display dance, then if the creature hasn't attacked taps a set sequence then lures them into a trap. It's not all that Byzantine as far as nature is concerned.

>>50058258
I played a gatormen in a setting where gatormen were rare and rightly feared.

Somehow, despite being amused by the notion that other races needed armor, weighting 300 kgs and digesting bone as well as meat, simply saying "hello" and not eating people worked. I also said I was lonely and wanted to help because my tribe exiled me. Most people just stared afraid until I showed my good will and common ground (all races hate kobolds).

I even became a honorary dwarf, proud member of the Iron Redoubt. And hero of a village so unremarkable it had no name until I showed up and it became Maul's Village. The locals started to wear green clothing with scaled patterns and feast everytime I did something worthwhile, those drunkards.

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Make it friendly and willing about good conversation.

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>>50064427
Or a great kisser

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>>50064433
Perhaps it's very useful

Sometimes just the way the creature is holding itself says a lot. I know from working with sheepdogs that when they're prowling around, the sheep actively shy away but when they sit or lie down the sheep are much more at ease because the threatening part of the dogs' presence is gone.

So say the party encounters a tiger or someshit. "The tiger lifts it's head to sniff the disturbed air. It watches you intently as you enter but doesn't rise from it's reclined position at the base of the gate."

>>50061765
I'm more a fan of the Fibonacci sequence, personally.

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>>50062783
It's all in the eyes.

>>50066600
Yeah, no...
Fuck that I can see the pointy fangs in that picture.
Nope, nope, nope.

>>50058258
Have spiders being psychics.

>>50058258

Have the monster react with surprise and fear upon seeing the players, perhaps jumping away or hiding behind something. Then, after the initial surprise, have it cautiously approach with visible curiousity.

This signals to even the densest players that the monster isn't looking for a fight. Thats the first and most important hurdle overcome.

Some players will attack it anyway, but if your group has that sort of player a friendly monster encounter was never going to work anyway.

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>>50064180
It is named the Ytiluderc by native europeans. It is a very potent toxin that disturbs the mirror neurons, thus debilitating its victims and making them unable to learn anything of real value whatsoever.

Stay away from peacocks, mang.

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>>50066645
You have teeth too, I presume. Their teeth are just a little bigger in proportion.
Besides, most spiders will never go out of their way to attack something as big as a human unless they feel their lives are in danger. Spiders just want to treat others they way they want to be treated, be a pal.

>>50058422
It's kind of bizarre that /d/ is consistently the nicest, most caring, most accepting board on 4chan...

>>50061016
underrated

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>>50067269
Well, used to be.
The /aco/ split left everyone eternally pissed off and with a neck full of beard.

>>50067225
Dude, i suddenly have a mighty need to look at my ceiling in search of a word

>>50067225
I read that in a biology textbook last night. Power was out, so I was reading by gaslight, though.

>>50066408
Screw that. Have it play chopsticks on a tiny keyboard instead. People are less likely to initially freak if it is holding a musical instrument rather than a weapon. If it is a bard the charisma boost will help it establish a line of communication.

Unfortunately being a bard will likely be what gets it killed now from certain players.

>>50067225
You know that peacocks kept in zoos etc are regularly washed to keep them safe, don't you?

>>50059028
Nethergate!

>>50062666
Bases don't matter if you're tapping something a certain number of times. Whether you wright the actual numerical symbol in binary or decimal, scratching eight marks onto the ground would still look like:

| | | | | | | |

And tapping the ground eight times would still sound like

"tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap"

>>50058258
I think the best idea, and the most sublte one is to have it create things that indirectly help the player, for example its webs create shelter from rain, or its web acts as a bridge to give the player some what pleasant thoughts of the spider without thinking the games telling them outright like it.

or you could leave people with just the prime numbers and leave it up to players to work out its freindly on there own, and say "your loss, you killed the damn thing not us" but thats probably the masochistic souls fan insided me talking

>>50069443
or even more cryptic you could make it tab morse into the ground.

>>50068734
Look out! It's tapping the ground, that means it's about to charge like a bull! Somebody take off your boot and hit it!

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>>50058258
Say instead of a spider it's a knoll, this is how I'd make it look.

Handing out a handy map of interesting places to hit and a coupon booklet with interesting places to go and monster run shops and cafes, plus the dungeon gift center. Remember, the Adventurer Dollar is very important to any dungeon economy. Adventurers don't want to haul all this loot to the nearest town to change out so give them local places to spend the Gold Crown of Al-Bajeir or the Thrice Cursed Golden Sippy Cup of the Dark Gods. Most of that stuff they just rehide in the dungeon anyway to lure in more adventurers.

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>>50059503

>>50073319
"EXCUSE ME GENTLE TOWNFOLK FOR I HAVE COME TO BORROW A CUP OF SUGAR FOR WHICH I SHALL GRACIOUSLY COMPENSATE YOU."

>>50066645
Know how I got over being scared of spiders?

I realized they're just land crabs. I grew up on the coast always around crabs, they aren't scary and spiders just have more eyes and their mouth parts go down instead of up.

Also, watch youtube vids. Nothing like a jumping spider cleaning itself like a kitten to lose the fear.

Mild and crude, but cute understanding of the human languages, being responsive to generic messages and leaving really tiny and aggressively cutesie cues around.

>Tiny booth that says "Spider Shop, do not hurt Spider" in really crude ink that sells threaded goods and wares
>Silken bag where it stores money and other loot worthy of collecting with some crudely drawn currency sign on it
>Wears a silly wig that is so comical that it immediately destroys any tension that this is some feral wildlife, or at least such that it's so dangerous that nobody would dare place a wig on its head

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Make them quest givers. Ones not worth killing for loot, but rewarding enough to help.

>>50061249
This reminds me of a comic...
>some manner of astronaut (human sent to space to do something and return, can't remember if their country of origin was specified) got separated from his crew, after they were all sort of stranded somewhere deep in space
>astronaut stumbles upon an alien in a space suit, proceeds to cling onto the alien
>alien goes to a place with more aliens, astronaut in tow
>astronaut draws a triangle with a marker pen on a nearby wall, gestures from the triangle to himself and back
>alien gestures for the pen, draws square, gestures from square to itself
>some more drawings happen, Square and co. help bring the astronauts back home

>>50073598
I've yet to ever see a setting where some titanic monster like this is a common occurrence that isn't threatening. I'd really love to play in a game with that.

>HOLY CHRIST IS THAT A 300-FOOT HYDRA?! WHY IS NOBODY PANICKING!?
>Oh, you're a traveler, aren't you? You see, that thing keeps coming by to consume our annual garbage stack. Nobody knows why it is so obsessed with eating trash and filth, but the thing will always come by, eat that trash, and then return to the sea. The one year we didn't leave a tremendous stack of assorted trash outside of our kingdom, it went on a rampage and started eating trees and random wildlife before returning to the sea.
>Wh...what? Why does it do that?
>I just said we don't know. Now you're done with that banana right? Just throw the peel into the pile. Don't worry, it's friendly.

>>50073598
>>50073741
>Oh don't worry about the spider, he doesn't eat people.
>Then what does it eat?
>Mostly dragons. We had a real dragon problem before he moved in.

>>50073823
Ha, I do love that.

"No no, we don't kill that monster. It kills the bad monsters."

>>50073652
>we're one side more than you
BANTER

>>50074291
Well, they _were_ technologically more advanced.

>>50073993
"Is that a giant firebreathing turtle?"
"Oh yeah, he helps take care of the kids"

>>50058258
>What are some good ways to signify a monster is friendly?
Show that it has neither fear for nor an interest in the Pcs. For example.

>You pass through a thick forest
>A few paces away you spot a giant spider feasting on the carcass of an ox
>The spider looks up, noticing the party
>He then proceeds to ignore them, choosing to continue eating the ox carcass

Spiders are inherrently creepy though.

>>50058602
>>50061785
>>50062061
>The giant spider quickly cleans his pedipalps with a napkin
>He then politely tips his top hat, greeting the party with a muffled "Top o' the morning".

>>50074388
I see what you did there, and raise you a TOHO kaiju.
"So you guys have a giant, lion-dog-thing"
"Yeah, he's our protector god"
"A god?"
"Yeah, a god."
"Of what?!"
"Rugby, mostly."

>>50074388
Reminds me of those scenarios where the triumphant dragonslaying heroes find that the entire region is turning against them because they murdered one of the top tourist draws and who cares if it ate a princess once or twice in a generation, they could always make more. Frankly the need to import princesses from other kingdoms was the only thing keeping the local royals from having absolutely no branches on the family tree.

>>50074528
"Stop killing the Deep Ones! My pregnant daughter is married to one, you racist bastards!"

>>50074528
That sounds like something that might've been written by Terry Pratchett GNU

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>>50064427

>>50074527
"What the fuck is that giant monster bug thing?!"
"Oh that's just the resident guardian of mankind. They're pretty chill"

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>>50073993
>giant monsters are all assholes who want to eat you
>colossal monsters are all bros who want to eat giant monsters

>>50075183
He can lead the Macy's Day Parade.

>>50075031
Wasn't that the Godzilla remake with the Breaking Bad dude?

>>50075183
This premise honestly seems pretty believable. A tremendous monster wouldn't really get much out of eating a singular human unless it was starving to death and you were the only form of meat for a long distance. I could buy seeing some enormous, tower-scaling mantid trapping wyverns and chomping on them, while regular people take pictures of it and it takes care to step around them.

>>50058602
Murderhobos will just murder it for the sweet hat

>>50072425
Look out! It's trying to communicate! Quick, somebody kill it before it convinces us to do something!

>>50058258
If you don't care about subtlety, maybe have something happen to the player(s) that causes them to basically not be in any condition to fight the monster, and then have the monster nurse the player(s) back to health?

>>50075559
Always doable, though I don't know if you necessarily have to tack on nursing them back to health. That could work if the heroes were injured by a mutual enemy to foster positive relations with the "good monsters".

Or an Enemy Mine scenario, I guess. Pretty much the same thing only it openly admits both are hostile towards each other with the monsters holding the heroes captive until they realize they have a common struggle, again potentially against a common foe but sometimes just the elements, etc.

>>50058417
>Spider weaves a smiley face into its web

>>50060573
This.

>>50075737
Typical player response:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxFOVtr9fbk

>>50074446
>You round a bend in the dungeon
>A Spider sits at a table, wearing a bowler hat and smoking a cigar
>it's rapidly shuffling a deck of cards between its multiple legs

>>50075970
Too many sleeves he could be hiding cards, I'd never trust playing with him.

>>50058602
That's actually pretty brilliant in its simplicity

>>50058258
Have it bow to them by raising its back and lowering its head in a regal manner. Have it watch them and then make some art out of webbing like weaving a scene of them and gifting it to them.

>>50076231
What if they players just assume it killed somebody for the hat?

>>50076061
I've always kind of wanted to play a gambling spider and an incorrigible cheat.

>>50076324
That implies that it knew that the hat would make it look better than your average giant spider, showing some form of intelligence.

>>50076633
Touché.

>>50076633
An illithid is intelligent. Doesn't mean I want to sit down to tea together and let it pick my brain.

>>50058258
Dude, TRUST your players. See how they react. If they kill it, in the next session they run into it's grieving widow shows up in a veil, weeping as she points the adventurer's out to other spiders dressed as British bobbies.

>>50077087
Illithids don't wear hats though.

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>>50077168
You'd be surprised.

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>>50077274
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? I do, because I ate his brain."

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>>50077168
>Illithids don't wear hats
CHECKMATE.

Where is your god now, anon?

>>50077274
>>50077295
>>50077337
I'm not seeing any illithids here, just behatted, mustachioed gentlemen.

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>>50077363
Oh god, you've already fallen under their spell!

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>>50077295

>>50077428
Seriously though, doesn't putting a hat on an Illithid make it look more trustworthy

>>50077495
Depends on the hat.
I'd trust anything wearing a Deerstalker.

>>50077495
People think they hate hats because they hate hats on other people. You know, tinfoil hats. Spikey hats. Stuff like that.

>>50061694
Right? Everyone knows you should ignore any thoughts that feel spidery.

>>50077641

People hate hats because of team fortress 2 and you know it.

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>>50058602
And British. Gib it a backstory of being created by magic, and since it's mastered died, only wished to continue its masters work of helping others

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>>50079363
You say that like the hatlithid isn't behind you right now with a knife.

>>50058602
Now you've given them something to steal/loot.

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This would make it friendly, right?

>>50079612
Pretty much, yeah. Look how cute he is now!

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>>50079640

>>50079664
>offering me drinks

well now I just think it wants to fuck me

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>>50079681

>>50062275
If I came across a goblin wearing an old lady hat with flowers and feathers and lace, I would almost certainly assume it killed and ate an old lady, then took her hat... maybe taking the hat, raping her, then eating her... possibly in other orders.

>>50079612
Of course it does, it clearly just graduated highschool.

Give it telepathy and make it psionic.
Rip off Mother of Learning.

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>>50079743
Spider wants the D

>>50075229

...and now I want to see a Breaking Bad remake where Walter White is played by Godzilla.

>>50058258

You ever think about doing a charlotte's web and having it weave words into webs for players to read?

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>>50079698
>>50079780
>she

well that changes everything
how big are those campaign glasses?

Party of 4 communicates telepathically to 3 giant spiders

Who are you?
>I am spider who is me, this is spider who mates with spider who is me, and spider who smells of other forest
>What are a half-legs of not spider-not foods doing in spider home

I like it when my players talk to animals, I make them super unhelpful

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>>50058287
Make it a merchant too

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>>50062931
>Earth doesn't even have a working axis
>"A planet"
BLORKBLORKBLORKBLORK!!

Okay here's how you do this.

Have several webs around that depict things like a falling corpse or monstrous visages. Searching near these webs reveals natural pits or the lair of a somewhat nasty monster. Have them see the spider mangling a web to indicate something else that's dangerous and actively avoiding the party unless they attack it.

Have the party prove to the spider that THEY'RE friendly

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>>50079955
Big enuf

>>50067406
remember when InCase would hang out with us

>>50079664
>>50079612
>>50079640
>As we go on, we remember, all the times we, span webs together
>Do do do do, do do do, do do do do do....

>>50080083
He still does. Pretty recently he did did some drawings in a shortstack thread

>>50074528
Reminds me of the troll from the Witcher. People liked him because at least he maintained the fucking bridge.

>>50079780
See, this just looks like an evil professor spider serial killer who murdered everyone at a birthday party and is writing in their blood on a tree. It has a psycho fixation on its victims, ultimately killing and eating all it loves.

You know, like regular spiders who eat their mates.

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>>50058258
If the spider can speak, have it humming a tune that the party might be familiar with while it works on whatever its doing.

Equally, you could just put a pair of tiny glasses on its face, which will instantly give the party pause and make them say "Wait, its got tiny glasses on its face".

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>>50058258
> Mfw I play a spiderbro
It's pretty unoriginal but saving their asses works.
I also have a hat.

Playing that character actually helped temper my arachnophobia.

>>50063056
The bard usually say: "I want to have intercourse with it." In my group. Fuck bards.

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>>50058602
>/thread
So pure and simple that even the barely sapient murderhobos will notice its sapience before deciding to kill it since sapient monsters must have sweeter loot than mindless animals.

The kind of hat will make quite a difference though. Does the spider don a trucker cap with the colors of a nearby dictatorship and a banjo or has it woven a white spiderweb burka? Or is it just the traditional tophat and a monocle? Perhaps it wears a visored helmet with multiple eye-holes, in which case players will most likely find it strange and threatening

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Descripe some curious surrounding and details that might draw the players' attention

>>50082574
This would nake that show way more interesting.

>>50058258
A dapper hat signifies both intelligence and high class.

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>>50058258
Who says a monster has to be friendly?

Establish ahead of time that the heroes need the monster. Alive. For whatever reason. The longer they have to stay together, the better. Don't spring it last minute when the group has already decided to murderhobo their way into a dead campaign.

>>50058287
G-GATTAI!?

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Everyone should always act with good manners in all circumstances because those who care not if they disrupt your spirit or if it becomes defiled, they are the real monsters

>>50075385
>and it takes care to step around them.
This is where you lose me. If dragons eat goblins who eat rats, Dragons wouldn't give a FUCK about injuring the rats in their hunt of goblins.

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>>50061765
>he forgot two

no sentient life in this post

>>50083969
>he forgot two
More like "mistakenly typed 1 instead of 2".

>>50058258
>PCs are captured by clearly evil opponents
>Spider slaughters the bad guys, notices but won't attack the PCs
>and/or breaks the PC's restraints and scuttles away before they can do anything

Or
>Spider itself is being held captive, e.g. in a magic cage by a spellcaster
>PCs see the spider, can't kill it
>PCs fight and defeat the spellcaster
>On the way back the cage is gone
>Spider shows up in a dramatic situation and turns the table in the PC's favor (by jumping a large enemy)
Make sure to give it a distinctive appearance, don't hesitate to point out how it's the spider that was being held in a magic cage earlier.

Should work with just about any monster.

>>50079979
This is the funniest shit, not to mention pretty believable.

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>>50083896
It depends if it's a one-way relationship or if humans also do things that benefit the monsters.

>>50082228
>The "big game hunter" who guides the party through the enchanted rainforest is a talkative, gentlemanly, old-fashioned man-sized spider
>Every night, he recounts his greatest adventures to his new companions, who cling to his every word
>"I remember the Bullet Ant war very well. The year was 1866 when the Bullet Ants decided to stop trading with us. Naturally, we weren't too happy with that...."
>"...and then I said 'you call that fighting? You're barely half as lethal ad a night with the missus', and I wasn't even joking!"
>"And then we slaughtered their leaders, occupied their lands and forced them into indentures servitude, just as God intended!"
>"Now, let me tell you about the French..."

>>50074528
There is a play "The Dragon" by Evgeny Schwartz. A wandering knight Lancelot finds a town which was ruled by a dragon for generations. He falls in love with a maiden selected as a sacrifice, and declares that he is going to slay the dragon. Citizens ask him to go away. Even the maiden if flattered, but uncomfortable about it. Dragon is kind, you see. There is no banditry, roads are safe, and hundred years ago he boiled the town lake to prevent a cholera epidemic. Yes, he eats a girl every year, but it's forgivable for such a fine ruler to have his little kinks.
The dragon himself laughs at the hero, claiming that these people would not know what to do if he liberates them. Over the centuries the dragon bred out the desire to be free. True to that, citizens try to prevent the knight from winning even after dragon commands them to help Lancelot, deciding to personally deal with a challenger.
And then, unexpectedly, Lancelot slays the dragon. But he is mortally wounded himself and disappears after a fight, taken away by a few friends he had in the town.
A year later, town prepares for a wedding. Former town mayor, now a president of a free city, praised by citizens for defeating the dragon after some shithead knight angered the beast, decides to marry the maiden he saved from a terrible fate of being eaten alive. It would be a great symbol, after all: instead of being forced to die as a tribute for a tyrant, she is now willingly becomes a wife for a hero.
It is not enough to kill the dragon. You need to kill a dragon in each human after that.

>>50058320
Autism!

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>>50058309

>>50088681
Well, it is official, autism is now meaningless, just like aspergers before it.

>mfw my last character would have been a horrifically ugly worm creature except she had a big 'ol afro of symbiotic moss
>mfw no face whatsoever

>>50061426
Ya know, one would think seeing a dude in space gear, or in a vehicle or what have you is a pretty clear indicator, 'hey this guy has intelligence could be capable of communication attempts'

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>>50058602
I maintain the reason Mushroom people look so trustworthy is because they're always wearing hats.

>>50079785
Have Anguirus play Jessie, and we'll talk.

>>50059320
actually, I think your gif has the answer.

Make it talk like Brian blessed, in his booming voice and all

>>50089016
That would be your mistake. Like all decomposers they feed off of death. Never let one invite you into his garden.

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>>50058258
Show the monster engaged in the most civilized activity of all: tabletop rpgs

>>50089016
I really like playing mushroom men and I never get to.
Mostly because DMs hate dealing with characters that have non-human weakensses and strengths. It's why orks and elves are OK, but a plantman is not.

>>50090019
Not a big myconids guy, never really ran into them and I don't have a monster manual handy. What issues do they have that would be a burden for the DM?

>>50090141
it's been decades since D&D, I don't recall.

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>>50090163
Pulled this off the old googles
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Myconid_(5e_Race)

I can see the slowness being a potential burden to the group. I can see the aversion to sunlight being a pain in the ass, and potentially the telepathic communication.

That's just my best guesses on the matter. I can see a DM being hesitant, at least. This is something that would need some careful thought.

>>50058602
that was my idea the second I read OP's post

also spoiler warning
https://youtu.be/E1BzCAc55SU

>>50058602
Anon, villains where the black hats.
It needs a white hat instead.

>>50092253
RACIST!

>>50081663
LINK?!

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>>50088805
>now

>>50058602
>In the darkest corner of the deepest dungeon, you come upon a giant spider wearing a hat of very thinly hammered tin
>As you approach, begins telling you in excited, if somewhat garbled, English about the four simultaneous days in one day and how modern educators are trying to hide the power and truth of the Time Cube

>>50058258
Establish eye contact, sheath weapons and/or resume non aggressive activities.

>>50061016
i almost died of laughter
thanks man

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>>50087650
I keked. Thank you.

My reward is a surreal picture.

>>50089176
I would trust an Atropal talking like Brian Blessed.

>>50058602
Someone screencap this shit.

>>50081663
Incase is a guy?
im... i dont know what I expected but...

>be an adventurer
>walking through thick woodland
>spy a giant spiderweb
>stop for a moment in awe
>out of nowhere, a bone chilling clack clack clack of a spider the size of ten men crawling down a tree can be heard from behind you
>you draw your sword, ready to fight
>it holds two of its grossly hairy legs up at you, each thicker than your body
>backs off a few paces
>begins weaving it's Web through its back legs to make an image on the ground
>it's becoming clearer
>the spider was drawing a pic of you and it hugging
>it smiles when it's done
>it looks like a picture of it suffocating you in its Web, pulling you in to eat
>it's smile is terrifyingly disturbing you to your core
>you run in the other direction, straight into its web, and get strangled by it

>spider sighs and puts your corpse in the reject pile

>>50058258
Make it eat giant mosquitoes , flies, wasps, hornets or anything like that.

Also this thing is already cute

>>50058258
What about giving quest to observe monsters or not do trouble until something happen?

>>50094933
dude, you think women like drawing porn? Its art for men by men, about the object they desire most. What kind of feminazi whackjob would do that?

>>50100087
I don't know what to say. I fell like I should post a smug anime girl here or something. Wow. You actually believe that?

>>50058258
make it act like a dog

>>50100087

...you want me to start listing feminazi whackjobs?

Some of them draw amazing drow porn.

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>>50100288
Or a cat.

>>50100087
I mean...IAHFY and her circle of friends pretty much did all of the good Korra porn back in the day