Colossal Scorpion Ranch [Archive] - Wizards Community

Colossal Scorpion Ranch [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
AldentheNinja
05-27-06, 01:49 AM Whilst reading Uberling's Druid Handbook (an excellent guide (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=165279)) I was impressed by an excellent point he made:

The Book of Vile Darkness gives rules for poisonmaking. At 9th level druid’s become immune to poison and can start applying poison to their teeth & claws. Moreover, druid’s can usually round up monsterous spiders and/or scorpions and thus can produce poison at 1/6 the normal cost. If you max out skills in this you can eventually make Colossal Scorpion venom which does 2d8 Str damage with a DC of 54!

I was wondering if I could get a more experienced DM / Player's advice as to how a PC would go about "rounding up" monstrous Colossal Scorpions for creating this godly venom. The key here is how to do it WITHOUT it being a headache for my DM. Would my druid just find a valley somewhere and start some kind of Colossal Scorpion farm? Can they be hunted? Would it be more efficient to buy it from an underground scorpion-hunter venom market? I am sure a lot of it would depend on the DM, but I was looking for what might be a generally accepted reasonable solution to aquire copious amounts of the venom.

Also, is there an official ruling or general consensus on how many doses can be extracted from a single colossal poison sack? I read through BoVD but I don't believe it gave any specifics.

Lets not even get into what sort of ecosystem would be neccessary to support a Colossal Scorpion...

(I hope this was the right place to post this question. I'm still new here!)
SoldierOfFortune187
05-27-06, 02:08 AM All of this really depends more on the DM / campaign of which you are apart. I am well aware of DM's you could simply tell, "I search for Colossal Scorpions," and they would roll whatever they felt was appropriate and sooner or later... you'd find them!

Others would just kind of look at you funny, as just because there is a monster entry for it doesn't mean its accessible in their world/campaign.

As for how to go about harvesting it, just take a look around at some of the online resources regarding things like farming snake venom for antidotes and the like. It usually involves capturing/raising the species in question and milking it on a regular basis to obtain enough venom. Making poisons could easily be relatable to this practice.

Most likely, without moving into the realm of total improbability you will end of having to come by materials for this in the form of trade-barter in a specialized market for such ingredients, or by a chance encounter where you could harvest a poison sac -- i.e. You likely won't be able to set up a farm for a continuing supply.

Regarding how much actual usable venom you might get from a harvested venom sac: if you figure a tiny snake can produce a teaspoon, perhaps two in a milking, I would likely allow for as much as five GALLONS from a fully intact colossal poison sac. How many doses that would actually boil down to, again, remains in RAW (if it exists) or DM-decision.
Arem_K
05-27-06, 02:16 AM There are rules for buying animals under the warbeast template in MM2. You can also buy vermin this way. Buy as many as you need and put them in some sort of pen.
SoldierOfFortune187
05-27-06, 02:22 AM There are rules for buying animals under the warbeast template in MM2. You can also buy vermin this way. Buy as many as you need and put them in some sort of pen.

Colossal... Scorpion... pen.

Does that phrase invoke comical imagery for anyone besides me? Perhaps a giant, antfarm-like structure assembled out of various Walls of Force? :D
Gedrin
05-27-06, 03:17 AM Trying to build a pen for a collosal preadator...not so much the sane thing to do.
First, stocking a collosal scorpion pen without a permit is usually considered an act of war.
Second, no one is going to give you the permit.

A much better option would be to invest in some sort of magical beacon and locator combination. Leave the 50' scorpions in the desert where they belong. You can go get them whenever you want to milk them, and you don't have to worry about the missing preschool (not preschoolers...the entire preschool).
The mature scorpion of this size probably doesn't shed its carapace that often, so anything you can embed in the shell should work just fine.
SoldierOfFortune187
05-27-06, 03:19 AM Just watch out for poachers! :D
Gedrin
05-27-06, 03:37 AM Just watch out for poachers! You know...I'm not interested in even trying to stop the person who would make a habit of poaching a 300HP poisonous animal.
Besides, under my plan, the scorpion remains a free animal, and not anyone's property. There's no "poaching" possible. While you don't get the property protection of ownership...you also don't get the lawsuits that come with a relatively mindless 40HD killing machine.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
AldentheNinja 05-27-06, 01:49 AM	Whilst reading Uberling's Druid Handbook (an excellent guide (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=165279)) I was impressed by an excellent point he made: The Book of Vile Darkness gives rules for poisonmaking. At 9th level druid’s become immune to poison and can start applying poison to their teeth & claws. Moreover, druid’s can usually round up monsterous spiders and/or scorpions and thus can produce poison at 1/6 the normal cost. If you max out skills in this you can eventually make Colossal Scorpion venom which does 2d8 Str damage with a DC of 54! I was wondering if I could get a more experienced DM / Player's advice as to how a PC would go about "rounding up" monstrous Colossal Scorpions for creating this godly venom. The key here is how to do it WITHOUT it being a headache for my DM. Would my druid just find a valley somewhere and start some kind of Colossal Scorpion farm? Can they be hunted? Would it be more efficient to buy it from an underground scorpion-hunter venom market? I am sure a lot of it would depend on the DM, but I was looking for what might be a generally accepted reasonable solution to aquire copious amounts of the venom. Also, is there an official ruling or general consensus on how many doses can be extracted from a single colossal poison sack? I read through BoVD but I don't believe it gave any specifics. Lets not even get into what sort of ecosystem would be neccessary to support a Colossal Scorpion... (I hope this was the right place to post this question. I'm still new here!)
SoldierOfFortune187 05-27-06, 02:08 AM	All of this really depends more on the DM / campaign of which you are apart. I am well aware of DM's you could simply tell, "I search for Colossal Scorpions," and they would roll whatever they felt was appropriate and sooner or later... you'd find them! Others would just kind of look at you funny, as just because there is a monster entry for it doesn't mean its accessible in their world/campaign. As for how to go about harvesting it, just take a look around at some of the online resources regarding things like farming snake venom for antidotes and the like. It usually involves capturing/raising the species in question and milking it on a regular basis to obtain enough venom. Making poisons could easily be relatable to this practice. Most likely, without moving into the realm of total improbability you will end of having to come by materials for this in the form of trade-barter in a specialized market for such ingredients, or by a chance encounter where you could harvest a poison sac -- i.e. You likely won't be able to set up a farm for a continuing supply. Regarding how much actual usable venom you might get from a harvested venom sac: if you figure a tiny snake can produce a teaspoon, perhaps two in a milking, I would likely allow for as much as five GALLONS from a fully intact colossal poison sac. How many doses that would actually boil down to, again, remains in RAW (if it exists) or DM-decision.
Arem_K 05-27-06, 02:16 AM	There are rules for buying animals under the warbeast template in MM2. You can also buy vermin this way. Buy as many as you need and put them in some sort of pen.
SoldierOfFortune187 05-27-06, 02:22 AM	There are rules for buying animals under the warbeast template in MM2. You can also buy vermin this way. Buy as many as you need and put them in some sort of pen. Colossal... Scorpion... pen. Does that phrase invoke comical imagery for anyone besides me? Perhaps a giant, antfarm-like structure assembled out of various Walls of Force? :D
Gedrin 05-27-06, 03:17 AM	Trying to build a pen for a collosal preadator...not so much the sane thing to do. First, stocking a collosal scorpion pen without a permit is usually considered an act of war. Second, no one is going to give you the permit. A much better option would be to invest in some sort of magical beacon and locator combination. Leave the 50' scorpions in the desert where they belong. You can go get them whenever you want to milk them, and you don't have to worry about the missing preschool (not preschoolers...the entire preschool). The mature scorpion of this size probably doesn't shed its carapace that often, so anything you can embed in the shell should work just fine.
SoldierOfFortune187 05-27-06, 03:19 AM	Just watch out for poachers! :D
Gedrin 05-27-06, 03:37 AM	Just watch out for poachers! You know...I'm not interested in even trying to stop the person who would make a habit of poaching a 300HP poisonous animal. Besides, under my plan, the scorpion remains a free animal, and not anyone's property. There's no "poaching" possible. While you don't get the property protection of ownership...you also don't get the lawsuits that come with a relatively mindless 40HD killing machine.