This is a non-comprehensive collection of possible monster letters. Within each letter there is plenty of room for subtypes.
Mechs
Mechs are the most common type of monster. They vary widely from puny and slow robomechs and navvys to indescribably powerful entities far above human ken.
b |
Borer |
Tiny mech that can tunnel and often appears in groups. |
B |
Barb |
|
c |
Scrabbler |
|
C |
Crafter |
Overseer of worker mechs. It has various attacks and can summon aid. |
D |
Duster |
In gameplay terms like a small dragon. It can spread various "elemental" substances and act as a transport for other mechs (= summoning ability). |
E |
Exalted |
One of the mech leaders. It is on far too high an intellectual level to be able to communicate with mere humans. |
F |
Photovore etc. |
Various mechs specialized to "graze" on the radiation of a black hole's aggregation disk, now quickly adapted for war. For example photovores can use laser and fire offensively, but they are also vulnerable to lasers because it can overload their light-sensitive wings. There are also such as gammavores and carnivorous metallovores |
g |
Luggo |
|
k |
Picker |
Another worker mech. |
L |
Lancer |
|
M |
Mantis |
Highly intelligent, quick, and knows many tricks. It has the rare distinction of invisibility in this game. |
n |
Navvy |
Worker mech that can move independently but is not particularly smart, fast, or dangerous. Sometimes, however, appearances can be deceiving. |
R |
Robomech |
Mindless, nevermoving thing that probably attacks you because it mistakes you for raw materials. |
s |
Snout |
Can tunnel. |
S |
Stalker |
|
T |
Tromper |
|
u |
Micromech |
Very small. |
U |
Rattler |
Resembles a huge snake. |
V |
Viper |
|
W |
Hawk |
Flying mech. |
Y |
Baba Yaga |
|
Z |
Zapper |
They use elemental attacks, I would hazard. |
# |
Wall monster |
You can guess I was surprised when I saw a mention of these in the source material. |
Myriapodia
Myriapodia are internally divided, and can be both player characters and monsters.
I |
Illuminate |
Powerful. A mech in all but origin and loyalty. |
p |
Myriapod Worker |
Small, dumb, and not too dangerous. |
P |
Myriapod |
They vary in power and danger level according to how many legs they have been granted with, but are generally very dangerous. |
Humans
h |
Human |
Villains, or followers of villains, mainly. We could also put copies of Nigel here. |
H |
Mantis sculpture |
Escaped and quite insane. The ELDRITCH_HORROR flag is appropriate. |
t |
Townsperson |
|
z |
Zom |
Yes, this game has zombies! (In the Wedge at least...) Including Killeen Zoms and Abraham Zoms. |
Flora and Fauna
Even on a desert planet like Snowglade, something dangerous biological might still pop up. The Wedge has significant biological life with more justification. Lacking that, cave networks are good excuses for organic monsters.
a |
Ant |
|
A |
Amphibian/Reptile |
Can possibly be found in deep, dark caves. |
r |
Rodent |
Besides humans, mice are perhaps the most formidable animal on the surface of Snowglade. But on a planet with high background radiation you can get mutant mice. |
I |
Insect |
Some insects must have survived. Others mutated. |
J |
Snake |
|
m |
Mold |
|
S |
Spider/Scorpion/Tick |
|
q |
Quadruped |
Not on Snowglade. |
X |
Bird |
Some birds are weak. Others are not truly birds. Examples from both groups can have four wings. |
~ |
Water Creature |
There is not much in the way of open water on Snowglade, except that deep, dark cave nobody has ever heard of before the start of this game. |
Others
f |
Phase creature |
A mech that has transcended solid matter. Its allegiances remain but its physical constraints are very different. |
Q |
Quylthulg |
Why not? Let's say it's a bizarre alien that lives in the Wedge. |
v |
Vortex |
Spacetime can be frothy in some places. |
Uniques
Friendlies (rare so you don't bump into them right away, also high level)
h |
Killeen |
h |
Toby |
h |
Abraham |
h |
Cermo |
h |
Jocelyn |
h |
Besen |
h |
Nigel |
P |
Quath |
Unique enemies are in a short supply due to the mechs not being into those.
Nasties (very bad for their level, but carry good loot and exp)
B |
the bird |
The Syntony isn't that nice, really. |
h |
His Supremacy |
Snowglade clone, probably. |
h |
Monisque |
Might be reaching, but she could make a bad enemy. |
h |
Chairwoman |
The one with the purple skin and purple clothes |
h |
Tyrant |
The one seen by Killeen and mentioned briefly. |
h |
Über-Nigel |
Looks like the original but is more powerful. |
H |
Ledroff |
Well, we don't know what happened to him after Great Sky River. |
P |
Beq'qdahl |
Quath's rival. |
P |
Tukar'ramin |
A new, nasty successor for the title. |
q |
Scooter the Raccoon |
An agent of the Syntony. Nobody suspected it. |
The Mantis can be handled as a series of unique Ms of increasing power, abilities, and grade of invisibility. I think there should be at least 5. Only one can be generated at a time. The series starts from the weakest form and a more powerful version is taken into play every time the current Mantis dies. A new stage is also advanced into without the old one dying when the player dives below some set treshold for the more powerful Mantis to appear. The Mantis should always be powerful for its level.
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