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Description and Biology
Krynoids are plants that begin their life cycle as seed pods flying through space. Once they land on a suitable planetary surface they germinate, infecting the nearest large animal by injecting them with bacteria-like cells. The original plant then dies, but the infective cells take over and restructure the host's body using it as the foundation to grow the second, reproductive, phase of the Krynoid. Essentially, then, we have two forms: the plant inside the seed pod, which produces the infective spores, and the much larger form that the spores grow into and that eventually produce new seed pods.
This type of life cycle, where alternating generations of the same organism are radically different from one another, might sound bizarre at first glance, but it's a common feature of real-world botany. It’s not obvious in most plants, because one of the generations is typically microscopic and effectively lives as a parasite inside the other, but it is more obvious in some “primitive” plants such as liverworts and ferns.
The infective spores sedate the host and rapidly transform it into a new krynoid, replacing the animal tissue with plant matter and consuming large amounts of protein in the process as they grow to great size. The resulting organism initially has some traces of the anatomical form of the host but takes on the adult shape within a matter of hours. This, like most plants, has no obvious ‘front’ or ‘back’ and it consists of little more than a mass of vine-like vegetation capable of independent movement. It continues growing until it is at least a hundred metres across.
The plant is green, implying that it photosynthesises, although the large bulk, lack of individual leaves, and need for comparatively rapid motion could mean that this would not really meet all of its energy needs. The implication, however, is that it consumes animal matter to provide itself with nutrients, which may also be why it does not need roots. The rapid, complex, motion also implies some kind of musculature, although likely very different from anything an animal possesses.
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Many of the points I previously made about shambling
mounds apply here, with the addition of the fact that the krynoid is much larger, and is not composed of rotting ‘undead’ matter. For instance, the plant probably senses the environment psychically, since it does seem to have some ability in that regard, being able to mentally control susceptible humans.
They are apparently asexual, since a single individual can produce hundreds of seed pods without interaction with another of its kind; each produces hundreds of seed pods which spread across the planet they have landed on, creating more and more krynoids as they do so. Eventually, they destroy the entire native ecology of the world, consuming it for their own growth. One of the licensed short stories states that, in the late phase of this takeover, they create a massive growth that projects miles up into the atmosphere, and then propels pods out into space to seed other worlds.
Game Attributes
Defining the game attributes of krynoids runs into a problem of scale. The infective seed pod generation is small, comparatively inanimate, and more of a hazard than a ‘creature’. We know that it is resilient to cold, being able to hibernate as it travels through the vacuum of space, and germinates only when it has access to sunlight, air, and a supply of nutrients.
The active, reproductive, generation, however, is immense – basically a kaiju. While there is an intermediate stage in which this generation begins out human-sized, it does not last long. But the full-size one is sufficiently beyond human scale that hand weapons will do nothing to it, and you’ll need something on the scale of modern bombs, artillery, or spaceship weaponry to have any real chance of hurting it. Therefore, for most systems, what I'll stat up here is merely a section of the whole; a more human-scale portion that could individually threaten PCs. Destruction of it would cause a temporary retreat while the main organism regrows the damaged part but it’s no more likely to kill the full-size being than hacking a human’s finger off is likely to. The same stats can be used to describe an intermediate-sized krynoid during the brief period before it reaches adulthood – the main difference here being that destruction is, in this case, actually lethal.
Given that, while the krynoid would be stronger than a human, it would not be exceptionally so, relying on multiple vines to strike at opponents and using its bulk to smother them. On the other hand, it’s going to be highly resistant to damage, having both a tough exterior and a complete lack of vital organs. While one could argue that it is vulnerable to fire, it isn't dry wood, so it’s probably more accurate to say that fire simply gets around its usual resistance to physical damage. In addition to physical attacks, we also know that it is resistant to intense cold, but it is likely that most other attack modes would, like fire, have about the same effect on it that they would on regular creatures of its size.
The ability of the krynoid to communicate psychically through susceptible humans indicates that they are sentient, although their single-minded nature probably limits their intelligence rating. Having said which, whichever stat is used to resist psychic attack or represent general willpower is likely very high, for much the same reason – and because of the alien nature of their intelligence.
5E - Krynoid
Huge plant, neutral evil
Armour Class: 16 (natural)
Hit Points: 133 (14d10+56)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 20 (+5) | DEX 14 (+2) | CON 18 (+4) |
INT 10 (+0) | WIS 14 (+2) | CHA 8 (-1) |
Saving Throws: Wisdom +5
Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning, cutting, piercing, cold
Condition Immunities: Blinded, deafened, exhaustion
Senses: Passive Perception 12, blindsight 60 ft.
Multiattack. The krynoid makes two slam
attacks. If both attacks hit a medium or smaller target, the target is grappled
(escape DC 15).
Part of a Larger Whole. A full-grown krynoid
is beyond gargantuan (100 ft. in diameter, covering an area of 30x30 map squares)
and immune to human-scale hand weaponry. Reducing the given hit points to zero
destroys some vines and forces the krynoid to retreat as if frightened, but
does not kill it.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10
ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+5) bludgeoning damage
Challenge: 7 (2,900 XP)
BRP - Krynoid
STR 2D6+12 (19) | CON 2D6+12 (19) | SIZ 6D6+30 (51) |
INT 12 | POW 4D6 (14) | |
DEX 2D6+6 (13) | CHA 2D6 (7) | |
Hit Points: 35 | Move: 8 | |
Base SR: 2 | Damage Bonus: +3D6 |
Armour: 6-point fibrous hide
Skills: Control Plants 60%
Part of a Larger Whole: A full-grown krynoid is
larger than a house (SIZ 200) and immune to human-scale hand weaponry. Reducing
the given hit points to zero destroys some vines and forces the krynoid to
retreat but does not kill it.
GURPS - Krynoid
ST 20 | DX 14 | IQ 10 | HT 18 |
Thrust: 2d-1 | Swing: 3d+2 | ||
Speed: 8 | Move: 4 |
SM: +7 HP:750
Advantages: Damage Resistance +5 (+10 versus Cold),
Dark Vision, Doesn’t Sleep, Extra Arms (x2, extra-flexible), Extra Attack, High
Pain Threshold, Injury Tolerance (Homogenous), Plant Empathy, Rapid Healing
Disadvantages: Fanaticism (propagate), Mute, No Fine
Manipulators
Savage Worlds - Krynoid
Agility: d8 | Smarts: d6 | Spirit: d8 |
Strength: d12+9 | Vigour: d12 |
Skills: Fighting d6
Special Abilities: Armour +3, Environmental
Resistance (cold), Gargantuan, Tentacles x2 (fighting or grappling)
Pace: 4 Parry: 5 Toughness: 23 (12) Size: 12
STA - Krynoid
Control: 8 | Fitness: 13 | Presence: 8 |
Daring: 10 | Insight: 7 | Reason: 8 |
Command: 0 | Security: 3 | Science: 0 |
Conn: 0 | Engineering: 0 | Medicine: 0 |
Stress: 11 | Resistance: 1 |
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