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This thread is specifically for new plant fortifications for the OFFICIAL Gardener O.C.C. found in Rifter #50. Please note the rules for planting and growing a plant in that article. Immature plants are usually significantly weaker than the mature plants, and are used for quick deployed fortifications while the mature plants are used as more permanant fixtures. I have included the template for the fortifications below.

Name:
(Description of the plant)
Bio-E Cost:
Growth Time:
M.D.C.:
Damage:
Additional Penalties: (If Any)
Range:
Payload:
Control Bonus (in addition to the bonuses above):
Elder Plant Bonus:

Name: House-Shroom
(Description of the plant)
The House Shroom is a new type of shroom developed by a Genetist OCCs. Once Planted in the ground, a House Shroom starts to grow very quickly. Immature House Shrooms can not be used for anything. But it only takes 48 hours for a House Shroom to fully develope into a House Shroom that can be used. Once matured, the House Shroom is 15ft wide and 25 ft tall. Inside is hollow into several rooms. The Mainroom or Living Room is the entire Lower Floor which is 12 ft wide inside. Small but this is a young House Shroom. The Upper-dome of the shroom is Larger. Really 30 feet Wide on the Outside, and divided into 4 rooms roughly the same size. One of these rooms resembles a Bathroom. Place for Waste (which the shroom eats) a Place to Clean yourself. And a Place to soak/feed Bio-Equipment.
The House Shroom even has "doors" and its tempature is self-regulating staying at 70 degrees F inside. The House-Shroom feeds on Waste and Sunlight, and needs Both to stay healthly. Every Year of use, the Shroom gets larger, adding 1 new room in the upper dome. Also, House Shrooms produce Food for guests and whoever lives inside them. The food is like Tofu in appearance but tastes can vary widely, until the house itself discovers the likes and dislikes of its guests. Which after 5 years of having the same people living inside it, the house shroom can 98% guess the flavor the indivual guest wants at any given time they decide to eat the food. Visitors however, will always gamble on the flavor for their food inside unless they spend alot of time visiting the particular house shroom (3 times a week at least for a Year or more).

Bio-E Cost: 50 (can produce up to 12 House-Shrooms per month)

Growth Time: 48 Hours into a Mature House Shroom.

M.D.C.: 300 outerwalls. 300 for the Bio-Forcefield that automaticlly engages if under attack.

Damage: Not cant attack, None.

Additional Penalties: (If Any)

Range: None.

Payload: None

Control Bonus (in addition to the bonuses above): Are Alive, and seem to have a Personality of their own. Each one is Unique in Color, and mood. They want to take care of People. They want to be lived in by people.

Elder Plant Bonus: Every 5 Years, the House-Shrooms themselves Bloom and produce "seeds" (roll 4d6). These "seeds" can be planted to grow another House Shroom at anytime, but must be used withing 6 months or the seeds die.

Name: Needle Death Blossom Cactus

Bio-E Cost: 30

Growth Time: 2D4 + 2 hours for immature plant. 1D4 + 1 weeks for a mature cactus

They are the tall cylindrical types of cactus

M.D.C: an immature cactus has 1D4*10 + 20, where a mature cactus reaches 2D4*10 + 40 M.D.C
And reaches 8 feet in height

Damage / Range / Payload: Follow the standard rules for NDB on page 102 of main book

Control Bonus: + 4 to strike

Elder Plant Bonus:

Every year -

* The cactus gains one additional payload per 24 hours until it reaches a total of 8

* + 5 to damage to a maximum of + 20

+ 15 M.D.C to the cactus

+ 6 inches to height to a max of 10 feet

Gardeners tend to plant a number of cactus 10m apart over a considerable area and mix other plants between them

I used to work for a company that provided garden supply stores with a lot of their products – potting mix, fertilizer, manure, coconut fiber, sphagnum moss, ‘blood and bone’ you name it we bagged it.

I found ‘blood and bone’ quite an interesting mixture to be putting on your garden

This plant is inspired by my old job and the Calcivore sentient plant species from Farscape

NOTE: This is a plant that is mainly designed to work in conjunction with Tangle Weed to create a most effective deterrent to trespassing

Name: Hallowed Ground

a carnivorous plant that leaves nothing of its prey behind (literally in 2 ways...see later description)

Bio-E: 50

Growth Time: 1D4 + 3 days for immature, 1D4 + 2 months to fully mature

M.D.C: still not sure?? Opinions welcome

The main core/heart of the tree is 10m underground and if that isn’t destroyed then the tree can keep growing back.
Above the core, it creates a trunk that is shaped like a bowl just under the surface with a radius of 7.6m for immature and 15.2m for mature and depth of 5m

The tree stores a mass amount of water in bulbs underground which it can pump into the bowl section through ports in the trunk creating liquefaction of the soil that is within its area of influence.

This process is triggered either automatically when the Tangle Weed catched something or via command by the Gardener

Numerous tree roots also inhabit the soil that is in the bowl, they contribute to the entangling effect of the Tangle Weed and act as the source of extracting nutrients from prey

When activated it takes 2 melee rounds to completely liquefy the soil

Now, though everything reaches a state of buoyancy in ‘quick sand’ this plant also secretes a detergent like chemical which affects the surface tension of the water being pumped into the surrounding soil. Now, this will make WM and HA alike drown unless they have Organic thrusters to blast their way out or some other means to drag themselves out. This is also made difficult due the Tangle Weed and tree roots wrapping around their whole body as they sink into the soil

Still thinking of the penalties to a target that is being completely entangled and not just their feet???

The chemical released breaks down over a period of say 5 minutes. Receptors in the roots monitor this breakdown. The reason for this is once the chemical breaks down the Tangle Weed can then gradually rise back to the surface. Once the chemical is broken down and most of the Tangle Weed has risen to the surface, the roots begin to draw the water back out of the bowl (duration…?). Now the prey is buried underground where the roots start to digest it.

The tree can completely break down any and all organic material for nutrients. to provide some form of nutrients for carnivorous metabolism the tree also produces a form of 'meat potato' just under the surface that the HA/WM can easily dig up

Autonomous Combat & Control Bonus: Follow Tangle Weed

Elder Plant Bonus: every year the tree gets +25 MDC to core & +15 to the Bowl section

I love 'em. Keep 'em coming. I'll be writing up a bunch more of these once i get back into a Splicers mood again. Took a Hiatus for a while while working on other palladium projects.

thanks mate. the gardener is one of my favorite new additions to the Splicerverse and ive wanted to contribute to it for a while....but it took this long for it to eventuate. Hopefully some more ideas will seed and grow

Name: Sentinels

These trees grow to a height of 30 – 35 meters

Many individuals put their life in jeopardy night and day to patrol our borders. What if we could reduce that significantly?? That is a question a Warlord asked their Librarians. They answered it with the design of a plant that could do a lot of the surveillance? From that question the Sentinel was designed

The trunk and branches are covered in what appear to be numerous knots

These knots are actually complex eyes that enable the Gardener to see through the entire light spectrum from infra-red to ultraviolet and electromagnetic.
Advanced Sight: These eyes can see 3.2 km and 360 degrees.
Nightvision: 1829m
Infra-red (thermal), ultraviolet & electromagnetic: 1219m
Obviously the geography plays a part in how far the tree can see, so they are planted on high ground to provide the best view

these ranges are for a mature plant. for immature trees halve all the ranges

The root system also provide Seismic Sense: For Imature plants they can sense 2 miles for heavy vehicles, robots, giants........ & 1/2 mile for individual or small number of ......

Mature Plants can sense 4 miles for heavy vehicles, robots, giants ....etc & 1 mile for individual or small small number of....etc

So not to obstruct the view of the trees eyes it uses small needle leaves

the Sentinel is also given a basic level of sentience, a rudimentary neural recognition softare to help it process & prioritize all the sensory information it receives

Bio-E Cost: 40??

Growth Time: 1D12*10 + 72 hours from sapling to immature plant 2D6 + 12 weeks to grow from immature to mature

M.D.C: hardened layers of bark provides considerable protection for the tree

Immature plant has 4D10*10 for the trunk and 2D10*10 +20 for each branch
The immature plant regenerates 1D6 to the trunk and 1D4 to the branches per 30 minute
There are 3D4 branches (minimum of 5)

Mature plant has 10D10*10 for the trunk and 2D12*10 + 40 for the branches and regenerates 2D4 for the trunk and 1D6 for the branches per 15 minutes
The amount of branches don’t change for mature

Damage: the plant has no weapons but how the bark is made and layered all types of weapons do ½ their normal damage

Control Bonus: im thinking of linking a number of Sentinels to a special Bio-Comm Roots system that becomes an observational hub in the safety of the house (big brother is watching)

Elder Plant Bonus: for every year of growth the Sentinel gains + 30 MDC to the Trunk & +15 to each branch

For every year the trees sight increases as well
- Advanced Sight: + 400m (1/4 mile)
- + 200m (1/8 mile) for all the other vision types
- Seismic: + 400m (1/4 mile) for Heavy.... & 160m (1/10 mile) for individual ....

I would have sight and sensory range increase significantly as it ages. I would also probably have it develop a VERY BASIC sentience as a mature plant so it can identify targets and relay them to/warn the gardener via biocomms or bio-comm roots while the Gardener is not linked to the plant.

thanks for the input mate, i hope you like this new addition

i wasnt sure if i should increase the range any more than its mature level. how about an extra 400m (1/4 mile) per year to its vision?

im still stuck on seismic? the main book makes the comment that all it takes is the HA to have their feet (relative small surface area) to sense a considerable range. i imagined the root system reaching over 200m in radius through the years

how bout initially: 2 miles for heavy vehicles, robots, giants.........??
1/2 mile for individual or small number of ........?? even when i write these they dont seem enough for a vast root system

and then there will have to be an increase for elder trees as the root system grows

when i thought of the design i just considered the plant to be nothing more than a sophisticated camera. the basic sentience is a great idea mate....how about the tree gets some form of imprint like the kamikaze

maybe smaller versions of these plants can be planted inside Houses or at all entrances to help detect NEXUS infiltrators like the Siren

i just got an idea today regarding a second type/version of the Gardener or simply a whole new class of plants

how about Aquatic plants for both fresh and salt water such as water lilies, kelp, river weed, sea mines, etc etc

i know Coral and Starfish arent plants but this is Splicers...we can make a plant alternative

taalismn's Random Exotic Plants table might kick start ideas.
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=66122&hilit=plants

Agro-War---The Passive Resistance topic may also have somethings to be fleshed out into Gardener's plants.
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=66122&start=50&hilit=plants

thanks for the links mate, i hadnt read them. i was a bit worried for a second that i had posted something similar to someone else.

"fweew" - they should create another smilie where its wiping the sweat off its brow to express the fweew or is it phew?

its great stuff, again, thanks. The Gardener can be such a key character. from creating border artillary plants, to observation, to securing/cleaning out the catacombs of underground tunnels etc etc

if i could only take those ideas and channel them into the flux capacitor....woops im going on a tangent....stay on target

ooohh the seed has been planted, now i will wait for it to grow into the weird and wonderful world of symbiotic & mutualistic relationships of plants and microorganisms.

until next time.......next time gadget, next time

Yeah, my brother in law and I have talked about aquatic plants for the Gardener for a while. One of these days I'm going to sit down and write a bunch of them out.

That sounds pretty good. Again, as you mentioned in the original post, it will depend a lot on where they are placed. I don't think it is overpowering or anything mainly because if you don't have line of sight, it doesn't matter. The gardener is going to have to plan ahead...WAY ahead. In some cases years to make sure that the plant will still have line of sight.


I think that this is fair. Also, I would make sure that the basic sentience it has allows it to recognize specific Machine units. that way, the plant isn't warning the gardener when a deer runs into its seismic range.

thanks mate, iv edited the original post to cover this now



cool. i will flesh out the range soon and will edit accordingly

Ive updated my Sentinel...its nearly complete

and here is its little cousin

Name:Bonsai Sentinel
As the name suggests these are a smaller version of my giant watchers of the land and were designed to be planted throughout a House (but mainly at entrances) to provide crucial visual information on ‘apparent’ allies, traders, refuges and above all the many infiltration units NEXUS is releasing (thats right Slappy your Sirens will never get into this House)

The Bonsai doesn’t go through immature, mature and elder. It simply takes 72 hours for the plant to reach its full size and maturity

Cost: 15 Bio-E

Their MB is 40 mdc and each branch (3D4) has 15 mdc

it regenerates 1D6 to the trunk and 1D4 to the branches per 60 minutes
It has the same bark system as its bigger version so it takes ½ damage from all types of attack

The Bonsai Sentinel only has the visual capability (no seismic or sentience) with all the same visual scope as its bigger version but at 1/10 th the range, and that is where it stays

Advanced Sight: These eyes can see 320m and 360 degrees.
Nightvision: 183m
Infra-red (thermal), ultraviolet & electromagnetic: 122m

NB I had also thought of giving these little guys ears as well but not sure

Name: Coral Mines

i just thought of this while i was doing homework (i quit lecturing & im back studying) so no stats just the concept

have you all seen the ocean docos where the coral reefs are procreating and they eject all that reproductive material into the water ??.......and then i got to thinking about depth charges ships drop into the water to hit submarines

so what im thinking is a reverse depth charge. the coral releases small spores say the size of a golfball in the 100s and they begin to float to the surface each doing 1 - 2 MD... just imagine a kraken just cruising the ocean and suddenly its belly gets hit with 1000s of spores and 1000s get sucked into the thruster.... dead in the water Kraken

My fathers car has been blasted this season with Artillery Fungus or Artillery Mold. Something with a name that awesome deserves a write up.

Target in range, steady....steady FIRE ...ill have to look this little guy up

i totally agree with you mate, it does deserve a write up

Just thought of this today

Name: Tesla Fern based on the plant species Xanthorrhoeas

A blend between a fern and those fiber optic decorations you put on your table that changes color.

It has the trunk of a fern with a bulbous top. Deep in the trunk rests 100s of thin fiber optic like vines which sprout out of the top of the trunk and arch out in all directions.

It grows to a height of 12 ft (half that for immature)

Bio-E Cost: 50? Too much??

Growth time: 6 + 2D4 days from sapling to immature and another 1D4 + 2 weeks for mature

MDC: for immature the trunk has 2D4*10+40. The Bulb at the top has 1D4*10+20. Each vine has 5
The immature trunk is 1.5 foot in diameter.

For mature: the base MDC is doubled and the diameter increases to 3 ft in diameter

Damage: the Tesla fern has 2 purposes (I’m trying to figure out a 3rd)

1. Lightning Discharger: the bulbous top is an omni-directional lightning discharger. An immature plant does 4D6 per lightning strike. A mature plant does 8D6 per lightning strike
2. Bio-Force Field Generator: the force field is tied to the vines and can be activated when the vines exit the trunk (it takes 3 actions for the vines to sprout from the top of the trunk and it only takes one action for them to recoil back into the trunk). The field does not develop until the plant is mature, the base MDC is 1D4*100 + 100. it regenerates 5 mdc per melee round and if depleted it takes 3 hours to generate another field

Note: a vast root system grows countless neural-root bulbs that enable the plant to generate the required energy for the lightning and force field (I was also thinking of creating an Omega-cell to give the plant the necessary energy).

Range: for the Lightning Discharge it is …….m for an immature plant and ……….m for a mature plant

For the Force Field: 5m radius for an immature plant and a 10m radius for a mature plant

Elder Plant Bonus: the fern will grow another foot per year till it reached 15ft

MDC increases by 10 for the trunk and the bulb per year and 1 per year for the vines till they reach 15mdc

The Lightning Discharger increases 2D6 per year until it reaches 3D6*10

The Force Field increases 20 mdc per year till it reaches 1000mdc and the radius increases 2m per year till it reaches a 50m radius

This is my first creation for rifts and splices so this is just a rough idea I have to help Gardeners expand the area in which they can operate. Please feel free alter it to make it workable in a game.

One of the problems with the Gardener is that they cannot operate outside forests or jungles without draws attention. All that plant material just stands out too much especially in the wastelands and rocky terrain.

One librarian has come up with a solution that does not require coming up with a whole new batch of plants that suits the environment (assuming there are plants to be modified) and keep from drawing the attention of enemies.

The Gardener places a biotech fungus on a rock and it begins to expands and covers the surface in a thin layer. The fungus changes it color and texture to match that of the rock it covers. It also has the ability to absorbed heat and release it just the same way the rock would in order to fool heat sensors. The fungus is a lithovore and consumes the rock inside leaving a hollow space. The shell that is left provides light to medium armor depending on the size of the rock it consumed. The shell is designed to open with the help of strong muscle like fibers under the surface of the outer shell. The Gardener can chose how the funguses opens, wither it completely opens (like a flower or a clam) or opens in several places like gun ports.

The Gardener can then place any of their plants in side that will fit in the space. The plants symbiotic bond with the fungus, the fungus provides all the nutrients the plant needs and conceals it until it opens for an attack. If the rock it consumed is large enoph the Gardener can have it grow fleshy columns and walls in side that permit other plants to be graphed on to, turning large pillar of rock into a concealed weapons tower. The inside can go deeper underground than the original rock it consumed did. It can also grow secondary chamber and tunnels that link other underground structures to the fungus. This would allow splicers and even war mounts (rock size permitting) to lay in what for enemy forces. With the use of the fungus a patch of rocky terrain can become heavily defended base or ambush sight.

I am also thinking of a modification for terrain that doesn’t have a lot of exposed rock. Completely subterranean except for entrance and exit points, but it grows pods that after having a bio-tech plant places inside work there way to just below the surface. On command the pods then burst their way through to the surface and open revealing their contents.

Welcome to the board Romel

thats an intersting idea using rocks as houses to conceal and protect a plant inside

all the while an unexpecting Splicer or Machine gets ambushed by an array of hidden plants

you could even turn them into Iron Maidens (good band) where a large prehensile tongue lashes out and drags you into the rock where 100s of spikes lining the inside of the rock turns you into a pin cushion

Hi, I have a few rough ideas that could use some feedback.

Freeze Melons that release a freezing liquid upon impact.

Sniper seeds that can take a mans head off.

MIRV pumpkins that explode when launched, explode overhead releasing bomblets.

Onion bounding mines that infllict chemical weapons upon explosion.

That's all I have so far.

Freeze Melons: you could do a plant version of the bone cylinder i created for my Yeti HA for its frost breath, but may i suggest a coconut instead of a melon (i could see my H. Skyrus use something like this)

Sniper Seeds: do these shoot off the plant or are they picked off and used for ammunition in handheld weapons ??

MIRV Pumkins: flashbacks of Ironman, & a Daisy Cutter bomb, this would be cool. i would love to make a cannonball version of this for my Scorpion WM for H. Shiva

Onion Bounding Mines: i didnt know what a bounding mine was but i looked it up and i could see this being an awesome multi layered frag grenade that is shot straight in the air and its layers explode one at a time

i just thought of an enhancement for my Sentinel Tree

if you have seen the Pirates of the Caribbean series, you would of seen how there were some crewman that were becoming part of The Flying Dutchman

the gardener can already hook into the sensory systems of the tree via the roots or bio-comm, but what if the Gardener is on long patrol and has to be away from the House for an extended period of time

How about an enhancement where the Gardener is able to merge into the trunk of a mature Sentinel to be completely hidden where they could stay there for days whilst hooked into the amazing sensor systems of the tree

These are some very cool concepts. Any new ones lately?

I'm digging Krispysmaterial. I'm hoping that he compiles it, cleans it up a bit and maybe adds some new ones for a rifter submission.

Wait...What? Really ? Thank You GK i never considered my plants for submission. i just posted them here because you started the thread

actually, i have been writing up some nasty plants for my H. Pandorum submission

How about a sticker bush type of portable sentinal tree?

i honestly didnt know what a sticker bush was until i looked it up...is that an American slang ?? cos if what google kept directing me too is accurate then i now know that Blackberry bushes are called sticker bush

where i grew up in Australia the region was plagued with them, they were everywhere like a weed and a lot of us kids would pick bucket loads of blackberries for our mums (moms) to make blackberry jam (jelly) that takes me back....but i digress

Honestly, i had not thought of that angle, but i could imagine the berries acting as the eyes. though a tree was always the direction i saw the Sentinel going, you have given me something to think about...im not joking, this reply has taken me a while to type due the pauses in typing where my fingers are just resting on the keyboard while i imagine a blackberry bush that can do what the Sentinel tree can but also creeping into every corner of a Houses territory, sensing all with its visual and seismic sense....nowhere to hide

oooh oooh or it could be a form of vine camolflague that the Gardener could grow on themselves and they could simply go to high ground and be the sentinel

if this question is directed towards me, sorry for the late reply mate i must of missed it due to the shock (in a good way) of reading GK post about my material....but to answer your question - ideas grow from the seeds of my madness... people will be terrified to go near any form of plant and we will want to live in a concrete jungle this represents whoo wha hahaha ha of a mad scientist not LOL

NB - we need more smilies to express our feelings in novel ways like the whoo wha hahahahaha and like i have said before a smilie for 'fwew' where you see the smilie making the fwew mouth movement while whiping its brow

good thought,also you could (for fun only) a pie plant to make food for the house.

mmmmm mixed berry pie tree and the whipped cream cow

actually I was thinking in terms of the xanthian pie plant(i.e. pizza,pineapple,cement & whatnot)

from xanth come ideas for other plant you can use for the gardner O.C.C.

how about a stinker bush?(It grows removable stink pods)

any new plants for this o.c.c.?

actually, i got a few plants published in my House Pandorum article in the Rifter 60


i have a few more home brew ideas i have to flesh out for H. Necrys and H. Myre, that i will eventually post on the forums

thanks in advance.

Yeah, looking forward to all of that.

any more plant feature you can share on this thread?

Still working on the home brew H. Necrys & H. Myre plants

but i have a couple of other big Splicer projects that are taking up most of my attention at the moment

how about a redwood bark type of armor that can protect people from fire!

how about explosive coconuts?

the glow fruit things basically already have that covered.

they explode?

yes. quite well, in fact. as I recall, the AOE on the large ones is quite significant.

though if you want a version usable by something other than the plant, you need to put a cornucopia on something.

how explosive thorns for fighting robots?

Does anyone know if there are any fortifications which could repair adjacent fortifications at a faster rate, or repair living things?

no, but there are very portable options for that. you may as well just have your group carry around a bunch of (dirt cheap) healing items, and you probably want the garden to be tended by a gardener who can carry the same as well.