Introducing giant ridable chickens into my campaign world?

[newbDM]

Giant Ridable Chicken



(This is Not a Chocobo!)
(Seriously...kinda......maybe...)

As some of you might know, I currently have two threads going where I am getting helping designing my own demon lord and her armies of demonic poultry. (See links below).

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91892
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92025

I have also spent most of last night (up until 4:30am+), and all of today going through entire Final Fantasy OSTs (so far the two FF5s, the two FF3s, the FFXI stuff, and starting the FF Tactics+Advance stuff) sorting them into different types of background music.

Somehow these two neural pathways just crossed. Now I am thinking that if my PCs decide to explore deeper into my chicken layer of the abyss (layer 321) after a gate opens to it at a butcher shop in their home city, they might find some very large semi-domesticated chickens they could possible ride.

If this works, and they breed them, after a few years/decade/generations (I keep tract of time and years in my campaign setting) there might be a whole new form of transportation in my material world.


So what do you guys think about this? Will it be too much and too obvious to the point where it turns players off?

I already introduce things from different settings, and I am already planning making the Pokemon universe an alternate material world. Plus I run more "fun" and humor oriented games, so I guess this all soemwhat makes sense.

What I really want to do here is add another fun option to my games, and I feel that these things might give some of that special magical dimension that they give as a transportation system (and very cute!) to the video games. I am creating a whole planet map of my homebrewed material world, which I plan to constantly update with new locations, settlements, etc, so I could really use a good basic transportation system like the one in the FF games with the world maps and the you-know-whats. (Does anyone understand what I am trying to explain here?)



Also, I am certain that this must have already been done a thousand time before. If anyone knows any good homebrewed rules and stats for these guys please post them in my thread on the Homebrew board below. It would be preferred if you have actually used or playtested those rules, but anything is appreciated!


http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...68#post5006768

[Siegel]

There is a Final Fantasy Project in the Homebrew, check this out.

[overduegalaxy]

Chocobos are actually already statted out in Dragon Mag 323.

I had a Catfolk paladin riding one in one of my campaigns.

[Frosty]

Chocobos are actually already statted out in Dragon Mag 323.

I had a Catfolk paladin riding one in one of my campaigns.

This is all levels of special. What is the adjustment in terms of Specialmount levels?

[Irreverent Fool]

If your players are familiar with the Final Fantasy series and the riding animals are at any point described as land-bound riding birds, your players will probably call them Chocobos.

[The Glyphstone]

If your players are familiar with the Final Fantasy series and the riding animals are at any point described as land-bound riding birds, your players will probably call them Chocobos.

Or Hawkstriders.

but they're referred to as chocobos anyways, so meh...

[Khanderas]

Or Hawkstriders.

but they're referred to as chocobos anyways, so meh...

Funfact, hawkstriders are so named (I assume World of Warcraft BE mount here), because after they made the model they realised calling the BE mounts Cocatrices in WoW would invite all types of horrible phallic jokes.

Also, chocobos rock.

[xPANCAKEx]

Also, chocobos rock.

you'll be saying that right up to the point the red dragon swoops on what is going to be the biggest roast chicken meal of its life

[Irreverent Fool]

They always reminded me of the birds the little guys in Joust rode, but you kids today probably don't remember those.

[nightwyrm]

They always reminded me of the birds the little guys in Joust rode, but you kids today probably don't remember those.

That was a fun game.

[Ascension]

They always reminded me of the birds the little guys in Joust rode, but you kids today probably don't remember those.

I like Joust. You'd need for them to have some sort of a clumsy fly speed if they're Joust mounts, though.

[Brasswatchman]

Here's my 3.5 version of the Chocobo, if it's of any use to use.

[Kami2awa]

People do this in RL:

http://www.diseno-art.com/encycloped...ch_riding.html

[Khanderas]

you'll be saying that right up to the point the red dragon swoops on what is going to be the biggest roast chicken meal of its life

NoooooOonoooooo

[DigoDragon]

People do this in RL:

http://www.diseno-art.com/encycloped...ch_riding.html

Great, now we just need the pit of lava.

I remember using non-magical yellow Chocobos once in a D&D adventure. It turns out my players rather liked them more so then any other non-magical mount.

[Ellisande]

So what do you guys think about this? Will it be too much and too obvious to the point where it turns players off?

I just wanted to touch on this point. I don't know much about Final Fantasy, but I prefer games that are fun and light--but not SILLY. As such, it would turn me off if you had giant "riding chickens".

And it would turn me off if you plucked an icon from some other fantasy world as-is, so I'd absolutely hate it if you had "chocobos" in your world* (unless you were explicitly playing FFDND). Of course, since you say that you introduce a significant amount of stuff as-is from outside sources, this may not apply.

However, it's all in the description. If there were a culture of warriors riding giant, carnivorous, large-beaked Emus, terrorizing all in their path, striking fear into the civilized kingdoms of the world... that'd be dreadfully cool. I wouldn't be able to get enough of it. I'd want to play one. Who cares if there's some other fantasy world with giant birds as well?

So... I'm saying is that it's all in the presentation. If you describe and play it in some ways, I'd hate it. In others, I'd absolutely adore it. So it's not so much if putting it in is "too much", but in finding how you can insert it in such a manner that your particular group of players will love it as much as you do.

*I do know this much about FF

[newbDM]

Well, I just got my Dragon issue in the mail, and I couldn't be happier with that article (Thanks overduegalaxy!).



Can anyone please suggest a place to get some chocobo models? Preferably for a size somewhere near D&D/25mm Large Size? Besides ebay of course, since this stuff is around 99.99999% bootleg there.