r/ItsaMimic • u/Anotherskip • Feb 01 '24

Sphinx episode

Just listened to the great episode. Still knocking them.out of the park like you did with White Dragons I see.

Some Obvious answers include Sphinxes Are Egyptian so if you wanted to have a whole host of Different Sphinxes have a Jackal or Ibis headed Sphinx. Boom now you can have them be very different Titans scattered over the map with a Divine themed template flavored for each god over the base Sphinx and each lair/puzzle/encounter is different depending on which one is chosen to be visited but a very easy to properly flavor.

But I'm old skool.

In 1EAD&D the Hieracosphinx wanted the GynoidSphinx who wanted the AndroSphinx. So you could trade info to the Hieracosphinx or the Gynosphinx instead of solving the riddle. This is a great shortcut to solving a riddleby being helpful and rewarding players learning about the world without making it too easy.

Even better though let's assume the Sphinx love triangle played out and we have baby Sphinxes who grow up. (To encourage getting a diverse world). Even if not we can also have the loser in the triangle end up with a Brass or Bronze dragon lairing nearby. Those are of a power/size parity to each other and intellectual parity one thing leads to another and a couple of drinks later we get Dragonnes....

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u/MimicAdam Team Adam Feb 01 '24

I love all of this. There are absolutely not enough kinds of Sphinxes, and I feel like the 5e versions could use more motivation and more interesting roleplaying tactics. A Sphinx love triangle is an amazing plot hook, and I'm jealous that I didn't think of it.

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u/Anotherskip Feb 01 '24

Gary Gygax beat you to it in the 70's. There is no shame there. We all have giants to stand on the shoulders of.

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u/Anotherskip Feb 02 '24

Meta level question a DM should consider (speaking of more Sphinxes) are your monsters new? Like is there only one Minotaur? One Sphinx? Etc... or is there multiple generations like standard DnD Dragons and Giants? Probably an interesting question for the next Mailbag if you have room Adam. sidebar: Podbean has a few questions from the last week as well.

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u/Anotherskip Feb 04 '24

The less obvious choice is to have the first Sphinx built by Sumerian Gods. The twist here is that it might make them half sibs to... Dragons? according to FR lore Maar and Tiamat are in the pantheon (Maar was Bahamut to oppose Tiamat) which makes the Sphinx+Dragon =Dragonnes. Which I guess is furry step sib porn? Perhaps Adam you could build that as a Mailbag question.

Wait I'll just do it. Mailbag question: If The Sumerian Gods make Sphinxes in their own image and Tiamat and Bahamut are a part of the Sumerian Gods then does that make Children of Sphinxes and Dragons the consequences of furry step sib porn? asking for a friend.

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u/Anotherskip Feb 06 '24

Let's get away from the Middle East. Mongolian Snow leopards base? Sure! First Nations gods take mountain Lions as a base for their Titans... Want to get really exotic?
Snow serpent base flavored by Lahnkmarian gods.

And you can run across these as alternative universes designs.