Maybe start with them not always being in bug mode, but the more the heroes rely on the magical armour they have been given as part of their contract. The more they use it, the more likely they are to get stuck. And sometimes the item misunderstands. So some Guyver, some Blue Beetle. And not limited to elves.
I think Kamen Rider would be a closer alternative to what you're going for. All the Kamen Riders from 1971-1989 (maybe except for Amazon) are Henshin heroes that are basically renegade science experiments trying to fight against the evil organisation who forcefully transformed them.
@@akiradkcn *Easy friend. Make it like the anime/manga. But in this The soul gem is slightly crack therefore making the process never able to be complete. The suit gives all the pros n the Major con from extreme usage overtime with resting and obviously the force dmg 2 self when u do the cannon*
I'm surprised these guys aren't actually playable. Imagine having your own space bugman with a death beam as part of your party, especially if one of the party members actually spawned them from a weird little gem
"Fighter, you're turn, what will you do!" "I'll set upon the beast with a vengeance!" *rolls dice "I hit! 3 damage plus 4 from my strength!" "Good job! Wizard?" "Magic Missile! 6 damage! Don't forget, it can't resist my magic while I heft the Staff of High Wizardry!" "And, uh, Gundam, what will you do this turn?" "Hmm, probably just blast it with my massive chest laser again. *rolls every dice, yawns. "It takes, uh, 113. Alright guys we need to take another long rest so I can reset."
I would love a playable statblock and the ability to customize them, so that an all-bionoid party wouldn’t be one-note. Imagine flavoring all class equipment and spells like they grow out of the creature’s exoskeleton, maybe even reintroduce the Guyver’s ability to hide in their un-augmented form.
@@Densoro Some can... The original 2E write-up isn't super clear but it mentions some bionoids are humanoids with bionoid symbionts attached that can transform. It honestly feels as though the original pass at this creature was even more like Guyver and they clumsily rewrote it at the last minute but missed some stuff.
@@Densoro Prestige class. L1, you get the armour, a less powerful chest weapon (cone or ray or sphere centered on the PC, pick from the elemental options of a dragon; plus immunity for that), and the arm blades. Levels bring options like being able to reverse the transformation, extra chest weapon, gills vs wings vs extra pair of arms vs burrowing, go nuts. Of course you have your original class, so the caster who takes this is a little scary, but cleric with butterfly wings channelling Mothra... Treat it as either some kind of alchemical transformation, pure magic, or as part of a holy order. Maybe parallel to a separate prestige class for being the "pilot" of a spirit warrior.
I've always been a Guyver fan since it came out back in the 80s. The Guyvers have an extremely long list of abilities that are as weird as they are insanely powerful.
Agreed. Their helmet laser, the gravity belt that lets they shoot an orb of force or give them flight, the megasmasher which can be one chest panel or both, the vibroblades, etc. I love them so much.
@@KevinVideo Not to Mention All Guyvers can Telepathically Link/Mind Speak to one another! Let’s Not forget they Get a BIG ASS ARMORED FORM that Can do Even More Ridiculous Shit!
@@KevinVideo Same. I've always hoped the anime would be continued or rebooted and made into an extended run series like DBZ, Bleach, My Hero Academia, etc. It would be awesome.
If I had a nickle everytime there was an old dnd monster that is blatant anime reference, I would have two nickels, which isnt alot but its wierd that it happend twice.
@@r.carter3152 I'm honestly amazed there aren't more. It'd be really easy to do a campaign with the Guyver's enemies, Zoinoids. And considering the whole infiltration aspect of those you could have a lot of fun. And Guyver itself is an homage to the older henshin heroes like Kamen Rider. You know if there isn't some sort of magic belt artifact that summons insect armor in the game, there should be.
My memory could be wrong but I think in the spelljammer novels the bionoids could change forms at will. Might have just been one of those creative changes the author made to fit it in the book.
Fun Fact: Guyver is the dark & gritty take on the tokusatsu genre, specifically Kamen Rider, another series about teens able to turn into superpowered karate bugmen who fight a secret organization with ties to aliens! Shin Kamen Rider, itself a dark & gritty reboot (or a reboot that focuses on the dark & gritty aspects of the original series) just came out in Japan, and looks sick as hell!
The original Kamen Rider was meant to be dark and gritty, which was tuned down a bit in TV series because the show was for kids. I mean the story is pretty much a renegade human experiment subject fighting other human experiment subjects, so this is not your normal power ranger. We were even supposed to have a big skull mask for the hero instead of a bug face at first.
@@iliketurtles2531, we eventually got that as Kamen Rider Skull, albeit he's more of a hard-boiled private detective than a renegade science experiment.
Wow those really are almost identical though the Guyver armors did have a few more Sci-fi focused abilities. Imagine it would be fairly simple to work in winged variants for flight. But yeah it is a rather interesting anime and got a remake and some live action stuff too, hope you enjoy it!
In the Guyver universe, the blades can retract, extend, and work like a starwars vibroblade. Guyver units also dont require another body to regenerate, but instead need to have some part of the host's genetic material on it.
Okay, I've got to ask: How awesome does a player character as a Bionoid or a whole party of Bionoids sound? All the angst brought about by their exile could be great for roleplay, and they could pair well with the Spirit Warrior (they came from the same place, after all). Each player can get paired with a Spirit Warrior, merge into the Zwarth, and have fun Power Ranger esq adventures!
I need it desperately. Imagine all class weapons and abilities shooting out from new orifices in the exoskeleton, or being able to revert to civilian form like the original Guyvers.
@@fireblademaster100 Hey, I had an idea for a campaign were some cosmic horror was going to arrive and destroy the world, unless the party can find five keys to awaken five metal golems. That happen to be lions. And combine. If you can't use D&D's system to homage something you love, what kind of world do we live in?
@@DensoroEven better, have it be a concentration effect to be a "civilian." That way you can have a character get distracted or flub a role, and then the entire village they're in suddenly becomes super racist and fearful. Needing the characters to actually concentrate on being civilians opens up a world of brand new options.
i randomly got the idea of bionoids being biologically immortal because of all the magic that created and sustains and regenerates them and i think i like it a lot the idea of a lone hermit warrior who lives deep somewhere that has legends about them but whenever they're seen they never show their face, and finding out they're Body Horror Incarnate, basically created as a weapon of war and discarded after the war was over. the kingdom that created them might not even exist anymore, but because they volunteered to become the monster they now are they are forced to be by themselves and either die in battle and never have their soul gem recovered or watch as everything they once knew in the world come and go
I personally am a huge Guyver fan... I remember watching your Spirit Warrior video and seeing the Bionoid and going "Hey, Guyver! I bet Newton did that too... I then proceeded to check my PDF, and there it was... Ah Newton, you Anime nerd lover! Iv always seen Bionoids as unintentional doom-bringers... Like, they WANT to live peacefully...but its like Highlander...there's always gonna be someone or something that comes along, and a Bionoid will feel compelled to step in a protect, and then things will escelate once the bad guy see's how powerful the Bionoid can be. ...its the Power Ranger Combat Escalation syndrome. Undoubtedly kool, but the potential for danger is unlimited...especially in a Spelljammer setting.
As I mused on a D&D story with a Bionoid the one in my head also turned into the Highlander concept. One drawn to do good yet expelled for the same abilities that allow then to do good....or even evil. Even mused a plot hook on a traveling Bionoid who might be a "There can only be one" quest like the Highlander.
As a long time Guyver fan who _has_ watched the anime and movie adaptations, it is my internet appointed duty to point out that... you did a good job. Sure a guyver has a freaking laundry list of insane super powers, but you nailed all the big signature ablities. Everything else can be imitated with arcane spellcasting.
So, essentially the bionoid is fleshwarping before fleshwarping was a thing. Neat. I love all the Guyver animated and live action scenes. You really did your research. Hope you enjoy watching these when you're finally able to. BTW, the first Guyver movie is bad, the sequel is amazing. The Megasmasher (cannon in its chest) is 100% a sentai inspired ability. Much like a Power Ranger's Megazord's final attack, the Guyver only uses it when it's surrounded or the episode is nearly over. Wish I could hit "Like" multiple times. Might be my new favourite monster. I'm beyond excited while watching this. Never felt this way before. I could almost see this being a warlock patron, in a sense, or a dark gift, similar to the symbiotic being from Van Ritchen's Guide. Appreciate the shoutout. At the very least, maybe people will stop asking me "Who are you random stranger responding to my comment?" when I tell them that I've added their suggestions to the list.
As a War Hammer loremaster, this one hits home...!!! "When the Space Marines have saved the galaxy, they will have no use..." blah blah blah.... The heresy of "Eldar Space Marines" cannot even be fathomed by an imperial human mind, let alone the God Emperor's Holy Inquisition... LMAO..Your videos are awesome, never been into D&D but you make this thing seem cool asf... I've watched so many of your vids that I might as well start playing... lol...
To be fair, 2E went pretty heavy on telling the players to customize their own settings, so this was more meant only as their technical name. You weren't supposed to say "you are attacked by some bionoids", you were supposed to say "the creatures resemble those the old man of Gronthwack village told you about, all bearing the emblem of the Blood Eater clan of outsiders." And I mean, while the video does a good job presenting them as a recurring threat, in 2E they just wanted you to buy more books so they pitched every monster (aside from orcs and maybe trolls) as one-shot encounters, so there was never any reason to look too much further into it.
I have a hunch that this is elven made. It's giving me "Spirit Warrior" vibes. Edit: Oh shoot it is! First, giant mecha suits, now it's GMO Sentai Squad. Astral elves has a knack for bugs and anime huh?
7:33 "And that is pretty much the only major difference" What? NO! The Bionoids were also able to switch back and forth betwen a monstrous and normal humanoid form. "In their combat form, also called their monster form, they are tall, muscular creatures with iridescent exoskeletons. Hard clawlike blades protrude from both forearms and the head. In addition to the standard pair of compound eyes, they possess four secondary eyes that can move independently like those of a chameleon. Pebbly, metallic-looking muscle fibers are visible at the joints. In their humanoid form, bionoids are thin, well-muscled, and fairly tall. They have uniformly calm, even tempers, and are often contemplative. They move with great economy; useless gestures or movements are very rare." -Tsr 02119 Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium Appendix II MC 9
I love this. I spent some time after the Artificer class came out designing customizable Guyver units that can be worn by PCs. Specifically, the Armorer subclass can use blueprints to create the unit as an alternative to the Guardian or Infiltrator models. The components needed to create the Armor make for some great side/mini quests within the game. Once all of the material components have been gathered, the Artificer can use their downtime to forge the armor. Since Artificers have more Attunement slots, I added a sliding scale for customization. More functionality means more attunement slots. The armor can only be worn for a total of 10 minutes per character level a day. If they exceed the time cap, they receive levels of exhaustion based on how much time has passed wearing the armor. The abilities of the armor vary depending on the creature components or magic items used in creation.
In addition to the vibrating arm blades and the mega smasher (chest canon) Guyver units attached to humans also posses a head mounted precision thermal laser, twin sonic resonators for a sound based attack and a gravity control orb that allows for flight, or if not flying can be used to power a gravity pressure attack. And that’s just a basic Unit. Just wait till you get to that part in the manga where the Giga Unit upgrade and it’s Exceed state come into play. That shit is WILD!
There are a couple thing's I would add to them. One is that thier attacks are magical especially the arm blades because they were vorpal in the 2E to emulate that fact in the Manga and anime they were high frequency blades(vibrant blades). 2, being the head Lazer for ranged attacks. There might be more things but that is a start
I completely agree that the vibroblades should count as magical. I'd probably even make them count as adamantine. To make it even more like the guyver, I'd probably also give them the fly spell 3/day, and a force ball to replicate the gravity cannon.
I am now imagining a Bionoid Palidin where their Divine Smite is channelled through their chest cannons. 1. Makes that smite weighty as all hell. 2. IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR 3. Hilarious player moments and friendly fire.
I think I once heard for the lore of the bionoid that once they are turned their entire mindset is shifted (aka alignment shift), so that could be an interesting backstory for a bionoid npc the players have met or recruited, that they are trying to find out who they were in their past life and being worried that they may have been a criminal or forcibly turned.
Ironically, I think the other thing that really differentiate it from the Anime/Manga, the bionoids are far more PG than the Anime (doubly so for the manga.) The Guyver is Ultra-Violence at is core, and the mangaka was known to make into some crazy levels of screwed up. The 2005 series ends on a massive cliffhanger (much like the other iterations) due to the mangaka dying, and taking the rights with him. There's an Eberron Monster that also takes heavily from the Guyver as well, though more so from Spider-man/Marvel than the Guyver, that being the Symbionts. Great video!
Now that WotC has decided to "cross the streams" between D&D and M:tG with Ravnica & Theros, would you ever consider converting creatures such as the ability sharing Slivers, or the Licids which merge with their hosts to become an enchantment on them?
@@mslabo102s2 I'm sure he could reach out to Magic: The Gathering lore channels like Aether Hub, Silver Myr, or The Lorebrarians for example & do a crossover.
Suggestion for a creature to do an episode on: Thought Eater - A creature that despite sounding somewhat silly in appearance, is absolutely terrifying in effect. Where else can you find an emaciated, sickly platypus that EATS YOUR MEMORIES? It’s like Psyducks evil cousin, and I need it to appear in more dnd games Also- not sure if there’s enough content for a full episode, but if you can find a way to make duckbunnies into something compelling and interesting, I’d be happy to hear it
The compound eyes are interesting to me. They’re a bit sturdier than our eyes so they might offer more protection, but the vision they get must be really strange… they’d probably need to be at least as “deep” as human eyeballs in on the skull to have clear pictures, but they probably only have clear pictures at fixed ranges…? As in, they’re always going to be farsighted or nearsighted because their eyes wouldn’t be good at focusing. And then the way they process the images in their mind would be fascinating…
I'm planning to incorporate Bionoids and Spirit Warriors into a world heavily inspired by Warframe, and as I was reading through my books I had a thought about the Bionoids, Spirit Warriors, and how they're just as buggy as the Thri-kreen So my version of the Thri-kreen, which is mostly inspired by Runesmith's video on the topic, they came to the Astral Elves to help protect the wildlands from the war that terraformed and destroyed it. They asked that their most trustworthy scholars and engineers come with them to their society, and when they came back they brought with them knowledge to make Spirit Warriors. This shifted their power immensely, but it wasn't enough for a secured victory. The elves asked that the Thri-kreen for more knowledge. The Thri-kreen, hesitant but amicable, asked again that they be given their most trusted scholars and engineers to come with them. The Astral Elves complied, but they secretly snuck an item that would let them spy on them When the scholars and engineers arrived, the astral elves learned about the gems that they and the bugs fed on to mutate. The astral elves knew they needed it for themselves, and that they couldn't allow any others to possess it. When the Thri-kreen led the scholars and sages to their sleeping quarters, and they seemingly slept, the astral elves used a portal to sneak away and return to their headquarters. Only, they didn't realize that the Thri-kreen were fully aware of what they were doing and what they were planning to do When the astral elves came to their world, the thri-kreen were prepared to repel them. Alas, the Thri-kreen were heavily outnumbered and outmatched, and the astral elves claimed their homeworld as their new base of operations. When the war ended, the astral elves realized how much of a dick move that was and offered to return the home world to the Thri-kreen as a way of apologizing to them. After betraying their trust, compromising their homeworld's location and technology, and slaughtering their race and driving them out of their home, the Thri-kreen declined and destroyed their homeworld as well as all the elves on it. Their hatred of elves and slowness to trust has since been passed down from generation to generation, such that even the Thri-kreen with no recollection of their homeworld still find the killing and consumption of intruding elves to be unexplainably satisfying
If I remember correctly (it's been years since I saw the anime), the megasmasher (chest cannon) was used like an "oh shit" move, when surrounded, or on the verge of being "killed". Due to how destructive it was, it was usually "everything is now dead, I can relax now," so the fact it "hurts" them can make sense, since it wouldn't be used unless it was to end a battle with absolute finality.
I am a guyver fan, or rather was. i haven't really done any rewatch/rereads of Guyver in the past few years, but it was an absolute joy to learn about the Bionoids and just knowing that any guyver imagery in this could be misconstrued for Bionoid just makes me gitty
Guyver was my first anime and love it!! Guyver weapon list. Arm blades Head lazer Sonic projector Chest cannon (mega smasher) Gravity/singularity projector. Regeneration Armor Speed Strength Hightened senses But yeah about everything you talked about really match 1:1
I found guyver when I was a kid. It was this monumental evolutionary leap in my creative growth as far as fiction and the idea's that came from having your mind blown .
This is amazing! It combines so many things I love: D&D, anime (Guyver specifically, one of my favorites), Spelljammers, living weapons discarded by their creators, where has this been all my life?!
Guyver was the first anime anything I ever saw. I can still go back to the exact spot in the local mall a kid who couldn't have been more than 5 stopped, and watched a horrible bug-bear monster tear a "control medallion" from the forehead of a super-cool, if scary-looking, hero guy. And I still remember, as the armor started consuming him, the thought flashing into my mind "but the heroes don't *lose* ." And then that same hero rising back up as the monster lumbered towards his friends, taking hands now twisted to horrible gnarled root-talons, and stabbing them into the sides of the creature, wrestling it backwards. And then my mom called me away. It would be the better part of a decade before I found out how that scene ended. Guyver is one of those legendary decades-long manga; it is a contemporary to *Berzerk* , for context, and as I said in the Spirit Warrior video it was made before DBZ codified the Shonen genre, so most of it is a *stunning* dark sci-fi story with the bones of shonen anime supporting it in the best ways. But nothing new for it has come out in the western world since around 2015. I'm not even sure the author is still making it, or if - like most creators of comparable work - health issues have simply made finishing it an unlikely dream. But oh, find it and read it, if you can. Find out about the full range of a Guyver's abilities. About the hyper-zoanoids and Lost Numbers. The Advents, and Archanfel. There were plenty of other things *like* Guyver in the 80s, sure. But none of them were ever quite its equal. Thanks for this, DD.
Remember the Soul Gem in the skull in CR campaign 1? Imagine Grog or Percy made a deal with it, and it's released in the form of Bionoid Exo-Armor that wrestles for control until it is recovered enough leave their host. They both have tendecies to make deals with spooky sentient weapons of war. Someone check Matt's notes!
Fuck… THE CREATOR GAVE IT THE BUSTER CANNON? Wild. Absolutely wild. This was one of my first anime growing up, and probably the reason games such as Dark Sector and Warframe spoke to me sooo much. The concept of living armor, in my opinion, is such a cool concept, and leads to a lot of interesting ideas and character struggles, opportunities for character development, and so on. Is the armor to host relationship one sided, or parasitic? Perhaps it’s even mutually beneficial. The idea of the armor adapting over the campaign sounds incredible. Or maybe the armor has been passed down a family line, and it carries the memories of past kin, while also possessing a sentient consciousness. The possibilities are endless
Really cool, first video of yours I've seen. One thing needed is a cannibalism mechanic. In the anime a Guyver user can take in another and gain a stronger form called Guyver Gigantic. It could also have a low level fire bolt(mini head laser) and thunderwave/shatter (Sonic blast from mouth).
Me: What a rip-off! As someone who grew up with the Guyver anime, I find this reprehensible! Also Me: *immediately goes on ebay upon hearing about this and looks to see if there are any bionoid miniatures*
I can see a benevolent religious organization finding some bionoid soul gems and some spirit warriors and giving them their dutifully earned retirement and some much needed therapy. They even found a way for the Bionoids to regenerate without latching onto people and worked with them to develop funeral right for when they want to truly rest. They just treat them well for no other reason than to do so. It also helps that they work alongside gaint insects anyway.
If I'm reading it correctly, an alien group called the "Uranus" came to prehistoric Earth and created early humans as a slave army. In one test, they gave a human one of their symbiotic combat suits and got ready to record the results. After the surviving Uranus fled the planet, they wrote it down as "Out Of Control." The experiment nearly killed them all. In the Uranus's language, "out of control" is "guyver."
Yes and no Life on earth was an alien testing ground/lab for bio-weapons. They finally created a good base unit (humans) which they could then further adapt into specific needs (Zoinoids). All under psychic control of the creators (and later, Zoilords) The Bio-Booster Armor was part of the creators flight/environmental suit. And was made some time before getting to earth. They then wondered what would happen if they gave one of these flight suits to their ultimate weapon. It became a terrifyingly powerful creature, and was no longer under their psychic control. They dubbed this Guyver (meaning 'out of control').
Dude, you don't even need the anime to get an idea of the original concept. They made an American live action Guyver movie back in 91. Mark Hamill was in it for christ's sake! It was one of those insanely fun bad movies. The practical creature effects being the best part.
What's kind of funny about the Bionoid is that in-addition clearly drawing inspiration from The Guyver there are parts that (intentional or not) also feel reminiscent of one of Guyver's key points of inspiration: Kamen Rider. In-particular the theme of man-made insectoid monsters that are literally regular people turned into "living weapons" is very much in-keeping with the early era of Rider (where most of our main heroes were captured/kidnapped/forced into a situation where they were made into an insect cyborg). Which does make me have fun imagining the scenario of a Bionoid basically acting adopting a Rider-esque role in a town, fighting off monsters and bad guys to protect the people even as some people are wary of their savior and their inhuman appearance.
Guyver was one of my favorites growing up. Created by aliens for war they experimented on merging the Bio-armor with humans but were so afraid of how powerful the Guyver bio-armor became they abandoned it. They created the Zoinoids instead. The zoinoid were mutated human soldier that similar technology allowed to become a wide range of humanoid-ish monstrosities which the Guyver armor and host pretty would much wipe the floor with. At least that's what i remember from the anime. Too bad it wasn't finished to my knowledge.
And Guyver itself was inspired by the older Toku heroes like Kamen Rider. Once you learn a little bit about Shotaro Ishinomori's works, you can see how that inspired it, and how it developed into it's own thing.
Anime never was finished and the manga was sadly abandoned but we did eventually find out that humans were just the base ingredient used to make Zoanoids, the actual soldiers the aliens were experimenting in making. The guyver units themselves were just standard equipment for those aliens. One day they decided to try and test out what would happen if they gave one to a human and discovered that equipping a guyver unit not only exponentially increased the human's combat abilities beyond anything the standard issue Zoanoids possessed, but also freed it from the telepathic control the aliens had over them. This caused them to completely abandon the planet and experiments out of fear of what would happen if the original Zoalord they had created managed to equip a guyver unit himself.
am i the only one that instantly thought of PC's bonding with the soul gems and wearing them as armor in a symbiote style contract as the Bionoid regenerates their body and leaves at the end of the campain
Please do one on the Teratomorph from the Monster Manual II from 3.5! It's one of the strangest oozes! And it's always held a special place in my heart, for personal D&D narrative reasons.
You joke with the Astartes Meme, but these things really do sound like they come from Warhammer. Astral elves? Sounds like the Eldar tried to emulate Space marines
So yes i did indeed point and exclaim, “That’s a Guyver unit! I don’t want to ruin the anime for ya bro so i’ll just say players should be glad it isn’t a direct one to one. Also they nerfed that chest canon.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAH My fave spelljammer monster (that didnt get love in the 5e stuff, reigar and autognomes were my other faves) lets GOOOOOOOO Love your videos, been watchin for what i swear feels like a year now, love every video, keep up the awesome work!!
I love how there are clips from The Guyver interspersed with the D&D guidebook artwork with zero warning in the first several minutes. Dungeon Dad knows *exactly* what's up. 😅
I wonder if there are any mixed race bionoid villages. Throughout history we see that when people are banished, they rarely go alone; those who love them and who are hurt by losing them. It’s interesting to imagine a village where about 1/4 of the population are these giant insect things while the rest are normal-ass elves just going about their lives. Maybe they even know the process to become a bionoid, for those who want to extend their already long elven lives so that their loved one never has to worry about being alone for eternity. I can’t imagine the bionoids would want their more fragile loved ones taking extreme risks, and the bionoids themselves can’t really blend in… They probably hire people to retrieve the rarer ingredients (maybe some ingredients are only available back in their original elven kingdom.) I wonder if they’d be honest about what they need the stuff for, given they probably don’t want the mercenaries they hired to be like, “YO, TURN ME INTO A SUPER-SECRET IMMORTAL BIOWEAPON!”
Gotta admit that the elves treatment of the returning bionoids post-war *really* seems like an allegory for the U.S. government (and much of the population's) treatment of veterans returning from Vietnam.
As I listen to what is a Bionoid and how it's created, I can't help but think of another 70s Japanese Icon, Kamen Rider Even the premise is slightly similar, An Individual (unwilling in this case) is Genetically Altered to become a Superhuman, Insect-themed, Motorcycle Driving Tokusatsu Super Hero, whose signature move is a Jumping Diving Kick. I wonder if Newton Ewell could've also been inspired by this. 🤔
This doesn't just need a 5e monster stat block, it needs race stats so we can play them. This would work especially well with the lineage format like the dhamphir, hexblooded, and reborn; which were all _other races first._
Love these videos. I’ve farming them for great ideas in my campaign. I would love to see you bring back the rich lore of pyramidions and their whole hierarchy of shapes. Might even be multiple videos.
Have you considered making a video on the Cadaver Golem? It was a creature from Heroes of Horror that could gain skills and abilities by incorporating the body parts of others into its form. Also, it was an intelligent golem that wasn't bound to a creator.
What if you feels terrible about taking over the body of another person and wants the parties help to honor their host in some way or try to free them.
was absolutely in love with Guyver growing up, it was one of the hand full of VHS tapes of the gritty 80s anime shows/movies my brother and i got our hands on. this is mega cool to learn about. I need to use this bad boi in the game i plan to host
I'm just gonna hombrew up a defective Bionoid gem that allows them to transform into one and share their memories. Why? Because I love Guyver and I'm still sad that the manga will never see a conclusion. Bionoid Boosted Armor D&D will have to suffice for now.
Apart the fact that I'm really surprised there's people before their 40 that know about guyver, what's up with the old school anime inspo stuff lately? What I should expect next, Betterman? Genocyber?
Big Guyver fan and youtube actually promoted this to me. Very cool catch, never played spelljammers and didn't know this lore knockoff. Idk if you've looked up Record of Lodoss Wars, the kobolds in that fantasy anime are wolfman and I think it's a very fun but drastic difference in what we commonly know as a kobold.
In AD&D, kobolds were mongrel rat dogs. When WotC bought the game, they changed kobolds to what we know them as now. The Record of Lodoss War did a great job of giving us a more old school version, and I appreciate them for doing that.
A very interesting creature lore video! A mixture of 2nd AD&D Spell jamming, Guyver from classic Japanese anime, and Marvel Comics Captain America, a touch of John Carpenter's The Thing added as a afterlife backup, and the fate of the Republic Clone Troopers after the end of the Clone Wars in the Star Wars universe. Very interesting and fantastic indeed!! Kudos to you for a video well done!!!
person getting into D&D DM'ing + longtime Guyver fan here.. the enemies who take off their helmets are called Zoanoids btw, so the Bionoid is a literal mixture of Guyver and Zoanoid. I recommend AcidGlow's 1hr Guyver lore video, really goes into detail about Zoalords too and the history of Guyver universe.
I saw this, after Night Druid (author of Hackjammer - the official Spelljammer conversion to Hackjammer rules) posted a topic about your video in the Spelljammer forum at The Piazza. I really like the video, but you did get one thing wrong about the bionoid. At 7:27 you said that the host in the guyver can surpress the tech, but the bionoid is different here. But that's not true. Paragraph three of the MC9 entry does give this clue: "In their humanoid form, bionoids are thin, well-muscled, and fairly tall. They have uniformly calm, even tempers, and are ften contemplative. They move wiith great economy; useless gestures or movements are rare." That is the bionoid, when it returns to it's original form (which would be an elven form, for the volunteers in the First Unhuman War). The Ecology section, has a bit more in the third paragraph there: "If elves, humans or other humanoid races touch the egg, it infiltrates the victim, creating another adult bionoid. The new bionoid has the abilities described above, but appears only when danger threatens, whereapon the host "monsters out" into the bionoid monster form." So, those elven super-soldiers totally revert to their original elven appearance, looking like buff elves that work out. But they are no longer elves, and they have lightning reflexes that force them to turn into killing machines, if the orcs and other humanoids attack. There are elements of both werewolves and The Hulk here. But, it's done in a different way. The problem with the bionoids are this: • They are trigged to slaughter enemies in a war that is long over. And they have no way to remove that trigger. So, just like David Banner, if you make them angry, they transform into the Hulk and they do their thing. And then everyone knows they are a living weapon, rather than an elf. • The second problem is that the bionoid reproduction has bionoids making new (unmarked) eggs that attach to any new humanoid host (except orcs). So, if bionoids remain among humans, they will make these eggs at some point. And they will cause their friends to transform into bionoids. This second problem means that, an elven war hero that returns home, isn't just a threat to their villiage, if a bar fight breaks out and someone throws a bottle that hits them. It also means that they might drop some of these bionoid eggs that turn their children or their wife into an insect-like killing machine. I hope you can get hold of the Cloakmaster Cycle novels, at some point. There are a couple of plotliines with bionoids, that are pretty cool. On the one hand, you have bionoids trying to live a monk-like life, because they don't want to end up killing anyone who is stupid enough to start a fight. And, on the other hand, you have some bionoids, who see the Elven Imperial Navy as having turned their back on the bionoids who saved them. And these give you the two extremes of the bionoid. Wanting peace with the enemies of the elves. And wanting justice from the elves.
I’m pretty sure this might be less Guyver and more *Kamen Rider*. Not that they aren’t very similar things to begin with, but Kamen Riders are much more insectoid - grasshoppers and beetles, mainly - than Guyver.
When I read the compendium I immediately thought of Cell from DBZ. Edit: If we stick to dbz, Bionoids would fit A17 & A18's position a bit better, only they were not willing to become highly effective murder machines
This has inspired me, my setting is based on real-world mythology, with a significant dash of my own interpretations and fun D&D monsters. Part of the world is that on the prime material there is a huge amount of space, as in outer space. But I have also selected Alfheim my settings fairy realm to have its own outer space that I haven't really done anything with, and now I have a perfect monster to start populating the corners of fairy space. This is a really cool monster, thank you Dungeon Dad. Also, I think a fun monster would be the Jharilith, dunno if I spelled that right. Giant Demon Lions, what can go wrong?
I wasn't aware there was a Guyver inspired D&D monster! I actually made a dragonborn armorer artificer which I flavor as a Guyver. Whenever combat is initiated she blacks out and the armor takes over to neaturalize the threats or defend its host. I chose a dragonborn so I can flavor her breath attack as the Mega Smasher, use Thunderwave as her Pressure Cannon and Booming Blade as her Sonic Blade.
Oh, you should definitely watch the original 80s anime. It has some of the best cheesy dialog with edgy lines being delivered by the voice actor who plays Agumon in the original digimon show. Plus, as much as I love joking about how bad it is at times, it has a solid story about a young man who never wanted this power but is thrust into his story headfirst, by a corrupt illuminati type organization bent on world domination.
honestly, it sounds more like the bionoids are ZOAlords, the monsters from the guyver series as opposed to guyvers themselves. though the anime is...ambiguous as to whether or not zoalords can change back and forth from human to monster..Guyvers DEFINATELY can, and apparently bionoids CANT. in the anime, zoa can start out looking human, but once they go monster they're usually killed off...you don't normally see them changing back to human..though i seem to remember a couple of special characters from the manga that could. it should also be mentioned that in the anime, Zoalords have a caste system where the "troops" are vulnerable to mental control from the "commanders"
Bionoids can. D-Dad unfortunately missed that. However, your mentioning of Zoalords is probably on point. Even if they are back to their original selves, other elves can still tell that they're not like them. It could be an aura thing, or it could be that they have features of their monstrous form that's still on their person. My guess is it'd be their eyes look demonic or something.
Guyver is one of my favourite anime/manga. The best thing about Guyver units however is that it basically allows the host to function without food/sleep/oxygen since the energy that the unit uses comes from another dimension which basically sustains the host whenever they have the Unit active. The hypersonic Vibration blades can cut through pretty much anything due to the frequency they vibrate at which basically allows it to cut the atoms of objects apart.
Seeing a this reminded me of yesterday. It wasn't a bionoid as far as I know but it's basically a Warframe made from a willing volunteer and funguses. Our artificer got it after touching a magical stone finger.
Thanks for watching guys! What monster do you want to see next?!
would love to see more filipino mythology in general but the kapre was one my grandfather would always tell me about
Zargon the Returner
A 5E version of Tyranids from Warhammer 40k. We can always use more horrifying insect monsters.
@@Cheshire020 already pulling something like that out of Kythons
@@kingmasterlord True enough, that video was insane. Planning to pull them out on some of my players soon. 😄
I desperately need to play a bionoid centric campaign, immediately.
or we can crispr them up real quick IRL
Yes, bio booster armor. Sign me up.
Maybe start with them not always being in bug mode, but the more the heroes rely on the magical armour they have been given as part of their contract. The more they use it, the more likely they are to get stuck. And sometimes the item misunderstands. So some Guyver, some Blue Beetle. And not limited to elves.
Use them as the build-up for a FMA style ending. I'm in
Just become a Chinese citizen and volunteer to become half tardigrade for the radiation resistance
A bionoid who specializes in nonviolent improvisation
A guyver macguyver
Any situation can be solved with duct tape and a chest cannon
A clever DM could use the Soul Gem concept and some house rules to create the D&D equivalent of a Sentai/Power Rangers adventure.
Honestly a Madoka variant would also be incredible.
Why do you need a soulgem for that tho?
@@akiradkcn I dunno, maybe you don't? I'm just going by what I gleaned from the video. If it's your game, you can do anything, really.
I think Kamen Rider would be a closer alternative to what you're going for. All the Kamen Riders from 1971-1989 (maybe except for Amazon) are Henshin heroes that are basically renegade science experiments trying to fight against the evil organisation who forcefully transformed them.
@@akiradkcn *Easy friend. Make it like the anime/manga. But in this The soul gem is slightly crack therefore making the process never able to be complete. The suit gives all the pros n the Major con from extreme usage overtime with resting and obviously the force dmg 2 self when u do the cannon*
The shriek I let out when I saw the Guyver on a thumbnail
I'm surprised these guys aren't actually playable. Imagine having your own space bugman with a death beam as part of your party, especially if one of the party members actually spawned them from a weird little gem
"Fighter, you're turn, what will you do!"
"I'll set upon the beast with a vengeance!" *rolls dice "I hit! 3 damage plus 4 from my strength!"
"Good job! Wizard?"
"Magic Missile! 6 damage! Don't forget, it can't resist my magic while I heft the Staff of High Wizardry!"
"And, uh, Gundam, what will you do this turn?"
"Hmm, probably just blast it with my massive chest laser again. *rolls every dice, yawns. "It takes, uh, 113. Alright guys we need to take another long rest so I can reset."
I would love a playable statblock and the ability to customize them, so that an all-bionoid party wouldn’t be one-note.
Imagine flavoring all class equipment and spells like they grow out of the creature’s exoskeleton, maybe even reintroduce the Guyver’s ability to hide in their un-augmented form.
@@Densoro Some can... The original 2E write-up isn't super clear but it mentions some bionoids are humanoids with bionoid symbionts attached that can transform. It honestly feels as though the original pass at this creature was even more like Guyver and they clumsily rewrote it at the last minute but missed some stuff.
@@danielgehring7437 Reminds me of finding out you could use stuff from Robotech in the Rifts setting with GURPS.
@@Densoro Prestige class. L1, you get the armour, a less powerful chest weapon (cone or ray or sphere centered on the PC, pick from the elemental options of a dragon; plus immunity for that), and the arm blades. Levels bring options like being able to reverse the transformation, extra chest weapon, gills vs wings vs extra pair of arms vs burrowing, go nuts. Of course you have your original class, so the caster who takes this is a little scary, but cleric with butterfly wings channelling Mothra... Treat it as either some kind of alchemical transformation, pure magic, or as part of a holy order. Maybe parallel to a separate prestige class for being the "pilot" of a spirit warrior.
I've always been a Guyver fan since it came out back in the 80s. The Guyvers have an extremely long list of abilities that are as weird as they are insanely powerful.
Agreed. Their helmet laser, the gravity belt that lets they shoot an orb of force or give them flight, the megasmasher which can be one chest panel or both, the vibroblades, etc. I love them so much.
@@KevinVideo
Not to Mention All Guyvers can Telepathically Link/Mind Speak to one another!
Let’s Not forget they Get a BIG ASS ARMORED FORM that Can do Even More Ridiculous Shit!
Yes!
But I love the bat face ramochis and super vulnerable gastor, so I lose by default
I like the fact there are living FTL drives and they can use it to fire black holes and teleport
@@KevinVideo Same. I've always hoped the anime would be continued or rebooted and made into an extended run series like DBZ, Bleach, My Hero Academia, etc. It would be awesome.
"It's only a war crime the first time". - The Fat Electrician.
Correction: "It's never a war crime the first time."
@@drewgilbertson You totally missed the fucking joke dude, lmao!!! Like, seriously?!? Hahahahahaha! Back to school!!
If I had a nickle everytime there was an old dnd monster that is blatant anime reference, I would have two nickels, which isnt alot but its wierd that it happend twice.
Oh your gonna have a lot more than 2 nickels, a solid 4th of the book this and the spirit warrior are from are the same
It's cute that you think it's only two.
My poor sweet summer child.
Okay how many are there
Someone should make a list.
@@r.carter3152 I'm honestly amazed there aren't more. It'd be really easy to do a campaign with the Guyver's enemies, Zoinoids. And considering the whole infiltration aspect of those you could have a lot of fun.
And Guyver itself is an homage to the older henshin heroes like Kamen Rider. You know if there isn't some sort of magic belt artifact that summons insect armor in the game, there should be.
I did not know Guyver was in D&D. I have to see this.
My memory could be wrong but I think in the spelljammer novels the bionoids could change forms at will. Might have just been one of those creative changes the author made to fit it in the book.
You're not wrong. Bionoids can revert to the original form.
Fun Fact: Guyver is the dark & gritty take on the tokusatsu genre, specifically Kamen Rider, another series about teens able to turn into superpowered karate bugmen who fight a secret organization with ties to aliens!
Shin Kamen Rider, itself a dark & gritty reboot (or a reboot that focuses on the dark & gritty aspects of the original series) just came out in Japan, and looks sick as hell!
The original Kamen Rider was meant to be dark and gritty, which was tuned down a bit in TV series because the show was for kids. I mean the story is pretty much a renegade human experiment subject fighting other human experiment subjects, so this is not your normal power ranger. We were even supposed to have a big skull mask for the hero instead of a bug face at first.
@@iliketurtles2531, we eventually got that as Kamen Rider Skull, albeit he's more of a hard-boiled private detective than a renegade science experiment.
Kamen Rider Black Sun gives Guyver energy. It was an Amazon mini-series
@@nkyfongKR Black/ Black RX also counts
Wow those really are almost identical though the Guyver armors did have a few more Sci-fi focused abilities. Imagine it would be fairly simple to work in winged variants for flight. But yeah it is a rather interesting anime and got a remake and some live action stuff too, hope you enjoy it!
In the Guyver universe, the blades can retract, extend, and work like a starwars vibroblade. Guyver units also dont require another body to regenerate, but instead need to have some part of the host's genetic material on it.
Remember when Sho was revived via a few cells attached to the control medal?
Okay, I've got to ask: How awesome does a player character as a Bionoid or a whole party of Bionoids sound? All the angst brought about by their exile could be great for roleplay, and they could pair well with the Spirit Warrior (they came from the same place, after all). Each player can get paired with a Spirit Warrior, merge into the Zwarth, and have fun Power Ranger esq adventures!
It would be the ultimate campaign for mecha and tokusatsu enjoyers. Though at that point you're just having the party rp as King-Ohgers
I need it desperately. Imagine all class weapons and abilities shooting out from new orifices in the exoskeleton, or being able to revert to civilian form like the original Guyvers.
@@fireblademaster100 Hey, I had an idea for a campaign were some cosmic horror was going to arrive and destroy the world, unless the party can find five keys to awaken five metal golems. That happen to be lions. And combine.
If you can't use D&D's system to homage something you love, what kind of world do we live in?
@@brettwood1351Time to get the Power Clerics the A-Men!
@@DensoroEven better, have it be a concentration effect to be a "civilian." That way you can have a character get distracted or flub a role, and then the entire village they're in suddenly becomes super racist and fearful. Needing the characters to actually concentrate on being civilians opens up a world of brand new options.
i randomly got the idea of bionoids being biologically immortal because of all the magic that created and sustains and regenerates them and i think i like it a lot
the idea of a lone hermit warrior who lives deep somewhere that has legends about them but whenever they're seen they never show their face, and finding out they're Body Horror Incarnate, basically created as a weapon of war and discarded after the war was over. the kingdom that created them might not even exist anymore, but because they volunteered to become the monster they now are they are forced to be by themselves and either die in battle and never have their soul gem recovered or watch as everything they once knew in the world come and go
I personally am a huge Guyver fan...
I remember watching your Spirit Warrior video and seeing the Bionoid and going "Hey, Guyver! I bet Newton did that too... I then proceeded to check my PDF, and there it was... Ah Newton, you Anime nerd lover!
Iv always seen Bionoids as unintentional doom-bringers...
Like, they WANT to live peacefully...but its like Highlander...there's always gonna be someone or something that comes along, and a Bionoid will feel compelled to step in a protect, and then things will escelate once the bad guy see's how powerful the Bionoid can be.
...its the Power Ranger Combat Escalation syndrome.
Undoubtedly kool, but the potential for danger is unlimited...especially in a Spelljammer setting.
I love Out of Control. Great little OVA...I just need to rip my VHS to DVD then I can watch it at home on my big tv!
As I mused on a D&D story with a Bionoid the one in my head also turned into the Highlander concept. One drawn to do good yet expelled for the same abilities that allow then to do good....or even evil. Even mused a plot hook on a traveling Bionoid who might be a "There can only be one" quest like the Highlander.
As a long time Guyver fan who _has_ watched the anime and movie adaptations, it is my internet appointed duty to point out that... you did a good job.
Sure a guyver has a freaking laundry list of insane super powers, but you nailed all the big signature ablities. Everything else can be imitated with arcane spellcasting.
So, essentially the bionoid is fleshwarping before fleshwarping was a thing. Neat.
I love all the Guyver animated and live action scenes. You really did your research. Hope you enjoy watching these when you're finally able to. BTW, the first Guyver movie is bad, the sequel is amazing.
The Megasmasher (cannon in its chest) is 100% a sentai inspired ability. Much like a Power Ranger's Megazord's final attack, the Guyver only uses it when it's surrounded or the episode is nearly over.
Wish I could hit "Like" multiple times. Might be my new favourite monster. I'm beyond excited while watching this. Never felt this way before.
I could almost see this being a warlock patron, in a sense, or a dark gift, similar to the symbiotic being from Van Ritchen's Guide.
Appreciate the shoutout. At the very least, maybe people will stop asking me "Who are you random stranger responding to my comment?" when I tell them that I've added their suggestions to the list.
Thanks for your commitment Kayden. Hope to see you again on Discord when I inevitably find another obscure d&d monster.
@@CharoGaming Guaranteed that you will. xD
I swear they never finished the anime, it just kind of ends ?
As a War Hammer loremaster, this one hits home...!!! "When the Space Marines have saved the galaxy, they will have no use..." blah blah blah.... The heresy of "Eldar Space Marines" cannot even be fathomed by an imperial human mind, let alone the God Emperor's Holy Inquisition... LMAO..Your videos are awesome, never been into D&D but you make this thing seem cool asf... I've watched so many of your vids that I might as well start playing... lol...
Bionoid as a name goes crazy
To be fair, 2E went pretty heavy on telling the players to customize their own settings, so this was more meant only as their technical name. You weren't supposed to say "you are attacked by some bionoids", you were supposed to say "the creatures resemble those the old man of Gronthwack village told you about, all bearing the emblem of the Blood Eater clan of outsiders." And I mean, while the video does a good job presenting them as a recurring threat, in 2E they just wanted you to buy more books so they pitched every monster (aside from orcs and maybe trolls) as one-shot encounters, so there was never any reason to look too much further into it.
The bio bugmen in the anime/Manga were called Zoanoids so them be called Bionoids is even more inspiration from the Guyver lore.
Meanwhile I'm playing as half-elf Kamen Rider on my D&D campaign
I have a hunch that this is elven made. It's giving me "Spirit Warrior" vibes.
Edit:
Oh shoot it is! First, giant mecha suits, now it's GMO Sentai Squad.
Astral elves has a knack for bugs and anime huh?
7:33 "And that is pretty much the only major difference"
What? NO!
The Bionoids were also able to switch back and forth betwen a monstrous and normal humanoid form.
"In their combat form, also called their monster form, they are tall, muscular creatures with iridescent exoskeletons. Hard clawlike blades protrude from both forearms and the head. In addition to the standard pair of compound eyes, they possess four secondary eyes that can move independently like those of a chameleon. Pebbly, metallic-looking muscle fibers are visible at the joints.
In their humanoid form, bionoids are thin, well-muscled, and fairly tall. They have uniformly calm, even tempers, and are often contemplative. They move with great economy; useless gestures or movements are very rare." -Tsr 02119 Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium Appendix II MC 9
I love this. I spent some time after the Artificer class came out designing customizable Guyver units that can be worn by PCs. Specifically, the Armorer subclass can use blueprints to create the unit as an alternative to the Guardian or Infiltrator models. The components needed to create the Armor make for some great side/mini quests within the game. Once all of the material components have been gathered, the Artificer can use their downtime to forge the armor. Since Artificers have more Attunement slots, I added a sliding scale for customization. More functionality means more attunement slots. The armor can only be worn for a total of 10 minutes per character level a day. If they exceed the time cap, they receive levels of exhaustion based on how much time has passed wearing the armor. The abilities of the armor vary depending on the creature components or magic items used in creation.
In addition to the vibrating arm blades and the mega smasher (chest canon) Guyver units attached to humans also posses a head mounted precision thermal laser, twin sonic resonators for a sound based attack and a gravity control orb that allows for flight, or if not flying can be used to power a gravity pressure attack. And that’s just a basic Unit. Just wait till you get to that part in the manga where the Giga Unit upgrade and it’s Exceed state come into play. That shit is WILD!
There are a couple thing's I would add to them. One is that thier attacks are magical especially the arm blades because they were vorpal in the 2E to emulate that fact in the Manga and anime they were high frequency blades(vibrant blades). 2, being the head Lazer for ranged attacks. There might be more things but that is a start
I completely agree that the vibroblades should count as magical. I'd probably even make them count as adamantine.
To make it even more like the guyver, I'd probably also give them the fly spell 3/day, and a force ball to replicate the gravity cannon.
I am now imagining a Bionoid Palidin where their Divine Smite is channelled through their chest cannons. 1. Makes that smite weighty as all hell. 2. IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR 3. Hilarious player moments and friendly fire.
I think I once heard for the lore of the bionoid that once they are turned their entire mindset is shifted (aka alignment shift), so that could be an interesting backstory for a bionoid npc the players have met or recruited, that they are trying to find out who they were in their past life and being worried that they may have been a criminal or forcibly turned.
Ironically, I think the other thing that really differentiate it from the Anime/Manga, the bionoids are far more PG than the Anime (doubly so for the manga.) The Guyver is Ultra-Violence at is core, and the mangaka was known to make into some crazy levels of screwed up. The 2005 series ends on a massive cliffhanger (much like the other iterations) due to the mangaka dying, and taking the rights with him. There's an Eberron Monster that also takes heavily from the Guyver as well, though more so from Spider-man/Marvel than the Guyver, that being the Symbionts. Great video!
No Yoshiki Takaya is still alive. He worked on the manga until 2016 but has been on hiatus since then
@@zul8054 Yeah. Though Berserk's creator did die. And that one went way harder on the screwed up.
@@zul8054 Oh crazy, I pretty sure he passed away. Definitely some welcome good news at least.
Mazinger Z: WHY DID EVERYONE STEAL MY BREAST FIRE ATTACK AND NOT GIVE CREDIT!?
Now that WotC has decided to "cross the streams" between D&D and M:tG with Ravnica & Theros, would you ever consider converting creatures such as the ability sharing Slivers, or the Licids which merge with their hosts to become an enchantment on them?
He would definitely need some outside friend.
@@mslabo102s2 I'm sure he could reach out to Magic: The Gathering lore channels like Aether Hub, Silver Myr, or The Lorebrarians for example & do a crossover.
This was so sick. I love Guyver so much. Sad it'll probably turn out like Berserk. ;_;
Suggestion for a creature to do an episode on:
Thought Eater - A creature that despite sounding somewhat silly in appearance, is absolutely terrifying in effect. Where else can you find an emaciated, sickly platypus that EATS YOUR MEMORIES? It’s like Psyducks evil cousin, and I need it to appear in more dnd games
Also- not sure if there’s enough content for a full episode, but if you can find a way to make duckbunnies into something compelling and interesting, I’d be happy to hear it
They're definitely on the discord list. Added your name to the others who requested it.
@@KevinVideo thanks, I appreciate it!
The compound eyes are interesting to me. They’re a bit sturdier than our eyes so they might offer more protection, but the vision they get must be really strange… they’d probably need to be at least as “deep” as human eyeballs in on the skull to have clear pictures, but they probably only have clear pictures at fixed ranges…? As in, they’re always going to be farsighted or nearsighted because their eyes wouldn’t be good at focusing. And then the way they process the images in their mind would be fascinating…
I'm planning to incorporate Bionoids and Spirit Warriors into a world heavily inspired by Warframe, and as I was reading through my books I had a thought about the Bionoids, Spirit Warriors, and how they're just as buggy as the Thri-kreen
So my version of the Thri-kreen, which is mostly inspired by Runesmith's video on the topic, they came to the Astral Elves to help protect the wildlands from the war that terraformed and destroyed it. They asked that their most trustworthy scholars and engineers come with them to their society, and when they came back they brought with them knowledge to make Spirit Warriors.
This shifted their power immensely, but it wasn't enough for a secured victory. The elves asked that the Thri-kreen for more knowledge. The Thri-kreen, hesitant but amicable, asked again that they be given their most trusted scholars and engineers to come with them. The Astral Elves complied, but they secretly snuck an item that would let them spy on them
When the scholars and engineers arrived, the astral elves learned about the gems that they and the bugs fed on to mutate. The astral elves knew they needed it for themselves, and that they couldn't allow any others to possess it.
When the Thri-kreen led the scholars and sages to their sleeping quarters, and they seemingly slept, the astral elves used a portal to sneak away and return to their headquarters. Only, they didn't realize that the Thri-kreen were fully aware of what they were doing and what they were planning to do
When the astral elves came to their world, the thri-kreen were prepared to repel them. Alas, the Thri-kreen were heavily outnumbered and outmatched, and the astral elves claimed their homeworld as their new base of operations.
When the war ended, the astral elves realized how much of a dick move that was and offered to return the home world to the Thri-kreen as a way of apologizing to them.
After betraying their trust, compromising their homeworld's location and technology, and slaughtering their race and driving them out of their home, the Thri-kreen declined and destroyed their homeworld as well as all the elves on it.
Their hatred of elves and slowness to trust has since been passed down from generation to generation, such that even the Thri-kreen with no recollection of their homeworld still find the killing and consumption of intruding elves to be unexplainably satisfying
If I remember correctly (it's been years since I saw the anime), the megasmasher (chest cannon) was used like an "oh shit" move, when surrounded, or on the verge of being "killed". Due to how destructive it was, it was usually "everything is now dead, I can relax now," so the fact it "hurts" them can make sense, since it wouldn't be used unless it was to end a battle with absolute finality.
I am a guyver fan, or rather was. i haven't really done any rewatch/rereads of Guyver in the past few years, but it was an absolute joy to learn about the Bionoids and just knowing that any guyver imagery in this could be misconstrued for Bionoid just makes me gitty
Guyver was my first anime and love it!!
Guyver weapon list.
Arm blades
Head lazer
Sonic projector
Chest cannon (mega smasher)
Gravity/singularity projector.
Regeneration
Armor
Speed
Strength
Hightened senses
But yeah about everything you talked about really match 1:1
I found guyver when I was a kid. It was this monumental evolutionary leap in my creative growth as far as fiction and the idea's that came from having your mind blown .
So, what you're saying is, I can totally play a D&D campaign as a Kamen Rider.
Neat.
This is amazing! It combines so many things I love: D&D, anime (Guyver specifically, one of my favorites), Spelljammers, living weapons discarded by their creators, where has this been all my life?!
Guyver was the first anime anything I ever saw. I can still go back to the exact spot in the local mall a kid who couldn't have been more than 5 stopped, and watched a horrible bug-bear monster tear a "control medallion" from the forehead of a super-cool, if scary-looking, hero guy. And I still remember, as the armor started consuming him, the thought flashing into my mind "but the heroes don't *lose* ."
And then that same hero rising back up as the monster lumbered towards his friends, taking hands now twisted to horrible gnarled root-talons, and stabbing them into the sides of the creature, wrestling it backwards.
And then my mom called me away. It would be the better part of a decade before I found out how that scene ended.
Guyver is one of those legendary decades-long manga; it is a contemporary to *Berzerk* , for context, and as I said in the Spirit Warrior video it was made before DBZ codified the Shonen genre, so most of it is a *stunning* dark sci-fi story with the bones of shonen anime supporting it in the best ways.
But nothing new for it has come out in the western world since around 2015. I'm not even sure the author is still making it, or if - like most creators of comparable work - health issues have simply made finishing it an unlikely dream.
But oh, find it and read it, if you can. Find out about the full range of a Guyver's abilities. About the hyper-zoanoids and Lost Numbers. The Advents, and Archanfel.
There were plenty of other things *like* Guyver in the 80s, sure.
But none of them were ever quite its equal.
Thanks for this, DD.
Remember the Soul Gem in the skull in CR campaign 1? Imagine Grog or Percy made a deal with it, and it's released in the form of Bionoid Exo-Armor that wrestles for control until it is recovered enough leave their host. They both have tendecies to make deals with spooky sentient weapons of war. Someone check Matt's notes!
5:11 most kindly elf moment
13:45 "bosstiary" sounds SO wrong in Brazilian Portuguese... 😂
Spirit warriors and bionoids in a Tokusatsu styled adventure.
If I had a nickle for everytime the space elves had an insect-based war machine based of an 80s anime, I'd have at least 2 nickles.
Fuck… THE CREATOR GAVE IT THE BUSTER CANNON? Wild. Absolutely wild. This was one of my first anime growing up, and probably the reason games such as Dark Sector and Warframe spoke to me sooo much. The concept of living armor, in my opinion, is such a cool concept, and leads to a lot of interesting ideas and character struggles, opportunities for character development, and so on. Is the armor to host relationship one sided, or parasitic? Perhaps it’s even mutually beneficial. The idea of the armor adapting over the campaign sounds incredible. Or maybe the armor has been passed down a family line, and it carries the memories of past kin, while also possessing a sentient consciousness. The possibilities are endless
Really cool, first video of yours I've seen. One thing needed is a cannibalism mechanic. In the anime a Guyver user can take in another and gain a stronger form called Guyver Gigantic. It could also have a low level fire bolt(mini head laser) and thunderwave/shatter (Sonic blast from mouth).
Solo bionoid becomes a circus freak after the war
bionoids is the most 90's fucking thing i've ever heards.
Me: What a rip-off! As someone who grew up with the Guyver anime, I find this reprehensible!
Also Me: *immediately goes on ebay upon hearing about this and looks to see if there are any bionoid miniatures*
I can see a benevolent religious organization finding some bionoid soul gems and some spirit warriors and giving them their dutifully earned retirement and some much needed therapy. They even found a way for the Bionoids to regenerate without latching onto people and worked with them to develop funeral right for when they want to truly rest. They just treat them well for no other reason than to do so. It also helps that they work alongside gaint insects anyway.
I fucking loved Guyver back in the day. It's been a while but IIRC they were part of alien genetic experiment
If I'm reading it correctly, an alien group called the "Uranus" came to prehistoric Earth and created early humans as a slave army. In one test, they gave a human one of their symbiotic combat suits and got ready to record the results.
After the surviving Uranus fled the planet, they wrote it down as "Out Of Control." The experiment nearly killed them all. In the Uranus's language, "out of control" is "guyver."
Yes and no
Life on earth was an alien testing ground/lab for bio-weapons. They finally created a good base unit (humans) which they could then further adapt into specific needs (Zoinoids). All under psychic control of the creators (and later, Zoilords)
The Bio-Booster Armor was part of the creators flight/environmental suit. And was made some time before getting to earth.
They then wondered what would happen if they gave one of these flight suits to their ultimate weapon. It became a terrifyingly powerful creature, and was no longer under their psychic control. They dubbed this Guyver (meaning 'out of control').
Dude, you don't even need the anime to get an idea of the original concept. They made an American live action Guyver movie back in 91. Mark Hamill was in it for christ's sake! It was one of those insanely fun bad movies. The practical creature effects being the best part.
What's kind of funny about the Bionoid is that in-addition clearly drawing inspiration from The Guyver there are parts that (intentional or not) also feel reminiscent of one of Guyver's key points of inspiration: Kamen Rider. In-particular the theme of man-made insectoid monsters that are literally regular people turned into "living weapons" is very much in-keeping with the early era of Rider (where most of our main heroes were captured/kidnapped/forced into a situation where they were made into an insect cyborg).
Which does make me have fun imagining the scenario of a Bionoid basically acting adopting a Rider-esque role in a town, fighting off monsters and bad guys to protect the people even as some people are wary of their savior and their inhuman appearance.
Guyver was one of my favorites growing up. Created by aliens for war they experimented on merging the Bio-armor with humans but were so afraid of how powerful the Guyver bio-armor became they abandoned it. They created the Zoinoids instead. The zoinoid were mutated human soldier that similar technology allowed to become a wide range of humanoid-ish monstrosities which the Guyver armor and host pretty would much wipe the floor with. At least that's what i remember from the anime. Too bad it wasn't finished to my knowledge.
And Guyver itself was inspired by the older Toku heroes like Kamen Rider. Once you learn a little bit about Shotaro Ishinomori's works, you can see how that inspired it, and how it developed into it's own thing.
Anime never was finished and the manga was sadly abandoned but we did eventually find out that humans were just the base ingredient used to make Zoanoids, the actual soldiers the aliens were experimenting in making. The guyver units themselves were just standard equipment for those aliens. One day they decided to try and test out what would happen if they gave one to a human and discovered that equipping a guyver unit not only exponentially increased the human's combat abilities beyond anything the standard issue Zoanoids possessed, but also freed it from the telepathic control the aliens had over them. This caused them to completely abandon the planet and experiments out of fear of what would happen if the original Zoalord they had created managed to equip a guyver unit himself.
I really hope he talks about the life shaped artifacts from Dark Sun to really fill out the bio tech culture in space theme.
am i the only one that instantly thought of PC's bonding with the soul gems and wearing them as armor in a symbiote style contract as the Bionoid regenerates their body and leaves at the end of the campain
Please do one on the Teratomorph from the Monster Manual II from 3.5! It's one of the strangest oozes! And it's always held a special place in my heart, for personal D&D narrative reasons.
You joke with the Astartes Meme, but these things really do sound like they come from Warhammer. Astral elves? Sounds like the Eldar tried to emulate Space marines
So yes i did indeed point and exclaim, “That’s a Guyver unit! I don’t want to ruin the anime for ya bro so i’ll just say players should be glad it isn’t a direct one to one. Also they nerfed that chest canon.
No gravity cannon, ability to fly, or helmet laser either. Definitely not a true one-to-one.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAH My fave spelljammer monster (that didnt get love in the 5e stuff, reigar and autognomes were my other faves) lets GOOOOOOOO
Love your videos, been watchin for what i swear feels like a year now, love every video, keep up the awesome work!!
They also pulled 4 races from star frontiers into spelljammer in 2e. vrusk, dralasite, yazirian and sathar
You had my curiosity with Guyver in the thumbnail and now you have my full attention with the Halo music.
Damn, I was hoping to get another Dungeon Dad anime opening
If I had the time this week I definitely would have. It’s the one thing I wish I could change haha
I love how there are clips from The Guyver interspersed with the D&D guidebook artwork with zero warning in the first several minutes. Dungeon Dad knows *exactly* what's up. 😅
I wonder if there are any mixed race bionoid villages. Throughout history we see that when people are banished, they rarely go alone; those who love them and who are hurt by losing them. It’s interesting to imagine a village where about 1/4 of the population are these giant insect things while the rest are normal-ass elves just going about their lives. Maybe they even know the process to become a bionoid, for those who want to extend their already long elven lives so that their loved one never has to worry about being alone for eternity. I can’t imagine the bionoids would want their more fragile loved ones taking extreme risks, and the bionoids themselves can’t really blend in… They probably hire people to retrieve the rarer ingredients (maybe some ingredients are only available back in their original elven kingdom.) I wonder if they’d be honest about what they need the stuff for, given they probably don’t want the mercenaries they hired to be like, “YO, TURN ME INTO A SUPER-SECRET IMMORTAL BIOWEAPON!”
Gotta admit that the elves treatment of the returning bionoids post-war *really* seems like an allegory for the U.S. government (and much of the population's) treatment of veterans returning from Vietnam.
Absolutely, especially when you consider the time this book was released
The funny thing about the guyver units. It was just a environmental suit and not a weapon.
all it weapons were tools
As I listen to what is a Bionoid and how it's created, I can't help but think of another 70s Japanese Icon, Kamen Rider
Even the premise is slightly similar, An Individual (unwilling in this case) is Genetically Altered to become a Superhuman, Insect-themed, Motorcycle Driving Tokusatsu Super Hero, whose signature move is a Jumping Diving Kick. I wonder if Newton Ewell could've also been inspired by this. 🤔
This doesn't just need a 5e monster stat block, it needs race stats so we can play them. This would work especially well with the lineage format like the dhamphir, hexblooded, and reborn; which were all _other races first._
Love these videos. I’ve farming them for great ideas in my campaign. I would love to see you bring back the rich lore of pyramidions and their whole hierarchy of shapes. Might even be multiple videos.
Have you considered making a video on the Cadaver Golem? It was a creature from Heroes of Horror that could gain skills and abilities by incorporating the body parts of others into its form. Also, it was an intelligent golem that wasn't bound to a creator.
It's on the list, but doesn't have many requests for it. Adding your name to it so it gets a slight boost.
It's the Guyver with a splash of Kamen Rider
What if you feels terrible about taking over the body of another person and wants the parties help to honor their host in some way or try to free them.
was absolutely in love with Guyver growing up, it was one of the hand full of VHS tapes of the gritty 80s anime shows/movies my brother and i got our hands on. this is mega cool to learn about. I need to use this bad boi in the game i plan to host
I'm just gonna hombrew up a defective Bionoid gem that allows them to transform into one and share their memories.
Why? Because I love Guyver and I'm still sad that the manga will never see a conclusion. Bionoid Boosted Armor D&D will have to suffice for now.
Apart the fact that I'm really surprised there's people before their 40 that know about guyver, what's up with the old school anime inspo stuff lately? What I should expect next, Betterman? Genocyber?
Big Guyver fan and youtube actually promoted this to me. Very cool catch, never played spelljammers and didn't know this lore knockoff.
Idk if you've looked up Record of Lodoss Wars, the kobolds in that fantasy anime are wolfman and I think it's a very fun but drastic difference in what we commonly know as a kobold.
In AD&D, kobolds were mongrel rat dogs. When WotC bought the game, they changed kobolds to what we know them as now. The Record of Lodoss War did a great job of giving us a more old school version, and I appreciate them for doing that.
A very interesting creature lore video! A mixture of 2nd AD&D Spell jamming, Guyver from classic Japanese anime, and Marvel Comics Captain America, a touch of John Carpenter's The Thing added as a afterlife backup, and the fate of the Republic Clone Troopers after the end of the Clone Wars in the Star Wars universe. Very interesting and fantastic indeed!! Kudos to you for a video well done!!!
person getting into D&D DM'ing + longtime Guyver fan here..
the enemies who take off their helmets are called Zoanoids btw, so the Bionoid is a literal mixture of Guyver and Zoanoid.
I recommend AcidGlow's 1hr Guyver lore video, really goes into detail about Zoalords too and the history of Guyver universe.
I love that you did Bionoid! I'd be a Patreon but the website is screwing up and won't let any of my payment methods go through /shrug
I saw this, after Night Druid (author of Hackjammer - the official Spelljammer conversion to Hackjammer rules) posted a topic about your video in the Spelljammer forum at The Piazza.
I really like the video, but you did get one thing wrong about the bionoid. At 7:27 you said that the host in the guyver can surpress the tech, but the bionoid is different here. But that's not true.
Paragraph three of the MC9 entry does give this clue: "In their humanoid form, bionoids are thin, well-muscled, and fairly tall. They have uniformly calm, even tempers, and are ften contemplative. They move wiith great economy; useless gestures or movements are rare."
That is the bionoid, when it returns to it's original form (which would be an elven form, for the volunteers in the First Unhuman War).
The Ecology section, has a bit more in the third paragraph there: "If elves, humans or other humanoid races touch the egg, it infiltrates the victim, creating another adult bionoid. The new bionoid has the abilities described above, but appears only when danger threatens, whereapon the host "monsters out" into the bionoid monster form."
So, those elven super-soldiers totally revert to their original elven appearance, looking like buff elves that work out. But they are no longer elves, and they have lightning reflexes that force them to turn into killing machines, if the orcs and other humanoids attack. There are elements of both werewolves and The Hulk here. But, it's done in a different way.
The problem with the bionoids are this:
• They are trigged to slaughter enemies in a war that is long over. And they have no way to remove that trigger. So, just like David Banner, if you make them angry, they transform into the Hulk and they do their thing. And then everyone knows they are a living weapon, rather than an elf.
• The second problem is that the bionoid reproduction has bionoids making new (unmarked) eggs that attach to any new humanoid host (except orcs). So, if bionoids remain among humans, they will make these eggs at some point. And they will cause their friends to transform into bionoids.
This second problem means that, an elven war hero that returns home, isn't just a threat to their villiage, if a bar fight breaks out and someone throws a bottle that hits them. It also means that they might drop some of these bionoid eggs that turn their children or their wife into an insect-like killing machine.
I hope you can get hold of the Cloakmaster Cycle novels, at some point. There are a couple of plotliines with bionoids, that are pretty cool. On the one hand, you have bionoids trying to live a monk-like life, because they don't want to end up killing anyone who is stupid enough to start a fight. And, on the other hand, you have some bionoids, who see the Elven Imperial Navy as having turned their back on the bionoids who saved them. And these give you the two extremes of the bionoid. Wanting peace with the enemies of the elves. And wanting justice from the elves.
I honestly think the confusion comes down to the MC9 artwrork only showing the monster form, of the bionoid.
I’m pretty sure this might be less Guyver and more *Kamen Rider*. Not that they aren’t very similar things to begin with, but Kamen Riders are much more insectoid - grasshoppers and beetles, mainly - than Guyver.
Oh hey,I hadn’t reached the gem part yet. Okay, yah,that’s definitely Guyver.
OH MY GOD IT ACTUALLY EXISTED i was searching for a video about it, i didnt even notice it got its own video
When I read the compendium I immediately thought of Cell from DBZ.
Edit: If we stick to dbz, Bionoids would fit A17 & A18's position a bit better, only they were not willing to become highly effective murder machines
Yes! I've been waiting for this one! You are awesome!
This has inspired me, my setting is based on real-world mythology, with a significant dash of my own interpretations and fun D&D monsters. Part of the world is that on the prime material there is a huge amount of space, as in outer space. But I have also selected Alfheim my settings fairy realm to have its own outer space that I haven't really done anything with, and now I have a perfect monster to start populating the corners of fairy space. This is a really cool monster, thank you Dungeon Dad.
Also, I think a fun monster would be the Jharilith, dunno if I spelled that right. Giant Demon Lions, what can go wrong?
Damn... Now I want to make this a class
I wasn't aware there was a Guyver inspired D&D monster! I actually made a dragonborn armorer artificer which I flavor as a Guyver. Whenever combat is initiated she blacks out and the armor takes over to neaturalize the threats or defend its host. I chose a dragonborn so I can flavor her breath attack as the Mega Smasher, use Thunderwave as her Pressure Cannon and Booming Blade as her Sonic Blade.
Oh, you should definitely watch the original 80s anime. It has some of the best cheesy dialog with edgy lines being delivered by the voice actor who plays Agumon in the original digimon show.
Plus, as much as I love joking about how bad it is at times, it has a solid story about a young man who never wanted this power but is thrust into his story headfirst, by a corrupt illuminati type organization bent on world domination.
honestly, it sounds more like the bionoids are ZOAlords, the monsters from the guyver series as opposed to guyvers themselves. though the anime is...ambiguous as to whether or not zoalords can change back and forth from human to monster..Guyvers DEFINATELY can, and apparently bionoids CANT. in the anime, zoa can start out looking human, but once they go monster they're usually killed off...you don't normally see them changing back to human..though i seem to remember a couple of special characters from the manga that could. it should also be mentioned that in the anime, Zoalords have a caste system where the "troops" are vulnerable to mental control from the "commanders"
Bionoids can. D-Dad unfortunately missed that. However, your mentioning of Zoalords is probably on point. Even if they are back to their original selves, other elves can still tell that they're not like them. It could be an aura thing, or it could be that they have features of their monstrous form that's still on their person. My guess is it'd be their eyes look demonic or something.
The 80's Guyver OVAs were my gateway into the anime realm. What blows my mind is the manga is STILL running
Guyver is one of my favourite anime/manga. The best thing about Guyver units however is that it basically allows the host to function without food/sleep/oxygen since the energy that the unit uses comes from another dimension which basically sustains the host whenever they have the Unit active. The hypersonic Vibration blades can cut through pretty much anything due to the frequency they vibrate at which basically allows it to cut the atoms of objects apart.
It could also be a Blue beetle like plot too that it acts like a venom/blue beetles suit automated attacking on defending at inappropriate times.
Seeing a this reminded me of yesterday. It wasn't a bionoid as far as I know but it's basically a Warframe made from a willing volunteer and funguses. Our artificer got it after touching a magical stone finger.
Guyver meets Steven Universe meets Captain America