It’s nice to see truly *alien* aliens. Warlike nomadic shrubbery is the perfect kind of monster to add to an environment to make it feel weird and wonderful. Just the way I like it. Thanks AJ!
I read about the Aartuk years ago and loved them. Never thought I’d see a RUclips video about such an obscure creature, speaking of which, since you ask for suggestions: Psurlons
That is one thing I quite enjoy about Spelljammer. In addition to how many non-humanoids there are, a lot of even the more minor species have recognizable societies and demonstrable goals. Too many solitary creatures and species of low intellect in vanilla D&D. It seems like the aartuk are poorly suited for fighting the eye tyrants. They have a natural ranged attack, but no means of resisting the dreadful magic beholders throw around. I suppose they could overwhelm a tyrant by sheer force of numbers and obtaining a pyrrhic victory. I actually wonder if they would infect and convert a dying beholder into a new aartuk, or is the idea anathema? A aartuk monk would be a sight on the battlefield, let me tell you (shame the standard rules don't synergize with integration of class levels very well). Also, even if they hate their appearance, I'll bet the aartuk would be interested in buying gougers from an enterprising wizard once they learned how useful the creatures are in fighting true beholders. Have a splendid Saturnalia AJ! Good health to you and your family.
Just red the 5e statblock for these things, now I know 5e has an issue with implementing classic monsters. Their lore blurb mentions their sticky tung as their preferred method of attack, but they have no sticky tung ability.
@@mrziiz6893 Sentience is basically, awareness of your surroundings via the 5 senses. Sapience is the extremely rare ability for a sentient creature to make *abstract* decisions. To moralize (though that doesn't have to mean they share OUR moral compass), and to possess values above and beyond those of dogs, cows, tigers, lions, and horses. In short, "people."
@@AngelusAnsell Homo Sapiens; the sapient hominid. Although, in fiction, the term "sapience" can be expanded to descdibe "human level or higher cognitive ability".
I havent watched the video yet, but I wanted to thank you for a great year of content during this pretty terrible year. It helped me a lot through all that went down this year. I look forward for more to come! Merry Christmas or happy holidays over there in New Zealand!
Another loremaster video, AJ... thank you. You did trigger a bit of my decades-old DM memories in this. I think you might like it, tickle your AD&D fancies. I have a homebrew race extremely close to this species that is fungus (myconid) based. I didn't read a lot of Spelljammer, so I could have probably used a lot from those modules instead of spending thousands of hours in my homebrews that Spelljammer could have given me. Mine convert others via a spore infection. Many wait too long because when infected, just about everything about you is enhanced. While infected, you can also pass the infection to others via the exchange of bodily fluids. When the time comes, the infected being disintegrates into goo which has (from the goo) spawn a fully grown Mycelial Warrior. Then again, mine is a less creative version of Spelljammer's Aartuk. Mine, most sapient races consider a blight and an infection despite being a sapient race with nearly all of them looking to destroy my creation. Mine was loosely based upon a game I liked, Star Control and later Star Control: The Ur-Quan Masters (the Mycons) with a structural model of Star Frontiers's Dralasites. Mine also regenerate and heal (synonyms normally, but AD&D has a grey line between the two) when energy is directed against them, so don't try to kill them via greek fire, Fireball, or Lightning Bolt. So, as an AD&D sage, how do you think these guys (plant nature vs fungus nature but otherwise fraternal twins) would interact with each other? Allies? Enemies? Frienemies (like USSR-USA during WWII)? One wants to destroy the Beholders and be in a constant state of total war. The other wants to turn all planets that are life-friendly into volcanic magma-messes that are best for their life and convert all life they do not spawn into them via infection. Oh, my Mycelial Warriors do reproduce via non-infection but at a much slower rate. Their dead can be returned to the living via efforts that cremate most corpses and all are "born" with all basic knowledge that adults have. They are religious but not in a way common to most. They are born devoted to their race which they see as an extension of their god, not actually bound by rituals, gospels, rites, and their ilk. They are pretty much a sapient mycelial infection to the worlds they encounter. Oh, watch a lot of fungus videos here, and you will learn in minutes what I took hours at a library to do back in my day when I created my homebrew race. If there will ever be a zombie infection that makes zombies infect non-zombies to create more, it will probably be a fungal infection. Funguses are extremely diverse, more so than most life on Earth. There is one microscopic version of a zombie infection that mind-controls ants to crawl to a place where they will be eaten by the next host of their infection. That's probably the basis behind the Yellow Musk and its zombies. I digress. I'm ranting. So, if my creation and the Aartuk meet... thoughts?
@@AJPickett Brilliant... and the Mycelial monsters would consider that an olive branch! "Ah, you helped us take new worlds! You also serve (insert their god's name here... I forgot it)." So, your verdict is "Users, perceived allies"? Nice one, AJ.
The loss of their original culture is an interesting idea. Imagine if a giant flood wiped out all human populations today, except the people on cruise ships. Or at remote research bases at the poles. Or any other isolated group. How would a new society develop from that one tiny group?
It's sad when an entire species is reduced to an existence entirely based off vengeance. But it's hard to think of a race of beings, once scourged by Beholders that wouldn't turn to a life of violence.
Serendipity, thy name is Pickett! My players are this Sunday going to enter into the long foreshadowed megadungeon in a tower that we’ve been building up to for over a month. Said tower in my setting is actually a monumental Spelljammer 2/3 of which is crashed nose first into the earth and sculpted over/sealed up by Fire and Stone Giants. These Aartuk will fill at least 2 potential niches on 1 or more of the 30.5 levels, and be sufficiently bizarre to telegraph that this tower is quite a bit more than just that. Part of the legend lore I mentioned/fleshed out even mentioned a Beholder War so it ties thematically together nicely.
This is why Lawful Evil is my favorite alignment. It's evil you can ally with. I love the trope of the good guys and bad guys teaming up to defeat a bigger threat so they have time to kill each other later.
Ohhh. These would make an excellent planet side encounter. Plot hook: your party encounters a drow city in the under dark. It’s empty. Background: the aartuk have infected every drow in the city. They are all jellied and are being cared for by a crashed ships crew in the temple of “that spider god I forget the name of” They are close to hatching, when they do they will set out to destroy all beholders in the underdark assimilating all sentients in their path Minor hooks: strange plants / skittering noises / movement from the corner of the eye Anyone not familiar with underdark bio will be unable to id the creatures are not ud native and without phlogiston knowledge will be completely unable to id (good luck in a non SJ game)
These things remind me of Ben 10’s “Wildvine” race. They can be feral semi sentient plants. Though those aliens look more like a Venus flytrap mixed with vines and roots were these things just look like vines with mouths.
Thanks for making this. I'll have to find out if the GM that runs the live-streamed Spelljammer game I'm in will let us obtain aartuk pellets to use as sling bullets.
Ik this video is pretty old by thos point, and it's not likely I'll get an answer, but is there a reason the aartuks linked kn the description have different stat blocks than the ones in Boo's Astral Menagerie? P.S. love your videos. They're amazing and always give me some knowledge that inspires me as a DM.
3:10 wait, this sounds familiar. What makes them different from Reigar, who are also a sentient spelljammer race that view war as art and have tentacle-like apendages? lol
@@AJPickett Sorry, I wasn't clear. With my sleepy late-night mind I was attempting a joke that a "sure you can copy my homework just don't make it too obvious" situation occured with their motivations and the descriptions thereof.
Slightly less well-behaved version of Traveler's Hivers. Getting into a fight with either, without the presence of a company of friendly Marines. is Not Advised.
It’s nice to see truly *alien* aliens. Warlike nomadic shrubbery is the perfect kind of monster to add to an environment to make it feel weird and wonderful. Just the way I like it. Thanks AJ!
Neat. Also terrifying that they just casually shoot fire into the phlogiston.
They do spend a lot of time travelling through it, so, they would have a good idea what they are dealing with and use it to their advantage.
Nice. Something from the Prime Material Plane that gives the Far Realm a run for its money in the "Creepy Tentacle Monster" department.
Sitting by the fire watching this with my kids while a storm rages outside. Thanks for years of Masterwork content AJ, and here's to many more.
Thank you!
I can see these guys working as mercenaries to get the gear and supplies they need to take down beholders
Talks about Aartuk in VoiceChat once, and 2 days later here is a video (Great Video Thank U for the shout out)
100% accurate account of true life event. 😎
I read about the Aartuk years ago and loved them. Never thought I’d see a RUclips video about such an obscure creature, speaking of which, since you ask for suggestions: Psurlons
Nice
That is one thing I quite enjoy about Spelljammer. In addition to how many non-humanoids there are, a lot of even the more minor species have recognizable societies and demonstrable goals. Too many solitary creatures and species of low intellect in vanilla D&D. It seems like the aartuk are poorly suited for fighting the eye tyrants. They have a natural ranged attack, but no means of resisting the dreadful magic beholders throw around. I suppose they could overwhelm a tyrant by sheer force of numbers and obtaining a pyrrhic victory. I actually wonder if they would infect and convert a dying beholder into a new aartuk, or is the idea anathema? A aartuk monk would be a sight on the battlefield, let me tell you (shame the standard rules don't synergize with integration of class levels very well). Also, even if they hate their appearance, I'll bet the aartuk would be interested in buying gougers from an enterprising wizard once they learned how useful the creatures are in fighting true beholders.
Have a splendid Saturnalia AJ! Good health to you and your family.
I can see they were inspired as a combination of the Mi-Go, the Elder Things and the Yith.
That was what I was thinking as well.
Thanks for all the videos this year. Happy holidays, AJ.
Just red the 5e statblock for these things, now I know 5e has an issue with implementing classic monsters.
Their lore blurb mentions their sticky tung as their preferred method of attack, but they have no sticky tung ability.
This thing looks like things I would find in "certain" manga.
Ye maybe
Remember were it’s mouth is..?
Pray to your God you never encounter one in a brothel, that’s one STD you don’t want!
Looks like papa HH knows this guy
Ha!
Nailed all of the main points and covered the Aartuk very well. Not a creature I really use all that much myself, but well done! :)
This may sound a bit odd, but... I appreciate your correct use of "sapient" rather than "sentient." It's something of a rarity.
If you don’t mind me asking, what is the difference?
@@mrziiz6893 Sentience is basically, awareness of your surroundings via the 5 senses.
Sapience is the extremely rare ability for a sentient creature to make *abstract* decisions. To moralize (though that doesn't have to mean they share OUR moral compass), and to possess values above and beyond those of dogs, cows, tigers, lions, and horses. In short, "people."
@@AngelusAnsell ah I see
@@AngelusAnsell
Homo Sapiens; the sapient hominid.
Although, in fiction, the term "sapience" can be expanded to descdibe "human level or higher cognitive ability".
I havent watched the video yet, but I wanted to thank you for a great year of content during this pretty terrible year. It helped me a lot through all that went down this year. I look forward for more to come! Merry Christmas or happy holidays over there in New Zealand!
Thanks Steve 😊
I had no idea these existed. Spelljammer really has the best bestiary.
Another loremaster video, AJ... thank you. You did trigger a bit of my decades-old DM memories in this. I think you might like it, tickle your AD&D fancies.
I have a homebrew race extremely close to this species that is fungus (myconid) based. I didn't read a lot of Spelljammer, so I could have probably used a lot from those modules instead of spending thousands of hours in my homebrews that Spelljammer could have given me.
Mine convert others via a spore infection. Many wait too long because when infected, just about everything about you is enhanced. While infected, you can also pass the infection to others via the exchange of bodily fluids. When the time comes, the infected being disintegrates into goo which has (from the goo) spawn a fully grown Mycelial Warrior.
Then again, mine is a less creative version of Spelljammer's Aartuk. Mine, most sapient races consider a blight and an infection despite being a sapient race with nearly all of them looking to destroy my creation. Mine was loosely based upon a game I liked, Star Control and later Star Control: The Ur-Quan Masters (the Mycons) with a structural model of Star Frontiers's Dralasites.
Mine also regenerate and heal (synonyms normally, but AD&D has a grey line between the two) when energy is directed against them, so don't try to kill them via greek fire, Fireball, or Lightning Bolt.
So, as an AD&D sage, how do you think these guys (plant nature vs fungus nature but otherwise fraternal twins) would interact with each other? Allies? Enemies? Frienemies (like USSR-USA during WWII)? One wants to destroy the Beholders and be in a constant state of total war. The other wants to turn all planets that are life-friendly into volcanic magma-messes that are best for their life and convert all life they do not spawn into them via infection. Oh, my Mycelial Warriors do reproduce via non-infection but at a much slower rate. Their dead can be returned to the living via efforts that cremate most corpses and all are "born" with all basic knowledge that adults have. They are religious but not in a way common to most. They are born devoted to their race which they see as an extension of their god, not actually bound by rituals, gospels, rites, and their ilk. They are pretty much a sapient mycelial infection to the worlds they encounter.
Oh, watch a lot of fungus videos here, and you will learn in minutes what I took hours at a library to do back in my day when I created my homebrew race. If there will ever be a zombie infection that makes zombies infect non-zombies to create more, it will probably be a fungal infection. Funguses are extremely diverse, more so than most life on Earth. There is one microscopic version of a zombie infection that mind-controls ants to crawl to a place where they will be eaten by the next host of their infection. That's probably the basis behind the Yellow Musk and its zombies.
I digress. I'm ranting. So, if my creation and the Aartuk meet... thoughts?
Let's hope the Aartuk capture, contain and transport the Mycelial spores to wage biological exterminatus on Tyrant worlds and asteroids.
@@AJPickett Brilliant... and the Mycelial monsters would consider that an olive branch! "Ah, you helped us take new worlds! You also serve (insert their god's name here... I forgot it)." So, your verdict is "Users, perceived allies"? Nice one, AJ.
Like these guys. Usually plant folk are portrayed as isolationist/pacifists. Aggressive plants are neat and scary at the same time
This a Elder thing from at the mountains of madness!
yea, that was the first thing i thought of as well.
Merry Christmas and thank you for all the spectacular videos.
Always great to get more Spelljammer content!
Thanks again AJ 😁
Happy Christmas Eve everyone keep up with the great content
The loss of their original culture is an interesting idea. Imagine if a giant flood wiped out all human populations today, except the people on cruise ships. Or at remote research bases at the poles. Or any other isolated group. How would a new society develop from that one tiny group?
Fantastic video as always aj and also have a happy holidays! Oh also how do Aartuk take down a beholder when they find them?
Lots of pew pew
It's sad when an entire species is reduced to an existence entirely based off vengeance. But it's hard to think of a race of beings, once scourged by Beholders that wouldn't turn to a life of violence.
Love the intro
"...and their reproductive system, which I'll discuss in more detail later in this video." AJ really knows how to hook 'em.
"I'm gonna pollinate you so hard, you little weed."
@@benthomason3307 that made me spit my drink laughing. Bravo sir.
In wild space salad eats you...
Good video AJ merry Christmas
Saw someone that else saying it, so just wanted to join the chorus saying thank you so much for all your content this year. Keep up the amazing work x
Serendipity, thy name is Pickett! My players are this Sunday going to enter into the long foreshadowed megadungeon in a tower that we’ve been building up to for over a month.
Said tower in my setting is actually a monumental Spelljammer 2/3 of which is crashed nose first into the earth and sculpted over/sealed up by Fire and Stone Giants.
These Aartuk will fill at least 2 potential niches on 1 or more of the 30.5 levels, and be sufficiently bizarre to telegraph that this tower is quite a bit more than just that. Part of the legend lore I mentioned/fleshed out even mentioned a Beholder War so it ties thematically together nicely.
Beholders have many enemies. Are thease creatures open to form alliances with other species against beholders strongholds?
Yes
This is why Lawful Evil is my favorite alignment. It's evil you can ally with. I love the trope of the good guys and bad guys teaming up to defeat a bigger threat so they have time to kill each other later.
This salad is friendshaped
Thanks for these great videos AJ!
That starting intro 🤗😁😎🤗😁😎😲
Ohhh. These would make an excellent planet side encounter.
Plot hook: your party encounters a drow city in the under dark. It’s empty.
Background: the aartuk have infected every drow in the city. They are all jellied and are being cared for by a crashed ships crew in the temple of “that spider god I forget the name of”
They are close to hatching, when they do they will set out to destroy all beholders in the underdark assimilating all sentients in their path
Minor hooks: strange plants / skittering noises / movement from the corner of the eye
Anyone not familiar with underdark bio will be unable to id the creatures are not ud native and without phlogiston knowledge will be completely unable to id (good luck in a non SJ game)
@The Journey I could say it was the stress of Christmas (wrapping etc), but it was probably the vodka
Keeping it simple... Merry Christmas Nerds!
I'm making myself a Patrik Star character now. Woohoo! ^3^
Heh! Accurate
At least its not an elf.
This is an interesting species.
Merry Christmas from the Far Realm! 😁
These things remind me of Ben 10’s “Wildvine” race. They can be feral semi sentient plants. Though those aliens look more like a Venus flytrap mixed with vines and roots were these things just look like vines with mouths.
4:13 So big boi Maglubiyet, Gruumsh, Bane and the rest of the Goblinoind and Orc phantions?
Welcome to the Beyond part of the Beyond Burger.
Never again will I look at a Beyond product in the same way as I did before reading this. Thank you.
Great contribution to the setting! I love the way fan created content is helping DMS and players.
Marry Christmas to all!
Thanks for making this.
I'll have to find out if the GM that runs the live-streamed Spelljammer game I'm in will let us obtain aartuk pellets to use as sling bullets.
I can use more fiber in my diet periodically. Ok, let me get my tools and I'll prepare edible food.
"Hey, i've seen this one!"
"What do you mean? It's brand new."
Also, could we have a video on the Xixchil?
Spess Spinnich
So they say you are a hero and have a party in your honor, to give you the highest honor. They say they are making nice and you become assimilated
Thank you.
Ik this video is pretty old by thos point, and it's not likely I'll get an answer, but is there a reason the aartuks linked kn the description have different stat blocks than the ones in Boo's Astral Menagerie?
P.S. love your videos. They're amazing and always give me some knowledge that inspires me as a DM.
because that was published later I think.
Would make a fine bagpipe
Perhaps not
@@Pigpigpigpigpigpigpigpigpigpig lmao
3:10 wait, this sounds familiar. What makes them different from Reigar, who are also a sentient spelljammer race that view war as art and have tentacle-like apendages? lol
ruclips.net/video/YdqQBs2Kuvc/видео.html This is that species, the Reigar are quite different.
@@AJPickett Sorry, I wasn't clear. With my sleepy late-night mind I was attempting a joke that a "sure you can copy my homework just don't make it too obvious" situation occured with their motivations and the descriptions thereof.
I know that you know that starfish lie on their faces.
So do I
Slightly less well-behaved version of Traveler's Hivers. Getting into a fight with either, without the presence of a company of friendly Marines. is Not Advised.
AJ PICKETT
Aartuk, J*#$% (Error No J Lore Found), Phaerlock, Intellect Devourer, Cockatrice, Kuo-toa, Ettercap, Treant, Thri-Kreen
Yay!
Nomadic Sapient Vegetables eh?, sounds like something a vegan wouldn't have any problem hunting and eating, lol
this is unlisted yet I am here how is this?
Its so loyal subscribers, channel members and patrons get to watch the video before anyone else :)
@@AJPickett ah that makes sense.
@@AJPickett Glad to be one of them.
Can you do cyberpunk
thats a good one
What sort?
@@AJPickett I think he talking about the one rpg that cyberpunk 2077 is based on?
@AJ Pickett tech like cyborg and brain enhancements or some lore on the world like how it got to the state its in. i know it will be good though.
@@AJPickett like you know 2020 or red
Aw yeah. 409.
Attack. Of the killer tomatoes.
,,I will never be a vegan"
-Elf
. . . No thank you