So I'm considering creating an (evil) NPC for my players to encounter in their adventures, who is essentially a non-localized mind that can reside in many different bodies at the same time.
I have my own, more general ideas on how I would do this
But it's got me thinking whether any of you have ever done this, and if so how did you go about it?
Also, general hive mind discussion thread.
Holy fuck, I just realised.
How the FUCK did a human eye get into the overmind?
...have you seen a human eye?
...of course, haven't all normal humans done so?
pupil of human eye is circular (you can check in nearest mirror)
Well your post Seems to indicate you haven't. Human pupils arent slits.
Human eyes aren't slited like that, unless there's something terribly wrong with them.
Whatever you do, DON'T HAVE A QUEEN.
It is so overdone. Don't have some central brain bug/ overmind / elder brain / borg queen thing that let's you kill the entire group by killing it. It defeats the whole purpose
>Oh wow cool its a species with a single super mind distributed across the whole thing.
>Just kidding its actually just 1 baddy and a bunch of minions
user, are you by any chance genetically engineered catgirl escaped from the institution that made you? You can tell us, we won't take you back, we just want to talk...
I've read that one. Can't share it on a blue board though.
Distributed consciousness. One mind, many bodies - but destroying one body affects the whole mind and killing a whole bunch of bodies at once can cause serious mental damage. They're very resilient to mind-affecting drugs and magic but if enough of their bodies got affected, then they'd lose that resilience.
I suppose each body could be best explained as being a portion of their brain. Your brain would survive and adapt to losing a small amount of grey matter but losing half your cortex would impair you immensely.
thank goodness. That is waaay better.
Is the hivemind getting smarter as it gets more members? How is it reproducing? Does it infect people or is it just a species that reproduces?
I always liked doing it Mass Effect 2-style where the minions have their own semblance of a mind, or rather can function to a degree independently, but the overmind could assume direct control for a mini-boss fight.
Got a title?
You can post a sadpanda link.
Ragnorra. Elder Evils supplement from D&D 3.5. Look it up, she's a nasty cunt.
The Many are strong!
A permanent "off switch" is kind of an overdone plot device.
The Zerg had sub-lieutenants that could only be killed through Dark Templar fuckery, and the Overmind itself was much more than a physical body, but a universal constant that could be summoned into the material world by growing it the proper body. The Gravemind in Halo is much like it.
The Geth are an example of a distributed consciousness, as any single unit is composed of many different subroutines who form a consensus of consciousness in action. These subroutines can be changed up between platforms (bodies), so that any operational platform may have hundreds or thousands of individual Geth intelligences within them that create a gestalt personality or intelligence. They even change between platforms and server nexuses when operational platforms are inactive or down for repair.
Essentially, any individual Geth robot body is a container for dozens to hundreds to thousands of individual fairy lights which have their own limited intelligence and opinions but together form a singular entity of comparable intelligence to any more conventional singular intelligence like an artificial intelligence or individual human.
Glory to The Many.
I envisioned it as sort of like the Geth but with a more organic perspective. So the more bodies together, the more them idn can "focus" and bring their attention on something. One body in lot's of places will let you see a wider area but it'd be like trying to concentrate on something in your peripheral vision - you can see 'something' but you can't get a good look.
As for the how, I figured it was a Wizard experimenting with Simulacrum and duplicating someone gone wrong but that's just my idea.
Talk to me about The Many.
RUN!
To speak on the narrative front, I'd recommend against ever having this NPC refer to itself with plural pronouns. It's pretty cliche to have "Legion" talk about how "we are many." It'd be far more intimidating to have this... presence manifest itself, with its own personality and manner of speaking, but with whatever voice it chooses. In short, make it a singular character rather than involve multiple talking heads.