XE037: Blob Goals and Future Plans Discussion(Spoilers ahead)

I’ve read the design doc, the cannon and the lab notes, but I have a few questions to flesh out the blob, or goo.

[ul][li]How intelligent is the goo, and can it get smarter with time?[/li]
[li]Can one communicate with the goo, like you can with the fungus?[/li]
[li]What are the conditions of the ‘subprime’ plan that it needs to replicate in order to thrive?(i.e is it colder, more acidic, different air)[/li]
[li]Does the goo have any plans or is it just reactionary to certain stimuli?[/li]
[li]Are the other nether creatures like the Blank Body, and MiGo part of the blob or are they separate and have different goals?[/li]
[li]What would the blob ‘endgame’ look like?[/li][/ul]

I’ll add some from me:

[ul][li]Can blob infest and reanimate a dead body?[/li]
[li]Can blob “feed” zeds/mutants with itself or do they need to use their body’s system?[/li]
[li]Can blob repurpose itself or only its hosts?[/li][/ul]

[ul][quote=“Coolthulhu, post:2, topic:8815”][list][li]Can blob repurpose itself or only its hosts?[/li]
[/list][/quote]
That is already answered: The blob CAN change/repurpose itself, every other nether creature is a “evolution” from the blob. The blob is like stemcells, Mi-Gos, krecks and such are specialised cells. But that also means that the specialised forms can’t transform anymore like the blob can, they loose the ability to change like the blob can. So the blob uses the “hosts” (and changes them) so it can still change form if needed.
Why would you use a one-off ability if you can use something else to achieve the same goal, especially if your one-off isn’t guaranteed to work like you want (the new form may not be able to survive in our plane).[/ul]

Answers! I’m assuming that since you’ve read that stuff I’m free to go all out with spoilers, which I’m gonna have to do to answer some of these. Note: Some of this is just my personal take on it, quite a few of these things haven’t exactly been put in-game yet, so they are still kinda fluid. (And having multiple lore interpretations going on at the same time helps to emulate the confusion the researchers and scientists were feeling. :P)


Goo intelligence is really more present on a macro scale then a micro one, with some exceptions (such as the brain blobs or [lore-wise] zombie master/necros). However on that macro scale it’s at least intelligent enough to somewhat be recognized as one of the major Nether players, so take that as you will. Generally figure that on the individual level it’s not much smarter then your average zombie or blob, i.e., not smart. Intelligence can be developed (as we see in brain blobs/masters), but it usually comes at some sort of tradeoff, such as masters or necro’s frailty. Eventually we would like some of those to be able to convey that intelligence to the goo nearby them, as brain blobs already do (they control nearby blobs to make them act more intelligently).


Not so much. The fungus could probably do it (though it wouldn’t), and possibly some sort of triffid gestalt (which would have more difficult since they aren’t exactly a hive mind), but for the most part nothing the player does is on a big enough scale for the blob mass-mind to actually understand it. It’s an entity who’s mind spans multiple universes, nothing you are doing here is even close to being large enough to get it’s attention.


The goo, as one of the major Nether players, occupies a variety of planes. It’s ability to adapt and form symbiotic relationships with just about anything means that it can live on lava worlds just as well as ice ones, and if there’s a goo home world out there nobody has been able to find it yet. That said in it’s solo form (as blobs) it tends to like more temperate temperatures, though there are outliers that exist.

[spoiler=Does the goo have any plans or is it just reactionary to certain stimuli?]Same sort of matter of scale here. The goo has plans, but they are on a macro scale, not on a micro one. Basically those plans come down to:

  1. Adapt/join
  2. Spread
  3. Destroy things that refuse/prevent #1
    On an individual level it’s pretty much acting on the “instinct” level, with the obvious exceptions of brain blobs (and latter masters/necros hopefully).[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Are the other nether creatures like the Blank Body, and MiGo part of the blob or are they separate and have different goals?]
They are their own separate set of beings with their own goals. Things like the Blank Body, flying polyp, yugg, etc. are pretty much just the local Nether wildlife making it’s way through the portal. Some things have some intelligence, but are limited enough that they don’t really count as players, like the Gracken. Others have enough intelligence that they could possibly be considered “minor” players, like the MiGo, have empires that span a few planes, and have even gone far enough to enslave lesser races in their territory (like the kreck). Some have enough power that they could probably be minor players, but their dimensions are far enough removed that the dimension cracking is finally giving them access to the other worlds (like the shadows).

So yes, most of them have their own goals, but most of them have at least heard of each other. Eventually I’d like to see even more Nether<->Nether interactions, but faction stuff is a little new right now. That said virtually all of them know of the big 3 (i.e. the blob, the fungaloids, and the triffids) and have taken steps in interacting with them in some way (assuming they aren’t in the wildlife group).

There’s also a handful of stranger creatures (like the amigara horror) that were here before the blob invasion. Those are Horror’s, not Nether creatures, and they are native to our plane.[/spoiler]


Joining, fusing symbiotically with everything present, and then using it to potentially go to other worlds, possibly mutating it to form a more harmonious whole along the way. That said it’s unlikely to get that far, since both the triffids, fungaloids, and other minor players have all got their sights set on this world as well. Finding new planes like that is a kinda rare thing in the Nether. Having that new plane simultaneously connect with enough others that all three big players have access to it? Extremely rare. Add on the fact that said connections make it very valuable as a staging ground to spread to other planes and everyone with some sort of a brain is very interested in adding it into their possessions.


No. Living and other pre-dead things only.


They don’t need to eat, if that’s what you are asking. The blob gestalts a lot of it’s energy across itself, so fully active blob creatures (like the zombies) don’t really need much in the way of it (since there’s other places where the creatures are managing entire worlds for energy intake to be spread throughout the system). Dormant/symbiotic blob creatures (like the giant insects or the player) still need to eat though.


It can repurpose itself or its hosts, but it can make much more radical changes in its hosts than it can to itself. In addition if any part of the blob changes too quickly and too radically it risks being recognized as “non-blob” and impeding the blob’s desire to spread and adapt, leading it to be targeted as a hostile. As such you generally don’t see too many large-scale blob adaptations, more of an extremely gradual change to become more efficient. In the hosts though, anything goes.

i2amroy is pretty much on-target. The Blob is intelligent on a different scale, and as a result communication with individuals isn’t a major concern. By comparison, Mycus hivemind takes the time to communicate with folks that merit it, but doesn’t invest a lot in fungaloids.

I’m going to mark the thread as spoilery, so the entire thread isn’t one big spoiler tag.

In other words:

The Blob is so vast that humans are as just a speck in the universe, and wouldn’t be noticed unless they do something on a epic scale.

The Blob is adapts to its environment rather than tries to transform it.

The Funguloids transform the environments to allow the spread.

The Triffids are the most intelligent and one might be able to communicate with it, and are composed of different organisms all of which have a place.

Minor powers:

MiGo, who I could see operating a weapon or gun due to their mimicry.

Shadows, who lack the current capabilities to stay on the plane for very long.

[quote=“Frostwood, post:6, topic:8815”]I’m going to mark the thread as spoilery, so the entire thread isn’t one big spoiler tag.

In other words:

The Blob is so vast that humans are as just a speck in the universe, and wouldn’t be noticed unless they do something on a epic scale.

The Blob is adapts to its environment rather than tries to transform it.

The Funguloids transform the environments to allow the spread.

The Triffids are the most intelligent and one might be able to communicate with it, and are composed of different organisms all of which have a place.

Minor powers:

MiGo, who I could see operating a weapon or gun due to their mimicry.

Shadows, who lack the current capabilities to stay on the plane for very long.[/quote]

Blob: humankind as a whole is kinda a speed bump at the moment. If someone weaponized the anti-XE037 agent the labs came up with (doesn’t work on zeds, and wasn’t suitable for mass deployment; closest thing to a mass cure is the rapid-teleport, which just invites in more Nether critters and creates new stable portals), humankind could get its attention. And that would not be fun.

Mycus: The fungus IS Mycus life, so spreading the fungus is spreading the Mycus.

Triffids: These are factionalized in-lore if not yet in-game: each Heart is its own entity, and manages its triffids, etc for itself. Multiple Hearts may or may not cooperate against an external threat, but are unlikely to unite into one cohesive race as have the Blob and the Mycus.

Mi-go are intelligent, yeah. Tech is available in Lovecraft and may or may not get imported here–they’re DDA mi-go, after all.

Shadow critters can stick around indefinitely underground. :wink: They’d be a serious threat to Troglobite colonies.

[quote=“KA101, post:7, topic:8815”][quote=“Frostwood, post:6, topic:8815”]I’m going to mark the thread as spoilery, so the entire thread isn’t one big spoiler tag.

In other words:

The Blob is so vast that humans are as just a speck in the universe, and wouldn’t be noticed unless they do something on a epic scale.

The Blob is adapts to its environment rather than tries to transform it.

The Funguloids transform the environments to allow the spread.

The Triffids are the most intelligent and one might be able to communicate with it, and are composed of different organisms all of which have a place.

Minor powers:

MiGo, who I could see operating a weapon or gun due to their mimicry.

Shadows, who lack the current capabilities to stay on the plane for very long.[/quote]

Blob: humankind as a whole is kinda a speed bump at the moment. If someone weaponized the anti-XE037 agent the labs came up with (doesn’t work on zeds, and wasn’t suitable for mass deployment; closest thing to a mass cure is the rapid-teleport, which just invites in more Nether critters and creates new stable portals), humankind could get its attention. And that would not be fun.

Mycus: The fungus IS Mycus life, so spreading the fungus is spreading the Mycus.

Triffids: These are factionalized in-lore if not yet in-game: each Heart is its own entity, and manages its triffids, etc for itself. Multiple Hearts may or may not cooperate against an external threat, but are unlikely to unite into one cohesive race as have the Blob and the Mycus.

Mi-go are intelligent, yeah. Tech is available in Lovecraft and may or may not get imported here–they’re DDA mi-go, after all.

Shadow critters can stick around indefinitely underground. :wink: They’d be a serious threat to Troglobite colonies.[/quote]

Most fun result: humanity (and trans-humanity, counting full-conversion cyborgs and mutants who aren’t absorbed into another nether faction) becomes Major Player #4. Humanity lacks a hivemind, but is intelligent on both the individual and group scale, is extremely adaptable in its own right, and is extremely aggressive and expansionist. It got off to a bad start, buuuuut…

Really though. What’s up with those blank bodies? They seem a bit too disturbingly humanlike to merely be “nether wildlife.” Or is being so similar to humans that they drop human flesh when butchered really entirely a coincidence?

Cult thing, IIRC. Loose end that needs sorted out, but we’re working on it.

(There are some weird things that actually aren’t Nether-related: Amigara horrors, forex.)

[quote=“i2amroy, post:4, topic:8815”]
They don’t need to eat, if that’s what you are asking. The blob gestalts a lot of it’s energy across itself, so fully active blob creatures (like the zombies) don’t really need much in the way of it (since there’s other places where the creatures are managing entire worlds for energy intake to be spread throughout the system). Dormant/symbiotic blob creatures (like the giant insects or the player) still need to eat though.
[/quote]

Zombies don’t need to eat as in “subsist on blob energy to keep on living” or “are living portals to blob world, capable of spawning more blob on itself”?
It’s mostly a question about brutes and hulks, who are too huge to have grown this way on human host’s body mass alone.

I was thinking about implementing monster corpse interactions, for example giant flies laying eggs on corpses and possibly zeds gnawing on stuff that won’t reanimate into a zed.

This was very educational, Thank you for giving my Cataclysm Character an existential crisis, No wonder so many do drugs…

[quote=“Coolthulhu, post:10, topic:8815”][quote=“i2amroy, post:4, topic:8815”]
They don’t need to eat, if that’s what you are asking. The blob gestalts a lot of it’s energy across itself, so fully active blob creatures (like the zombies) don’t really need much in the way of it (since there’s other places where the creatures are managing entire worlds for energy intake to be spread throughout the system). Dormant/symbiotic blob creatures (like the giant insects or the player) still need to eat though.
[/quote]

Zombies don’t need to eat as in “subsist on blob energy to keep on living” or “are living portals to blob world, capable of spawning more blob on itself”?
It’s mostly a question about brutes and hulks, who are too huge to have grown this way on human host’s body mass alone.

I was thinking about implementing monster corpse interactions, for example giant flies laying eggs on corpses and possibly zeds gnawing on stuff that won’t reanimate into a zed.[/quote]

I always imagined the blob as deriving energy through some sort of inter-planar mechanism, or directly through our plane/environment. It then commandeers creatures by infesting the muscle cells and releasing small amounts of energy to trigger muscle movement. If the blob hasn’t reached sufficient mass to generate enough energy to both communicate with the rest of the blob hive mind and cause movement, then it simply lays dormant in the infested creature. The reason the blob can’t take over living human hosts is because the electrical impulses generated normally are far stronger than the impulses generated by the blob. Blob that has existed for longer and become more concentrated in a host can generate more energy and put that energy towards expanding the host, which allows it to support more blob, which creates a very dangerous positive feedback loop and results in creatures like the hulk and jabberwock.

[quote=“vache, post:12, topic:8815”][quote=“Coolthulhu, post:10, topic:8815”][quote=“i2amroy, post:4, topic:8815”]
They don’t need to eat, if that’s what you are asking. The blob gestalts a lot of it’s energy across itself, so fully active blob creatures (like the zombies) don’t really need much in the way of it (since there’s other places where the creatures are managing entire worlds for energy intake to be spread throughout the system). Dormant/symbiotic blob creatures (like the giant insects or the player) still need to eat though.
[/quote]

Zombies don’t need to eat as in “subsist on blob energy to keep on living” or “are living portals to blob world, capable of spawning more blob on itself”?
It’s mostly a question about brutes and hulks, who are too huge to have grown this way on human host’s body mass alone.

I was thinking about implementing monster corpse interactions, for example giant flies laying eggs on corpses and possibly zeds gnawing on stuff that won’t reanimate into a zed.[/quote]

I always imagined the blob as deriving energy through some sort of inter-planar mechanism, or directly through our plane/environment. It then commandeers creatures by infesting the muscle cells and releasing small amounts of energy to trigger muscle movement. If the blob hasn’t reached sufficient mass to generate enough energy to both communicate with the rest of the blob hive mind and cause movement, then it simply lays dormant in the infested creature. The reason the blob can’t take over living human hosts is because the electrical impulses generated normally are far stronger than the impulses generated by the blob. Blob that has existed for longer and become more concentrated in a host can generate more energy and put that energy towards expanding the host, which allows it to support more blob, which creates a very dangerous positive feedback loop and results in creatures like the hulk and jabberwock.[/quote]

Not quite as dangerous: I’d presumed that hulks/jabberwocks, at least, gained mass from absorbing other corpses. Zed masters’ upgrade ability represents channeling a nontrivial amount of energy into the blob, but you can only do so much by adding more fuel. (Energy-matter conversion is not that easy.)

Further, most zeds probably shouldn’t have full hive-mind connections: else there’s no need for shriekers, etc. More intelligent zeds would have some ability to get updates (necro/master territory).

Sooo it COULD be possible that the may appear a “brainzombie”? Something like a brainblob, just in zombie form. Ofc it would have a minimum mass so it would have to be a different kind of jabberwock (a brainerwock if you will), you could think of it as a brainblob in a big enough host, but instead of coordinating blobs it would coordinate other zombies in the area.

KA101: I think hulks are partially covered by the lore/logs in labs. It is stated that if a body takes enough damage (but not enough that it is unable to revive) it will start growing bigger. So as far as I can tell it means that hulks just died and revived more often while having sustained more damage than other zombies.

shudders I just hope nobody puts that in as a feature: “Oh you did take out this zombie X-times and also damage it to X-degree multiple times, so now it will turn into a hulk on the next revive!” Ofc such a transformation would take a minimum amount of damage dealt to the zombie until he turns into a hulk. So if you just take them out without additional damage = takes far longer to turn. But if you take a zombie out while nearly pulping them = fast rate of turning.

And I also hope that no one puts a type of zombie in that is a “jabberwock seed”, meaning: A zombie that will eat tainted meat/pulped zombies and after eating enough will turn into a jabberwock.

I’d accept such a rationale for brutes. Arms the size of a trash can are gonna take a LOT of matter/energy throughput.

IIRC the eventual “brain blob” zombie is eventually intended to be the master zombie (and was one of the reasons I worked to implement multiple special attacks :P).

I’d say hulks/brutes are definitely a combination of the two. Some of their mass is gained from multiple corpses, while others may be gained from repairs made to bad enough damage (which I would like to add in eventually Darkfirepheonix, though it will almost certainly be a bit more gradual then normal zed -> hulk :P). Things like the jabberwocky are definitely stated to have started with at least several corpses merging though.

Perhaphs some mi-go line mutations where you can interact with them like friendly npcs… and trade with em

And perhaphs some sort of blob-o-Meter which counts how much blobi is actually in your system an a given time…

[quote=“Catfoodbob, post:17, topic:8815”]Perhaphs some mi-go line mutations where you can interact with them like friendly npcs… and trade with em

And perhaphs some sort of blob-o-Meter which counts how much blobi is actually in your system an a given time…[/quote]
I remember the devs disagreeing with any Mi-Go mutation line, and how would trading work? They wouldn’t pick up anything good.

Given the Blob’s tendency towards efficiency I imagine the non-trivial mass to energy conversion for specific individuals would likely be limited… much ‘cheaper’ to transmit enough energy to keep their vessels mobile (in the manner of a thousand crystal radio sets being’ technically’ powered by the transmitting station itself) and consume local matter for growth than to build a tiny teleport station in each zed. Those Necromancers though? Living holes in reality.

Mi Go or other ‘presumably’ individualistic intelligences might be interested in trading information or particularly rare resources? I think at least one of the Nether races should have some traditionally curious and mechanical disposition, taking local equipment apart, examining or reconfiguring them into strange new devices to use and then discard.

I certainly wouldn’t trust a Mi Go/Grek/Blank, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them were capable or interested in either building a translator, or simply absorbing sufficient linguistic knowledge. Wouldn’t go to sleep near one, or accept ‘surgical aid’ but I might be willing to go on a fetch quest, or corpse collection duty if the price was right.

The fungus seems to have cults/societies associated with it, so they’re probably willing to accept some manner of human vassalage?

[quote=“Belteshazzar, post:19, topic:8815”]Given the Blob’s tendency towards efficiency I imagine the non-trivial mass to energy conversion for specific individuals would likely be limited… much ‘cheaper’ to transmit enough energy to keep their vessels mobile (in the manner of a thousand crystal radio sets being’ technically’ powered by the transmitting station itself) and consume local matter for growth than to build a tiny teleport station in each zed. Those Necromancers though? Living holes in reality.

Mi Go or other ‘presumably’ individualistic intelligences might be interested in trading information or particularly rare resources? I think at least one of the Nether races should have some traditionally curious and mechanical disposition, taking local equipment apart, examining or reconfiguring them into strange new devices to use and then discard.

I certainly wouldn’t trust a Mi Go/Grek/Blank, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them were capable or interested in either building a translator, or simply absorbing sufficient linguistic knowledge. Wouldn’t go to sleep near one, or accept ‘surgical aid’ but I might be willing to go on a fetch quest, or corpse collection duty if the price was right.

The fungus seems to have cults/societies associated with it, so they’re probably willing to accept some manner of human vassalage?[/quote]

Cult basements, etc are probably closer to Blob, or perhaps the Independents like mi-go, flying polyps, etc.

We seek local guides to assist us in this harsh world, and offer sustenance in the form of berries and seeds as proof of our good will.