The Clawed and the Facade: a small, hypothetical update

[JustLikeAFruitPounder]

Obsidian has created a monster with Grounded. A game about bugs practically begs for intense enemy variety, since insects, arachnids, etc. are VERY diverse.

Grounded is a blessing and a curse. It demands so much, but allows the devs to DO so much.

And I am here to help them out.

I propose a small update for 1.2 (or 1.3 if they already fleshed out 1.2 by the time of writing) that will add 2 new bugs, one being a regular enemy and one being a rare, miniboss-like encounter similar to Ox Beetles.

First, we'll start off with the "facade", a bug that is both numerous and deadly. It loves humid areas such as moss and leaf litter (think the bottom of the Hedge or the Oak Tree). It can also be found in the domain of its role model, hidden in the grand oasis of the Sandbox.

And nobody's ever heard of this thing, letting it catch the backyard dwellers by surprise.

Enter the Pseudoscorpion, also called the book scorpion. Take a mite, turn it black, multiply its size by 2.5, give it pincers, and give it one singular horrific compound eye similar to an antlion's smack in the middle of the forehead, and you have yourself a Pseudoscorpion.

It's a tier 2 mite, if you will, but it also has a 3 hit claw attack similar to a larva's bite attack. It can also backhop, similar to a ladybird larva. It can still jump and bite you, like every other mite-like enemy.

These things hunt in packs of 3-5 and are nocturnal, but they are quick work for an experienced backyard dweller. They're still mites, just bigger. If mites are the goblin of the backyard, the Pseudoscorpion would be a bugbear.

Now time for the real deal. The Southern Devil Scorpion is a rare creature, exclusive to the Sandbox. There are only 5 SDS spawn points in the game, and 2 are in the sandcastle. They will attack antlions on sight, and are also nocturnal. The ones that aren't confined to the sandcastle sleep together in a burrow during the day. If you hate yourself, go there. There's some supreme quartzite and marble as well as a few hot chachas in there, but the scorpions will probably eat you alive.

"Well, I can just go there during the night!"

No, you can't. 2 of the 3 scorpions will pathfind to the burrow as long as you are in there, and they are damned fast. Good luck!

And no, these things aren't venomous. SDS are not harmful to humans, they sting like hell but that's it. They are also small for a scorpion, IRL they're smaller than wolf spiders. Any other scorpion would be a raid boss in Grounded.

SDS are tier 3.

-DROPS-

Pseudoscorpions can drop Pseudoscorpion Fangs and Pseudoscorpion Claws. You can use them to make a grappling hook. I am not kidding. It'll have a short reach, it won't be like, say, Halo Infinite's where you can swing from the trees like Tarzan, but yeah, it's a grappling hook. You can grapple walls, bugs, really anything.

SDS will drop Scorpion Parts, Scorpion Claws, and Scorpion Stingers. You can use these to make armor.

Think of the Chitin Armor from ARK. Scorpion armor works the same way. Its defense is higher than the Roly Poly armor, but you take twice the Sizzle damage.

And that is all. Stay strong, backyard dwellers, don't let the spiders eat you!