I'm considering using nothing but homebrewed animals (not necessarily monsters too), and i was wondering whether anybody else had done the same? That is, have any of you actually made animals, not monsters, for your campaign? If you have, even if they aren't fleshed out with stats and all, i would be glad if you posted them here so we could try and come up with some kind of community zoo or whatever. A source of exotic natural creatures with no esoteric special abilities.
My setting, Phaedoras, is 100% alien. That is to say, it uses all original animals, plants, monsters and races. The only thing it really draws from earth are a few minerals and metals.
Building alien ecologies is not easy, and I do my best. As of right now I don't have much done, but when I get some animals finalized I'll let you know.
Xathan had some up on a thread here a long time ago, you might try using the search function to dig them up.
This one? (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?15774.post)
I made a kind of ridinglizard, as fast as a pony and twice as lethal. :P
I'm fond of the works of Amy Thompson and Joan Slonczewski, both of whom know enough biology to make alien ecologies. One thing both authors suggest in their stories is a different basis for biology, so that for instance in the writings of the first alien pollen makes it difficult for non-bioengineered humans to live there.
Here are some examples of interesting alien creatures I've read about.
Grendels: these have a life cycle vaguely like an amphibians in that they start out as a fishlike rather harmless creature. The adults eat these--otherwise the young would swarm. When adult they are four legged, deceptively sluggish, with nozzel like breathing apparatus to help them hide in the water, long muzzles with sharp teeth, strong tails with sharp ridges on them and clawed feet. They are capable of 'injecting' a special hormone into their bloodstream that enables them to move with shocking speed. After using it they start to overheat. Thus they are rarely found away from a source of cool water or mud.
Seaswallowers: Once a year giant cephalopod like creatures migrate from one pole to the other to breed. They suck water from the surface creating vast whirlpools, sucking in living matter to eat. These whirlpools can cause ships to sink. They are not really cephalopods, but rather great tubes of flesh that have fringes of short tentacles around the mouth that help pull food in or push unwanted matter away from their great mouths.
Kiqui: Semi-intelligent little creatures, they can puff up their bodies in displays of dominance. They live in waters that have heavy metal content and therefore their flesh is poisonous to humans. They communicate by bursts of sonar and high pitched squeaks. Their social structure is a little like a combination of a monkey troop and a school of fish.
Tines: These are like canine semi-bipeds but are long necked. They never evolved hands but rather developed a sort of 'pack mind' in which each individual is actually made up of one to three generations of others of its own bloodline who have a linked consciousness. Thus several creatures can together use tools and make things. Each pack has an individual name. It is considered to be crippling to have only one 'member' in a pack. Sending a member away is disconcerting and can lead to a form of schizophrenia. Much of their culture revolves around the earlier stages of society which had to enable packs to have a safe place to raise pups till they were ready to join their pack. Thus various packs formed alliances and inter-breeding groups.
I'm working on an alien ecology for my campaign setting, though I'm a long way from having it done. It's barely even started at this point.
I've been working on a custom version of Linnaean Taxonomy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaean_taxonomy) for my setting. So far I'm keeping Domain, Kingdom and Phylum the same, but making my own custom Classes (for example, Dragons). I'll then be taking terrestrial creatures, figuring out what their role would be, then creating a similar creature using my new classes.
Of course I'm not going to be going into near the detail that the terrestrial ecology has. Mostly I'll just be focusing on creatures that will be important to gaming (game, domesticated animals, predators).
I'm just starting work on all this now, so I don't really have anything to share, but once I have some more details worked out expect to see me posting some of it.
I have been working on some exotic animals, but i'm not going to post them all now, since that would require me to find the document on my pc... Later maybe.
Anyway, these two aren't really that original, but are rather variants of two "common" earth creature; the leech and the scorpion.
Skypincers: Basically scorpions with inverted stingers and dragonfly/insect wings. They swarm creatures, latch onto them with their pincers and sting them to death. Quite nasty if you ask me.
Steel leech (or something): A cross between a constrictor snake, an eel and a leech, these creatures are up to 6 meters long and have grey or black slick, rubbery skin. They resemble snakes or eels, except that their head has been replaced by a teeth-filled sucker that they use to latch onto prey after they have entangled and constricted the creature with their muscular bodies. After they have fed, their sizes doubles and they become dormant, usually resting on the river bottom while digesting the meal. The only thing they leave of their victim is a dried-out husk that sometimes washes ashore.
Forgive me for being a little bit of a critic but...those aren't THAT exotic, are they? I mean they basically fill the same niches as other creatures. I am not saying this to diss your critters, they make sense and all--but are you more or less after stuff along that line, creatures that really greatly resemble animals in our own world but are just exotic enough to be a little different? That might give some of us a clearer idea of what you are after.
No, those were just the only ones that came to mind. They can be as exotic or as mundane as you want to, as long as they don't exist. Seriously, i find it hard to imagine a ecology composed entirely of strange and exotic animals/monsters so a few ordinary ones in between is to be expected. And yes, i know mine weren't very original. :P But thanks for the criticism anyway, you're right that i maybe should've been a bit clearer about what i wanted.
If you need quick and dirty, check out Avatar, the last Aribender. The animals in the show are all composites or mutants, giving a very unique feel. (A bear?! Not a gopher-bear or a platypus-bear?)
And yes, I know it's silly and a cartoon. If you don't like that, please don't comment. :)
A good source of inspiration, I find, is to look at the extreme envitonments around the globe. My personal favorite is the Deep sea, where no light shines. Those creatures look really amazing... Just my two CP
Yeah, the Deep Sea does tend to produce some strange creatures. Actually, most of the sea does, the deep one is just better at it. Hmm, Land Lantern Fish? Not that it has anything to do with this thread, but you could probably even make a race out of those guys. Not that anybody would ever want to play one...
Well I've done some work turning my notes into actual material. Here are two beasties from phaedoras which I'm fond of. Sorry if there's some setting specific stuff mixed in. :)
[spoiler Partial Bestiary][ic Unikaal]The unikaal I've given the English name 'fire serpents,' though they evoke a much more draconic feel. Imagine a snake roughly four feet long covered with rough, thick scales colored like red brick with black splotches, now add 24 pairs of centipede-like legs along it's body and two huge bat-like wings spanning over six feet on it's back. Unlike the centipede, an unikaal's legs are supported by an internal skeleton, but they still end in a single tiny claw, rather than foot. The unikaal's wings are supported by two pairs of "limbs" which leave the spine shortly after the skull and again halfway down the body. Each limb has a number of fingers, like a bat, and the unikaal's skin is stretched between them. Unlike a bat, the unikaal lacks the muscle mass to gain altitude, and is limited to gliding down from trees or rock ledges. The unikaal's head is blunt and covered by the same stiff, dull scales. Within two sunken pits rest the unikaal's slitted, red eyes, ever hungry and unblinking. The unikaal, unlike a snake, does not have the power to unhinge it's jaw, and it's mouth is filled with small, serrated teeth rather than fangs. The unikaal are related to the larger thelisin of Lun, though their wings and mystery hold them apart. Unikaal gender is indistinguishable.
The feeding habits of the unikaal are as fantastic as their physiology. Carnivorous, the unikaal's many legs give them supreme agility when hunting prey and their tough bodies are built for combat with large animals. Amazingly, the unikaal is a pack animal. Congregating in swarms consisting of four to twenty individuals, the unikaal will lurk upon a precipice or within the upper canopy of jungle trees and wait for a large animal to pass by before swooping in en masse to kill the larger animal. Cold blooded and capable of waiting extreme periods of time between meals, unikaal hunt whenever there is available food, day or night. Only able to see motion and lacking eyelids, unikaal have even been known to spot prey while asleep. Even more fantastic is the unikaal's primary means of attack. While swooping, the unikaal will belch up a stored pocket of gas and exhale quickly while generating a tiny spark with an organ at the end of their tongue producing a stream of concentrated flame that lasts around four seconds and can reach two feet in length. This rapid exhalation is almost always accompanied by a horrifically loud screech. The entire colony will thus glide in from above and breathe fire upon the startled animal before landing on or around it and biting at it's face or burrowing into it's belly.
Unikaal, being highly social, are surprisingly intelligent and can communicate with a whisper-like hissing or, during mating season, by screaming. Happy to attack omaku, even in small groups, the worst sound to hear in the jungle in the low hissing of an unseen swarm of unikaal about to swoop.
Unikaal are only found on the Kyal-Yabazu Nobanu.
Despised as terrors by the totwimi and jachkamital, the unikaal are sacred to the niyam of the islands. According to their high-priestesses, the unikaal will not attack those who are pure of heart, body and mind, and those who have been made into priestesses seem to be able to control unikaal swarms through force of will.
After the jachkamital surrendered and became part of Melseh Ubau, ubin nobles have occasionally taken special trips out to the isles to hunt the monsters. Most never do so again. Because of this, the unikaal pelt as a status symbol fetches a very high price on the imperial market. The liver of an unikaal is also said to heal heartburn and it's blood can be mixed into a poultice to heal burns.
Unikaal spirit-magic gives protection from fire and can be warped into causing sores and blisters.
Unikaal, in the niyam tongue, means Fire-Monster.[/ic][ic Kulu]The kulu is a quadrupedal animal that most closely resembles a deer or antelope. It's fur is a very dark blue-grey, with the exception of a white crescent shaped mark on it's brow that's points curve over the kulu's eyes. The kulu may share a generally deer-like body, but it's three-toed feet and long, cat-like tail give it a more predatory appearance. Two jet-black horns shoot up from over the kulu's eyes, long and curved like that of a sable antelope. At the shoulder, the average kulu stands eight feet tall, granting an additional three feet to the top of the horn. Kulu can climb, in dire need, but prefer to leap away at high speeds. Kulu males are identical to females except for a mane of black hair around their neck, not anywhere near that of a lion, but still noticeable.
Despite their big size, kulu are entirely herbivorous and can be quite friendly when tamed. As nocturnal animals, kulu have amazingly good senses of smell and hearing and can see quite well, even in starlit jungle. The kulu's nose is especially powerful, and niyam of the shadowlands often keep kulu as alarms to alert them to the presence of other beasts. Though kulu are both docile and large enough to carry a person, they move by bounding and leaping and any rider will quickly fall off in the calmest of situations. Kulu make no cry, though as children they can make a clicking noise with their tongue to call for help.
Kulu are plentiful on Kyal-Yobazu Nobanu, as well as all of southern Tobinu. Kulu are one of the few natual creatures to thrive in the shadowlands, though it is unknown where they find food or water. Kulu are also found, with less frequency, on the slopes of the Tobinu Crags, where they rarely grow to more than six feet.
Though they do not move as a group, kulu form herds which stay generally near one-another. During the day, kulu find a sequestered spot and congregate to rest. The number of individuals in the group helps ensure safety, and kulu can wake instantly at a single whiff of a hostile scent, alerting their kin. The kulu is a favorite game animal wherever it is found, though males in heat easily go berserk and try to gore hunters. The horns and pelts of the great animals are quite valuable, and a single kulu can provide for an entire tribe of omaku. In Melseh Ubau, nobles will often arrange great hunts for the animals, driving them again and again from their sleep until they can be caught unaware.
In legends, kulu represent wisdom and benevolence. Kulu are also typically associated with Phsaen and with the moon. The niyam tell of how Matal, their ancient king and father, was carried to safety as an infant by a kulu to the shadowy corner of the world. Many Tobinu cultures also tell of Takuba, an ethereal kulu with two heads and golden eyes. Takuba's right head is said to see nothing but the past, while the left sees nothing but the future. In the vuun story of their great pilgrimage to the southlands, they say that their leader, Val-Okk, found the true path for his people by receiving the council of Takuba upon Aitaix Mountain.
Kulu spirit-magic gives speed and enhanced senses and can be warped into causing fatigue and weak bones.
[spoiler My Cruddy Picture](//../../e107_files/public/1184776987_9_FT33185_kulu_color_.jpg)
[spoiler B&W](//../../e107_files/public/1184777028_9_FT33185_kulu_bw_.jpg)[/spoiler][/spoiler][/ic][/spoiler]
My plan is to develop a good number of these entries for animals and plants all over the world, then produce a series of blurbs relating to the ecologies as a whole, complete with food-chain graphs, etc.