Alternative Animals [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alternative Animals [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Return of the Flumph
08-26-07, 08:33 PM Some time ago, there was a thread where people came up with ideas for fauna from an alien world. Creatures that look totally different and bizarre, but have the same stats and fill a similar ecological niche as normal animals.

I am restarting the thread because of an ongoing project on the campaign workshop board. Within a few months, the Lords of Creation crew will be starting the construction of a new campaign setting called Shardworld. Shardworld is the place where aberrations are not aberrant, where Cthulhu and the Great Mother fill the same divine niche as Pelor and Heironeous, where plants walk across ceilings and cranberry juice flows from springs to form rivers, etc.

We need some bizarre, but usable, animals to fill the Shardworld ecosystem. These animals should preferably be alien and nightmarish, but not actually more dangerous than their terrestrial counterparts. For example:

SKREELA: A spherical membrane containing greenish ectoplasm and writhing, wormlike viscera, about six inches in diameter. Skreela fly through the air by some unknown means, using their cillia to catch tiny prey out of the air. Replaces bat.

IORVOS: A giant, pillbug like beast big enough for a human to ride on. They travel in large groups, rooting at the ground to uncover plant roots and small, burrowing animals for food. Replaces buffalo.

KEET: A tiny, grayish humanoid with the ability to walk up walls and across ceilings, as if gravity were subjective. They have no eyes, but oversized, fanged mouths. They leave a sticky glue smeared across walls to catch their prey, which they then paralyze with their venomous bite. Replaces spider.

HARTRAT: A giant, heavily armored tadpole with a sideways, fanged mouth. Hartrats often lunge out of the pools of slime and quicksand they live in to bite passerby and pull them under. Replaces crocodile.

Keep 'em coming. Thank you.
Talisman
08-26-07, 10:00 PM Forgive my ignorance...but do you want statblocks, or just brief descriptions (as you've given above)?

If you want stats, should such creatures be Aberrations or Animals?
Return of the Flumph
08-27-07, 02:27 AM Brief descriptions. These will be using the same stats as the animals and vermin in the Monster Manual.

Actually, you could take it a little further if you wanted to and think of alternate magical beasts as well (for example, something with the stat block and niche of a centaur).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Return of the Flumph 08-26-07, 08:33 PM	Some time ago, there was a thread where people came up with ideas for fauna from an alien world. Creatures that look totally different and bizarre, but have the same stats and fill a similar ecological niche as normal animals. I am restarting the thread because of an ongoing project on the campaign workshop board. Within a few months, the Lords of Creation crew will be starting the construction of a new campaign setting called Shardworld. Shardworld is the place where aberrations are not aberrant, where Cthulhu and the Great Mother fill the same divine niche as Pelor and Heironeous, where plants walk across ceilings and cranberry juice flows from springs to form rivers, etc. We need some bizarre, but usable, animals to fill the Shardworld ecosystem. These animals should preferably be alien and nightmarish, but not actually more dangerous than their terrestrial counterparts. For example: SKREELA: A spherical membrane containing greenish ectoplasm and writhing, wormlike viscera, about six inches in diameter. Skreela fly through the air by some unknown means, using their cillia to catch tiny prey out of the air. Replaces bat. IORVOS: A giant, pillbug like beast big enough for a human to ride on. They travel in large groups, rooting at the ground to uncover plant roots and small, burrowing animals for food. Replaces buffalo. KEET: A tiny, grayish humanoid with the ability to walk up walls and across ceilings, as if gravity were subjective. They have no eyes, but oversized, fanged mouths. They leave a sticky glue smeared across walls to catch their prey, which they then paralyze with their venomous bite. Replaces spider. HARTRAT: A giant, heavily armored tadpole with a sideways, fanged mouth. Hartrats often lunge out of the pools of slime and quicksand they live in to bite passerby and pull them under. Replaces crocodile. Keep 'em coming. Thank you.
Talisman 08-26-07, 10:00 PM	Forgive my ignorance...but do you want statblocks, or just brief descriptions (as you've given above)? If you want stats, should such creatures be Aberrations or Animals?
Return of the Flumph 08-27-07, 02:27 AM	Brief descriptions. These will be using the same stats as the animals and vermin in the Monster Manual. Actually, you could take it a little further if you wanted to and think of alternate magical beasts as well (for example, something with the stat block and niche of a centaur).