PDA

View Full Version : Australia of Horrors



Randel
2009-11-24, 10:03 PM
Okay, after browsing through TVTropes, I came across the Shiny New Australia (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShinyNewAustralia) and then this (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/australia.html) page that got me thinking:

What would a DnD adventure into an Australia themed setting look like? After all, it seems that Australia is already full of incredibly poisonous and vicious animals, hostile environments, and rather infertile soil unsuited for major farming... what would a magical version of Australia look like?

Also, kangaroos are already known for jumping around and punching people in the face. Platypuses look like mix and match creatures with highly toxic barbs on their feet. Dingos are basically wolves whos ancient ancestors since the dawn of time have never really had a chance to be domesticated... and still have to survive in a world filled with toxic plants and animals that punch them in the face.

Add all the lightning storms, the Box Jellyfish (not to be confused with the Gelatinous Cube... because Box Jellyfish basically kill you if you touch them), and giant crocodiles, and you get a pretty dangerous place even without actual monsters or dungeons in it.

So yeah, what would DnD Australia look like?

Dusk Eclipse
2009-11-24, 10:06 PM
I think that Xen'drix's (sp?) can be considered as D&D's (well eberron) Autralia

Vitruviansquid
2009-11-24, 10:09 PM
1. Take the names of some iconic Australian animals.

2. Add were- to the beginning of some of them and -men to the end of some of them:

Weredingo
Wereplatypus
Wallabymen
Koalamen

3. Take some of those animals, even the same ones, and add Dire in front of them.

Dire Dingo
Dire Kangaroo
Dire Koala
Dire Box Jellyfish

Almost there...

4. Take some other Australian animals and pair them up.

Dingaroo
Box Koala
Platydingo

horseboy
2009-11-24, 10:34 PM
LoL Dingaroo! Now that's an awesome sounding animal.
Oh, and just to mess with people make them primates with small hammers that smack their El Camino.

Yeah, there's a reason that Torg used Australia for the Survival Horror genre.

The Tygre
2009-11-24, 10:42 PM
Yeah, not to spoil the fun, but there were such things as Dire Kangaroos. They ate meat. I should probably emphasize that. They were Carnivorous, so they occasionally ripped out some smaller animals throats with their teeth. Food for thought.

That said, you might want to start looking into Aboriginal myth and culture before you do anything else. I would think the natives have a lot to say about Australia.

EDIT: And get familiarized with Australia's prehistory. Australia has a lot of mega-fauna's heavy hitters, like the Kronosaurus and the Megalania. Plenty of other dire animals and dinosaurs right there. And ask Bhu about cryptids from Australia, too. And no, I don't just mean the Yowie and the Drop-Bear; everyone knows about them, they're easy. To me, a fantastic real-world setting needs to be educational as much as it is entertaining.

sambo.
2009-11-24, 11:07 PM
DnD Australia? very, very stupidly high DC poisons from a crapwadload of snakes, scorpions and spiders. (Brown Snake DC: 35+. 3d6 con damage primary then secondary save vs death? frequency: common. RedBack Spider DC: 25, 3d6 dex damage primary, 6d6 dex damage secondary. frequency: common? Funnelweb Spider, DC: 30+, 2d6 Strength +2d6 Con damage primary, vs Death secondary save, frequency: common?)

beware an aquatic campaign, you'll be battling seasnakes, all manner of sharks and not forgetting, crocs!


Oh, and just to mess with people make them primates with small hammers that smack their El Camino.
you mean smack their MONARO! (or SandMan panny).....

Yukitsu
2009-11-24, 11:09 PM
Remember, no matter how dumb, dangerous, and ridiculously poisonous the wildlife is, the locals only really hate those damn toads.

mikeejimbo
2009-11-24, 11:16 PM
Ah yes, cane toads. Possibly the least dangerous of any Australian animal.

toysailor
2009-11-24, 11:23 PM
We need drop bears.

SurlySeraph
2009-11-24, 11:25 PM
/tg/, 4chan's Traditional Games board, recently had a good discussion about this very topic. Here. (http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/6307890/) Do note that it's 4chan, so worksafeness is not guaranteed.

sambo.
2009-11-24, 11:42 PM
Ah yes, cane toads. Possibly the least dangerous of any Australian animal.
:smallfurious:Cane Toads are NOT Australian.:smallfurious:

they are, however, second only to those verminous, pestilential Rabbits in their ability to stuff up their new-found home.

the filthy things are Brazilian and represent the CSIRO's greatest ever stuff-up (inventing WiFi was their greatest ever success).


Remember, no matter how dumb, dangerous, and ridiculously poisonous the wildlife is, the locals only really hate those damn toads.

DEATH TO ALL TOADS! (and feral cats, rabbits, foxes, goats, pigs and camels!)

i find an eight-wood driver to be a most excellent Toad-Golf stick.


We need drop bears.

Vampiric, Dire Drop Bears FTW!

easily avoided by smearing Vegemite on ones face!

Serpentine
2009-11-24, 11:45 PM
What would a DnD adventure into an Australia themed setting look like? After all, it seems that Australia is already full of incredibly poisonous and vicious animals, hostile environments, and rather infertile soil unsuited for major farming... what would a magical version of Australia look like?

Also, kangaroos are already known for jumping around and punching people in the face. Platypuses look like mix and match creatures with highly toxic barbs on their feet. Dingos are basically wolves whos ancient ancestors since the dawn of time have never really had a chance to be domesticated... and still have to survive in a world filled with toxic plants and animals that punch them in the face.

Add all the lightning storms, the Box Jellyfish (not to be confused with the Gelatinous Cube... because Box Jellyfish basically kill you if you touch them), and giant crocodiles, and you get a pretty dangerous place even without actual monsters or dungeons in it.

So yeah, what would DnD Australia look like?:smallannoyed:
1. Agriculture is Australia's primary industry. While, yes, the soil is unusually fertile (we're actually missing a nutrient or two that is needed by plants in such miniscule quantities that it was thought that it wasn't possible for soils to be deficient in them), we work around that, and there are many places that are extremely productive. Hell, my original hometown is on a wheatbelt right between two deserts (search for "Kaniva", and look for "Big Desert" and "Little Desert") and Australia's wines are world-class.
2. Dingoes came from Africa/Asiaish. From what I recall, whatever they're descended from, it's not wolves. Furthermore, they were more or less domesticated. That's how they got here in the first place: they came with the aboriginals.
Nitpicking aside... Lets see, some thoughts.
Don't forget that not all of Australia is desert (although that would certainly be a feature). There's also big plains, hostile craggy mountains (though not as large as other places), great mangrove swamps, unexplored rainforests (or jungles, if you will), and other impressive locales. The south coast of Victoria, for example, is very dramatic. Lots of sheer cliffs shielding tiny hidden beaches, lashed by wind and rain coming direct from Antarctica, abutting an ocean dotted with shipwrecking outcrops of rock.
Another important feature is our flammability (incidentally, recently South Australia had a catastrophic fire warning - the highest alert there's ever been). My former DM was working on an Aussiesque area where one part was... What was it? Something like eucalypt-like trees that released flammable gasses, that was populated by shocker lizards. I can't remember how, but the two species lived in a mutualistic relationship. I think the trees needed fire to reproduce, the shocker lizards started the fires, and... got something back. Dammit, wish I could remember :smallfrown: Anyway, yeah, fire is a very big point. The aboriginals used fire to catch food (possibly sent some species extinct that way), and in doing so they changed the landscape of Australia, increasing the amount of coverage by eucalypts and other trees adapted to fire. Several species even need fire in order to breed - the fire cracks the heavy drought-resistant seed pods open.
Not all the cool stuff about Australia is dangerous. We have, for example, water-storing frogs, non-stinging blue bees, magnetic termites, more marsupials and parrots than any continent on Earth, small mammals that sex themselves to death, feral* Tasmanian devils, adorable little bilbies, trees that shed bark and branches on a regular basis...
Don't think it'd be too hard to turn platypuses into something horrifying. Maybe mundane platies are puggles - the babies?
By the way, I find stonefish much scarier than box jellyfish. Don't forget blue-ringed octopuses, too.
I think, as I alluded to above, the sheer number and variety of parrots we have here is worth noting, too. Gallahs (bright pink and grey cheeky buggers) are everywhere, and black cockatoos are meant to herald rain. Then there's rosellas, budgies, lorrikeets, sulfur-crested and other white cockatoos...

another edit: Most of our dirt is red, and most of our beaches are white and squeaky.

*in the colloquial sense.

WeredingoAlready exists. Forgotten what they're called now (Dog man? Doesn't sound right...), but they were pretty hardcore. He slept under the sand until a certain bird called. Then he would arise, and devour anyone he found until someone injured him enough to send him howling back to the sand, to wait for the bird again.
Wereplatypus: Adowabew.
Wallabymen: Well, there's already "old man kangaroo", and according to aboriginal myth all animals were originally men, or vice-versa, or the boundaries were blurred.
Koalamen: Awwwww.

3. Take some of those animals, even the same ones, and add Dire in front of them.

Dire Dingo: Sure, I guess. Though I think you'd basically have a wolf or jackal.
Dire Kangaroo: As mentioned, already existed. Carnivorous giant kangaroo 7+ feet tall.
Dire Koala: Also existed, although they were only a bit bigger than modern koalas.
Dire Box Jellyfish: ...really?

Plenty of other stuff. For example:

Real
A goanna the size of... I dunno, a small dinosaur, or the biggest salt-water crocodile you've ever seen. When lying on the ground, its back would come up to your knees or so.
Giant wombat. A wombat (/koala) the size of a bear. Think it's already statted out somewhere.
Moas. Giant New Zealand bird far bigger and stockier than an ostrich. I think Australia had something similar.
Giant eagle. Also New Zealand, big enough that it fed on moas.
Giant platypuses, giant echidnas. Like the giant koala, just bigger versions of modern ones. Although ancient platypuses still had teeth.
Sharks, obviously. And crocodiles.
Bullants. Up to an inch long (normally about (equal to or greater than) 2cm), tough, brave, don't back down. Will stare you down like an alleyway thug.

Not Real (or is it?!)
Bunyip. Either a terrible water monster, or a type of inland seal, depending on the story.
Yowie. Australia's Bigfoot.
Wowie. Giant lizard - based on the giant goanna, perhaps?
A horrible stinking birdman type creature with huge black wings and a face set between the shoulders. Ate children who wandered away from camp.
Mindie Snake. Giant desert snake that hunted down sinners. Acidic venom.
Rainbow serpent. Creator-being with powers of transformation and over weather and landscape. If I were to give it an alignment, I'd probably go with Chaotic Neutral or True Neutral, but it's arguable. No venom.
Various spirits and semi-deities.
Tillydik(sp?). Giant frog that drank all the rivers.
There's many more than this, but can't remember right now.

Tribes of people who can transform into individual or tribal totems would fit well. Looking into the magic and belief systems could be interesting, too. Even just blurring the difference between animals and humans would add a lot to an "Australian" atmosphere.

I approve of this idea :smallbiggrin:

edit: The trope "Land Down Under" reminds me: Mining is a big deal here, though not as prominently as other industries, perhaps. A type of dwarf would be interesting. The town Coober Pedy is known for having underground ex-opal mine (sometimes not ex) homes. Opals, gold, coal and uranium are the mined goods that come readily to mind.

edit mk 2: Also, dunno whether it'd be usable, but anytime you hear an "exotic birdcall" in a movie, it's normally a kookaburra. It was used, for example, in The Wizard of Oz, King Soloman's Mines, a Tarzan movie, and, I think, Romancing the Stone.

sambo.
2009-11-24, 11:50 PM
imho: the Rainbow Serpent would be a Deity. a very, very powerful deity at that.

Yukitsu
2009-11-24, 11:52 PM
Isn't there a god of Couatls statted out around somewhere? Seems they might fit in this case.

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-25, 12:01 AM
Don't forget coneshells and spur-winged lapwings, I feel as if I should take a sword with me to bat them away on my way to work.

There could be also some interesting carnivorse combined with sugar gliders. Serpentine, remember the song?

SparkMandriller
2009-11-25, 12:04 AM
Anyway, yeah, fire is a very big point.

Hey everyone, read this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires#Overall_Statistics)

Bayar
2009-11-25, 12:18 AM
I think that Xen'drix's (sp?) can be considered as D&D's (well eberron) Autralia

Xen'drik is a jungle, and is inhabited by cannibalistic drow.

If you want Eberron Australia, use Argonessan. Dragons that talk with an awesome accent FTW !

The Tygre
2009-11-25, 12:20 AM
Ah, Serpentine. What would we do without you?

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 12:23 AM
I think we have a "black" every day of the week. Gonna investigate this claim...
Tygre: Your own research? :smalltongue:

Black Monday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday): Only sandstorms, doesn't count.
No Australian Black Tuesdays.
No Australian Black Wednesdays (wow, this is a dud so far)
Here we go, Black Thursday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Thursday_(1851)). Killed 12 people and a whooooole lotta livestock.
Black Friday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1939)). 71 people killed.
Black Saturday's already been covered.
Black Sunday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Sundays) has two bushfires and one lot of waves causing drowings.

So 4/7 Australian days are black because of bushfires, and one because we're dry as... something appropriately rude.

Myrmex
2009-11-25, 12:30 AM
Australian animals aren't that aggressive, at least towards humans. If you want stupidly dangerous megafuana, Africa is the place to be.

I guess the introduced animals can be dangerous, but all the endemic stuff is mildly retarded.

Roc Ness
2009-11-25, 12:33 AM
This made me laugh. I did not know how scary and/or useless people thought my country was. :smalltongue:

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 12:34 AM
They can be. Snakes in particular, and crocodiles will eat you if you give them a chance. Most others are humans' faults: kangaroos, emus and dingoes that are given food sometimes eventually get mental. I got cornered on a table by kangaroos once, and a friend of the family's got attacked when he was little. Also magpies (and sometimes other birds) can draw blood - there was a series of violent swoopings in Bellingen recently.

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-25, 12:35 AM
There's also Black Christmas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Christmas_(bushfires))

Saintheart
2009-11-25, 12:41 AM
Ah yes, cane toads. Possibly the least dangerous of any Australian animal.

And that's taking into account the frigging toads are VENOMOUS. That's why they've taken over half the tropical areas of Australia, because anything that eats them DIES FROM THE VENOM IN THEIR POISON SACS.

Staying on the topic of introduced species, though, there are semi-legendary accounts of giant pigs. There's even a seventies B-grade horror movie called Razorback which talks about it. Yep, that's right, we've got Dire Boars roaming around out there in the Outback, too. Hell, I've seen comparisons of domestic housecats compared with the feral cats that get loose in the wild -- the damn things are twice the size of their domestic counterparts. Dire Cats, anybody?

And lastly, there's a current rumour in the southern states of Australia that some moron let a couple of panthers out into the wild and that they're breeding out there, too.

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 12:50 AM
Another reminder! Stinging fricking trees. Big, green, soft-looking leaves, just begging to be used as part of a make-shift bush dunny. Killed a horse before. One of my lecturers said he fell down a hill covered in them. I think he had to go to hospital. Unlike some organisms we've been talking about that most of us will never see close enough to be at risk - when's the last time any of you saw a serious "beware: crocodiles" sign near you? - stinging trees are not at all rare. Travelling from Armidale to Coffs Harbour, you'll see them right by the side of the road for half the trip.

Also a tree I know as "itchy-bombs". They have hard nuts containing a seed surrounded by a cushion of tiny little hairs. When these hairs touch skin, they sting like blazes and are practically invisible. My mother once had to treat a boy who had rolled in a leaf pile at the swimming pool* and gotten covered in them from head to toe. She ended up covering him in plaster and hoping the hairs would stick to it.

Finally, my father got stung by a catfish he caught in Queensland. It hurt like hell, so he called the hospital who said to get in right away. He decided that it wasn't so bad and was probably getting better... then half an hour later crawled into the emergency room in agony.


*What an itchy-bomb tree was (is) doing at a swimming pool, I don't know.

edit: Fun fact about cane toads: They're driving the evolution of snakes. Several species of snake close to the introduction point of the toads are developing smaller mouths and larger bodies (less poison taken in, more mass to deal with it) than their counterparts further away. Also other predators, such as various birds, have learned to flip them over and eat them from the bellies to avoid the poison glands on their backs. Also dogs lick them to get high.

Yukitsu
2009-11-25, 12:54 AM
And that's taking into account the frigging toads are VENOMOUS. That's why they've taken over half the tropical areas of Australia, because anything that eats them DIES FROM THE VENOM IN THEIR POISON SACS.

Staying on the topic of introduced species, though, there are semi-legendary accounts of giant pigs. There's even a seventies B-grade horror movie called Razorback which talks about it. Yep, that's right, we've got Dire Boars roaming around out there in the Outback, too. Hell, I've seen comparisons of domestic housecats compared with the feral cats that get loose in the wild -- the damn things are twice the size of their domestic counterparts. Dire Cats, anybody?

And lastly, there's a current rumour in the southern states of Australia that some moron let a couple of panthers out into the wild and that they're breeding out there, too.

The more I don't live in this country, the more I love listening about it. If I lived there, I probably wouldn't even step outside without a flamethrower.

Edit: As an aside to the above, people lick them to get high too.

sambo.
2009-11-25, 01:03 AM
No Australian Black Wednesdays (wow, this is a dud so far)

Ash Wednesday, February 16, 1983 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_fires)


And that's taking into account the frigging toads are VENOMOUS. That's why they've taken over half the tropical areas of Australia, because anything that eats them DIES FROM THE VENOM IN THEIR POISON SACS.
i have lost several dogs this way.


Staying on the topic of introduced species, though, there are semi-legendary accounts of giant pigs. There's even a seventies B-grade horror movie called Razorback which talks about it. Yep, that's right, we've got Dire Boars roaming around out there in the Outback, too. Hell, I've seen comparisons of domestic housecats compared with the feral cats that get loose in the wild -- the damn things are twice the size of their domestic counterparts. Dire Cats, anybody?

a couple of my mates and their dogs brought down a 257kg, dressed weight boar a couple of years ago.

i have personally shot a cat roughly the size of a staffy/rotty that was stalking a brown snake.


If I lived there, I probably wouldn't even step outside without a flamethrower.
during bushfire season?

you would probably get shot, on sight. and i seriously doubt the judiciary would offer your family much justice.

hell, you would probably get shot by the cops if they spotted you.


Edit: As an aside to the above, people WITH NO SELF RESPECT lick them to get high too.
fixed that one for you.

horseboy
2009-11-25, 01:12 AM
Staying on the topic of introduced species, though, there are semi-legendary accounts of giant pigs. There's even a seventies B-grade horror movie called Razorback which talks about it. Yep, that's right, we've got Dire Boars roaming around out there in the Outback, too. You know, I've seen that one. It wasn't that bad for an "UP All Night" movie. Oh, and "Night of the Lepus." Behold the Dire Bunny!

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 01:17 AM
Ash Wednesday, February 16, 1983 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_fires)DAMMIT! I knew there was more! Bah, I'll just link this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushfires#Significant_bushfires).

during bushfire season?

you would probably get shot, on sight. and i seriously doubt the judiciary would offer your family much justice.

hell, you would probably get shot by the cops if they spotted you.Didn't think of that. Very excellent point.
If you deliberately start a fire during fire season - especially after the last one - you'd better hope the police find you first.

SilverSheriff
2009-11-25, 01:17 AM
let us not forget those Huge Wild-Cats that stalk about in Western New South Wales, I think they were Panthers but I can't be sure, anyway; they've been out killing Live-stock for ages and the Government just keeps shutting it down as a Myth even with Video evidence.

I saw it on 60 Minutes about a year ago...:smallamused:

Edit: Dammit... Drop-Bear'd...

loopy
2009-11-25, 01:55 AM
Remember, no matter how dumb, dangerous, and ridiculously poisonous the wildlife is, the locals only really hate those damn toads.

Don't forget those gakking cicada's. Who would have thought out of all the poisonous and dangerous creatures in this country, I'd hate an insect that just sits there and chirps with his mates the most.

...Too bad "his mates" number in the thousands and cause a deafening amount of noise.

Rockphed
2009-11-25, 02:16 AM
Somewhere somebody mentioned mixing the underdark with Steve Irwin(may he rest in peace, unless he prefers wrestling giant crocodiles). Its somewhere on the forum, so I'll look for it tomorrow if nobody has found that thread first.

Asbestos
2009-11-25, 02:24 AM
4. Take some other Australian animals and pair them up.

Dingaroo
Box Koala
Platydingo

Dingaroo: The hopping predator!
Box Koala: Wait, what?
Platydingo: Its a dog that can find you underwater with its eyes closed and has poisonous dew claws. Sounds awesome.

Killer Angel
2009-11-25, 03:16 AM
So yeah, what would DnD Australia look like?

Given the links in this thread, it would look like the real one, only nicer. :smallwink:

Grumman
2009-11-25, 03:25 AM
Box Koala: Wait, what?
It's a cute-looking animal that sits in eucalyptus trees with streamer-like tentacles hanging down to ground level. Anything that touches them gets stung, then mauled when the box koala jumps on its face.

Vitruviansquid
2009-11-25, 03:35 AM
A koala grown inside of a crate so that it takes on the crate's shape when it grows, making it easier to stack?

... man, I think I just described something depressing :(

Forevernade
2009-11-25, 03:37 AM
Yeah, just sticking to our modern-day Australia is not very interesting. We don't go around with anti-spider spray all day... though sometimes we find a snake baking on our porch!
If I were to run a campaign I would stick to a Dreamtime Land setting. It's all about amazing creatures making their mark on the earth - it would allow characters to do the same, setting themselves apart from the other tribal humans. Dreamtime Land lore won't run out of CR appropriate encounters either - there are so many spirits, as long as you include all the main ones you could make up other aberrations. There are half-elemental creatures, plenty of fey equivalents, and magical beasts. Monstrous humanoids, and there are gods... it pretty much fits in with any other campaign setting based on RL myth (King Arthur's tales etc).

This is not all 'correct' translation from Australian mythology to D&D terms, but it is a good start for a setting, if anyone wants to contribute I am interested in updating this to serve as a setting sauce. I will update this post with stats if anyone wants to stat out races/creatures for me.

Creatures and Races

Races

Lizardman -"Mita and Lungkata... the famous hunters!"
Medium Humanoid

Physical: Blue tongued scaley humanoids, adept at hunting.
Small Magical Beast,

Abilities:

Tatji -" "
Small Awakened Lizard

Physical: small red lizard which walks on all fours

Abilities: Skill Affinity Craft

Monsters

Wandjina[b/] - "It has been said if they had mouths, the rain would never cease."
Medium Elemental, Water subtype

Physical:
cloud and rain spirits, humans but without mouths, lacked limbs and had a skull-like face

Abilities:
If offended, can cause flooding and intense lightning.
Can draw a picture of themselves, and upon them a spell-trap (curse), triggered if offended.

[b]Yowee -"Spirit of Death"
Medium Outsider

Physical: coal-black figure, half man half beast

Abilities: Death Spells, Telekinesis, control over shadow and dust.

Yowie-Whowie -"It will eat whatever it can find, including humans!"
Medium Monstrous Humanoid, Reptilian subtype

Physical: Bipedal hybrid beast resembling a cross between a lizard and an ant with big red eyes on the side of his head, big canine teeth and large fangs.

Abilities: Nocturnal, Rage

Bunyip -" "
Large Magical Beast

Physical: dog-like face, dark fur/feathers, a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks or horns or a duck like bill

Hangs around Swamps

Abilities: Boom (sonic damage or ghost sound), healing, swim,

Dhakhan -" "

Physical: He is half fish, half snake

Abilities:

Mimis -"Gusty, raunchy, vivacious spirits of nature, known as the Mimi Spirits "
Large Fey

Physical: extremely thin and elongated bodies, so thin as to be in danger of breaking in case of a high wind. To avoid this, they usually spend most of their time living in rock crevices. Extremely white skin. Steal children if they go wandering, and glow in the dark, but are otherwise on good terms with humans. They can live in an alternate dimension (read: shadow door spell)

Abilities: neg con bonus, very good technical (skilled) hunters, spell like abilities.

Malingee -" "
Medium Native Outsider

Physical: Knees of stone that knock together, making a scraping sound, and have eyes that smolder like the coals of a cold fire. Easily detectable.

Abilities: nocturnal, skilled with stone knifes

Yara-ma-yha-who -" "
Large Fey

Physical: a little red man with a very big head and large mouth with no teeth. On the ends of its hands and feet are suckers. It lives in fig trees and does not hunt for food, but waits until an unsuspecting traveler rests under the tree, then catches the victim and drains their blood using the suckers on its hands and feet

Abilities: When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens after a post-snack nap, it regurgitates it's victim, leaving it "shorter" than before. The victim's skin also turns slightly more "red" than before creating a Yara-ma Touched. Good at hiding.

Yalungur -" "
Huge Animal
Physical: A very large eagle-like bird, similar to a Roc

Abilities: its just really freakin' big. It is castrated so cannot reproduce, so is a legendary animal.

Thinan-malkia -" "
Medium Evil Native Outsider

Physical: ???

Abilities: captures victims with nets that entangle their feet.

Thardid -"And he'll eat you right up!"
Huge Giant

Physical: Giant cannibalistic men, not very bright

Abilities: Incredible constitution and strength, extremely fast base speed, can bite through bone

-" "

Physical:

Abilities:

Anthropomorphic Kangaroos – spawn of Nambutji
Anthropomorphic Rats
Anthropomorphic Birds – special: do not have to breathe
Anthropomorphic Cats
Anthropomorphic Dingoes
Anthropomorphic Crocodiles - I'wai

ANIMALS (not including from anthropomorphic list), also in dire form
Flying Foxes
Possums
Bats
Cicada Swarms
Koala
Box Jellyfish
Drop Bears
Spiders
Snakes
Tasmanian Devils
Platypuses (with teeth)
Bull Ant Swarms
Sharks
Echidnas
Moas
Emus



Deities:

Baiame -"These are the plants you shall eat - these and these, but not the animals I have created. "
Overdiety

The Sun Mother

Almudj - Also known as Kalseru, The Great Rainbow Snake. A Creator deity of rain growth and fertility.

Altjira - A Dreamtime Sky God.

Anjea - A fertility Goddess.

Baiame - Also known as Biame. A Creator God of Life, Death, the Sky and Shamans.



Minor Deities:
Wagyl – Snake demigods that leave rivers in the path of their slither

Bagadjimbiri - Brother Creator Gods, low level deities

Bahloo - Moon man. He keeps three deadly snakes as pets.

The Barnumbir goddesses – live on the island of the dead

Minka Bird – are omens of certain death!


Alternate Rules for Death

When any non-human dies, their body turns to stone in the shape of their body. The stone can be inappropriately large or small compared to the body,
as long as it signifies the presence of the dead thing. These body-stones are often used as landmarks on maps. The size of the rock is usually
related to how great the deeds of the dead were, or how significant their death was.

Alternate Rules for Animals and trees
Most animals will be intellegent, e.g. Minimum Int of 3, and an average Int of 7.
There is a Language: Animal, which all animals can speak if they are intellegent enough.
Other non-Animal races can learn Animal language but must learn it through class feature or special case.
Trees have an intelligence of 1 or 2, and although they can convey emotions they cannot speak. Trees literally bleed blood, but when the sap combines with air it turns to sap, unless powerful magic stops it from doing so.

Alternate Rules for Race
When there is enough magic in a person, place or thing, mutilation can lead to permanent change in race, creating a new race or becoming part of another race. For example one might cut their wings off, and their offspring will not have wings. One might kill their offspring, and then a curse will be laid upon them that they will be limited to bitch the number of children they had left. Someone's legs might be stretched with powerful magic and his and his children's legs will be very long.


Weapons: (simple)

Kali – a small boomerang, returning curved stick.
Spear and Wommera – a spear holder to throw spears longer distances
Flame Eggs – eggs that act like moltov cocktails

B0nd07
2009-11-25, 03:48 AM
Here is a thread from a couple months ago that compared the outback to the underdark. There were some interesting ideas in it that might be relevant.

Underdark = Down Under? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124316)

One Step Two
2009-11-25, 03:49 AM
You want to know the terrifying thing? Most of the above mentions are the things you have a chance of seeing, somethings are much (http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/irukandji.htm) worse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irukandji_jellyfish).

Malacode
2009-11-25, 04:12 AM
I know someone already mentioned flora, but there's a lot of dangerous plants here in Aus too. The worst I can remember have been mentioned, but there are more. Also, cool plants like the Wait-a-while vine. It literally grabs you if you brush past it. I remember, when I was in primary school, our teacher getting caught in one on an excusion in the middle of the bush. Without any cutting implements, it took forever to get him free, as every time someone tried to get a vine off him, it would stick to them like velcro.

Ogremindes
2009-11-25, 04:15 AM
Dreamtime Land setting.
This is pretty interesting, a 'time of creation' setting were the world is young and malleable.

Corvus
2009-11-25, 04:17 AM
They tried to stat out Australia once but found it just too dangerous - and so toned it down and turned it into Dark Sun. :)

The Australian Megafauna would fit in great in D&D, some of which has already been mentioned (I wrote a short story featuring some of them and plan to use some more in future stories.)

These include;
Zaglossus hacketti; an echidna the size of a sheep
Diprotodon; A wombat two metres high, three metres long and 2000 KG in weight (and my personal favourite of the megafauna)
Procoptodon goliah; the largest kangaroo to ever live, at three metres tall and up to 230KG in weight.
Thylacoleo carnifex; A marsupial lion of about 100 KG, but with the strongest bite of any known mammal alive or dead. Their bite was the equivalent of a 250KG lion.
Dromornis stirtoni; A 3m, 500 KG meat eating bird. It has a slightly smaller cousin known as the Demon Duck of Doom.
Varanus priscus; A 7m, 2000 KG carnivorous lizard.

There was also a 10 metre long snake, a 7 metre long crocodile and a 2.5 metre long turtle with a horned head and spiked tail.

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-25, 04:27 AM
This is pretty interesting, a 'time of creation' setting were the world is young and malleable.

In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were REAL men, women were REAL women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were REAL small furry creatures from...oops.

pasko77
2009-11-25, 04:33 AM
You need to put there some Dodos.
Just to kill them, you know.

Forevernade
2009-11-25, 04:54 AM
They tried to stat out Australia once but found it just too dangerous - and so toned it down and turned it into Dark Sun. :)

The Australian Megafauna would fit in great in D&D, some of which has already been mentioned (I wrote a short story featuring some of them and plan to use some more in future stories.)

These include;
Zaglossus hacketti; an echidna the size of a sheep
Diprotodon; A wombat two metres high, three metres long and 2000 KG in weight (and my personal favourite of the megafauna)
Procoptodon goliah; the largest kangaroo to ever live, at three metres tall and up to 230KG in weight.
Thylacoleo carnifex; A marsupial lion of about 100 KG, but with the strongest bite of any known mammal alive or dead. Their bite was the equivalent of a 250KG lion.
Dromornis stirtoni; A 3m, 500 KG meat eating bird. It has a slightly smaller cousin known as the Demon Duck of Doom.
Varanus priscus; A 7m, 2000 KG carnivorous lizard.

There was also a 10 metre long snake, a 7 metre long crocodile and a 2.5 metre long turtle with a horned head and spiked tail.

WOW thanks for that, I had lots of fun looking each of them up, linking spazmodically to everyone on MSN, and screaming about how awesome Australia is :smallbiggrin:

horngeek
2009-11-25, 04:57 AM
Remember: In Australia, everything is poisonous, except for some of the sheep.

BobVosh
2009-11-25, 05:09 AM
Remember: In Australia, everything is poisonous, except for some of the sheep.

Hmm. I'm disturbed that you are willing to trust some sheep in Australia.

Be aware, be safe.

Grumman
2009-11-25, 05:11 AM
Remember: In Australia, everything is poisonous, except for some of the sheep.
That's not true: the crocodiles, marsupials and the majority of the sharks aren't either.

SparkMandriller
2009-11-25, 05:34 AM
Yeah, we've just had a whole thread on why half the stuff here doesn't need to be poisonous.

Saintheart
2009-11-25, 08:48 AM
a couple of my mates and their dogs brought down a 257kg, dressed weight boar a couple of years ago.

Encounter Level? What XP was given as a result? :smallwink:

dsmiles
2009-11-25, 09:32 AM
I think you're gonna have to seriously tone down the danger of living in Australia for a 1st level character to survive there.

Either that or start the characters at epic levels...:smallbiggrin:

@ Katana Geldar: Don't you mean "a time when the men were real men, the women were too, and the sheep were scared"?

hewhosaysfish
2009-11-25, 10:29 AM
Hell, I've seen comparisons of domestic housecats compared with the feral cats that get loose in the wild -- the damn things are twice the size of their domestic counterparts. Dire Cats, anybody?

Dire Cats?! Can they kill a Dire Commoner?


I think you're gonna have to seriously tone down the danger of living in Australia for a 1st level character to survive there.

Either that or start the characters at epic levels...

Exactly! With all these Dire Cats around, how will a 1st level wizard stand any chance at all?

loopy
2009-11-25, 10:32 AM
Exactly! With all these Dire Cats around, how will a 1st level wizard stand any chance at all?[/QUOTE]

Generally children are protected by epic level characters and gain experience at an astounding rate (seeing as simply surviving in this land is about as difficult as defeating a mini-boss).

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 11:06 AM
Right, I'm home now, and I've got the book I got some of the ones I mentioned from. Tales of Terror in the Enchanted World series, by the way.

Garkain: "(J)ealous guardian of the steaming mangrove forest... The size of a man, Garkain had batlike wings that carried him heavily from branch to branch. Should any lost child or rash hunter enter his territory, he swooped. The rustling wings would shroud the victim, who choked from the stench of that alien flesh, struggled feebly, and then slowly suffocated... Garkain tore the body limb from limb and wolfed the raw flesh. And forevermore the spirit of the intruder was condemned to walk in anguish..."
The picture looks like a huge pair of bat wings with human arms sticking out the end, and a fang-filled human-like face sticking straight out from the body.
Preliminary stat speculation: Chaotic Evil, Medium size, flight, constrict, nauseating stench (there's a precedent for that, isn't there?), high Strength.

Myndie Snake: "(S)torytellers warned of a serpent ten miles long that slid across the land like a moving mountain range. This was the Myndie snake, the terrible instrument of Pundjil, creator of all the universe. Transgressors of Pundjil's laws listened in dread for the sibilant voice of his servant. When they heard a hissing on the wing, they knew their crimes had caught up with them... Those who had sinned, violated taboos, or otherwise incurred their creator's wrath were easily flushed out. The avenging serpent could see and hear for many miles in all directions and movied with a speed that belied its massive size. Its victims' fate was always the same. Crouched in their hiding-holes, they felt drops of a burning rain and looked up to see cavernous jaws dripping venom..."
Prelim stat spec: Lawful Neutral, possibly similar (or related?) to Inevitables, Gargantuan or Colossal, venomous and/or acidic bite, camoflage, divination, keen senses.

The Devil-Dog (I knew it had a cooler name!): "When the shriek of the butcher bird pierced the air, the crust of the dune that hid him trembled and broke. Sand streamed from a bristled muzzle, a lolling tongue, a fanged jaw. Irrinja, the devil-dog, big as the dune itself, rose, hungry for flesh... The lone hunter... sped to the camp and found nothing but a great pool of blood. He felt a scorching breath on his shoulder and found himself staring up into the red eyes of the giant devil-dog. Irrinja leaped, but the hunter slashed with his knife... The creature's victims tumbled out, still alive... Irrinja fled into the darkness, running first on four legs, then on two. Shrinking with each step he took, he shed his canine hide, his incisors and blood-encrusted claws. Man-shaped once more, he stumbled across the dunes until he fell. In time, blowing sand would cover him over and he would sleep, waiting for the cry of the butcher bird".
As an aside, butcher birds actually have a very lovely voice.
statspec: Weredingo, Chaotic Evil, Large or Huge sized, very strong, swallow whole?

Whowie: (many people go missing, searchers find blood-soaked rocks on the banks of a nearby river) "Shaped like a lizard, twenty feet long, it supported its great weight on six legs. Its face was hideous, its mouth capacious enough to swallow a man at one gulp."
Whatever size twenty feet makes, possibly just a normal animal and therefore Neutral but not necessarily, sounds quite a lot like the giant goanna already mentioned - smaller, even. I don't think the writers quite knew how small 20ft really is... (to give an idea, the largest recorded saltwater crocodiles are up to 7m, or 23ft. Okay, not small, but not exactly a monster)

To address something someone said before, I propose two different versions of the Rainbow Serpent (and possibly others): One "original" deity or spirit, and a lesser, "monster" version.

Yukitsu
2009-11-25, 11:34 AM
during bushfire season?

you would probably get shot, on sight. and i seriously doubt the judiciary would offer your family much justice.

hell, you would probably get shot by the cops if they spotted you.

Given the choice between the millions of acres of deadly wildlife, and the lynchmobs, I'll take my chances with the lynchmob. What on earth do you folk use to not get eaten alive by things down there, if not burning everything and hoping for the best? Assault rifles and acid?

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 11:38 AM
I would like to refer you again to the link to notable bushfires. Last summer alone, more than a hundred people were killed, thousands more lost their homes, and who-knows-how-much stock was lost.
Fire is Serious Business here. Not really a joke...

Coidzor
2009-11-25, 11:49 AM
You'd have to do something to put the kebash on wightocalypses though, because any wizards would eventually decide that the entire place was borked and the smarter ones will realize that they're not going to be able to use enough fire to kill it with fire.

Yukitsu
2009-11-25, 11:57 AM
I would like to refer you again to the link to notable bushfires. Last summer alone, more than a hundred people were killed, thousands more lost their homes, and who-knows-how-much stock was lost.
Fire is Serious Business here. Not really a joke...

Same as here and grass fires, forest fires and those odd random ones that appearn in the middle of city parks. Here as anywhere, you have to know when it's appropriate to use a flamethrower, and when it's not. Unless there's no wet season in Australia, which I'm not exactly certain of.

Friend Computer
2009-11-25, 01:49 PM
Same as here and grass fires, forest fires and those odd random ones that appearn in the middle of city parks. Here as anywhere, you have to know when it's appropriate to use a flamethrower, and when it's not. Unless there's no wet season in Australia, which I'm not exactly certain of.

Only right up north. In most of the country, it is hot and dry. Hell, we had winter days in Sydney that broke 30*C!

Also, this thread made me lol.


Dire Cats?! Can they kill a Dire Commoner?
Dunno, we don't have commoners here, mundane or dire.

Lycanthromancer
2009-11-25, 02:43 PM
Dunno, we don't have commoners here, mundane or dire.Yeah. They're all clones of the spawn of Chuck Norris and Pun-Pun.

That's about as 'common' as it gets in Aussie-Land, apparently. They wrestle extradimensional abominations and eldritch horrors for fun.

Friend Computer
2009-11-25, 03:15 PM
Yeah. They're all clones of the spawn of Chuck Norris and Pun-Pun.

That's about as 'common' as it gets in Aussie-Land, apparently. They wrestle extradimensional abominations and eldritch horrors for fun.
Not for fun. Hell no.
There was even a war against Australian wildlife in the 1930's. Australia lost. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War)

Kallisti
2009-11-25, 03:55 PM
...I'm terrified of Australia now. The Aussie template must grant around +30 Constitution...

Thurbane
2009-11-25, 09:04 PM
I love how people from overseas think Australia is overrun by giant, venomous carnivores lurking around every corner. The most dangerous animal I have dealt in the last few decades was a rogue Rottweiler that had gotten out of someone's yard. The only snakes I have ever seen were in a zoo or petshop, and 99% of spiders I have found in my house have been completely harmless to humans.:smallamused:

I'm just happy not to live in a country with bears rummaging through my rubbish...or rabies infected raccoons. :smalltongue:

Lycanthromancer
2009-11-25, 09:11 PM
I'm just happy not to live in a country with bears rummaging through my rubbish...or rabies infected raccoons. :smalltongue:Don't forget the armadillos, which tend to carry the plague...

hiryuu
2009-11-25, 09:20 PM
I was working on this for a good while. I ended up cannibalizing it for my 1700s New World setting, put it in the "Australia" location... I might have those races I made floating around somewhere.

I found one part:

How the Scalefellas Came to Be

The world was a mist. Ulodaru-tan the lizard, he come walkin' out of the mist. He says "come on with me!" and the wind blew the mist away, and he saw a land. He started walkin' again, thinkin' he's in a dream, and he finds a man at the bottom of his mountain. It's Juru, the dog. Juru the dog is makin' men out of sticks, and so Ulodaru-tan wants to see, too.

So Juru makes a man, and the man is confused and doesn't know what to do. Ulodaru-tan the lizard asks why, and Juru the dog says he don't know how to make them all that smart. Well, Ulodaru-tan, he knows what to do, but he needs some time. So he goes on his walkin' and he sees the sky and the stars at night, and one night, tall men made of light come to him.

"What are you doing on our land?" one asks.

Ulodoru-tan the lizard's confused, so he gets out his water gourd and checks to make sure his water wasn't poison.

"I didn't know it was anybody's land," he replies.

"Did you not see the swamps and the mountains, the ferns, the desert you sit on, and the volcanoes that churn in the center of our land?" the leader says.

"I saw them," says Ulodoru-tan the lizard, "but I did not see anyone else."

"They are evidence we own the land," the lightfella says.

So Ulodoru-tan the lizard shrugs and keeps walkin'. The lightfellas don't follow him, and he stops.

"Do you know how to make men who are smart?" he asks.

"Why don't you ask the land?" the asked, laughing among themselves, "after all, it is the greatest thing that anyone has created."

Ulodoru-tan the lizard thinks this is a good idea, even though the lightfellas start mocking him when he brings it up. He shrugs and starts looking for rocks.

He took black stones and he threw them at the swamp, and he said "Come out!" and Ruguluru-moba the black one, he come out of the swamp. He took red stones, and he threw them at the volcano, and he said "Come out!" and so Kamacuras the red one, he come out of the volcano. He threw green stones into the ferns, and he said "Come out!" and so Logokola the green one come out of the ferns. He threw white stones into the tops of the mountains and he said "Come out!" and so Tellaku the white one come out of the snow. Lastly, he took an opal and he threw it at his feet, and he said "Come out!" and so Rojo-no-dagu the blue one, he come screamin' out of the sand.

He gets all the landed ones together, and he asks them if they know how to make men smart. They say they don't know, but they say that Ulodaru-tan is smart, and so must the lightfellas, to make all those things. Well, Ulodaru-tan gets it in his head that because he's a smart fella, and the lightfellas are smart fellas, the landed ones ought to be better, so he takes their scales and has them come with him back to Juru the dog.

He has Juru the dog and the landed ones all make a man, but the man is too smart and instantly becomes a dream. The next time, they take turns using the scales of the landed ones. This time, the men are smart, but they're the color of the land. Not really men, but close enough that Juru the dog is happy.

Ulodaru-tan the lizard, though, he's not happy, so he wanders off to find the secret of making smart men. That was, however, how the scalefella came to be. They say Ulodaru-tan is still out there, lookin' for the way to make smart men.

hiryuu
2009-11-25, 09:30 PM
Dragontouched/Scalefella
"Never claimed to be a master of the land. Always got told it was the other way 'round."

These creatures claim descent from the landed ones, Juru the dog, and Ulodoru-tan the lizard.
Personality: Dragontouched are renowned for their collections. A given individual from any dreaming might collect coins from pinkfellas, bones, skins, stones, jewelry, teeth from kills, or anything else that strikes his fancy. They fight with courage and tenacity, for life on Solmaro is an exercise in survival with each passing day, but they are not overall a warlike people (though tribes differ wildly in that respect). Their sense of reality seems somewhat skewed, but not lacking (see below). A dragontouched will not hurl his life away because he thinks he is dreaming.
Physical Description: At night under a new moon, Dragontouched are quite similar in shape to pinkfella, albeit with spiny scales or elaborate horn crests that only resemble hair in passing. Sometimes, they drill holes int eh horns to hang leather thongs with charms or bones on them. They scaled, and are the colors of the earth; where the tribes are red, they are like red clay. Where tribes are blue, they seem to shimmer like opals. Green tribes are the soft tones of the forest, white tribes are the color of freshly fallen snow with darker flecks of dried leaves, and those that are black are the color of thick muck. Metallic colors are tempered like the color of ore instead of refined metal, much like Solmaran dragons. Their eyes are slit like a cat's, and their legs are bent in a digitigrade manner. Many have tails, back spines, or other more draconic features.
Relations: Dragontouched don't quite know what to make of pinkfella. He seems to belong to one big tribe that never gets along. They see the Chakterak as much like their creators, Ulodoro-tan the lizard and the lightfella, though without the lightfella's trademark haughtiness. The Ekhel-Roh and Kutjara need to stay on their side of the river, though. The Gananru make good friends, for they dig the earth that the scalefella was born in. Of course, the Sakree are what happens when pinkfella gets it right.
Alignment: Most dragontouched aren't hidebound to alignments; they are as solid as the land, fickle as the air, angry as the volcano, or as gentle as the river. Alignment, does, however tend to run along tribal lines. Some tribes are idealistic, while others may band together under the common banner of making others suffer.
Lands: Dragontouched are literally bound to the land. Their legends tell them they are its second children, drawn from the Everywhen and made of sticks and scales. They call this their earth-dreaming. A green scalefella might have a fern-dreaming or a jungle-dreaming, while a red dragontouched might talk about his fire-dreaming or lava-dreaming. This is both the land the individual dragontouched is from and his personal religion. Since dreaming is so varied, each dream is something different to each scalefella.
Religion: Dragontouched see dreams as reality, and reality as the fantasy. That is, they see dreams as objective and linear time as subjective. Most of what they perceive as real existence centers around a concept called Everywhen, a place of mists and time beyond time where everything is "all at once." Attempting to describe the concept to pinkfella always ends in disaster, because to them, pinkfella can't seem to get it in his head that time doesn't go in a straight line to the end. Effectively, the dragontouched tribes don't have a god, but instead totem-like creatures they call alutu-injuru, which is different for every dragontouched individual, but similar for each tribe.
Language: Each dragontouched tribe has a different dialect for each region of the earth-dreaming they live on, and are expected to adopt it when they enter that tribe's given territory. In fact, they agree with the Sakree, who speak of places where the earth-dream is strong enough that you can still sing to it in its local tribal language, and it calls back.
Names: Dragontouched names are often long and involved, telling a great deal about an individual, and conventions vary greatly among tribes. Examples: Murul-bu-turu, Yulngu, Durubal, Dagalag, Mayabi, Uradhi, Kug-Unwah, Gamilraai, Kalkatungu, Bandjoru.
Adventurers: A major part of dragontouched religion centers on a person's walkin'. A dragontouched is even expected to take his walkin' at some point, picking a direction and going. This allows the scalefella to see the world before coming back home and settling down. Sometimes, though, the walkin' doesn't end, and the dragontouched just keeps taking his walkin'. A large number of such adventurers got their start just before they came of age. Of course, such walkin' fellas never became adults, at least, not by their tribe's reckoning.


+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma.
Humanoid (dragonblood): Dragontouched are humanoids with the dragonblood subtype.
Base land speed 30 feet.
Darkvision: Dragontouched have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Dragontouched can see twice as far as pinkfella in dim lighting, such as torches and starlight.
Racial Skill bonus: Dragontouched receive a +2 bonus on three skills based on their earth-dreaming.
Black (Acid): Hide, Move Silently, Swim
Blue (Electricity): Bluff, Hide, Spellcraft
Brass (Fire): Bluff, Gather Information, Survival
Bronze (Electricity): Disguise, Swim, Survival
Copper (Acid): Bluff, Hide, Jump
Gold (Fire): Disguise, Heal, Swim
Green (Acid): Bluff, Hide, Move Silently
Red (Fire): Appraise, Bluff, Jump
Silver (Cold): Bluff, Disguise, Jump
White (Cold): Hide, Move Silently, Swim
Energy Resistance: Dragontouched gain resistance 5 to their earth-dreaming energy.
Dragontouched gain the Draconic Heritage feat as a bonus feat.
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic. Bonus Languages: Any.
Favored Class: Sorcerer

hiryuu
2009-11-25, 09:42 PM
Aha, I even found my map.


http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Solmaro/solmaro.jpg

SilverSheriff
2009-11-25, 09:45 PM
Fire is Serious Business here. Not really a joke...

I dunno, I've met tonnes of people who now call Victoria 'Bushfireland', emphasizing everything after the F because at the time of the fires I was living in Ballarat, which is home to the prestigious Saint Patrick's College.

Note that Ballarat was also only a couple of K's away from the fire itself, close enough even that they closed down one of the schools in the near-by town of Creswick, this school was almost hit in a bushfire back in my youngin' days when I was attending said school.

My family moves around a lot and I don't approve.

Corvus
2009-11-25, 09:47 PM
Arrg, I can't resist anymore.

Recently I've been reacquainting myself with Dark Sun (in preparation for 4E Dark Sun), playing Borderlands, reading this thread, and related threads of TvTropes and of course the badassoftheweek entry for Australia.

It has surprised me that the only really fantasy story set in a Australianesque setting in Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent, and that is pure comedy.

So I had this idea for a story kicking around, set in a fantasy equivalent of Australia, with all the stereotypical tropes of killer wildlife and plants and landscape, and of course all those extinct and mythical creatures, and the characters dialed up to eleven like the Croc hunter and Croc Dundee.

Possibly will throw in some steampunk elements as well.

Thurbane
2009-11-25, 10:33 PM
Aha, I even found my map.


http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Solmaro/solmaro.jpg

http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/tolkiens_australia.jpg

SparkMandriller
2009-11-25, 10:42 PM
I like how even the fantasy version of Australia is still filled with vast expanses of nothing.

hiryuu
2009-11-25, 11:01 PM
http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/tolkiens_australia.jpg

Ah, the Tolkeinstralia, I think I have that on my hard drive somewhere...

Serpentine
2009-11-25, 11:04 PM
I like how even the fantasy version of Australia is still filled with vast expanses of nothing.Wouldn't be any version of Australia if it wasn't.

Now, can I find that Dilbert comic...

GallóglachMaxim
2009-11-25, 11:39 PM
I like how even the fantasy version of Australia is still filled with vast expanses of nothing.

Maps can't really handle the mind-boggling amount of nothing. Some areas are like being in space.

Friend Computer
2009-11-26, 06:43 AM
Maps can't really handle the mind-boggling amount of nothing. Some areas are like being in space.
Except space doesn't have camels and spiders and snakes and honey-filled ants.

Wait... No, my mistake. Space does have honey filled ants.

Serpentine
2009-11-26, 11:13 PM
I really want to try honeypot ants sometime. Chocolate-dipped would be a bonus.
I had witchetty grubs once. From memory, they were like a sandy paste wrapped in prawn shell. I can't remember the actual taste, though.

For D&Difying purposes, you could tweak the honeypot ants. What if the ants were, for starters, giant, and for seconds instead of feeding on and storing honey, they fed on, say, gold? You could have mines full of giant gold-filled ants hanging from the roof...

Jack Mann
2009-11-27, 12:44 AM
Or were filled with something explosive. Just for grins and giggles.

Bhu
2009-11-27, 01:09 AM
Don't forget the armadillos, which tend to carry the plague...

It's leprosy. People have been acquiring it by wrestling the dillos. COurse if theyre gonna pick on lil critters they get what tehy have coming...


Oh and a link for you. Theres also an excellent supplement for Call of Cthulhu set in australia with plenty of weird mythological critters

http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Category:Australian_aboriginal_myt hology

Lycanthromancer
2009-11-27, 01:24 AM
It's leprosy. People have been acquiring it by wrestling the dillos. COurse if theyre gonna pick on lil critters they get what tehy have coming...Ah, I misremembered. My mistake.

Still not something I want to have to deal with. Both rot you in your own skin, and they suck.

jiriku
2009-11-27, 10:41 AM
Except space doesn't have camels and spiders and snakes and honey-filled ants.

Wait... No, my mistake. Space does have honey filled ants.

Australia is in fact overrun with vicious, bathroom-destroying camels. Thousands of them.

See for yourself. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34167067/ns/world_news-asiapacific/)

Edit: You aren't safe anywhere...even on the john.

Friend Computer
2009-11-27, 12:13 PM
Australia is in fact overrun with vicious, bathroom-destroying camels. Thousands of them.

See for yourself. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34167067/ns/world_news-asiapacific/)

Edit: You aren't safe anywhere...even on the john.
Err... I don't mean to sound like a **** or anything, but how, exactly, did you understand my post?
I thought it was clear I was saying that Australia had these things, but space didn't...