Ideas for creatures in a magical world

[Randel]

When watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, I thought how neat it was that they have their world populated by mix and match creatures like vulture-wasps, or sabertooth moose-lions. Also, in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland there are thoughts on seemingly normal animals being modified by wizards to survive in a world with monsters in it.

So, what sorts of creatures, either natural or modified can we come up with to put in a magical world?


Natural Creatures:

Minor oozes- oozes that range from the size of slugs to rats, a garden pest found mostly in wet climates. They do nasty damage to leafy crops but can't hurt trees and most animals can destroy them. Salt kills them but if dried out in other ways they go into hibrination until they are moistened again. In some cases they may group into swarms or even combine into a larger ooze in which case they become a real threat similar to a locust swarm. Arguably, most oozes have a 'minor ooze' form that is harmless until they combine into a larger one.

Acid toads- toads with an acidic skin that causes irritation if held, preyed upon by snakes or some other animals. They become edible to humans if killed and washed properly. Notable in that they are one of a few natural animals that prey on minor oozes and can survive being engulfed by any ooze for about five minutes. Wizards are experimenting on making a version that can eat oozes while not harming crops with their own acid.

Wandering Trees- trees that have a limited capacity for travel. Normally they stay rooted to one spot for years at a time but in a pinch they can uproot themselves over a period of several days in order to move away. They can't outrun a woodcutter but when attacked they may shake and moan or cause a branch to fall down on the attacker (known as a widow-maker branch). Most woodcutters respect them and only pick up branches that fell out naturally, preferring the non-mobile trees for their wood. Wandering trees can communicate with eachother through a network of roots and if danger threatens the forest then the wandering trees are likely to begin uprooting themselves to evacuate the area. Their movement is said to fortell great danger.

Deception Wolves- Wolves who display a remarkable amount of intelligence, or at least a remarkable voice box. They have been known to imitate the calls of various animals such as sheep and even birds. There have been cases of them imitating the voice of a human, ususally repeating some well-used phrase like 'Dinners ready!' or 'Good morning'. Darker stories tell of them imitating the call of a parent for their chilren, and then eating the child when they come, then attacking the parent when they come to answer the childs call of help... or the wolves imitation of their childs cries. Zoologists and wizards alike are sure that these wolves are non-sentient and that many of the nastier stories about them are exaggerated or should be attributed to were-wolves. Aside from their wider vocabulary, Deception Wolves are otherwise identical to normal wolves.


Augmented Creatures:

Booze cows- Originally created by an eccentric dwarven wizard, the booze cow is an otherwise normal cow who gives alchohol instead of milk. The origional booze cows produced inferior quality spirits, equivelent to cheap ale or beer mixed with milk. But further experimentation with breeding and diet has produced some that can produce gallons of fine ale or whiskey on a daily basis. The calves of a booze cow must be given to a normal cow to raise since the booze cows 'milk' would be extremely unhealthy for it. Booze cows are valued a great deal by their owners and they can sell for up to ten times the price of a normal cow. For this reason and more, they are frequently targeted by thieves and bandits either to later sell for a profit or in the case of some monstrous humanoids and giants, to just get the alcohol they produce. Note that when milking a high-quality booze cow it is vital to keep them away from open flames.


Messenger Ravens- A special breed of raven magically bred to be able to memorize a persons message, fly to a determined location, and repeat the message for its determined recipient. They are preferred over mundane messenger pidgins due to their better capacity for directions and not having any notes tied to them that can be read. Some users color their ravens a different color before sending them out, so that enemies who know of such animals won't think to target them. Sky-blue is a favored color in this respect. The animals extraordinary ability works exactly like the Animal Messenger ritual and the ritual (or spell) Speak With Dead can be used to extract the messages from a Messenger Raven that has been killed.


Blood turnips- Originally created by a wizard as a rather smart-ass way to disprove a popular saying, the blood turnip has shown a little popularity among vampires and some healers. While the original blood turnips were rather unappetizing (though still edible) to vampires, some dedicated growers have developed strains that are quite palatable to them (these blood turnips have the unusual quality of growing warm soon after being removed from the ground). Healers have also grown strains of blood turnips that can either provide transfusable blood or provide a nutrient-rich juice that the body can easily digest and replenish blood with.


Any other ideas?

[AslanCross]

Older D&D editions had legions of bizarre mix-and-match creatures. Owlephants, Owlbears, Squarks, and Duckbunnies.

[bosssmiley]

SOP of the Mad Wizards Guild:

1. Take two animals.
2. Cut-and-paste.
3. Scream "What has science done?!" as the newly created squirrelion, batpotamus or monkeybird gets loose, breeds and creates havoc.

Inspiration

[potatocubed]

squirrelion, batpotamus or monkeybird

Excellent, excellent, I'll add those to the list for statting up as soon as I'm done with the eagle-whale.

(My players are going to encounter the crazy wizard responsible for all this crossbreeding, once they're done taking tea with the undead and hunting the furry moon priestess.)

EDIT: Even better! Sorcerous iron chef! "Who can make the best creature out of these constituents?"

[BobVosh]

EDIT: Even better! Sorcerous iron chef! "Who can make the best creature out of these constituents?"

I would watch that. Every day. Hells ya on TiVo.

Why is it always animals though? And only two? If we are doing "a wizard did it" why do they limit themselves thus? I really want to see a Batosaurus Bearded Devil. Imagine it, I dare you.

[Totally Guy]

My players headed into a deep forest where they came across the valley of the sit-downs.

A sit-down is a little pink naked person that just sits down quietly on things. Their heads are long and thin and at the top they have two little holes. On first glance they look like eyes but really they are more like nostrils.

When the players disturbed one it hummed and shot a cloud of gas out of its nostril holes. The gas signalled to the other sit-downs that they should become incorporeal as a defence mechanism. The gas had no dangerous effects and smelled of cinnamon.

The players loved them. And insisted they keep one as a pet.

[BobVosh]

My players headed into a deep forest where they came across the valley of the sit-downs.

A sit-down is a little pink naked person that just sits down quietly on things. Their heads are long and thin and at the top they have two little holes. On first glance they look like eyes but really they are more like nostrils.

When the players disturbed one it hummed and shot a cloud of gas out of its nostril holes. The gas signalled to the other sit-downs that they should become incorporeal as a defence mechanism. The gas had no dangerous effects and smelled of cinnamon.

The players loved them. And insisted they keep one as a pet.

Awesome. I would keep 2 as pets, so they can gas each other.

[bosssmiley]

My players headed into a deep forest where they came across the valley of the sit-downs.

A sit-down is a little pink naked person that just sits down quietly on things. Their heads are long and thin and at the top they have two little holes. On first glance they look like eyes but really they are more like nostrils.

When the players disturbed one it hummed and shot a cloud of gas out of its nostril holes. The gas signalled to the other sit-downs that they should become incorporeal as a defence mechanism. The gas had no dangerous effects and smelled of cinnamon.

The players loved them. And insisted they keep one as a pet.

Cool. They sound like something from Gearworld (Actuarial Snails and the Potato Monks are personal favourites, also St. Egg).

[Totally Guy]

I also had some scorpion birds.

They are poisonous. They are killed by any attack unless a nat 1 comes up on "to hit". They only hit the players on a natural 20. And then there is no damage but a chance of a sickness.

Not dangerous to PCs but dangerous to a town for a plot device.

[chiasaur11]

You know, that puppy/alligator/bat thing is pretty awesome.

I'd want one.

[Doomsy]

FUNGUSAUR!

Seriously, you have to say it aloud to get the full affect.

[Coidzor]

Any examples of rules/guidelines for creating such misfits?

[Fax Celestis]

Any examples of rules/guidelines for creating such misfits?

The Book of Templates, a third-party book put out by Goodman Games, has a "Half Creature Template" that's really very good at making things like half-chimaera lions, half-beholder medusae, and half-shark bullettes.

[hamishspence]

there are many templates out there, some particularly exotic.

Or just Build a Monster using MM rules.

[Totally Guy]

Any examples of rules/guidelines for creating such misfits?

It's easier if you come up with a magic mundane creature that dies when attacked.

[Devils_Advocate]

Stupid monsters and more stupid monsters. They're all over the place in various editions of D&D, many of them mix-and-match critters. Others are like various real animals but bigger and stronger or with bizarre special abilities. Yet others look like artificial objects.

[snowbard55]

I actually make stuff like this alot in my spare time (and I have alot of it lol)

Natural Creatures:

Deathmanders- A genus of giant salamanders ranging from 3 1/2 to 7 feet long native mostly to warm, moist areas (although there is a rarer species adapted to the arctic). They are ambush predators that prefer to burry themselves under the soft dirt (or snow) and wait for prey to wander by, which the Deathmanders sense via vibrations. The largest species can tackle prey as big as moose. Some are known to have a venomous bite.

Flying monkies- A species of monkey native to the tropics. They are only about 1 foot long from tail to head and appear like normal monkies, except for the extra set of limbs which have moved to the back and been modified into wings. These animals are quite adept flyers and can easily outmanuever the birds and bats that make up their diet. The flying monkies are known to drop on the heads of unwary travelers to steal food they may be carrying.

Augmented creatures

Magic Deathmanders- These creatures have a wide range of appearences and come in as many sizes as the normal Deathmanders. These creatures all originate from a batch that a wizard modified to guard his keep, many of which escaped and bred. There are several know varieties including fire breathers, acid spitters, invisible deathmanders, flying deathmanders, and ones that can reach 30 feet long.

Boiling Chickens- Average looking chickens who are capable of cooking their own eggs. Created by an exceptionally lazy wizard, females of this speciemen will lay about 10 eggs, only half of which can ever actually be fertilized. She will then gently roll the unfertile eggs, put them in a small puddle or bucket, and emit a light flame to soft-boil them from her beak. Boiling chicken farms are always sure to keep good sized buckets in their coops.

[Dhavaer]

A miniature elephant to be kept as a housepet: the mimmoth.

[snowbard55]

Just some ideas for chimeras

Goriger- Front quarters of a gorilla and hindquarters of a tiger.
Croligator-Body of a lion, scaled up wings of crow, head and tail of crocodile.
Snaig-Body of a pig and long neck and head of a snake (viper)
Kangabear-Body of a bear with back legs and tail of a kangaroo
Wolow- Body and head of a cow with wolf claws, eyes, and tail.

And of course....The dreaded bunnywolf, the ferocious penguinlion, and the terrible ducksnake.

[evil-frosty]

I also had some scorpion birds.

They are poisonous. They are killed by any attack unless a nat 1 comes up on "to hit". They only hit the players on a natural 20. And then there is no damage but a chance of a sickness.

Not dangerous to PCs but dangerous to a town for a plot device.

personally i would beef those up a little just to annoy the party because as a DM i like sorta being unfair sometimes cuz when i dont DM my character was used as a meat shield i died every other encounter was not fun. So i tunnel that emotional stress into being unfair lol

[Armoury99]

Last time I played a wizard I toyed with this kind of thing. The result was Dwarverines (half dwarf/half wolverine) and Humming Cows (part cow part humming bird): They were pretty tricky - you'd either get a normal cow that could fly on tiny wings or a hummingbird-sized cow that provided exactly one cup of tea's worth of milk when squeezed.