Suggestion 2010/01/22(Fri)15:39 No. 9532 ID: 34470e
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You might want a name for the species. I suggest "Sland".

I'm not much of a creature designer.
But I guess a sensible approach would be thinking about things like abilities, habitat and diet first and then figure out what the creature needs to fulfill those requirements. Add some cosmetic details and you've got a somewhat reasonable creature.

Well it depends on how alien you want them to be, really. If you're going for extremely humanoid like elves and dwarves, just start with a human and start changing stuff.

If you want some humanoid or humanish guys, map out senses and features and determine what they're used for. Add in some other senses, like night vision, water breathing, or infrared vision, then pick a few main things to incorporate, and while you do, start figuring out why they might have those senses and where they originate from, that way you can use the information you come up with to add more features. For instance, if you designed a race that could sense magnetism, you could put them in a metal-heavy environment and give them some metal wallwalking appendages.

If you want to go REALLY alien, stare at some abstract art or make a crazy biome for them to occupy, like a hollow planet made up of a bunch of fibers that span across it somehow.

The thing is, you see, and I guess I should have mentioned this, is that they don't really have to make sense, or at least not in a sciency biological way. They're, well, magic. A vague elements/animals/ecological theme should be in there, they should have enough biological sense to them to look "natural", and most of these species should have some sort of purpose.

The one I pictured, which I call aegeris (andInoticedthesandslashresemblancebutthankyouanyway) are related to Earth and have a sort of personal bodyguard purpose, with the big scaled arms to shield people with and enough strength to carry their stuff. I'm thinking they can roll into a ball around a person/object too, but I have to give more thought to how their limbs fit in that case.

Still, the advice only has to be adapted. What were they meant to do, where are they supposed to live, what are they supposed to eat. But they don't have to make sense, and I'd like each one to have a few of the weird quirks you associate with supernatural creatures, like not being able to cross a line of sprouted grain or having to obey a child who kisses them on the nose or whatever.

But does that make it easier or harder?

It makes it harder, but it does open up more possibilities. For the pangodillo, giving them flat features would probably help.

>>319336

You mean, like a big shield plate across the top of their head? Make it more like a wedge?

>>319339
No the head seems pretty fine if the furry mane is soft enough to work as a cushion for people, I was referring more to the upper arms and legs.

>>319343

I'm not sure if I'm getting what you mean. Larger/more armoured upper arms and legs to cover gaps when curled up?

Well, there needs to be some space, for someone/thing else to be inside. I was thinking of adding some big shoulder spikes/scales, almost like pauldrons, and then when they curl up the scales on the head/back/tail, shoulders and arms spread out like a fan to cover openings.

Anonymous 2010/01/22(Fri)19:34 No. 9549 ID: 6c4eda
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Thread's paying off already! Thought up a concept: "something to watch, find and hunt things", imagined it in terms of Air, and came up with this. Drawing rather poor, as I just tried to trace a sketch I did on paper. Tablet's not so good for that.

Four eyes for panoramic sight, four ears (inspired by penji), four sets of deadly claws front and back and four wings because, hey, why not go with the theme. Razor beak for extra damage-dealing and then the three tails for aesthetic (and possibly some magical sense organ or similar). Probably wouldn't work biologically but hey, it looks pretty cool! Just need to think of a name and some supernatural flavours.

Thanks for the advice!

Cool. Nice work. Make a neat RPG monster or something like that. No landing gear, though.


Something to remember, also, is that all features have a cost. IRL, more strength needs more calories, one reason why humans out-competed neanderthals. When I was hammering tozol together, tons and tons of features popped into my head, but it's important to remember that they can't just get more features indefinitely.

Still, something with too many features is still cooler than just some same old same old.

>>319353

Well, as air-aligned magical creatures they could just hover all the time, though that does feel like a cop-out. Then again, they're not exactly in line with aerodynamics anyway. Still... perhaps they land on vertical surfaces like trees, cliffs and such, or are light enough to just pull up, spread their wings out completely and "parachute" slowly to the ground.

I understand what you mean about features. Again, these are sort-of magical, so it's not so limited by biology, but I still want to avoid overloading any one creature. It'd get confusing, screw with the sense of purpose I want in 'em, and leave less to put into another species.

>>319345
Indeed there needs to be space, but if the belly is as flat as it looks, with the size of the limbs there should be enough to protect it, but with the thinness of the upper arms, it seems like there would be gaps, and the way the legs are oriented it looks somehow detrimental to curling. Fanning scales could work, but it seems unnecessarily complicated for it.

Anonymous 2010/01/22(Fri)20:54 No. 9560 ID: 6c4eda
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Ok one more critter, going full-on supernatural this time. A soul collector. The tatterdemalia slowly traverse the land in search of the lost souls, forgotten memories and fleeting emotions that constantly collect in the world. With gentle, murmuring voices and careful hands they soothe these fragments of self and stow them in their own bodies, carrying them on until they make the journey back to their father, who works them together into whole, healthy things again. Though feared for their immense size and tendency to gather at places of great slaughter or strife, they are peaceful creatures that will courteously take madness from the living as well as the dead. They compulsively gather scraps of cloth to drape or tie over themselves.

>>319356

I want it to be a bit sleek as well. I know it's Earthy, but I still want it to be relatively quick and agile. It's basically a guardian create and needs to be able to fight things off and carry its charge to safety as well as just shielding them. So, it should look it.

Alright, I think I've got the hang of it now.

Thanks, guys!

>>319360
Reminds me of the old Goron from Majora's Mask :Dc

I like your creatures. My one bit of advice to anyone making something of their own is to not go overboard with decoration. Making a sparkledog doesn't make it creative or appealing, though you appear to be doing a dang fine job keeping your creatures fairly simple.

Don;t forget, for the less CRAAAAZY animals and critters, to think of why they would have each feature.

Anonymous 2010/01/23(Sat)06:05 No. 9573 ID: c593ec
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There are many ways to come up with interesting creatures. Consider real-world creatures. Consider things that make real-world creatures interesting. Think about weird things about real-world creatures (horns, stinging nettles, camoflage, etc). Expand out from any of these things, changing it, shifting it, playing with it. Countless lines of thought away from these topics can yield great results. "What if this weren't the case, or didn't have to be this way?" "What if an entire ecosystem were built around this?" "What if this creature had a different diet, society, or climate?" "What if this creature shared these qualities with this other creature?" "What if this creature didn't have these things?" and on and on.
You can get more abstract, too. Try to think up creatures to represent concepts, or ideas. Creatures that reminds you of something but others won't recognize the same way. Creatures built around dreams you've had. Anything like that.

But perhaps the best way is just to draw.
Just fill up a page with weird things that enter your head, and don't worry if they don't make sense. Things that would never go together. Things that you've never tried. If you always draw sleek, lithe creatures, draw something huge and blocky. If you always draw vicious, spined creatures, try something fluffy and harmless. Just fill up the paper, and when (and if) you need to later, you can redraw some of your favorites, tweak them, refine them, evolve them, until you're satisfied.