Questions tagged [creature-design]
For questions regarding the viability of a life-form design. These questions should focus on biologically plausible creatures.
1
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3answers
116 views
Regeneration slaves
When some humans, humanoids and mythical creatures have an incredibly powerful magical regeneration it seems quite obvious that in times of need and growth some countries would try to capture them and ...
2
votes
1answer
66 views
How do I explain the compound eyes of my creatures?
Previous to this question, I made a post regarding many questions about the biology of the creature I had been designing. Looking back on it, I realized that I asked a LOT of questions for just one ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
biologic liquid weapon
Imagine human like creatures with glands inside their forearms that can quickly produce a liquid that when exposed to air turns to a solid has hard as bone.
The liquid can be used to create and throw ...
2
votes
2answers
115 views
Is there a name for being able to switch between bipedal and quadrupedal? [on hold]
I've got a species that can switch between orthograde/bipedal and pronograde/quadrupedal, much like the werewolves in Skyrim, but I don't know what to call that. Does it have a name?
-2
votes
1answer
95 views
How much pneumatization is possible? [closed]
So, one of the most common theories about how dragons could maybe still fly, the living gasbag theory.
Basically, most of the dragon is a cavity filled with lifting gas or air, in order to reduce its ...
6
votes
1answer
69 views
How could my humanoids metabolize smoke?
I have a species of humanoids that spends a lot of time around fire. They are able to spark their own fires, and they have a reasonable fire resistance. One problem presenting itself is smoke ...
1
vote
1answer
137 views
How big of a taur do you get out of a human?
The title sort of explains what I'm asking, but here is some context;
Bill shouldn't have taken that help wanted ad for the mad scientist
up the street. Now his legs were gone, and replaces with ...
6
votes
2answers
152 views
Is this radio communicating creature viable? (Volutus sapiens)
I have already reviewed a few questions about the feasibility of a radio communicating creature. Like these:
How would organic EM transmitters/recievers be different than our mechanical ones
...
4
votes
0answers
103 views
How can I change life on a planet and the presence of Nitrogen in the nitrogen cycle and what effects are there
Nitrogen makes up most of our atmosphere, it gets fixed by bacteria, legumes, etc., and enters the soil in a different form to be used by plant life. The nitrogen gets buried in sedimentary rock over ...
5
votes
2answers
150 views
Which hydrogen halide to have in blood to replace water?
So I want to have an alien creature on a planet with a halogen atmosphere. It will have to be at a temperature where the hydrogen halide is liquid or solid.
This hydrogen halide I would have as the ...
9
votes
2answers
139 views
How could my humanoids have fire resistant hair and skin?
Explanations for fire setting are easier to come by than explanations for fire resistance. Being able to set fires with nothing more than their hands, my 'fire-setters' need protection from the flames....
7
votes
4answers
298 views
Would carbon fiber be a good choice to strengthen human bones, and how would that work?
Background
Hi all, I'm revisiting my musings on plausibly strengthening the human skeleton to better withstand the stresses of combat, melee in particular. If y'all don't care about background, skip ...
3
votes
2answers
145 views
Draconic Centaurs
And you thought I was finally done with centaur questions.
I have a centaur race called the Draconitaurs. They're essentially centaurs, but with western dragons instead of horses.
The dragon tropes ...
0
votes
1answer
108 views
Metamorphosis Lycanthropy Part 2
If you notice the part two, yeah I had one before this. Please read it before reading this one: Metamorphosis Lycanthropy
Edit: just figured out it was closed. Sigh . . .
Edit 6
You have been ...
-3
votes
3answers
140 views
Creature that can sleep/hibernate under the water for a very long time [closed]
There's a god that can morph into any creature he wants. He wanted to sleep for a very long time (like centuries), and found a perfect place at the bottom of a lake that is connected to the open sea. ...
0
votes
2answers
113 views
Is simultaneous hermaphrodite species stable?
I'm writing a story set in the after the end world scenario. The very few humans who survived the apocalypse in the facilities deep underground, decided that human race is too self-destructive and ...
4
votes
2answers
113 views
Is a species that uses males of related species plausible?
I'm worldbuilding a species X that doesn't have males. All members are females. X reproduces sexually using males from related species Z.
There it combines the shared chromosomes but passes unique ...
3
votes
2answers
168 views
Metamorphosis Lycanthropy [closed]
Edit 1.5
You are a biologist and have perfected a Werewolf Serum 6, a special virus that interacts with the brain and will make a human turn into a werewolf-like animal. The serum is created with ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Requesting help with physiological merfolk concept
The concept I have is merfolk that don't breath underwater and preserve a very human appearance from the waist up.
I need to keep human (or at least very human-like) hair, skin, and
eyesight in ...
6
votes
2answers
100 views
Feasibility of Bipedal Chelonians
I'm creating a creature that possesses an outwardly Chelonian-like appearance. However, the creature is bipedal. Specifically, the creature possesses upright, pillar-like hind limbs, as well as a ...
12
votes
4answers
246 views
Feasibility of a Crystal Ecosystem
In my Fantasy world there exists a crevice. Plants and animals made of glittering, iridescent crystalline structures in abundance. The crevice can contain any arbitrary materials that might make the ...
7
votes
5answers
272 views
Would there be any major disadvantages for a species to have six legs instead of four?
I want a world in which animals roam the wilderness on four legs, yet at least some of them are able to do the kind of carrying and fine handling of objects done by humans. The planet is superficially ...
11
votes
6answers
3k views
How would anthropomorphic, but arm-less, snakes or eels hold things?
In my book series (more on that here), the galaxy is inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, humans, and mythical creatures. The anthropomorphic animals are similar to Narnia's talking animals, except ...
47
votes
5answers
6k views
Anatomically correct sharknado shark
Raining animals is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals fall from the sky. Such occurrences have been reported in many countries throughout history. One hypothesis is that ...
20
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23answers
6k views
How to differentiate between different races of shape shifters?
In my world I have a race of god-like beings who I've recently decided should be shapeshifters. However everything in my world comes in threes, and there are three races / clans of these beings. For ...
5
votes
2answers
132 views
What would the size constraints on my creature be?
Context
This creature right here is one of the decedents of placoderms that that transitioned from rivers to land. The got onto land during the Middle Devonian and remained isolated from all other ...
0
votes
2answers
93 views
Foul Smelling Flatulence Flyers
I am trying to flesh out the details of an interesting animal (for D&D) that will both disgust my players while at the same time have them think the animal is a "useful" creature. I want the ...
0
votes
3answers
210 views
How is petrification by venom scientifically plausible?
In my book series (link here), there is a character named Rhys. Rhys is a highly mutated wasp whose mutation gave him the following benefits:
His armor is immune to most of the medieval-style weapons ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
The face changer species
"All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces"
-Mad World by Roland Orzabal
What if a humanlike species can actually wear out their faces and need to change them?
Possibly by ...
2
votes
3answers
124 views
Alien Senses: Active electrolocation
In the course of designing fictional species I often find myself wishing to use exotic senses which we humans lack. This poses a unique and interesting challenge as without possessing the sense myself ...
16
votes
9answers
4k views
How does a mimic move?
Alright, so take your basic (not DnD or any other universe specific) mimic: an unassuming treasure chest that turns out to secretly be a monster as soon as you open it. This particular creature is one ...
6
votes
3answers
380 views
Plausible materials/chemicals for a sentient blob creature to be made out of
In my book series (link here), there is a blob creature (lime-green in color, has a radioactive glow, is sentient, has a bizarre and uncanny intelligence level (has the emotional intelligence and "...
13
votes
2answers
187 views
What would a hexapodal skeleton look like?
Having looked at some of the questions regarding creatures with more than four limbs, I've found some useful info, like the idea that additional limbs increase stability while requiring more brain ...
4
votes
1answer
83 views
How heavy can a dog-sized creature be with wings about 2-3 times its size?
The creature I have in mind is more or less the size of a large dog (think Great Dane). It will have wings on its back similar to a dragon. Now I'm struggling with how heavy these creatures can be for ...
5
votes
3answers
117 views
Societal Structure of Sapient Herd Animals
So, bit of an unusual question, but here goes...
As I've read on other questions on the site, a creature gaining sapience would not automatically translate to a society equal to ours, and I believe ...
5
votes
4answers
164 views
Could an intelligent race of seals craft tools effectively?
A while ago, I asked a bunch of questions about my alternate Earth timeline, which contains plausible fantasy creatures. One of the concepts I've devised more recently is a solution for mermaids (Most ...
3
votes
5answers
228 views
On what conditions would a four-eyed creature evolve to have six eyes?
I'm designing an alien world on which its creatures evolved from four-eyed early life forms. However, there is a fair amount of other beings that have six or even eight eyes. How could such creatures ...
3
votes
2answers
101 views
Secondarily Plantigrade Limbs
So, this came about when I was attempting to construct create a unified Kaiju universe, and wondering about a hypothetical evolutionary path of Godzilla. However, I figured that it could also open up ...
0
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0answers
47 views
Would different blood types matter to vampires? [duplicate]
Pretty straightforward question here. Feel free to run wild with it.
Would blood type matter to a vampire? Could they only feed on a blood type matching their own? Would a different typing have ...
4
votes
4answers
226 views
Can a continental scale creature develop it's own ecosystem? How?
I am designing a monster that is as large as a continent. It flies across the planet very slowly and has basically a snake form. Life cannot exist on the planet's surface so the animals are drawn to ...
3
votes
2answers
94 views
Could a species evolve a defensive ability to excrete a super acid?
I am working on creating a sapient reptilian species from a mineral-rich Planet that has very little flora. I was wanting this species to use a super acid (specifically fluoroantimonic acid) excreted ...
9
votes
3answers
337 views
Asymmetrical Limbs
So, I've been designing an alien species, actually a redesign of something from childhood. However, I've recently come into an issue with its limbs.
The creature possesses two arms. The right arm is ...
6
votes
2answers
149 views
Tusks of a Cyclops
It has been said that one of the inspirations of the Cyclops of Greek mythology was from a skull of a dwarf elephant. Being twice the size of a human, people interpreted the nasal cavity (for the ...
10
votes
4answers
437 views
Anatomically correct radio communication
Could animal produce less than 700MHz radio waves to communicate ? I don't want those waves interfere with mobile phones and other intercontinental radio communication my space colonists would use. Is ...
66
votes
11answers
12k views
Anatomically correct “XKCDius lethalissimus”
Inspired by today's XKCD comic
How could a creature, momentarily called XKCDius lethalissimus, evolve to have the following features:
Be radioactive (intended as more radioactive than the ...
2
votes
5answers
1k views
Blunt force resistant armor?
In my fantasy world, monsters of several varieties all exist. However, it seems the majority of them have enough stab resistance that blunt force is the best way to defeat them. I want to have a ...
1
vote
4answers
138 views
Finding the right opponent for adventurers [closed]
Turns out, creating a species of essentially immortal humans with the minds of hardcore World of Warcraft and D&D players was a horrible idea.
To prevent these vile parasites from destroying all ...
5
votes
3answers
211 views
How effective would an iron sulphide carapace be at resisting small-arms gunfire?
I've been designing a race of humanoids with a thick chitinous arthropodal carapace resilient to small-calibre gunfire and physical trauma that would cripple a normal human being. This carapace is ...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
Any justification as to why a vampire sleeps? (Also would they have stamina?)
I have a character who is a vampire and I am wondering if there is any justification for him being able to sleep. He is dead, doesn't need to eat or drink outside feeding off others, and all your ...
4
votes
3answers
92 views
Would someone who doesn't normally breathe nor have heartbeat, breathe in order to calm themselves down?
So, this is a question I've kind of been wondering for a while now. I have a character that is, by all human standards, (and quite literally) dead. So, with a heart that doesn't beat, lungs that don't ...
