A worldbuilding resource and general nerd zone focused on the topic of invented creatures as viewed through a scientific lens. Whether you’re a writer looking to turbo-charge your own fantastical fauna or you just want to explore the history of mythical creatures and a bit of basic speculative biology, read on!
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Monstrous Monsters: Conflict and Natural Aggression
Open up any Dungeons and Dragons book about game monsters, and chances are good that you’ll end up on a page detailing either an evil entity out to ruin your day or a powerful and dangerous creature that may very well want to eat you. Even the less enemy-focused creatures have “stat blocks” detailing how…
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Let’s Make a Gryphon
For a while now, we’ve been discussing how various scientific principles tie into things like anatomy and ecology. And unless you’re new here, you’ve probably seen me throwing out suggestions for how to tie those topics into some of the classic fantastical beasts. I think by this point, we’ve discussed enough basics that we can…
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Massive Monsters and How to Sustain Them
Fantasy creatures come in all shapes. Some are basically existing animals but with special traits or abilities. Others are chimeric, with two or more species smashed together wholesale. And still others are completely bizarre monstrosities. They can be fishlike, insectoid, reptilian, mammalian, you name it. Many are very much like humans. But some fantastical traits…
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Breathing Fire and Other “Elemental” Powers
Of all the classic fantasy monsters out there, the mighty dragon is easily the most pervasive. What’s not to love about a good old giant reptile? Especially one that, among other common traits like flight and a penchant for great wisdom and magic, is capable of breathing fire? Not that all dragons have those qualities,…
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Hybrid Monsters: Chimeras in Taxonomy
In the days before evolutionary theory and modern taxonomy, people were already describing species and their relationships. This helped with identifying and grouping useful or dangerous plants and animals. Early taxonomy was largely focused on broad observations. Scholars often placed species into groups like trees, fish and even invertebrates. But these scholars were still figuring…
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I Wrote a Book!
Announcement time! I have put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, and published a fantasy book. Wyrm: A Story of the Hoizonlands is now available in paperback or ebook format on Amazon. This book is a short novelette, making it a quick read. True to its subtitle, it’s also just the first…
- Announcements (2)
- Bygone Literature (1)
- Human Connections (5)
- Let's Make a Monster (1)
- Natural Behavior (4)
- Science Basics (4)
- Special Abilities (3)
- Square-Cube Law (3)
- Taxonomy (2)