The Lifeform Maker (which you can get HERE) was designed with sci-fi settings in mind. The thought did occur to me though that it could easily be used to give some tweaks to an existing creature or monster in the fantasy genre. So today I’m going to show you just how this can be done.
To make this easier, I’ll be using for the base creature something almost everyone is familiar with – An Adult Red Dragon. A base creature is used so you have a baseline to work with. This makes design a LOT easier. Even starting with a simple creature like a chicken can result in something truly alien. It also makes it much easier to describe to people “It looks like a chicken but….”
You know what this creature looks like – Big, Red scales, wings, can breathe fire etc.
In LFM, there are two main ways of changing the base creature into something more weird and alien. The quick method takes one aspect and changes it, such as the shape or size of the creature. So using the red dragon as the base, if the suggested change was Limbs, it would still look like a dragon, but with an extra pair of limbs. That could be an extra set of arms, legs, wings or even a second tail. You could still look at the creature and be forgiven for thinking it was a dragon.
The second method goes into a lot more detail and can change almost every aspect of the base creature. When making your own with this method, keep in mind that some result may seem a bit too odd to work with, so don’t be afraid to change or pick a result you feel is more fitting.
Rather than going through every step, I’ll show you the end output. Keep in mind what the original base creature was like – An Adult Red Dragon.
Aspect | Detail |
Base Creature | Adult Red Dragon |
Size | Medium (5) |
Age/Lifespan | 45 years |
Colouration | Orange |
Communication | Primary – Vibration |
Secondary – Speach | |
Diet | Minerals |
Height/Length | 3 feet (H)/5 feet (L) |
Intelligence Level | 110 |
Limbs | 2 extra arms |
Movement | Flight (70 mph)/Walking |
Pain Tolerance | 70% |
Reproduction | Egg layer – 4 eggs per batch |
Senses | Eyes/Sight – None visible |
Nose/Smell – Uses tounge | |
Ears/Sound – Bat like | |
Mouth/Taste – Dog-like | |
Touch Rating – 4 | |
Shape | Pyramidal/Cone |
Sleep/Activity | Night sleeper – Sleeps for 3 hours |
Skin/Hide | Same as base – scales |
Strength | 1/8th it’s own weight |
Terrain | Subterranean |
Temp Tolerance (C) | -5 min /40 max |
Weight | 270 pounds |
Advantage | Reduced need for sleep |
Disadvantage | Agressive/Rage |
Quirks | Sensitive to…Strong Smells |
As you can see, starting off with the red dragon and putting it through the extended LFM system can result in some alien, suitable for a far-flung world or lost species or anything else.
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