I usually take preexisting monsters that don't have entries in any of my books and stat and give abilities to them. Still... I envy her artistic skill. It's amazing
While it's always good to take a real-world approach to things, personally I feel there's a certain point where you legitimately just say "it's a monster, it doesn't need to make sense" and it becomes a bit more liberating when you stop wondering how it actually works. It's a weird full circle kinda thing, but it's one of those things where you wind up at the same point but with new appreciation.
Who remembers when "The Ecology Of [insert monster here]" series was a thing in Dragon Magazine. There's a reason that series was so popular. The authors did a better job describing the monsters than the Monster Manuals (or the Fiend Folio) ever did.
Awesome video as always! Creature anatomy is such a great, under-used concept. One of my players plays a doctor for character and he often performs dissections on creatures he's slain, in order to get a better understanding of their anatomy. Luckily, I'm a veterinary student, so I can quickly come up with an accurately enough explanation of what he finds inside, why and what the differences could be with previously encountered or known species.
I've always been fascinated by attempts to look at fantasy creatures through the lens of real world biology and ecology. I'd personally recommend the work of Dr Ferox, an Australian veterinarian who does a series of Fantasy Biology articles on her Tumblr blog, and her article on the pegasus has also been adapted into video form on her RUclips channel, for those interested.
For an underwater adventure I recently drew a hammernautil (part hammerhead shark part nautilus) I am rather proud of. The idea was that it would ram submarines with its shell. When I came up with the thing it just seemed silly but when I finished the drawing the creature it just worked.
Very good video as usual. A believable monster is always a joy. It gives more character to a world as well as gives some opportunities for dealing with that monster. For example, if a dragon has hollow-boned and for it's size surprisingly light makes it clear that it is not an entirely magical creature and weighted projectile weapons could be used to slow it down.
Things like this always interested me, like how would hexapods like dragons would really look like or making up land dwelling squids or octopi that could swing off of trees, an arboreal octopus.
100th like. I feel good about this. Also, I found this intensely useful for a project and will be sharing it with a writing community I am part of. Thanks again guys!
I am super similar to her... Really similar. I also create from a basis if scientific study and animal anatomy and watch tons of nature documentaries. I am also a DM and work ecology into the various worlds I create. i also like a logical consistency and explanation for the magic systems and use a mix of Fantasy and Sci-fi often! Also I still have my old Todd Lockwood dragons poster from 3.5 and love the art and anatomy of those dragons! I have and study the Terryl Whitlatch books as well! fun and very relatable interview thanks!
Don't know his name off the top of my head, but there's a Japanese storyboard artist that drew a publication that resembled a pseudo scientific "Research Journal" that had cross sections and scientific categorizing of the anatomies of various fantasy creatures. His cross sections of mermaids, centaurs, Bird people (humans with wings on their back), and Driders particularly stood out to me.
It might be of some interest to you that Jody Lynn Nye (I think that's spelled right) did a fairly sizeable series of books about the geography, politics, and biologies involved in other writers' worlds, from "The Dragonrider's Guide to Pern", to "Xanth" (Piers Anthony) and quite a few others... INCLUDING detailed sketches and examinations of the biology(ies) of more prominent species, like dragons, from claws and numbers of toes, to wings as they evolved... It's not exactly Darwinian Academics worthy, but worth checking for one of your fav's... ;o)
I’ve always appreciated the creative solution to the Dragons with small wings problem. They’re full of gas (methane?) and it makes them super buoyant-their wings just kind of let them glide around. Flight of Dragons basically just designed them like Zeppelins and I think that’s so fun , lol.
@@capterson4 Yep. It was a way of explaining the limited uses of breath weapons by D&D dragons too. The dragon burns off its limited supply of flammable gas breathing fire.
i design most monsters in my campaign, and one of the major bosses for my fantasy campaign is a giant drake, that inflates with aether (the physical magic flowing through the world) and can fire a laser of pure magic.
When creating creatures I generally take the environment i want to place it in and how I want to challenge the players, then design it's biology from that. E.g. If I was designing a creature that would reside in a Redwood forest, I would steer clear of large winged creatures, I could use that on the edges of the forest, but they'll be flying too high (redwoods average over 200 ft) for the typical party to encounter otherwise. I might instead consider something arboreal if I want to use the vertical of the trees, then I have to figure out of they are organized and how, what they eat ... what eats them and place them in the hierarchy of the other creatures in the campaign, or at least in that particular area of the campaign ... i.e. how do they fit into my world order just in case I want to use the same creature or variant later, potentially outside of it's preferred environment.
This woman is Fricking Brilliant!!!!!! I did/do the same thing with monsters. I am totally putting more biological effort into my creatures this goes great with the whole idea of a kobolds evolving over it's life into a dragon
I like this, but... Why did it have to be spelled 'thru'? I'm not complaining, but this video seems like it's worth a correctly spelled title. (And yes, I know 'thru' is an official-if rare-way of spelling the word, but these days it's most of all connected to lazy people sending text messages)
@@jeffheun5258 Right, though I'm not assuming that they purposefully used an 'official' word only common in the 19th century instead of just going for the internet slang
@@varietasVeritas Oi, let's keep it civilized shall we? I'm not even annoyed at the title, merely pointing out that it seems somewhat inappropriate spelling for the type of video it advertises.
Yep, somewhere between the Monster Manual(s...es...es...) to the actual implementation in world-building, I like to at least present a "biologically PLAUSIBLE" monster design... AND then there's the question of Ecological Importance... These monsters should eat something, after all, and as with any reasonable "law of the jungle" when you're not eating, your being eaten... SO somebody (ahem...) has to be hunting and predating or otherwise exploiting these things! It gets kind of fascinating, trying to "tie up loose ends" when confronted with mythical beasts... SO I'm usually somehow kind of stuck at LIMITING the populations and diversity of such things, to some degree. Yeah, I could "hand-wave it" and just pick and choose at random (works for one-shots anyway) without much explanation, BUT the Players of longer term campaigns have begun (from time to time) to start asking and investigating things like "What naturally KILLS a damn dragon, anyway???" AND that drops the problem onto me, like how does that happen? Do dragons have a "life span" in just so many terms... AND what exactly could CAUSE that sort of phenomenon... I did (now ancient history) defend SUCCESSFULLY that a dragon certainly COULD biologically "breathe fire", though we sort of reached the moot agreement that it would be only dubiously similar to a D&D traditional breath weapon... The Bombardier Beetle, of South America, actually DOES this... by generating it's own supplies of alcohol and a peroxide derivative, which are secreted into the "jet" when it defends itself from a "provocation" with enough heat and smoke to be damn well disturbing and even cause blisters on bared skin. As with Sharks, however, (not so ironically picked here) Dragons, could also suffer parasitic attachments, disease, and eventually infections that bring their colossal lives to a natural end, without a lot of hand-waving or mystique when the PC's decide to investigate persistently... You just have to be willing to get their hands dirty and invent some truly nauseating consequences to being a giant, all-consumptive powerhouse of a flying lizard. ;o)
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It's sooo good to see someone else who looks at anatomy and tries to make ot work!
I usually take preexisting monsters that don't have entries in any of my books and stat and give abilities to them. Still... I envy her artistic skill. It's amazing
While it's always good to take a real-world approach to things, personally I feel there's a certain point where you legitimately just say "it's a monster, it doesn't need to make sense" and it becomes a bit more liberating when you stop wondering how it actually works. It's a weird full circle kinda thing, but it's one of those things where you wind up at the same point but with new appreciation.
Who remembers when "The Ecology Of [insert monster here]" series was a thing in Dragon Magazine. There's a reason that series was so popular. The authors did a better job describing the monsters than the Monster Manuals (or the Fiend Folio) ever did.
Awesome video as always! Creature anatomy is such a great, under-used concept. One of my players plays a doctor for character and he often performs dissections on creatures he's slain, in order to get a better understanding of their anatomy. Luckily, I'm a veterinary student, so I can quickly come up with an accurately enough explanation of what he finds inside, why and what the differences could be with previously encountered or known species.
I've always been fascinated by attempts to look at fantasy creatures through the lens of real world biology and ecology. I'd personally recommend the work of Dr Ferox, an Australian veterinarian who does a series of Fantasy Biology articles on her Tumblr blog, and her article on the pegasus has also been adapted into video form on her RUclips channel, for those interested.
For an underwater adventure I recently drew a hammernautil (part hammerhead shark part nautilus) I am rather proud of. The idea was that it would ram submarines with its shell. When I came up with the thing it just seemed silly but when I finished the drawing the creature it just worked.
Very good video as usual. A believable monster is always a joy. It gives more character to a world as well as gives some opportunities for dealing with that monster. For example, if a dragon has hollow-boned and for it's size surprisingly light makes it clear that it is not an entirely magical creature and weighted projectile weapons could be used to slow it down.
Things like this always interested me, like how would hexapods like dragons would really look like or making up land dwelling squids or octopi that could swing off of trees, an arboreal octopus.
100th like. I feel good about this.
Also, I found this intensely useful for a project and will be sharing it with a writing community I am part of. Thanks again guys!
I am super similar to her... Really similar. I also create from a basis if scientific study and animal anatomy and watch tons of nature documentaries. I am also a DM and work ecology into the various worlds I create. i also like a logical consistency and explanation for the magic systems and use a mix of Fantasy and Sci-fi often! Also I still have my old Todd Lockwood dragons poster from 3.5 and love the art and anatomy of those dragons! I have and study the Terryl Whitlatch books as well! fun and very relatable interview thanks!
That last bit about the arctic variants on-the-fly really showed off her talent! Inspirational, thank you.
Don't know his name off the top of my head, but there's a Japanese storyboard artist that drew a publication that resembled a pseudo scientific "Research Journal" that had cross sections and scientific categorizing of the anatomies of various fantasy creatures.
His cross sections of mermaids, centaurs, Bird people (humans with wings on their back), and Driders particularly stood out to me.
Please let me know if you remember the name at some point! I would love to read it
It might be of some interest to you that Jody Lynn Nye (I think that's spelled right) did a fairly sizeable series of books about the geography, politics, and biologies involved in other writers' worlds, from "The Dragonrider's Guide to Pern", to "Xanth" (Piers Anthony) and quite a few others... INCLUDING detailed sketches and examinations of the biology(ies) of more prominent species, like dragons, from claws and numbers of toes, to wings as they evolved... It's not exactly Darwinian Academics worthy, but worth checking for one of your fav's... ;o)
This is excellent content. I think I'll try my hand at making some variant animals for my campaign...
I’ve always appreciated the creative solution to the Dragons with small wings problem. They’re full of gas (methane?) and it makes them super buoyant-their wings just kind of let them glide around.
Flight of Dragons basically just designed them like Zeppelins and I think that’s so fun , lol.
Also: methane is flammable. Guess what dragons breathe?
capterson4 right-that’s part of the reasoning.
@@capterson4 Yep. It was a way of explaining the limited uses of breath weapons by D&D dragons too. The dragon burns off its limited supply of flammable gas breathing fire.
Can’t give enough thumbs up on this one. Just Wow!
Tiny winged dragons that can fly have to have a inflation organ that would inflat the body like a baloon
i design most monsters in my campaign, and one of the major bosses for my fantasy campaign is a giant drake, that inflates with aether (the physical magic flowing through the world) and can fire a laser of pure magic.
When creating creatures I generally take the environment i want to place it in and how I want to challenge the players, then design it's biology from that.
E.g. If I was designing a creature that would reside in a Redwood forest, I would steer clear of large winged creatures, I could use that on the edges of the forest, but they'll be flying too high (redwoods average over 200 ft) for the typical party to encounter otherwise. I might instead consider something arboreal if I want to use the vertical of the trees, then I have to figure out of they are organized and how, what they eat ... what eats them and place them in the hierarchy of the other creatures in the campaign, or at least in that particular area of the campaign ... i.e. how do they fit into my world order just in case I want to use the same creature or variant later, potentially outside of it's preferred environment.
My monsters are designed using technology, structures, animals, plants, bacteria, anything and everything...
This is awesome.
Applying rules and logic to fantasy creatures and places is (usually) going to make it stronger
Sarah is an Awesome person
Loved this, what a cool person!
Sharks have hydrodynamic mini TEETH for skin armor.
great interview.
This woman is Fricking Brilliant!!!!!! I did/do the same thing with monsters. I am totally putting more biological effort into my creatures this goes great with the whole idea of a kobolds evolving over it's life into a dragon
Sarah's work is amazing.
Nerdarchist Dave
No matter what feline and fish you use, you will always wnd up with a catfish.
I like this, but... Why did it have to be spelled 'thru'? I'm not complaining, but this video seems like it's worth a correctly spelled title.
(And yes, I know 'thru' is an official-if rare-way of spelling the word, but these days it's most of all connected to lazy people sending text messages)
I know what you mean! That really through me off too. Grammar and correct spelling is important!
I don't see the problem if it's an actual word.
@@jeffheun5258 Right, though I'm not assuming that they purposefully used an 'official' word only common in the 19th century instead of just going for the internet slang
Chill out grammar nazi.
@@varietasVeritas Oi, let's keep it civilized shall we? I'm not even annoyed at the title, merely pointing out that it seems somewhat inappropriate spelling for the type of video it advertises.
Yep, somewhere between the Monster Manual(s...es...es...) to the actual implementation in world-building, I like to at least present a "biologically PLAUSIBLE" monster design...
AND then there's the question of Ecological Importance... These monsters should eat something, after all, and as with any reasonable "law of the jungle" when you're not eating, your being eaten... SO somebody (ahem...) has to be hunting and predating or otherwise exploiting these things!
It gets kind of fascinating, trying to "tie up loose ends" when confronted with mythical beasts... SO I'm usually somehow kind of stuck at LIMITING the populations and diversity of such things, to some degree. Yeah, I could "hand-wave it" and just pick and choose at random (works for one-shots anyway) without much explanation, BUT the Players of longer term campaigns have begun (from time to time) to start asking and investigating things like "What naturally KILLS a damn dragon, anyway???" AND that drops the problem onto me, like how does that happen? Do dragons have a "life span" in just so many terms... AND what exactly could CAUSE that sort of phenomenon...
I did (now ancient history) defend SUCCESSFULLY that a dragon certainly COULD biologically "breathe fire", though we sort of reached the moot agreement that it would be only dubiously similar to a D&D traditional breath weapon... The Bombardier Beetle, of South America, actually DOES this... by generating it's own supplies of alcohol and a peroxide derivative, which are secreted into the "jet" when it defends itself from a "provocation" with enough heat and smoke to be damn well disturbing and even cause blisters on bared skin.
As with Sharks, however, (not so ironically picked here) Dragons, could also suffer parasitic attachments, disease, and eventually infections that bring their colossal lives to a natural end, without a lot of hand-waving or mystique when the PC's decide to investigate persistently... You just have to be willing to get their hands dirty and invent some truly nauseating consequences to being a giant, all-consumptive powerhouse of a flying lizard. ;o)
Is she your niece?
Afraid not. Just a super talented artist we've come across in our travels.
Nerdarchist Dave