Inspired by the work pioneered at Chromatic Cauldron and extended by DIY And Dragons (although cruder than their own methods.) No man is an island, but a dungeon may be an island ecology. Results not guaranteed to cohere.
Just about! I wanted it to create ecological pyramids, so there are bottom-feeders that get raw calories somehow, and then so on up the food chain, possibly resulting in sentient beings with other agendas and big bads. The low-level diets were definitely the hardest thing to come up with - I mean, if you have things with tasty brains walking around, it's basically trivial to imagine uhhh spiders evolving into brain -eating ambush predators (or whatever), but where are all the calories coming from in the first place? So that might be why you found them especially interesting (although of course someone else might find something else, or nothing for that matter, especially interesting!)
The interface won't let me post the full thing here, but here's the some of the Tablesmith code that I converted to HTML/JS with Betty's tool:
;Start 1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 2]
[lvl 3] 1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 2] 1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 3] 1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
;lvl 0 1,[bottom feeders] have [changed] to subsist on [resource].
;lvl 1 1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy], and [food] through [strategy]. 1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy], and [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy]. 1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy]. [animals], through similar means, have come to obtain [food] through [strategy].
;lvl 2 1,Groups of [people] have [decided] to obtain [food] through [methodology].
;lvl 3 1,A might [boss] has set up shop and got to work [nefarious plans]. 1,A might [boss] had set up shop and gotten to work [nefarious plans], but they are long gone.
;changed 3,naturally evolved 1,been selectively bred 1,been warped by the ambient natural energy 1,been transformed by some wizard 1,been brought into existence by a mad deity
;resource 1,droppings and offal 1,the rotting velum of books 1,the kinetic heat generated by earthquakes 1,the negentropy of highly organized diamonds, consuming it into coal 1,the potential energy in coal deposits 1,the invisible light of an underworld sun 1,the prayers of underworld pilgrims 1,nothing, dying out as quickly as they are generated through spontaneous generation 1,internal alchemical synthesis 1,the light of magical sun-stones 1,[resource]
I've clicked through a few times, and I keep getting interesting results! I'd love to see some of underpinnings.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'd guess it's something like: [monster] + [origin] + [diet]?
If so, those diet entries are especially creative and interesting. Regardless, I find some of these results quite charming:
"Lichen have naturally evolved to subsist on the kinetic heat generated by earthquakes."
"Groups of kobolds have been selectively bred to obtain the prayers of underworld pilgrims through enslavement of anyone they can find."
Just about! I wanted it to create ecological pyramids, so there are bottom-feeders that get raw calories somehow, and then so on up the food chain, possibly resulting in sentient beings with other agendas and big bads. The low-level diets were definitely the hardest thing to come up with - I mean, if you have things with tasty brains walking around, it's basically trivial to imagine uhhh spiders evolving into brain -eating ambush predators (or whatever), but where are all the calories coming from in the first place? So that might be why you found them especially interesting (although of course someone else might find something else, or nothing for that matter, especially interesting!)
ReplyDeleteThe interface won't let me post the full thing here, but here's the some of the Tablesmith code that I converted to HTML/JS with Betty's tool:
;Start
1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 2]
[lvl 3]
1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 2]
1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
[lvl 3]
1,[lvl 0]
[lvl 1]
;lvl 0
1,[bottom feeders] have [changed] to subsist on [resource].
;lvl 1
1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy], and [food] through [strategy].
1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy], and [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy].
1,[animals] have [changed] to obtain [food] through [strategy]. [animals], through similar means, have come to obtain [food] through [strategy].
;lvl 2
1,Groups of [people] have [decided] to obtain [food] through [methodology].
;lvl 3
1,A might [boss] has set up shop and got to work [nefarious plans].
1,A might [boss] had set up shop and gotten to work [nefarious plans], but they are long gone.
;bottom feeders
1,Plant roots from above
1,(Sub-)terrestrial "corals"
1,Fungi
1,Oozes
1,Lichen
;changed
3,naturally evolved
1,been selectively bred
1,been warped by the ambient natural energy
1,been transformed by some wizard
1,been brought into existence by a mad deity
;resource
1,droppings and offal
1,the rotting velum of books
1,the kinetic heat generated by earthquakes
1,the negentropy of highly organized diamonds, consuming it into coal
1,the potential energy in coal deposits
1,the invisible light of an underworld sun
1,the prayers of underworld pilgrims
1,nothing, dying out as quickly as they are generated through spontaneous generation
1,internal alchemical synthesis
1,the light of magical sun-stones
1,[resource]