Osak flora and fauna discussion thread

jedion357's picture
jedion357
October 28, 2012 - 5:13am
Since the Osakar revamp thread has gone in the direction of fungi being a dominant life form on Osak and since someone pointed out that fungus has chitin like insects instead of cellulous I'm proposing a whole host of lower animals that are insectoid like.

Osakarin Insectoids:
four limbs and two arms (often equipped with pincers or other grasping apparatus) chitonous shells/exo-skeletons.

the ubiquitous osakarin cricket- from 2 cm to 8 cm in length (not every creature has to be dangerous and I like to propose some that are harmless but simply add color to the environment but if someone wants to propose an effect or danger that this creature poses to say non native osakarn life I'm open to that) looks similar to the osakarn roach but largely harmless

Osakarin Roach- can deliver a painful pinch from its small pincers typically 6-8 cm long. will swarm and try to carry off food- largely a nusiance but could pose some trouble for visitors unfamiliar with them.

Bog Beetles, rate as tiny creatures under the AD rules and emit a cloud of gas/spore/whatever that has a dangerous/noxious effect- easily started and uses the skunk like defense to ward off predators, might make it that there are actually thousands of beetle varieties

Bog Wasps, like to prey on bog beetles small creature or tiny, has a dangerous sting equipped with a poison that effects osakarin biology meaning that osakars are affected as well as perhaps dralasites but for the other races it simply causes a painful welt- pain penalties apply till cured. might make it that there are about a dozen wasp varieties- at least one other for the tundra and one other for the fungal forest.

Under Flora:
Fungal spires? what are their size, shape, properties?

since the osakar are the highest life form and more plant than animal are there other animate plants?
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!
Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
October 28, 2012 - 6:52am
I'm sure that most avians can be insectoid in nature.

Not sure that fish will develop much on this world, well at least not stuff the size of whales or great white sharks.

Pondering other forms of animals or plant animals
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 28, 2012 - 1:01pm
If there are fish, they will either be freshwater or brackish.  They would be adapted to shallow water, and lots of tangled growth.  So either small fish, flat ones like flounders, or eel-like ones.  There might even be mudskippers (or their equivalent) which can hop or crawl from one pool of water to the next.

The flying creatures could have 4 insectoid legs, and 2 forelimbs, matching the planetary type.  The actual body might have those same white cells that the Osakar have, and be a quasi-reptilian/insectoid with plant features.  Some might have wings, but others might drift through the atmosphere like spores.

There might be fungoid creatures like the ones in Omnivore by Piers Anthony.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
October 28, 2012 - 1:19pm
bossmoss wrote:
If there are fish, they will either be freshwater or brackish.  They would be adapted to shallow water, and lots of tangled growth.  So either small fish, flat ones like flounders, or eel-like ones.  There might even be mudskippers (or their equivalent) which can hop or crawl from one pool of water to the next.

The flying creatures could have 4 insectoid legs, and 2 forelimbs, matching the planetary type.  The actual body might have those same white cells that the Osakar have, and be a quasi-reptilian/insectoid with plant features.  Some might have wings, but others might drift through the atmosphere like spores.

There might be fungoid creatures like the ones in Omnivore by Piers Anthony.
Not familiar with that PA story, I'll have to google it. I'm also thinking of big floating gas bags like in that picture that was posted in the revamp thread. Good point in making other creatures to conform to the body style of the osakar: white plate like cells shingled down their body and a 2/4 limb arrangment- perhaps some of the same vocal ability as the osakar themselves.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 28, 2012 - 7:48pm
Maybe the avian creatures have complicated songs.  They would also have 2 tongues.

iggy's picture
iggy
November 7, 2013 - 12:00pm
bossmoss wrote:
Maybe the avian creatures have complicated songs.  They would also have 2 tongues.

Yes.  The wildlife of Osaka is full of song and sound.  They are often called the singing forests of Osakar because even some of the plants can sing.
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 7, 2013 - 1:22pm
iggy wrote:
bossmoss wrote:
Maybe the avian creatures have complicated songs.  They would also have 2 tongues.

Yes.  The wildlife of Osaka is full of song and sound.  They are often called the singing forests of Osakar because even some of the plants can sing.


I like that.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
September 17, 2014 - 4:27pm
Fungal Tree on Osak

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
May 25, 2022 - 9:58am
Flora inspiration fron september 84 Dragon:
note the artwork depicted real world mushrooms 

Exploding Fungi

limited damage 1-2 hp per attack more of a hazard.

since Osak has a lot of fungi and taking real world inspiration from mushrooms - some are safe to eat but some are poisonous we can go with numerous varieties of fungi on Osak but only 3 are exploding. you need to know which are which before you tiptoe through the fungi. 

LOG check to identify properly but Osakar raised on Osak gain a +20. anyone with environmental skill adds +10% per level Note this means that a character with a average or higher LOG and envrionmental skill could have a very high chance of identification and this is ok. 

I would treat these as a "trap" walking into a 3 meter square triggers the fungi there into exploding for 1d10 STA. RS check for half but you have dodged/dove into another square and if that square is also exploding fungi there is no RS save

once a 3 meter patch has exploded that square is safe. 

if necessary they can be run through for each square run through the character makes a RS check. successful RS checks mean they went so fast that they took no damage. failed means they took 1/2. Vrusk are the fastest they get a +10 to this RS check for the running maneuver. Drals are slow they have a -10 penalty.

one of the exploding varieties can have a poison side effect and another can have an infectious side effect

EDIT: this could be that the purple ones are safe but the violet ones explode. we just dont explain that to the players. 

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
June 12, 2022 - 5:12pm
How about the water life sings too...  how about jellyfish, sponges, water fungal life type water life forms... floating water puff creatures... fungus that acts much like jellyfish and sponges
 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

jedion357's picture
jedion357
July 5, 2022 - 9:34pm
Tchklinxa wrote:
How about the water life sings too...  how about jellyfish, sponges, water fungal life type water life forms... floating water puff creatures... fungus that acts much like jellyfish and sponges

I like the idea of singing water life.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
July 3, 2023 - 12:37pm
Visions of a Osak forest by AI

Oask Jungle by  AI




Visions of osak swamp by AI


I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
July 3, 2023 - 12:39pm
Some fungal trees by AI







I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
July 3, 2023 - 2:26pm
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!