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Post by demyztikx on Dec 6, 2011 20:25:32 GMT -5
True story, if you get lost in the wilderness eat furry animals and NOT plants unless you're familiar with the area. Plants are more likely to be deadly. There are no furry animals that will poison you from ingesting them (at least in North America).
So I would totally expect to have lots of poisonous plants and reptiles and some fish.
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Post by Matt on Dec 7, 2011 21:07:55 GMT -5
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Post by s1nn3d1 on Dec 8, 2011 2:02:32 GMT -5
Their the same as big guinea pigs.
And the later are said to taste like rabbit.
(no... my guinea pig died a natural death after a long an squeakey life and only entered the kitchen to claim food)
When it comes to uncommon animals to survive I would vote for the Tapir.
They already look somewaht "mutated" to me. Although it's said they are not very intelligent animals.
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Post by Matt on Dec 8, 2011 4:01:53 GMT -5
They can get over 100 pounds!
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Post by jturner on Dec 8, 2011 15:37:19 GMT -5
Weird....I read chupacabra for some reason. I don't think they would make very good cattle.
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Post by s1nn3d1 on Dec 8, 2011 17:11:48 GMT -5
That's why the Tapir or Anta (Brazilian name) would make a better cow-pig... the can get as heavy as 550 pounds. Maybe the chupacabra could be a more common animal in future... you never no where it comes from and where it will go to...  ;D |
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Post by demyztikx on Dec 21, 2011 21:50:25 GMT -5
True story, I added the Capybara into the intro game for shits and giggles to my amusement. Details are on the latest post by one of my players. here. |
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Post by Matt on Dec 22, 2011 14:44:18 GMT -5
Capybaras are definitely in. I hope to have the flora and fauna section finished up soon (I am doing it like an almanac which is going to be weird to format) and I will try to slide a few of your suggestions in there!
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Post by s1nn3d1 on Jan 3, 2012 11:53:13 GMT -5
A few days ago I saw this "documentary" about a fish that attacks crocodiles, birds, people and the local fishermen have no idea what it could be. The bite marks were different to the ones known from the local piranhas... in the end the guy of that TV show found out that the fish that started attacking people was a piranha sub species introduced to that area some 15 years ago. No problem so far. But that species is originally a strictly herbivorous species that has somehow adopted an omnivorous feeding behavior in that specific area.
What I wanted to say is that this might also be a good example to built some (new) dangerous species around. A species introduced by accident or will into a new habitat starts to adopt new feeding behaviors due to a lack of its normal food and a lack of natural predators.
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Post by lane on Feb 15, 2012 11:45:43 GMT -5
Anyone read anything about snakeheads? They're fucking terrifying. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakehead_fishThey're so destructive and scary that there's a few SciFi Original horror movies involving them. If anything is going to flourish in the future and become a huge problem, it's these guys. An invasive fish species that can walk on land to get to a new water source? |
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Post by jturner on Feb 15, 2012 16:19:34 GMT -5
snakehead looks cool. It's good that they are edible!
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Post by loxley on Feb 20, 2012 4:38:52 GMT -5
I've come up with a few ideas:
PLANTS: Good plants -valuable, medicinal, edible, animal feed...
Bad plants -toxic, invasive, barbed, carnivorous, corrosive...
ANIMALS: Good -valuable, able to carry loads, trainable, guards, tracking, hunting, edible (or lays eggs), use of hides,
Bad -aggressive, hard to kill, destructive nature (boar!), venomous, toxic (to eat), invasive (infestation), burrowing, detrimental to crops or machinery (rats cause nearly 50% of all agricultural fires in the UK by chewing wires -BIG problem!)
I think there'll be more deer, wild pigs & repective predators.
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Post by Matt on Feb 22, 2012 16:32:53 GMT -5
From the Flora and Fauna section' notes (AKA we beat you to it):
Dragon Snakeheads
An evolution of the vicious and invasive freshwater fish that plagued lakes and rivers from the late 19th Century, the dragon snakehead is a terrible predator devastating thousands of bodies of water throughout the northern hemisphere. Nearly two meters long, the spear-shaped fish has two-inch long fangs saddled in three distinct rows within its jaws used to catch and tear prey into manageable pieces to be savaged by the school. Able to walk on land by breathing with a special organ, snakeheads seem like they can go and survive anywhere on nearly any prey.
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Post by Matt on Feb 22, 2012 16:40:42 GMT -5
I've come up with a few ideas: PLANTS: Good plants -valuable, medicinal, edible, animal feed... Bad plants -toxic, invasive, barbed, carnivorous, corrosive... ANIMALS: Good -valuable, able to carry loads, trainable, guards, tracking, hunting, edible (or lays eggs), use of hides, Bad -aggressive, hard to kill, destructive nature (boar!), venomous, toxic (to eat), invasive (infestation), burrowing, detrimental to crops or machinery (rats cause nearly 50% of all agricultural fires in the UK by chewing wires -BIG problem!) I think there'll be more deer, wild pigs & repective predators. What is interesting is some poisonous plants and herbs actually have some practical uses as anesthetics and what have you. I have a few books on it and hope a lot of that ends up in the book itself, but we will see  . |
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Post by s1nn3d1 on Feb 22, 2012 17:18:55 GMT -5
3 semester Toxicology/Pharmacology with a professor who said that of all the things he taught us the most important thing is: If you take the first bite or dose and it doesn't have the thrilling effect you hoped for, don't take another dose. The second one could be too much. In the beginning you wrote that the oceans are more or less dead and all that remains would be algae and jelly fish. That's sad. Just yesterday I read an short article about new hybrid-sharks. These new sub species are a crossover between different shark species and it was assumed that shark couldn't crossbreed. Nothing as fancy as a great White Tiger Shark... but still interesting because the new species seem to be more robust and can survive in colder water than their parents. One animal that I think will survive and evolve is the duckbill platypus... it's just too strange to be "normal"... who knows maybe it has a secret way of evolution... absorption  Another animal that I could see spreading towards new regions is the camel. Nowadays they are exported from the middle east to Africa and Asia as trained racing camels. If this would become a more common sport with excentric billionaires these animals could get to some northern countries too as pets. And after the exodus some/most animal farms and zoos would be abandoned. Some animals could make it to the new wilderness of the urban jungle and even proliferate. In that way I could also imagine monkeys which life in the ruins of cities and defend their territories (anyone seen the movie Congo?) |
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Post by Matt on Feb 22, 2012 22:29:32 GMT -5
The platypus is the only venomous mammal! Pretty cool for a Pokemon.
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Post by Matt on Mar 16, 2012 11:01:53 GMT -5
A little teaser from the Almanac (By August Hahn). Chosen for my love of cats!
Cat
By cat, this section means the smaller, formerly domesticated form of feline that existed as pets before the collapse. While these ‘house cats’ still exist among some communities today, the vast majority have long since gone feral and taken to the forgotten corners of the world that used to be. Any reader brave enough to have tried to explore the old ruins of cities past is probably well familiar with what cats have become out there. This writer would like to congratulate said readers for still being alive.
Survival: By itself a cat is not a serious threat. While they are savage, cats are still small, their claws relatively weak against even basic defense leathers and their bites are not especially powerful. They are fairly clean beasts, almost obsessively so, and so they do not tend to carry significant diseases for long before succumbing to them.
The real danger cats pose is when they gather in large groups. A hunting pack of cats, also called a carnage, is a fearsome sight, especially at night where all that is immediately visible are dozens of reflective eyes. They swarm, instinctively trying to trip and confuse while seeking out lightly armored areas like thighs and throats. Cats tear their food, ripping pieces free and then seeking solitude in which to eat their prize. This results in surging waves of attack, their victims usually alive and too damaged to resist.
Never fight cats in the open. Try to get to a water source, preferably a river or pool, and use explosives if possible. Anything that spreads damage, even small amounts per target, is the best way to combat felines. Like most of their kind, cats will usually abandon a hunt that proves too difficult. Kill enough of them and the rest will scatter.
Uses: Cat meat is usually gamey and stringy, rarely worth the effort to kill and cook. Their pelts are often very nice if thin. For an experienced forager, cats offer a bounty in sinew and their entrails can be used to make superb cording material if lye is available. Despite this, the term ‘catgut’ is mistaken; most good cords come from much larger animals like cows. The word is probably derived from ‘cattle gut’ and has nothing to do with cats at all.
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Post by s1nn3d1 on Mar 18, 2012 7:14:18 GMT -5
That sounds promising.
Nice to read... cat lovers won't like the last part though.
How many species do you have already for your Almanac?
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Post by Matt on Mar 18, 2012 15:41:10 GMT -5
Hmmm I will count them up later. Plants and animals ended up around 20,000 words, so it's rather large.
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Post by dusterone on Mar 18, 2012 16:12:27 GMT -5
Keep in mind that the Almanac isn't supposed to be a comprehensive guide either. Other animals and plants will be featured in source material elsewhere, some of which is even going to be free for download! Glad you like the style. The Almanac is exactly that, a 'field guide' written by a wanderer drawing off his own experiences and the stories of others. It's not always factual but it should be enough to keep a reader alive. Maybe. Take care, -A |
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