dmmusings-blog

[dmmusings-blog]

Ah well. This has been a carcass rotting in the bare sunlight for far too long. If anyone here is still following and wants to keep tabs, I’m at @dinosaurana these days. Ya got about a day before the bones wither away to dust. 

Been a pleasure though. 

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Today is the 20th anniversary of Gamera 2: Attack of Legion!

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With @tyrantisterror opening the concept of retrosaurs out to the world offically, it’s not hard to say at all that Bertha, my old carnivorous dinosaur below as one of them. While a bit more modernistic, there’s a redesign in the works because there is more that I can do with her and I can’t waste such an opportunity of a monster when ideas can be sparse.

The main thing now is, I hate having one offs if I can’t help it. This comes partially due to the fact that I love having little worlds for things out there. And in my little “KogaVerse” thing, there is only one that is truly alone, which is a theme I want to play on for that one. So, Bertha needs a few friends/neighbors of a sort. I’m looking for some critiques/bouncing off of for ideas because I don’t have a ton of them refined well at the moment. Always taking suguesstions as well.

- A kentrosaurus inspired one, that is lazier than Ol’ Bertha herself. It would be one most often seen sunning itself in the sand, only really becoming active when attacked by others. Looking for some good references for this one.

- A sauropod, either leaning more Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus esque that is friendly with Bertha simply because it’s far too large to be really harmed by the old gal. Bertha can be seen resting in the shadow of it as it feeds along the underground inland sea coast.

- Another large Theropod that recently reawoke, and challenges Bertha. She fends it off, pursing it and another foe into the modern world above to make sure that they stay down. Based off of Allosaurus, with a few other features thrown in here and there maybe. A tripod based beast more than the horizontal sagging Bertha.

- A Kronosaur based villainous kaiju that escapes as well, and is hunted down by Koga first. In the midst of it’s newfound freedom, it finds and attacks Koga, which is how he’d get tied into things. Got a few ideas on that interaction as well.

#Kogaverse #Kaiju #oc kaiju #monster creation #Retrosaurs

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Thanks! I should be able to go and find some really neat uses for some of these, and I know a few of my players that will really appreciate this diversity.

Suppose a fantasy setting featured lizardfolk or something along those lines as a family of races equal in significance to (or even replacing) demihumans. What different races of lizardfolk would you want to see?

I decided to ignore the “Lizard” part of Lizardfolk and decided instead to just make this Reptilefolk, because I can. That being said, I’ll split it into part, starting with actual lizards.

Note that all of these I imagine as having a Retrosaur posture. Not fully upright, sort of leaning over.

LIZARDFOLK

Gecko: I would like to see a race based off geckos, with different places in the world having different subraces based off the different species of geckos. I imagine these races would be small and agile, able to slip into tight passages and scale walls.

Monitors: Same with the geckos, a race based off the different species of monitor lizards. These guys are big and tough, yet fairly agile when they have to be. They’re tanks basically, quick tanks, and they come with built in venom.

Chameleons: Maybe not straight up chameleons, but a race of lizardfolk who can change color, both with mood and to become invisible.

Iguana: Probably the old, wise race of the forest. Idk, the dewlap make me think of them as old and wise. Sort of like the Wizards from Tolkien.

Anole: Would probably base your generic “Lizardfolk” after these. These are basically the humans.

Other: These are the main races, but around the world there are tribes which take after other types of lizards.

REPTILEFOLK

Dragons: The proginator race of all the others. Basically just bipedal dragons.

Crocodilians: Probably a bit of a cross between an Orc and a Giant, these guys are big and tough, more so than even the Monitors.

Turtles/Armored: These guys would be the Dwarves. Not too tall, but stocky and tough. Some are prone to spouting wisdom.

Snentaurs: Not the Half Human kind, but more like what would happen if an anthropomorphic monitor lizard evolved into a snake, but kept their forelimbs. Most are venomous, those which aren’t are huge and powerful.

Feathered: You know those old pictures of Feathered Dinosaurs/Ancestors To Birds that sort of look like someone took a theropod, made it into a lizard, then glued feathers to it? That’s these guys. Can’t fly, maybe can glide.

OTHERS

Salamanders/Newts: Because I can. These would be like the merfolk to the reptilefolk. Have an amphibian life cycle.

@eaterofentrails

#Save #D&D

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Hey, I just @'d you in a post I think could help with your D&D campaign.

I saw. That actually brings up a few interesting twists that I’ll certainly take a look at and try to use. Thanks!

[dmmusings-blog]

I was surfing YouTube for fun, and stumbled upon this little gem of a film right here. One of the few short kaiju films, Geharha: The Dark and Long Haired Monster is a bit of a ride. Condensing the tropes and plot of a standard kaiju film, it tells the story of the sudden emergence and attack of a beast from legend, Geharha. One of the hairiest and most interesting monsters that have been made in recent times, it’s worth the watch alone. Mix it in with good suitmation and minitures, and one of the most wacky defense weapons that I’ve ever seen, and you get a good 24 minute film of enjoyment.

#Kaiju #Geharha: the Dark and Long Haired Monster #Geharha #Godzilla #Gamera #Giant monsters #short films

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D&D DM Style: AKA What the hell, 4 Tarrasques?

So, for my local club that I attend at college, we’ve decided to do a group wide D&D game. Having volunteered to be a GM for last years, I was quickly brought into it, handed a monster manual and told “Go make an ecosystem for the entire world.” So, using the book, I went and started my best to piece together ecosystems. A little hard, considering I’ve played maybe 2 hours of D&D before. 

Taking a page out from @tyrantisterror‘s book, my goal was/is to make an ecosystem with as few purely mammalian based monsters. This fits in with the idea of the game flipping things on it’s head in terms of standard stuff, such as the oldest races being gnomes, dwarves, and humans rather than elves or something else. So, taking this in stride, we’ve got a lot of more hydras, dragon turtles, and behirs than Centaurs, Chimeras, and Hell hounds. The only real “stronghold” is the mountains, and even then there’s a few surprises here and there that I’m working on.

My favorite thing so far however, is the Croata. Nestled deep in the Wild Jungles that dominate most of the continent, lies an ancient civilization that has had little contact with the rest of the world. It is made up of reptilian races, such as Yuan Ti, Troglodytes, and Lizardfolk. I’ve been given total control of it’s structure, society, religon, etc, and I’m having a blast with it all. When in game, I plan on making them question everything the players thought they knew about them.

However, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done. Dragon implementation is a bit of a stickler, with a small amount of disagreement here and there on things with them and the like. Probably going to take a look at @theload‘s wonderful dragon things for a bit on that. And then, the Tarrasques mentioned above. I have the issue of needing to build a world where, if the situation calls for it, a culling of players. So, with each biome, I want to design a Tarrasque suited for each biome. One for jungle, one for a plains, mountains, plains, etc.

Now just need to figure out how to make an aquatic one.

#D&D #Homebrew #monsters #dragons #tarrasque

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@storm-crow95

These waterfalls are located in Skogafoss, Iceland. (Source)

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New Project Announcement: Villian Analysis Project

So, one of the things that I’ve wanted to touch base upon at some point was the world of fiction. And, my favorite part of fiction is the villians. So, inspired by @tyrantisterror’s Iconic Characters of Horror Fiction, I feel that I take a swing at analysises for some sort of thing based in the world of fiction. For some reason or another, these foils to our heroes often stick out and are as unique as their heroes, sometimes more depending on the series. It’s only fair that they get a little time in the spotlight as well.

Things are a bit under construction, such as building a format for the posts, and actually selecting the villains. I’m not limiting myself to a genre, instead picking and choosing those that I find stick out the most. I’m also going to be featuring some of @unpredictablemutant‘s work for them as well. Excited to start such a project for here.

[dmmusings-blog]

Babirusa are members of the pig family found in Wallacea. If a babirusa does not grind its tusks, achievable through regular activity, they will eventually keep growing so as to penetrate the animal’s own skull.

[dmmusings-blog]

That feeling wehn ya realize that you have a kick ass design for a monster, have a backstory, and then have been trying to not include dinosaur based kaiju in the verse.

Like,  what the hell am I gonna do with Ol’ Bertha? I wanna use her, but I wanted to try and refrain from a dinosaur based story. I could do one, and still use the design I think. Maybe as a filler episode/story between this one and the Guardians story. But then, it comes into questions like what place does she come from. She’s not the top predator, but she has to be close. Do I do a Jurassic Ecosystem? A mish mash? I’m gonna need to plan this out some more.

Art by the wonderful @tyrantisterror

#kaiju #Monsters #Kogaverse #OC Kaiju

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Cryptid Talk: Loch Ness Monster

One of the most popular cryptids known around the world, the Loch Ness Monster is a gigantic beast of legend and tale, Supposedly with a long neck, four flippers, and a short tail, it swims in the loch with relative ease, and has been alluding capture or scientific discovery for ages. Records of a lake monster have dated back through the centuries, with some reports coming from the 1200′s. Earlier reports do depict a much stranger creature than what we see now, although there are still the long neck and humped back of typical descriptions.

More modern sightings have bee a little less vivid that the others, often nothing more than just humps surfacing or large black shapes moving through the waters. With such sporadic sightings, it can be hard to go and describe what has been making such appearances over the years. Most would hop onto the boat that it is some sort of prehistoric sea creature called a plesiosaur, which fits the generic description fairly well. But this would be a fairly poor example, as such sea reptiles would have left some sort of record in the fossil record somewhere past the KT extinction point, and yet there’s nothing. Plesiosaurs are also air breathing animals, and should be sighted every few minutes, no years. And with the march of science, the neck rearing of days of old has been found to be impossible without shattering the animal’s neck. So that now leaves the question of what the Loch Ness monster really is.

The evidence lies within the Loch’s native fish population. There are a variety of fish that dwell within Scotland’s largest body of water, and there is plenty of food for fish to grow particularly large. Two species in particular make up a large portion of the underwater sightings. One of them is the European Eel, a species that has been seen in the Loch and caught before. The larger specimens have reached upwards to almost five feet, and there is plenty of room in the loch for such an animal to reach, or for one to get even bigger down in it’s depths.

The other species that I believe could be the sightings is the Eurpoean Sea sturgeon. While they have yet to be caught in the loch themselves, they are connected to other bodies of waters via the River Ness. They also tend to be bottom dwelling fish, and are rarely seen surfacing like other fish. Sturgeon would explain the humped back appearances, and the realtive rarity of sightings. And if they do dwell in the loch, they have yet to be caught. This would lead to massive individuals. Their cousins such as the Gulf Sturgeon below, can reach large sizes in bodies of waters such as the Mississippi river, and never be seen. It would be easy for such a large fish to be seen occasionally and the source for the stories. 

#cryptid talk #cryptids #cryptozoology #european cryptids #Loch Ness #Loch Ness Monster #Nessie #Eurpoean sturgeon #European eel #Monsters

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I didn’t find many works in good quality but they all look gorgeous - Sayuri Nishimura. Live-Gallery. Discovery via Phosphor.

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Wonderful cryptozoology blog here, and the mun is just one of the best people around. Congrats on 1 year mate!

June 14th! Wow!

It’s been a whole year since I started this blog. I began this blog as a way to organize reading for myself. Now, it has become this amazing place where I’ve met so many great and interesting people. I’ve heard their stories, I’ve written posts of my own, I’ve stressed over how to keep this blog active, I’ve learned so much, and I’ve even got to meet a few of you in real life. Every day, I wonder “what will come to my blog today?”. Questions, comments and stories, I look forward to them every day. I look forward to years to come running this amazing blog with all you amazing people following me. Maybe one day, my goal of bringing this to a career and running my own museum will actually happen. 

It’s thanks to you all that I get to log in here every day and continue studying and writing about what I love.

So now I have a giveaway for all you amazing people. 

First Prize: A Cryptozoology book that I will choose (most likely Cryptozoology A to Z, but if you own it, I will choose another) and an XL (sorry, it’s already made) shirt that my mom made when I celebrated 1,000 followers (she got a little ahead of herself, don’t you think?). It’s got purple words “Cryptid-Wendigo - Beware the dark woods” and a teal claw mark on the front and on the back is my URL. Please note this shirt has been in a home with cats and dogs and was not shipped to me in plastic so it may have gotten some fur on it. I will wash it before I ship it out - it has not been worn, it was an extra from when mom ordered them! 

Second Prize: A wristband like I gave away on my 1st giveaway with the same words as the shirt. As well as a Cryptozoology book (as stated above).

Third Prize: A Cryptozoology book (as stated above).

And now the Rules:

You must be following this blog.

Likes AND reblogs count, so reblog as much as you want, I don’t mind.

You must be comfortable giving me your address so I can send you the item(s) if you win.

If the winner is out of the USA, I will see how much shipping costs before I choose if I will send it. I’m a poor college student with very little extra money. If I cannot ship the shirt (or if the size is wrong) or wristband because of shipping costs, the winner will get 2 books instead of one.

Books will be mailed from Amazon.

No giveaway blogs.

I’ll be using a random number generator to figure out the winner.

The giveaway will end on July 5th and I will pull the winners at 10 pm EST.

#promos

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Cryptid Talk: Giant Jellyfish

One of the most unexplored places on our planet is our oceans. They cover more space than all of our land , and are home to massive and strange species. One of the most primitive and yet beautiful is the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish. The largest Jellyfish in the world, they inhabit northern latitudes of the world’s oceans, and can reach already massive lengths. A dead one washed up on shore in 1876, and was recorded a length of 121 feet for the tentacles, longer than that of a blue whale. With a year long lifespan, they are some of th emost hauntingly beautiful animals of colder water environments. They rarely are found farther south than 42 degrees Latitude however, and then only in northerly coastal regions.

Giant jellyfish however, have been recorded several times being encountered by scuba divers at night in deeper waters in coastal places globally. Usually seen at a distance, the reports seem to have a few common features. These animals are similiar to Lion’s Mane, range from 75 feet to 125ish feet, and can easily put an entire grown adult in their bell. These are recorded by experienced divers beforehand, and they’ve kept their distance due to the possibility of being entrapped in the animals.

Cryptozoology is a group that needs a helpful amount of skepticism in it when dealing with various cases, either in relict populations of previously extinct animals to brand new species of hitherto unknown species. And yet, for me, these giants are perfectly plausible. We already have species longer than a blue whale, and there’s a few other species that reach gigantic species. And with the warming waters of our planet, Jellyfish are some of the few species that are thriving in the new oceans. A deep water giant in tropical giants that occasionally strays upwards is a perfectly stray species possible, and would most likely be a new species of Lion’s Mane Jellyfish or a close relative. 

#cryptid talk #cryptozoology #Giant jellyfish #jellyfish #sea monsters #oceans #sea creatures #monsters

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But would they be so expensive in a world of this setting? With the main purpose of a guillotine is to kill people, there's not a whole lot of demand for them. But with a world where once a year you could use them, there would be a market, and would be less expensive. Still probably 200-300 dollar price range, but that's because they're not as easy to lug around like a chainsaw or a machete.

Y’know, it might be morally awful, but you have to admit that The Purge is doing wonders for the economy.  People can afford to buy guillotines and pendulums and other medieval torture devices to set up around their neighborhood despite the fact that these items will only be used one night a year at most.  I mean, if that’s not economic success, what is?