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 Dwarf Fortress File Depot » Minor Mods » Implausible Biology and Miscellaneous
      
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File Listing: Implausible Biology and Miscellaneous
Last Updated: Nov 22, 2022, 04:18:43 pm
First Created: Jun 29, 2022, 07:08:06 pm
File version: 1.1.2
For DF version: 0.47.05
Downloads: 67 Size: 252.6 KB
Views: 619 (622) Type: ZIP
Rating (0 votes): Unrated
Description
This mod (abbreviated IBAM/IBaM) primarily adds twelve new races to the game (all but one with their own languages), two permanently hostile and one playable by default (all but hostile ones can be played in adventurer mode). All files from this mod go in <DF install directory>/raw/objects except for the file titled "README". That file serves as a changelog, though I've been pretty bad about actually putting much in it, admittedly. If you're wondering "how do I pronounce this name?", each language raw file contains information on how it works (all languages are based off of English).
The races:
The narkensha (same sing/plur) are chimeric humanoid beings, a blend of several animals; to be more specific, a blend of hyenas, wolves, cheetahs, and deer. They've got fur which takes from the cheetah part, so they're usually colored like you would expect a cheetah to be, though the occasional narkensha ends up charcoal-colored instead. Their fur grays as they age, and they're a bit larger than humans (they also take longer than usual to reach child/adulthood). Narkensha do not have a unique soldier tile, for those of you playing in ASCII, since an attempt to do that would overlap with the night creature tile.
Narkensha will not accept animal products in trade, but have no problem with wood-based products. They also have no problem eating intelligent beings. They send caravans in the spring.
The akautis (sing. akauti) resemble some sort of dragon-kin, with a draconic appearance but a humanoid, wingless form (they do have tails, unlike some dragon-folk). They stand at about the same size as an average human does, but are notably made partially of solid gold. They can live about as long as a dwarf if they're fortunate and something else doesn't get them first - but they take significantly longer to reach child/adulthood than most races. Akautis have a peculiar interaction with one particular plant, but I'll leave you to find out what it is. They send caravans in the autumn, like dwarves do. They also have perfect low-light vision due to living underground. An akauti soldier displays as Å instead of A, for the ASCII users.
Akautis are buggy in adventurer mode and, although playable, are heavily recommended against. I had to do some weird stuff in the raws and that seems to have made eating normally difficult or impossible last time I tested it.
The ulleids (sing. ulleid) are one of the two permanently hostile races. These folk are just plain cruel and (literally) evil, as both item thieves and babysnatchers. They bear a strange resemblance to akautis, having a still-draconic appearance despite their three heads, talons instead of feet, grasping tail (incidentally allows them to use more than one shield), and (feathered) wings. They should be able to fly, but have this disabled by default because pathing for flying intelligent beings is exceedingly buggy in fortress mode. Like hydras, ulleids will not hesitate to take three bites out of you at once, and they are downright enormous for an intelligent being, the largest of all races in this mod. You can be sieged by them in fortress mode, but need a population of 110 or more since they hit significantly harder than plain old goblins. They are ruled by the same sorts of things that rule goblin civilizations, which may account for their severe lack of ethics. All of their military profession names are intentionally primitive sounding - their soldier tile is Ü instead of U, for ASCII users.
Next up are the estoldirs (sing. estoldir), peace-loving, good-aligned folk hailing from fair tundras, though they can settle glaciers and taigas as well. Estoldirs have a humanoid body plan, offset by their four eyestalks instead of eyes, two tails, fur, and seven fingers. Their general appearance is canine, though their fur has spots like a jaguar's - but not remotely the same coloration. Quite unusually, estoldirs have blue blood (not cyan like a troll's), and their fur is predominantly in varying shades of blue as well. They have claws instead of typical nails. They are the second-largest race in the mod, clocking in well above the size of a human; they could easily stand a head taller than an average human, perhaps higher than that. They do take somewhat longer than usual to enter child/adulthood, and although they live longer than humans, they don't live as long as dwarves. Like elves, they will not attack or be attacked by wildlife (likely how they managed to train polar bears not to steal things) and worship a force associated with their homeland instead of gods. If you should happen to have contact with an estoldir civilization, they send caravans in the winter, making them the only race in the mod to do so. Their soldier tile is É instead of E, for ASCII users.
The khetal (same sing/plur) are mountain-dwelling birdfolk with a tendency toward martial culture and metalsmithing. Khetal smiths can rival dwarven ones, and they are one of two races in the mod to be able to create legendary artifacts. They should be able to fly, but this is disabled for the same reasons as ulleids. Khetal are slightly larger than humans, though they can still (barely) wear human clothing, and vice versa. Khetal take a bit longer to enter childhood than normal, but likewise take a bit less long to enter adulthood. Female khetal are egg-layers (I do not know how this actually plays into childcare in fortress mode), and khetal are the only race in the mod to feature sexual dimorphism: females tend toward earthen-looking, umber or brown feathers, while males tend toward dark-colored, gray or black feathers. Have taloned fingers instead of fingernails. Khetal use the tile K in ASCII, preventing them from having a separate soldier tile. If you have contact with a civilization of khetal, their caravans arrive in summer.
The savuls (sing. savul) are deerlike people with hooves, two pairs of antlers (on both males and females), body hair, and a humanoid body plan. They also possess fangs, as all savuls can drain blood from biting their victims whether they be vampires or not. The tendency of savuls to fly into rages after being only mildly provoked does not help their tendency to also start alcohol-induced brawls. Savuls are somewhat larger than humans. Like khetal, savuls enter childhood slightly later than normal and enter adulthood slightly earlier than normal. Savuls have no problem whatever with eating and/or enslaving intelligent beings, though they aren't savage enough to indiscriminately attack everyone they meet. Should you have contact with a civilization of savuls, their caravans arrive in summer as well. Savuls worship gods and their very large amount of religious "spheres" that they are likely to have gods for generally results in them having expansive pantheons. Unlike you might expect given their demeanor, savuls actually build forest retreats instead of towns. Do not have a separate soldier tile due to using the tile S in ASCII.
The irthkili (same sing/plur; the second I in their name is pronounced like the word "aye") are reptilian folk hailing from the tropics, with brightly-colored feathers and a somewhat saurian appearance. Although irthkili have wings, they are not able to fly, but they are always at least adequate climbers. Both male and female irthkili possess three horns, which they can use to gore you in a fight. They have clawed fingers and toes. Irthkili are slightly smaller than humans, large enough to wear human clothing with no problem and too large to wear dwarven clothing. Their scales range from various shades of green to more earthen colors. Their feathers, meanwhile, are either all the colors of the rainbow or one of those colors in particular. Female irthkili are egg-layers, like female khetal are. Irthkili will send you caravans in spring if you have contact with them, and despite typically appearing as I in ASCII, they do have a separate soldier tile: ï. Irthkili worship regional forces like elves do, and like savuls do not have problems with eating and/or enslaving intelligent beings. Irthkili are downright warmongering, with a severe dislike of peace and fairness as well as a tendency towards being violent, liking chaos, and being angered easily, as well as being brave, vain, vengeful, proud, and somewhat cruel. Despite all that, they do have a measure of respect for the natural world.
The vulsayes (sing. vulsaye; the "aye" in their name is pronounced like the word "aye") are fox-folk with a humanoid body plan, though they have six fingers per hand and six toes on each paw. Vulsayes are gifted farmers, though like dwarves they have a severe dependency on alcohol and would hate to go without it. In terms of behavior they are practically polar opposites to irthkili, liking peace and disliking chaos, though they have difficulty understanding the point of leisure time (despite their love of merriment). Vulsayes as a race are virtually inexhaustible and have incredibly good memory. They have better-than-normal vision in low-light environments, but not perfect low-light vision like dwarves. Vulsayes are quite quick on their paws and could easily outpace a dwarf, while being only slightly larger: they are just barely able to wear dwarven clothing and vice versa. Female vulsayes have litters of one to three children at a time. Vulsayes worship gods and have a very large list of "spheres" that they are likely to get gods for, all of them positive (and generally focusing around family, law, and revelry), so they usually have very large pantheons. Vulsayes will virtually never lie, holding truth in the highest regard; in fact, they hold it in such high regard that in vulsaye society, lying is an unthinkable act. Vulsayes appear as V in ASCII and do not have a separate soldier tile. They send caravans in the summer.
The ellwolx (sing. ellwoln) are a highly unusual bunch, the other race in the mod to be able to make legendary artifacts and the only one playable by default. They have a humanoid body plan but their general appearance is a bizarre fusion of canine and bugbat. They have no eyes whatever, "seeing" by echolocation. Like dwarves, they suffer from cave adaptation, being native to caves in the first place. Ellwolx have fangs thanks to being mildly venomous, as well as wings that they can't fly with. They have clawed fingers/toes and perfect low light "vision" (DF cannot simulate echolocation, so ellwolx have all-around vision as a workaround). Ellwolx have both fur and feathers. They are very slightly larger than dwarves, which is mostly inconsequential. Their fur generally has varying patterns of black and some shade of blue, turning white as they age. Their feathers are generally some shade of blue, also turning white as they age. Ellwolx reach adulthood slightly earlier than usual, and will not trample grass by stepping on it too much. Female ellwolx have litters of one to three children, and ellwolx have a soldier tile of ê. Ellwolx are able to tame animals with ease, including various cave animals, and send caravans in the autumn (you may even find them bringing tame giant cave spiders for sale). Unlike dwarves, ellwolx respect the natural world and generally only kill animals or plants if the killing was officially sanctioned.
And then we have the selimnak (same sing/plur), whose appearance stretches the definition of "humanoid". They do have a humanoid body plan, but deviate significantly from the norm with their four arms, four eyes (none of which usually have the same color), paws, and chitinous plating for skin, with a somewhat armadillo-like appearance. They are smaller than dwarves and the smallest race in the mod, barely able to wear dwarven clothing (and vice versa) and being entirely unable to wear ellwoln clothing (and vice versa). Selimnak chitin plates usually range in color from green to more earthen tones, but the occasional selimnak will wind up with black, white, or gold chitin. Selimnak are slow on their paws, physically weaker than average, but have better mental ability to compensate. They take slightly longer to enter adulthood than usual, and live a very long time, with the eldest selimnak able to reach a staggering four centuries of age. Female selimnak lay eggs. Selimnak generally do not take stress well, but are more cheery than usual, with a sunny outlook on life and a tendency toward being forgiving. Speaking of sunny, selimnak venerate the celestial bodies and worship gods - it is not uncommon for gods of the sun, moon, and stars to appear. In fact, selimnak so venerate the celestial bodies that their administrative/noble positions are named after them: military-oriented positions with some element of the sun (and all selimnak military professions also have sun in their names), more administrative ones with some element of the moon. Selimnak possess very good low-light vision, though not perfect. They appear as s in ASCII and so do not have a soldier tile. Selimnak send caravans in the summer.
The final main race (there are various animal people as well) are the deepwaters abyssals. These are the other permanently hostile race, appearing in marshy areas. They are evil-aligned and so may show up when unlucky dwarves or ellwolx dig rather too deep, though this function is not intended and is simply part of how the game works - it enables this for any evil race. Deepwaters abyssals originate from the depths of the ocean and are sort of like a cross between a seahorse and an eldritch horror. They are almost as large as estoldirs and amphibious, making them quite troublesome siegers - especially since getting stabbed by the head-tentacles of males or females will inject the victim with a liquid that can eventually warp them into a deepwaters abyssal themselves, though they retain their memories and personality. Fortunately for defenders, deepwaters abyssals are absolutely terrible at moving anywhere but the water. All deepwaters abyssals have four to six tentacles rather than legs, one to two heads, one to three tails, and four arms with two elbows each, and are the only race in the mod capable of having no biological sex at all - they can be male, female, or neither. Transformed deepwaters abyssals always end up neither. All deepwaters abyssals have fangs, and male/female deepwaters abyssals can sense creatures vulnerable to potential transformation even without being able to see them. Females lay eggs. Deepwaters abyssals appear as A normally and Å as soldiers, for ASCII users. Deepwaters abyssals use gibberish-speak like kobolds do and lack a language of their own.
Other stuff:
This mod adds several animals/animal-adjacent beings, most fictional. A few of them actually exist in real life though. These animals are: bleedilots (oversized ocelots with iron bones and teeth that constantly appear to be bleeding, with poisonous blood, found in some savage biomes), amethyst cats (exactly what they sound like - deep-cavern-dwelling "cats" made entirely from amethyst) and their giant/animal person versions, glacial wolves (huge wolves from glaciers, outsizing a human, but they melt if exposed to above-freezing temperatures), sand cats (desert-dwelling cats who actually exist IRL) and their giant/animal person versions, maned wolves (omnivorous canines who are active during sunset/sunrise, found in savannas - not actually wolves; these exist IRL) and their giant/animal person versions, snow leopards (mountain-dwelling leopards who do exist IRL) and their giant/animal person versions, leopard cats (jungle cats who could be mistaken for miniaturized leopards - these exist IRL) and their giant/animal person versions, wurels (twisted canine-looking beings with 4 arms and a barbed, highly venomous tail, intelligent but utterly berserk, found anywhere evil but are quite rare), arakwols (bizarre spider-canine fusions who roam evil snowlands, have incredible recuperation, and possess a venom that slows wound healing in its victims), neesas (deep-cavern-dwelling creatures somewhat akin to canines, prized for their silky fur), and dire wolves and their giant/animal person versions.
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 Implausible Biology and Miscellaneous  » posted by IncompetentModMaker on Nov 22, 2022, 06:36:39 pm
So, some stuff doesn't fit in that description up there, because I really made this mod too large, to be honest. Actual dire wolves are extinct but this mod's version is modeled off of them anyway.
More other stuff:
This mod adds two gems, musgravite and sugilite, both of which exist IRL.
It also adds quite a few weapons. Those that exist or may have existed in real life are the horseman's pick, shepherd's axe, Lucerne hammer (named for its place of discovery: Lucerne, Switzerland), military fork, plançon à picot, quarterstaff, estoc, bill (derived from agricultural billhooks), knucks (alternately called knuckledusters or an English punch), and monk's spade. This mod also adds swordstaffs, which are simply quarterstaffs with a sword blade on one end.
The only truly fictional weapon this mod adds is what is more or less a flail, but it has two hammer heads instead (though it uses the mace skill). It is the êgävwärzêmtîsäl, used only by vulsayes. Though you could buy these off them, there's probably not much point.
There are also a variety of plants:
In terms of fictional crops, this mod adds hydrastalks (fruits resemble a hydra's head hence the name), underlettuces, bioluminescent pods (which come in all the colors of the rainbow and can be used to make low-value cloth), razor thorns (plants with blade-shaped, edible thorns), and sickly reeds (basically an evil version of rope reeds, with potential to make you quite sick if you should decide to drink its alcohol).
Hydrastalks, underlettuces, bioluminescent pods, and razor thorns are all found in the caverns, and in fact dwarves have starting access to bioluminescent pods, though not the other three.
The only real-life crop this mod adds is wolf apples, whose name apparently comes from being liked by maned wolves.
This mod also adds two trees, both fictional:
Kibashin trees are yellow-wooded trees that are seriously hot to the touch, found in deserts. They grow straight as a telephone pole and produce fruit... but that fruit is about as hot as you'd expect. It won't start fires on its own, but good luck trying to brew it.
Twisttrunks are twisty trees found in the third cavern layer, with purplish-magenta wood that is very dense, double the density of dolomite. They produce globules that you can press into oil to make soap with.
The last two plants I'm putting in a separate section owing to what they do - if you want to find this out yourself, don't read this section. Spoilered for a reason.
These plants are goldsmith's bane and goldsmith's salvation respectively. They can be processed into nigh-worthless extracts whose only purpose is to warp akautis into ulleids (goldsmith's bane) or change ulleids into akautis (goldsmith's salvation). In either case, there is a high chance of the extract rotting whatever it touches, as well as a low chance of turning the transformed unit berserk. Goldsmith's banes are found in evil biomes, and goldsmith's salvation is found in good biomes.
And that's it! If you stuck around long enough to read this whole thing, I applaud you for it. You probably had better things to do with your time.
comment last edited by IncompetentModMaker on Nov 22, 2022, 07:01:33 pm
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