Inventing Creatures

1. Choose Niche: What role does this creature fill?

• Predator (hunts humans or other fauna)
• Prey (food source, companionship)
• Symbiote (mutual benefit with humans or environment)
• Hazard (environmental feature that happens to be alive)

2. Adapt to Environment:

• Day side: extreme heat resistance, radiation tolerance, heat-seeking
• Twilight belt: wind adaptation, thermal flexibility, storm survival
• Night side: cold resistance, bioluminescence, cave navigation
• Deep Roads: vibration sense, darkness adaptation, stone-boring

3. Add One Weird Trait: Make it memorable

• Absorbs psychic energy
• Fossilizes when killed (valuable resource)
• Changes color based on atmospheric pressure
• Communicates via ultrasonic song
• Hibernates during superstorms

4. Define Human Interaction:

• Dangerous: threat level, vulnerability
• Useful: resource harvested, service provided
• Neutral: indicator species, ecosystem role
• Bondable: requirements for psychic connection

Example: Pressure Slug - Twilight belt creature (size: 20-50 cm). Feeds on atmospheric pressure differentials. Appears before superstorms, frantically feeding on pressure changes. Vibrates rapidly, producing audible hum. Domesticated by weatherworkers as storm warning system—hum frequency indicates storm intensity. Harvested mucus used in barometric instruments. Weird trait: explodes if exposed to stable pressure for more than 48 hours. Neutral to humans unless threatened.