What creatures do you think would survive a Technomagic "Modern/Future" world

While D20 Modern has a list of Arcane and fantasy creatures that would survive or rather could be placed in a Modern setting, the specific campaign is more similar to Buffy or Shadowrun, with magic coming back or bleeding into the real world. But what would happen in a D20 Technomagical fantasy setting, i.e. something similar to Forgotten Realms "Modern" or even "Future". Which creatures from the Monster Manual would survive, and even maybe thrive in such a world, a world that is technologically advanced, BUT magic never left, and either enhances or even replaces the technology equivalents.

There have been many extinction events in the past in the real world, and some people think that the modern industrial world is an example of yet another such mass die off. Many of the creatures in our world either face extinction, or have adapted to living within our more urban wildernesses. Same should hold true in a similarly developed fantasy world of D&D.

The first, and most obvious, question is would the creature survive. Some would trive. Others could only be found deep within the equivalent of the Amazon river basin, or in zoos and nature preserves. And some would be almost unique, only a handful of the species left (think California condor or Loch Ness Monster).

Next question is the status of the creature, with five basic categories: Mainstream (Hidden), Outsider (Public), Outsider (Hidden), Mainstream (Public), and Mythical/Legendary.

Mainstream means that the creature or being has adapted to the modern world somehow. For intelligent beings, they have become a part of the society where they live. Mainstreamed does not mean that they are neccessarily law abiding, and may actually be almost all criminals living in the urban wastelands. Criminal gangs of goblins living in the slums are as much a part of a society (albiet a mostly parasitic part) as the productive halflings from the burbs. For animals, vermin, and other creatures, mainstream usual refers to domestication (for beasts) or infestation (for vermin). An example of a "wild" creature that has successfully made itself a part of certain urban landscapes in our world is the coyote. It has not only survived, but even thrived in some western US cities, and is a good example of a mainstream non-domesticated animal.

Naturally, those creatures and beings that have not become a part of a society or enviroment are refered to as outsiders. Again, outsider in no way implies social standing or criminality. Outsiders are those who have not become part of the larger society or have been unable to adapt to the modern world. Most "wild" animals fall in this category, as do many of the standard fantasy "monsters" (mostly because nobody wants a dangerous predator as a next door neighbor) and "lost" tribes. While individual beings may choose to "drop out" of a society and become outsiders, that does not matter, as I am asking about the race or species as a whole, not the exceptions. Even if a species wanted to become part of a society, their nature may not permit it or they may be deemed too dangerous to be allowed to live, thus are forced to remain outsiders.

Hidden creatures or beings are those that the general public are not aware of, think are now extinct, or are activally hiding themselves by pretending to be other species or within the shadows. Sometimes a species is considered hidden due to geography (i.e. living in a remote location) or the number of representatives still alive (i.e. endangered species). Even those considered to be extinct are known to have existed at one time in the past, like dinosaurs, dodo birds, etc.

Mystical/Legendary creatures and beings are those that the population at large is not only not aware of, but also do not believe ever existed. Those that have been heard of are considered to be nothing more than urban legends or bard's tales, and any "proof" of their existance is considered fraudulant and fabricated. Think Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, Roswell Aliens, etc. Ironically, thanks to modern tabloids, many of the intelligent species that would be classified as hidden outsiders have been able to hide themselves in seemingly more public, yet vastly subtler means by falsifying evidence. Except for a "loony" fringe, people do not except that mythical beings ever existed, even in pre-modern times of legend.

The last question that needs to be asked is how common is the creature or species, i.e. common, uncommon, rare, or extremely rare/unique. This does not even have to have anything to do with the numbers of this species, just the likeliness of running into one. Naturally, this can change not only from campaign to campaign, but country to country within a world.

Lastly, no more than two sentences of comments should be added to help clarify any of the above or to add other notes.

EXAMPLES

NAME: Dwarves
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Common
COMMENTS: Like all of the base character races, dwarves can be found in almost all societies and enviroments. Tend toward highly skilled "blue collar" professions (i.e. mechinists, mechanics, contracters, etc).

NAME: Aboleth
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mythical/Legendary
RARITY: Extremely rare
COMMENTS: Aboleths are masters of deception, and have convinced the world that not only do they not currently exist, but that they never existed. They run vast criminal empires from deep underground hidden bunkers, always working through intermediaries and their scum minions, and usually specializing in illegal drugs and biotech (including bootleg organs, cloner shops, dweonetics,etc). Unknown to even their beneficiaries, many arboleths also finance cutting edge (and sometimes illegal) research into psionic enhancement, pharmacology, and other forms of biotech.

I plan to keep posting to this thread by going through the Monster Manual (3rd ed, because I do not yet own a 3.5 and the SRD does not list all of the creatures within) and adding who I think will survive and how. I welcome comments on my creature posts and am interested in seeing what others think.

Thanks,

skippy
GM of The Cursed Earth

NAME: Ghouls
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Hidden
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: In the mass of the urban sprawl, the depraved and hungry dead are able to feast upon downtrodden and faceless masses. Missing persons reports and stories of serial killers are rife and many of them are the victims of the ghouls who lurk in the shadows and backstreets.

NAME: Otyugh
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: The living garbage disposal machines not only thrive in the ever growing trashheaps of metropolitan life, there are some cities who have actual encouraged these creatures to breed as a sensible solution to the 'pollution' problem that plagues modern living. Of course these areas are fenced and off limits to all but the goblin workers, but they are there nonetheless...

NAME: Rust Monsters
SURVIVAL (Y/N): No
STATUS: Outsider
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Although once common and a major pest during the rise of industrialisation, the Rust Monster is now near to extinction as a result both of major exterminations during 'the age of steel' and more recently due to a loss of viable foodstocks as society has turn to aluminium and plastics rather than ironbased products. A few wild specimens are spotted in old industrial zones, railway yards and car wreakers yards but the survival of these creatures is very much in doubt...

A is for Achaierai

NAME: Achaierai
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Ousider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Like most inner and outer planar creatures, they are rare on the material plane, usually having been summoned by some spell caster. While they are usually brought to this plane to perform some task and then leave, achaierai are usually recognized for what they are when seen, and most cities have a specially trained SWAT-like team of spell casters who will dispell and/or destroy such creatures.

NAME: Allip
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: Except for the most powerful and/or the most mindless, undead are considered ousiders by the populous, but are usually recognized for what they are by most knowledgeable folks. Again, most municipalities have some sort of "Dead Squad" whose task it is to lay to rest the occasional undead and ghost. Allips are actually more common in a TM Modern world, especially around corporate cubicle farms, as the non-survival day to day stress is enough to drive many to madness and suicide. Many psychiatric hospitals also have full time "Dead Squads" to deal with allips and like.

NAME: Angel
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Like with achaierai, most angels only appear on the Material plane if they have been summoned or are on some task for their diety. Since angels are usually recognized as "good" beings, and are usually very careful about making the minimum amount of waves or damage, they are usually ignored by the populous at large when performing their chosen task. The local authorities keep track of angels, but tend to leave them alone, only interfering if they break local laws or assualt their citizens.

NAME: Animated Object
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Common
COMMENTS: Animated objects of all sorts are very common within a TM Modern society, as anything that can be reasonably automated through the new computer/robotic technologies probably will in the name of "labor saving devices". Most such devices will have some sort of inhibition protocol which prevents them from being used in combat except as a simple distraction. Even non-robotic objects are regularly animated through the use of animation units (small TM box-like devices which can animate any object it is attached to [up to it's maximum size setting] and are then controlled through a linked datapad/computer or seperate control panel).

NAME: Ankheg
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: These pests remain one of the banes of the bread belt. They are tough enough to survive most poisons set out for them, and have "learned" how to avoid simple robotic pest killbots by remaining motionless just under the earth (especially since bots are not good to eat).

NAME: Aranea
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Hidden)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Unfortunately, due to the bad reputation of lycanthropes and their infamous curse, shapechangers of all sort suffer various forms of prejudice (everything from simple austrosizing to lynching, depending upon the culture of the area). Aranea, who are considered "were-spiders" by the ignorant and uniformed, prefer to blend into a humanoid population, maintaining their humanoid form except at home and in special isolated enclaves. Some of the more isolationist "ethnic" groups (think Ammish dwarves or the like) are actually communities of shapechangers, like the aranea, hiding in plain sight.

NAME: Archon
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Basically the same as the angel (see above).

NAME: Arrowhawk
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Like the achaierai, the arrohawks are very rare on the material plane, unless summoned for a specific task. Since they have a reputation as predators, the local authorities are usually called in to deal with them when they are spotted, and the police usually try to first dispel, rather then destroy, arrowhawks, unless they threaten life of property.

NAME: Assassin Vine
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Hidden)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Assassin vines are very rarely found in the wild, being no more immune to herbicides then any other plant. But, it has been saved from extinction by various wealthy and/or unscrupulous individuals who cultivate the assassin vines to guard the inner sides of the outer walls of their complexes, which is usually considered highly illegal in most countries.

NAME: Athach
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes (almost no)
STATUS: Mythical/Legendary
RARITY: Extremely Rare/Unique
COMMENTS: Technically athaches as a race are extinct, as they were not smart enough to either hide or adapt to the modern world, but were too big and dangerous to let live. But some fool sorcerer or biotech weapons firm keeps performing various Frankensteinesque on giants, sometimes resulting in a monstrousity which is the statistical equivalent of an athach. These creations are usually unique, or at most a handful of them, and are invariably sterile.

NAME: Avoral
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Basically the same as the angel (see above).

NAME: Azer
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: The azer are very rarely found upon the material plane, but they do maintain a consulate here, usually within a dwarven kingdom/republic, which helps facilitate their trade for gems and precious metals. Outside of this consulate, or any business they may have with gem traders, the azer are otherwise never seen on this plane. But, the location of their consulate is public knowledge (it is even listed in the phone book).

That covers the A's.

skippy
GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign

Excellent! I had not thought yet about either Rust Monster or Otyughs, as I am trying to pretend to be organized by initially tackling critters alphabettically.

skippy
GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign

B is for Barghest

NAME: Barghest
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Hidden)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Unlike most infernal outsider types, barghests have made themselves at home on the material plane, hiding amongst the various goblinoid populations. They consider this plane to be their playgrounds, and delight in torturing the very goblins they hide among. Many a goblin gang leader is actually a barghest in disguise, but they rarely get too high in the ranks of organized crime, as these fiends are much more interest in causing pain and fear then accumulating temporal power.

NAME: Basilisk
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Basilisks are rarely found in the wild anymore. Being very slow and somewhat stupid, they are actually relatively easy to catch, especially when you use remote devices and robots to avoid the beasts deadly gaze, and thus have become a favorite guard animal of high security facilities (it being illegal in most countries for private citizens to use lethal creatures and traps to defend their homes). Since it is easy to nuetralize most gaze attacks using indirect or remote sensor systems, the usefulness of the basilisk is highly over-rated, being more a matter of image then any real security value.

NAME: Behir
SURVIVAL (Y/N): No
STATUS: n/a
RARITY: n/a
COMMENTS: Behir are extinct. They were just too big and powerful a predator for people to allow them to live, but not big enough, clever enough, or powerful enough to survive on their own. The fact that they also had above animal intelligence also kept the enviromentalists from lobbying for the behirs inclusion in zoos and nature preserves. The few times this was attempted, the behir was just smart enough to be able to easily escape their confinement, without having the brains to realize that their captivity was all that was keeping them breathing.

NAME: Beholder
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream Outsider (Public) [see below]
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Beholders are too smart, too powerful, and too damn mean to die off. The amount of force required to exterminate the species became cost prohibitive, especially after the beholders began to organize and play various factions off each other. Eventually they conquered their own tyrannical kingdom in a remote and very desolate corner of the world, and forced other nations to recognize them as a sovereign power. A few beholders can be found on "shopping trips" or as "tourists", travelling under diplomatic visas, and being closely watched by the authorities. There are also a few very clever and/or very powerful rogue beholders who have nothing to do with the kingdom and are considered fair game.

NAME: Belker
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Basically the same as the achaierai (see above).

NAME: Blink Dog
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: Blink dogs have joined society at large, becoming full citizens of their countries and communities. Being uncomfortable in most urban enviroments, they prefer to live in rural, if not actual wilderness areas, and make excellent park rangers and game wardens. Some partner with humanoids (especially halfling paladins and good rangers), and join various police forces or become bounty hunters.

NAME: Bodak
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Hidden)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Bodak are extremely rare form of undead, but since those they kill spawn into bodak themselves, one quickly becomes a cluster of these monsters. The "Dead Squad" try to find "bodak zero" as quickly as possible to nuetralize the spread of this undead threat.

NAME: Bralani
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Basically the same as the angels (see above).

NAME: Bugbear
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: Uncommon
COMMENTS: All goblinoids have become a part of various societies, many times as criminal or lower class workers. But there are a few goblinoid controlled countries, and within such societies, bugbears are usually security and enforcers. They make especially good Military Police (as even the hobgoblin warriors that make up much of the military think twice before taking on a bugbear).

NAME: Bulette
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Bulettes are hard to kill, whether with poisons or direct attacks, so they still terrorize many isolated rural communities. Bulettes will try and eat almost anything, including drone killbots, automated farm equipment, and especially livestock. They are more of an annoyance than a true danger, killing maybe a dozen people a year, but do a massive amount of property damage.

Well, there are the b's.

skippy
GM of the Cursed Earth Campaign

NAME: Centaurs

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (Public)
RARITY: UnCommon
COMMENTS: Surviving mainly in the Greek Isles, the Middle East and around the Black Sea, Centaurs are highly sought after as teachers and tutors. It’s considered a high status symbol to have a centaur on a school payroll.



NAME: Chaos Beast

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Hidden)

RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Considered pests of the worst order, Chaos Beasts are destroyed wherever found and possession of one is a Class III Felony.



NAME: Chimera

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mythic/Legendary

RARITY: Rare
COMMENTS: Hunted almost to extinction during the early exploration of Africa, the Chimera survives these days mainly in the depths of the Alps, the innermost rainforests of the Congo. They are very rare and have grown adept at hiding from humans.



NAME: Chokers

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Uncommon)

RARITY: UnCommon
COMMENTS: Despite having little contact with humans, choker nests are usually destroyed on sight by maintenance crews in public caving systems.



NAME: Chuul

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Hidden)

RARITY: UnCommon
COMMENTS: The public believes most of the Chuul were wiped out in the early part of the Eighteenth Century, but some pockets do in fact survive in South and Central America. Drug smugglers sometimes use them as guards and disposals.



NAME: Cloakers

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare

COMMENTS: Mankind has been at war with the cloaker species for ages and that continues to this day. Most of the early atomic tests were underground for a reason: to exterminate the massive cloaker ‘kingdom’ under the American Southwest. Regular Federal patrols of mining complexes and natural fissures keep these monsters at bay.



NAME: Cockatrice

SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Outsider (Public)
RARITY: Rare

COMMENTS: Cockatrices are nuisance creatures, exterminated on sight. Possession of a cockatrice for the purpose of using its ability to commit a crime is a Class 1 Felony. Some licensed breeders exist in the Southwest. Almost exclusively they sell to magists and hospitals who use the feathers to place patients in suspended animation.





NAME: Coatl

SURVIVAL (Y/N): No
STATUS: Mythic/Legendary
RARITY: Rare

COMMENTS: Despite persistent rumors of sightings, these gentle creatures died in waves of disease brought by the Conquistadores.

NAME: Gnome
SURVIVAL (Y/N): Yes
STATUS: Mainstream (public)
RARITY: Common
COMMENTS: Gnomes are commonly found in cities and rural areas, in cities Gnomes are usually found owning personal workshops tinkering with what ever is brought in. Some though work on high-importance work, and are considered specialists. The ones who are live in the rural areas usually make a life at farming or smalled work shops, some though act as park rangers, hireable trackers, or zoo keepers.

I had to save them before they got label strictly as tinkerers. It can probably be improved on.

NAME: Elf (fullblood)
SURVIVAL (Y/N): NO (see below)
STATUS:N/A
RARITY: N/A
COMMENTS: As the world changed around them the elfs, always a haughty lot began to withdraw more from mainstream society. Isolating themselves the elfs inate superiority complex turned towards a eugenisist regime where Elf Genomancers sort to create of themselves the perfect race.
By its very nature this programme spilt over into surrounding nations as the demand for more and more resources and slave labour increased. This eventually lead to the Eugenisist wars in which many 'perfect soldiers' and more abberations were spilt forth from the laboritories of the world.
By the time the Eugenist Wars had come to an end many races had been transformed, and many nations shifted to create the multiracial melting pots of today. The elves however were all but destroyed, every nation and race in the world had grown tired of the superioty complex of the elfs and that race was persecuted and hunted to virtual extinction. Popular legend is that the last fullblooded elf died 135 years ago. However a few half-elfs and many more elf-tainted people are found in most populations

(hehehe - my chance to KILL ALL ELFS!!!!)

skippy_the_witch said:

There have been many extinction events in the past in the real world, and some people think that the modern industrial world is an example of yet another such mass die off.
[snip...]
The first, and most obvious, question is would the creature survive.

Click to expand...

If you are considering a mass extinction event, then the most obvious question is may not be answered in the way one might think.

In previous mass extinctions, the Earth lost a large precentage of the species that lived upon her - large as in an estimated 50% to 95%, depending upon which event you're talking about. This has some implications:

1) Conditions during the extinction event are so bad that survival isn't so much a matter of fitness as it is luck. It becomes less a question of who dies and who thrives, and more a question of who dies and who manages to just barely scrape through.

2) Conditions during the extinction event are likely very different from conditions just before of just after the event. Species are likely to survive due to some quirk that applies during the event, but not before or after. What gets you through the global winter of an asteroid strike, or the ecological upheval of technological development is probably not applicable under more stable conditions. So, after the event, you may have a bunch of species that really aren't all that well adapted to conditions, but they are what you have left.

3) After extinction events, you typically have a period of rapid speciation. Even if coyotes survive, pretty soon you don't have coyotes anymore, as they've speciated to fill in all the carnivore niches left open by others dying off.

This can lead you to look at your fantasy world in new ways - technomagic or not. Perhaps you end up with a whole bunch of humanoid races as part of the post-event speciation?