Evolutionary Fantasy

[Tonguez]

The "magical" intelligent species especially the half-man ones such as centaurs (I can't really think of no evolutionary path that makes much sense for such) arose from such mutation. .

That depends on just how 'human' your centaurs look.
DnD World has many multilimbed creatures and so the four limb limit of earth mammals doesn't apply. Centaurs thus evolved from a small six limbed herbivore who adapted to reaching up to eat fruit from trees. Later the climate changed turning the forests into plains and the mid and hind limbs of the proto-centaurus developed as hooves and the forelimbs became hands (now capable of tool use).

 

[S'mon]

Hm, I always make my worlds like this anyway. Comes from reading too much Michael Moorcock as a child!

 

[Hussar]

If you want a fantastic take on the idea of "Evolutionary" fantasy worlds, take a look at Steven Erikson's Malazan books. Pretty much the entire concept is modeled around exactly this. Dinosaurs with magic, dragons, extremely powerful magical beings Ascending... Very good read.

 

[Reynard]

Some more thinking on this:

Humans, elves and orcs should probably be closely related, coming from the same progenitor species and differentiated largely by their evolutionary response to environmental factors, both mundane and magical. I say this because of the existence of half elves and half orcs. One wonders, though, what a half elf/half orc would look like. Haflings are often linked closely with humans -- do they belong in this group?

Your various underground -- but not underdark -- dwellers probably come from the same basic progenitor species as well: dwarves and goblins in particular. That'd they';d be competing for resources once the races reconverged would help explain their antipathy.

Giants and giant-kin should certainly all flow from the same stock. More magical giant types need to have developed in areas with both extreme environments and high magic levels, but then I like the idea of linking extreme environments and high magic levels in general - -something abou the interaction of magic and geography/weather/etc... always suggest "turning it up to 11" to me.

Not every species needs an evolutionary niche or progenitor. Somehwere down the line, there are going to be civilizations where some members master magic. Dragons, illithids and of course humans and demi-humans would certainly toy with magical genetic engineering, and your kobolds, gnolls and other very animal-like creatures likely result from such experimentation. Truly strange monsters may be simple mutations, the results of experiemnts, or have evolved in truly extreme environments with high magic levels -- take a look at some of the beasties that exist in the deep oceans, for example.

I like the idea of magic as the functional equivalent of the Earth's magnetosphere. It changes over time, occassionally even flipping, going through its own cycles, which can cause these events that lead to massive evolution or mass extinctions. There are palces where it is more powerful than others and has an unsual affect on people and things around it. It can be tapped. It infuses and interacts with certain materials and base elements.

 

[Eidalac]

That make me think of the mana cycle in Shadowrun/Earthdawn.

In short, mana, the source of magic, fluxed over time from nill (utterly mundane world) to Epic Faerun levels. At the high point, planar travel was possible, which let Very Bad Things into the world, leading to the collapse of civilization until the cycle wained again, forcing the Bad Things out, and leaving society to rebuild in a world where magic was fading away.

Eventually the cycle would wax, returning magic to a world that had nearly forgotten about it, which also restored the various 'magical' creatures (who were either dormant or totally mundane during the cycle minimum.)

 

[Tonguez]

Some more thinking on this:

Humans, elves and orcs should probably be closely related, coming from the same progenitor species and differentiated largely by their evolutionary response to environmental factors, both mundane and magical. I say this because of the existence of half elves and half orcs. One wonders, though, what a half elf/half orc would look like. Haflings are often linked closely with humans -- do they belong in this group?

 

[jdrakeh]

That's enough for now. Thoughts?

This is offered as one of two approaches to religion in the core Harnworld 2e box set (i.e., gods existing only as figments of the imagination). The default setting assumptions about monsters seem to be weighted in favor of this option.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

It might be fun to consider alternate ideas about heredity and evolution other than the standard "genetic" explanations.

For example, what if changes to the body and mind during life could be inherited? Cripple a man, and the children he sires later on will be born with weak limbs. Put some curse on him, and the curse will be inherited. On the other hand, if you make a women beautiful through a spell or alchemy, her children will also inherit that beauty.

Such things could explain many "dark races" - they are descended from humans who were brutally tortured and stunted until their descendants reached their current appearance. Owlbears, gryphons, and other hybrid races could be the result of someone grafting animal parts on different animals. And so on...

 

[PhoenixDarkDirk]

As a name for a world such as this, I would propose "Darwygax".

 

[Reynard]

This pic is pure awesome. What's the source?