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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 5607970" data-attributes="member: 31216">In the Crackpot Science thread, I mentioned that the old belief of Spontaneous Generation could be used in fantasy as a monster generator, ala some computer games.I kind of like the idea that some monsters "just appear" in unattended dungeon environments the way that it was believed rats "just appear" when you leave out old clothing and food scraps in a dark corner of a barn. Beware the dark of the attic without a lantern, because you might be eaten by a grue. Where does the grue come from? The dark of the attic.I could see goblins and orcs being not "creature of nature" but rather things that just spontaneously generate in dark dungeons. There are no male, female, or child goblins, there are just goblins. Spontaneous generation could explain how goblins appear behind the party, in areas they've already cleared in the dungeon. Why you must always have a guard awake even in a secured room. Why there are still more ghouls in the graveyard after the cleric went through and destroyed the last batch.But here's my question:How long could this concept be kept up? Could this concept be true for a whole campaign and world, or is it only good for one dungeon, or a single adventure? Some problems I can think of with spontaneous generation would be:Where do the weapons come from, and if they are generated with the goblins (or whatever), where do they go after the goblin is slain? Would there be a stockpile of shortswords?Could one create a "goblin farm" by letting a dungeon fill up, conscripting the produced goblins (or whatever) out of the dungeon, to let it fill up again?Do the generated monsters have knowledge of their environment? The world?What kind of creatures could be spontaneously generated, and what kind of creatures should not be? Goblins, orcs, dwarves, elves?What do you think? Is spontaneous monster generation something that could be maintained for a whole campaign world, or is it just a neat gimmick for one dungeon, or one short adventure where the "global implications" wouldn't have to be considered?Bullgrit</blockquote>

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