Quote:
Originally Posted by roguebfl
Except the DF5 is stated for the reality of DF. what's good for DF is often not good for any other genre
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Too true. I find myself attempting to work out the correction factor between DF 5 and similar beasties in more realistic sources fairly often. Frex, had to guestimate what a real panther would be like based on the difference between a DF5 lion and a Basic Set Lion.
The main reason I initially suggested by Mammal, Bird, Reptile/Amphibion, and Arthropod is because those seem to be the most used in games and because it's moderately easy to lens one general set of stats into many species from different biomes. Give me one Sheep stat and lens that into Ibex, Ram, etc. much the way GURPS Horror lensed a basic monster into a variety of varients (e.g., Vampire into a bazzillion differnet vampires). That plus some text explaining the basic creature and varient creatures should cover the most ground with the least pages, I'd think.
[EDIT] I'm kind of with wellspring's thinking. I'd go with Mammals book and subdivide into Acquatic Mammals (Whales, Dolphins, Manatees, etc.), Bats (potentially dumpd in miscellaneous), Carnivores (Bears, Cats, Dogs, Civets, Hyenas, Mongooses, Weasels, Badgers, Skunks, Seals, Walruses, Racoons, etc.), Large Herbivores (Pigs, Hippos, Camels, Giraffe, Deer, Antelope, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Horses, Donkeys, Zebras, Rhinos, etc.), Small Mammals (Lagomorphs, Rodents, Shrews, Moles, etc.), Primates, Miscellaneous (Elephants, Sloths, Aardvarks, Pangolins, etc.).
Looking at that, you've got a pretty big book right there. I'd be worried it'd outshadow most other potential books. Can you find that many useful and interesting birds? or reptiles? Arthropods could fill a similar book, since they'd incorporate insects and spiders and crabs and so on. Fish, perhaps, but that'd carry the same risk as birds.