How to use the species generator
- Pick a kind: any species, a beast, a thinking people, a water or sky creature, or a hybrid of two real animals.
- Read the dossier. Body plan, size, colours, senses, diet, habitat, behaviour, life cycle, mind, abilities, weaknesses, threat and how people use or fear it.
- Lock and re-roll. Love the body but not the diet? Lock the body and re-roll the rest, or re-roll just one section.
- Use it. Copy it, share a link, add it to your field guide, or turn it into a ready 5e stat block in one click.
What each part of the dossier means
- Quick facts at the top give the body, size, habitat and threat at a glance. Sizes run from Tiny (about as long as a hand) to Colossal (big enough to be mistaken for a hill).
- Body, looks and senses describe its shape, its covering, two colours and two special senses. The picture uses the same body shape and colours.
- Diet and the food chain show what it eats and what eats it. Nothing eats a Deadly or Legendary species: a meat-eater is the top hunter, and anything else is simply too dangerous to hunt.
- Habitat and behaviour say where it lives, whether it lives alone, in herds or in a hive, when it is active, and its temper, from shy to fiercely territorial.
- Life cycle covers how it is born, how fast it grows up and how long it lives.
- Mind runs from Animal through Clever animal and Almost a people to A thinking people or a Hive mind. Thinking peoples and hive minds also get a line about their society and tools.
- Abilities and weaknesses give it two or three things it does well and one or two ways to beat it.
- Uses & fears and story hooks show how people in your world deal with it, and give you three ready adventure ideas.
How the threat level is worked out
Threat runs from 1 to 5: Harmless, Wary, Dangerous, Deadly and Legendary. It starts at 1 and goes up with the creature's size, with its diet (hunters and scavengers score higher than grazers) and with each fighting ability it has, such as a venomous bite or an electric shock. A small random nudge keeps things surprising, so two creatures of the same size can still differ. To keep a threat level while you re-roll, lock Body, Diet and Abilities as well as Threat.
Lock and re-roll tips
- Keeping a name: the name is built from the body shape, the covering and the habitat. Lock Body and Habitat along with Name, or the name can change when those re-roll.
- Keeping a hybrid: in the Hybrid mixer the two animals belong to the body, so lock Body to keep them while you re-roll everything else.
- One section at a time: the round arrow next to a section re-rolls just that section, whatever else is locked.
- Changing the kind (Beast, Water, Sky and so on) clears your locks and starts a fresh species. Press Back to return to an earlier one.
Example species
Glass Darter
Squamis pelagicus · Legendary
The Glass Darter is a finned swimmer about the size of a horse. It is made of citrine living crystal and lives on the coral reefs.
Smooth Clutch
Polypus limosus · Deadly
The Smooth Clutch is a tentacled creature about the size of a horse. It has smooth rose quartz skin and lives in the drowned marshes.
Mist Blob
Gelatus paludis · Dangerous
The Mist Blob is a shapeless, wobbling creature about as big as a person. It is made of pale haze mist and lives in the reed-maze wetlands.
Crested Warbler
Alatus litoralis · Deadly
The Crested Warbler is a winged, bird-like creature big enough to be mistaken for a hill. It is covered in flame orange feathers and lives on the cliff-lined shores.
Foxowl
Lupinus silvestris · Dangerous
The Foxowl is a four-legged animal about the size of a fox, part fox and part owl. It is covered in kestrel brown feathers and lives in the deep green forests.
Smoulder Eel
Lubricus montanus · Dangerous
The Smoulder Eel is a long, legless serpent about the size of a fox. It is covered in glowing ash grey ember-scales and lives on the cloud-cut peaks.
How to design a believable creature
- Start with where it lives. Habitat explains almost everything else: what it eats, how it moves, what colour it is and what hunts it.
- Follow the food. Every creature eats something and is eaten by something. The food chain in each dossier links your species into the world.
- Give it one strange ability and one honest weakness. An ink cloud and a fear of bright light make a creature memorable and beatable.
- Decide how smart it is. A clever animal is a challenge; a thinking people is a culture, with names, laws and art. For a people, try the Fantasy Race Generator.
- Think about people. Farmers who fear it, sailors with superstitions, alchemists who pay for its blood: that's where your adventures come from.
From species to 5e stat block
Make a 5e stat block turns the dossier into a monster you can run. The threat level sets the challenge rating: Harmless becomes CR 1/8, Wary CR 1/2, Dangerous CR 2, Deadly CR 6 and Legendary CR 12. The body sets the creature type: a walking plant becomes a plant, a shapeless creature an ooze, a thinking people a humanoid or monstrosity, and most animals beasts. The size carries over, with Colossal becoming Gargantuan. Its abilities pick a combat role: a fighter becomes a brute, a hider an ambusher, a runner a skirmisher and a trickster a controller. The stat block opens in the Stat Block Maker under your species' name, ready to edit.
The two species games
Build an ecosystem makes four more species from the same habitat and links them in a food chain: a sun-fed plant, a grazer, a clever hunter and a scavenger. It is a quick way to fill a region of your map. In Survive the predator, each choice is a d20 roll that needs 12 or more. You get +5 when the choice matches one of your species' abilities. Body and brains help too: small creatures hide well, creatures bigger than the hunter fight well, bird-like, insect, fish-like and drifting bodies flee well, and smarter minds pull better tricks.
Frequently asked questions
Is this species generator free?
Yes, with no login, no AI and no limit. Every species is made in your browser from original tables, so you can use it in any game, book or world.
What is the hybrid mixer?
It mixes two real animals, such as an owl and a bear, into one creature with a blended name, then builds the whole dossier around it.
Can I turn a species into a D&D monster?
Yes. Press Make a 5e stat block. The tool picks a challenge rating from the species' threat level and opens a full stat block in the Stat Block Maker, ready to edit.
What does the Latin-style name under the title mean?
It is a make-believe scientific name built from the body plan and habitat, so your world's naturalists have something to argue about.
Can I make a sea creature?
Yes. Choose Water. You get a fish, tentacled, serpent, drifting or shapeless body that lives on the coast, in the open ocean or in a swamp.
Can I use it for my own original species or character?
Yes. Everything it makes is yours to use and change. If your character belongs to the species, choose Thinking people. For a full people with culture, names and 5e traits, the Fantasy Race Generator goes deeper.
Where is my field guide saved?
In this browser only. Add to field guide keeps up to 300 species, and each one reopens exactly as you saved it. To move a species to another device, copy its share link.
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