Creating new biomes, drawing and describing them

[Elterio Delgard]

Hi all! I need some help, may it be in suggestions, information and comments.

When drawing a map in a fantasy world, we create, and when we create, we tend to search a good balance between several spices that render a map delicious for the eye.
For those who saw my maps, I will admit and certainly they can affirm that sadly I do not have much diversity in biome representation. Scale, style, lack of experience, maybe, but we need to
move forward now eh?

One way I found to bring diversity is to have symbols for a completely new biome. For example... For those who played modded minecraft, there was a biome with lots of flowers and some big flowers. ''Now that could be interesting'' said the little I that I am. And so I have some biomes represented by a half marshweed symbol with a circle above that gives the look of a plant with a flower. Okay! I have a symbol! I placed some biomes in certain areas justifying that the types of flowers are adapted to the location and so bla bla bla...
Well, so far there is not much thinking put into it...

My nexzt step is to create 2-3 more biomes and to think WHERE they SHOULD be. And for that I need your help people. Video games and fantasy novels tend to have some cliches, like a fungus forest. (Can we really call it a forest since mushrooms are not considered as plants?). ''Well'', I said in my little head of mine, ''how about I have some fungus biome but not like the Super Mario type, how about those you find on tree trunks but instead?''. I thought it sounded cool. Taking a classic and changing it a little. But err... WHERE would be the best logical place and HOW would it impact the ecosystem and all?

So my aim with this thread is to think with all of you, like a good collective (that sounds bad, especially if you like star trek...).

BIOME NUMBER ONE: Fungus biome.

Somewhere with lots of humidity and shade would be great. But what else? Me is no mushroom expert. What else would you find fitting in a mushroom biome, and what kind of animals? You can include creatures from mythology and all! Lets juste create together...

[Creativetides]

I like the idea and I say put the biome next to a forest at the bottom of a mountain because geographically all the rain is lead to one side of a mountain so if the moisture is all sent down to the very bottom of the mountain more moss and moisture would be present which when surrounded by a large forest is the perfect recipe for, a great big wet fungus mossy biome with large mushrooms and rotten tree matter. so i say put it at the base of a mountain surrounded by trees.

[Elterio Delgard]

Mmmm. Thanks Creativetides for your comment.

Right now I am busy packing stuff because I am moving in 5 days to another city for studies so I will post sporadicaly.

I agree with you that moisture is important. But what makes mushroom grow is a good question. In order to give some value to this thread, I will try to do some reading and some small research in order to open as many doors as possible to explore
the idea of a mushroom biome.

Generally speaking mushrooms are not big. at least not to the point of being a bush size or small tree. But what would they require to grow bigger? What ecosystem would be helping them? I know that in fall, we often have some mushrooms in our yards where leaves tend to fall. Now, we can't have a biome that appear in one season and dies afterwards, wouldn't make sense. I know that we often grow edible mushrooms with horse manure, but unless we plan to have some Godzillas around, there is no way any normal animal would be sufficient enough. Then again, thats FARMING, not natural growth. So certainly some reading on how mushrooms naturally grow will be quite a bonus here. Will do some research on it later.

But what I was thinking would be to have some disk shaped mushrooms, you know those you find on tree trunks, but instead growing out of some rocks or dirt in a denivelation. I like the idea near a mountain, because water does come and streams tend to merge in rivers or pounds. Water tend also to dig underground galeries and half open galeries (those that are not entirely cut off from the surface). So maybe where long ago an icecap stood and scrapped the mountains to the rock itself, leaving down below lots of humus soil could also be a boon for mushrooms. Just speculating here.

Maybe thinking also how we often see those biomes in videogames may be an insight in the matter, though they are not to be taken as authorities in the matter. Terraria tends to have them underground, those big mushrooms, and they have some small fluorescent light in them.
Its not rare to have mushrooms side by sidec with pale coloured light, especially blue and green. But that sounds unlikely if we are talking of a biome much closer to the surface if not on the surface itself.

Minecraft has them in two areas, either where you have lots of big trees, or in the fungus mystical land where you have shroomcows.

Mario tends to have them in much diversity but in the same shape. May it be undeground or on the surface. They tend to be tall, skinny, but the head to be flat and disk-like.

Now, I never really played D&D, but I am quite sure some people here could take some time to describe mushroom biomes in D&D?

[xeyla]

Mmmm. Thanks Creativetides for your comment.

Right now I am busy packing stuff because I am moving in 5 days to another city for studies so I will post sporadicaly.

I agree with you that moisture is important. But what makes mushroom grow is a good question. In order to give some value to this thread, I will try to do some reading and some small research in order to open as many doors as possible to explore
the idea of a mushroom biome.

Generally speaking mushrooms are not big. at least not to the point of being a bush size or small tree. But what would they require to grow bigger? What ecosystem would be helping them? I know that in fall, we often have some mushrooms in our yards where leaves tend to fall. Now, we can't have a biome that appear in one season and dies afterwards, wouldn't make sense. I know that we often grow edible mushrooms with horse manure, but unless we plan to have some Godzillas around, there is no way any normal animal would be sufficient enough. Then again, thats FARMING, not natural growth. So certainly some reading on how mushrooms naturally grow will be quite a bonus here. Will do some research on it later.

Actually, the largets living organism on this planet is the Honey Fungus:
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141...m-in-the-world
"The parasitic and apparently tasty honey fungus not only divides opinions; it is also widely seen as the largest living organism on Earth.

More precisely, a specific honey fungus measuring 2.4 miles (3.8 km) across in the Blue Mountains in Oregon is thought to be the largest living organism on Earth."

So, I'm thinking a fungus biome is totally plausible.

[Elterio Delgard]

Mmmm...
I have done a LITTLE bit of research and much depends on what family of fungus we are talking of.

They are quite diversified and it seems like more than half of them are still unknown to us today.
I do know that mushrooms are really diversified and tend to adapt.

I also went searching for maps where you had fungus biome and well, me found nothing on the internet. I must admit I never was good to search what I need on google so maybe someone could help us all by posting a link or an icone for mushroom biome in cartography?

One thing that could be interesting with the mushrooms is that some of them tend to live with other types of plants. Maybe we need to look into what possible ally or victime to add in a fungus biome. As ally, moss on rocks would allow some mushrooms to grow near, but they probably won't be as big as we want. Another possibility would be to have a dying forest, which would be a transition from a wooded area to a mushroom paradise. But once the wood is consumed and desintegrated, on what will mushroom live? Maybe a mushroom biome could exist on the basis of rotation.
1-Mushroom growing from dead trees or trunks.
2-When wood is scarce, those first mushrooms die and all the humidity and moisture now serves to grow ANOTHER kind of mushroom, here sprouting from the ground.
3-After a while, the soil gets dry and and loose some nutrients in some dry season, which cause some kind of mushrooms to go in sleeping, letting therefore the earth rest for a while.

[Elterio Delgard]

Hi all!

I finally moved at the university and... err... I was so excited to have scanned 33 pages of maps to post on my six maps open for critics only to now realise that the images didn't transfer on my USB key. Gah, will have to wait for Christmas when I will return home and have once more access to a scanner

Meanwhile, I was thinking about the mushroom biome. How would you guys and girls depict a morning in such an environment? Misty, full of dew? Smelly? Swarming with bugs?

An idea could be that we define tree types of biomes and depending on the type, the landscape and environement is different.
1: Composite biome.
-Since some types of mushrooms tend to grow as parasites, or sometimes they even cooperate with others, it could be interesting to have a biome which is not a mushroom one only but a mix of mushrooms and something else. Like, for example, some big trees like the redwoods on which large mushrooms grow on the trunks and in turn provide shelter for small animals and bugs.

2: Dominant biome.
-We could always have a mushroom biome with mushrooms filling the rooms with mushy mushrooms. Errr... Okay, back to seriousness... We could have as a dominant feature big mushrooms, but then it would require some thoughts about what kind of animals would live in such a place. We could always invent creatures or have big bugs. A dominant biome would be also on the surface, but where? Would it be in swampy areas? We did say humidity and mountains were important, so how about a plateau where the streams just flood the ground a little and instead of having plants, having the fungus party.
-I would also picture some mushrooms with a cap ressembling a bowl in which morning dew or rain could gather. Would be a good place for bugs such as mosquitoes to put their eggs. Would also imply that water would be easy to find, but would it be drinkable?

3: Partly hidden biome, to underground biome.
-I could easily see in a fantasy world a big ravine where light is able to reach the bottom only for a few hours a day, or even less. Would be like underground galeries also.

[Creativetides]

Very solid idea.

[Elterio Delgard]

Thanks.

Here is the little I, in my bedroom in university. Before going out and read some articles, I decided maybe thinking, for yes I do think. What thoughts had the little I that I am? <<Well, what kind of natural ressources would we find in such a biome as a fungus one...>>
I knew very well that mushrooms are not trees, and therefore may not provide adequate building material. Of course, if we are in a mixed biome, that may easily be arranged. But what about a fungus dominant biome? Why would humans settle there? Humidity makes it the ideal climate for epidemics... Bugs... Mushrooms on the other hand can be used as spices, potions, magic ingredients, or chemical substance in a less magical world.

I would imagine lots of fern type plants growing. SO maybe some edible wild leaves.

Protein wise, no lack of insects. I would see bugs as one major source of protein in such areas.

As for metal... Mmmm.... Ah... How about just like those who used to sift in the streams in search of gold? Mushrooms could disturb the soil via their fungus network and maybe with other stuff cause some minerals to fall down from the mountain's galeries. But then again, sifting in the streams for iron sounds... Ah... Unlogical... WAY too long to gather enough to make a sword or a cooking pot.

With a little imagination, I could easily see lots of shade beneath the mushroom capes, thefore lots of plants needing shelter from the scorching sun.

I would see lots of amphibians, such as salamanders.

So... What would YOU people see in a fungus biome?

[Bioluminescence]

Actually, people have started using fungus as a building and insulation material. Folks get bags of substrate (things like sawdust, etc.) and let the 'root structure' of the fungus permeate it entirely. The resulting brick is very strong, can be grown into any shape, is very light, and excellent at insulating. I imagine you need to keep it quite dry, however, so it might require sealing with dried clay, or if you've got a lot of bugs, then shellac would likely work really well!

http://inhabitat.com/phillip-ross-mo...than-concrete/

Also, I say 'root structure' but the fiberous growth is actually the real fungus itself - the bits we see on the surface that look like traditional mushrooms are actually the fruiting bodies. Fungus can be a huge organism - your fungus biome could be one single organism that covers a whole forest-sized area of land if you wanted! Only the

[Elterio Delgard]

Woot! Thats most intriguing and a website to look for more information is always a boon! Thanks!