| Class: |
What sort of things they are - * SEE below |
| Hab: |
Habitat; where it is most likely to be found - ** SEE below |
| Fre: |
Frequency; how common or rare they are |
| Num: |
Numbers; population generally encountered |
| Lair: |
The chances it will be found "at home," if applicable |
| Size: |
How big it is |
| Move: |
Speed and mode(s) of travel |
| Def: |
Defense; armor, dodge, parry, general toughness; described by allusion |
| Att: |
Attack, described by allusion |
| Int: |
Intelligence, described by allusion |
| Spec: |
Special qualities; majic or exceptional abilities |
| Posns: |
Possessions; loot available to vanquisher - but, if applicable, may be used in defense, too. This may include items carried, items likely to be found in lair, or treasure such as valuable pelts. "Incidental" usually indicates treasure on remains of previous victims. |
| Gen: |
General; a whole class of Biota, not a specific species |
| Var: |
Various; several variations on a theme or closely related species |
| Beast: |
Animals, critters of flesh and blood, from domestic to monstrous |
| Const: |
Construct; objects animated mechanically and/or majically; may or may not be organic in origin |
| Ent: |
Entities; gods, unique creations, and other things less catagorizable |
| Folk: |
Sentient species, usually capable of culture |
| NonC: |
Non-Corporeal life forms; usually spirits, gaseous, or energy life forms |
| Min: |
Mineral organisms |
| Plant: |
Usually photosynthetic and sessile; active plants are usually vegemals |
| Real: |
Actual plants and animals; often includes imaginary extrapolations |
| Trad: |
Traditional; from real-world mythologies and imaginary derivations |
| Symb: |
Symbionts; never encountered alone |
| Undead: |
The dead, brought back to the lands of the living |
| Vegm: |
Vegimals; vegetable-animals, usually mobile |
Trees generally require more water, and a steadier supply, than grasses; also generally prefer deeper soil.
| Taiga: |
Moist sub-arctic forest; cold and often swamp-riddled |
| Coniferous Forest: |
Dry pine forest, generally less lush than deciduous forests, often due to thinner soil; may be temperate, subtropical, or tropical |
| Mixed conifer-deciduous: |
A transitional habitat; may be temperate, subtropical, or tropical |
| Deciduous Forest: |
"Greenwood" that seasonally drops its leaves; may be brush-choked; may be temperate, subtropical, or tropical |
| Parkland: |
Open woodland, generally deciduous, with little brush to inhibit riding |
| Jungle: |
Tropical broad-leaved evergreen forest. The trees may form several layers, or canopies; if sparse, ground may be brush-choked; if thick, undergrowth may be sparse save where gaps, as from fallen giant trees or along riverbanks, lets sunlight penetrate |
Grasses can go dormant during dry spells, whether seasonal or of longer cycles, and regenerate faster after drought or fire than trees.
| Hardpan: |
Baked clay, often cracked by desiccation. Generally flat expanses, sometimes indicative of lost lakes. May become briefly lush if it rains, whether seasonally or in rare years |
| Saltpan: |
As hardpan, but with the remnants of ancient salt-lakes or seas |
| Sand-Sea: |
Classic shifting sands, only comprise a fraction of all deserts |
| Stony: |
May be mountainous or roughly level, jumbled rock, often wind-worn. Rains, either of a long-gone moister era or from rare but violent floods, may cut deep canyons, called "washes" or "wadis." |