Savanah Trappers Suggestions

If there isn't a Grootslang it's a crime against humanity! Honestly a grootslang or at least one modified with wings would be an awesome dragon. A Tikoloshe would be awesome, some sort of unique big cat predator, and massive elephants are a bit overdone, how about a massive rhinoceros with fortifications built upon it, and a kaprisuchous like crocodile. Suped up hippos or water buffalo for mounts would be great.

Jeff

Elephant ogres sound cool, bird-hounds for chasing down prey, badger, armadillo, and buffalo trapper characters, a Nile croc hydra? A zebra dragon with antelope horns would be great.

elephant epic mount , like the lodgeback turtle

Maybe a crocodile dragon? A Pygmy elephant pack beast? All interesting concepts. Imagine a cross between a crocodile and an anaconda.

Scorched Dragon

A giant serpentine African dragon would be nice

Cheetah warriors, kinda like the Star Wars Kaminoans which are a tall, long-necked race of humanoids. A larger panther like beast, Flying lion/scorpion hybred with babies.

The_ Hybred

Maybe a Vulture for the bird portion, with the Cheetah hind end?

Monsters and dragons based in African mythology would be really cool and unique.

So I grew up near a game reserve, there are some mythical creatures which I would recommend, mainly is the colossal Grootslang, a primordial beast which has the body and mouth of a serpent, but the mass, scale and head of a male elephant.

Has anyone said Mongoose / Cobra chimera yet? I just like the idea of a chimera that sometimes fights with itself.

KarmaKassie

really need a war hippo. Hippos kill 2800 people a year, sad but true. That is more than any other random animal death.

Bobby Blanding

As cool as that would be... i would save Komodo dragon people for an indoneisan release

Zachary Scriff

Hyenas and something crocodilian for sure!

Komodo Dragon people maybe?

Zebra Hippogriff/Pegasus would be sweet.

Cheetah griffon- I want a Griffin from every ecosystem lol.

Secretary bird anything!! Cheetah gryphon? A lone Tiny size meerkat artificer piloting a Medium size mech suit. Treefolk, dryads, or other plant creatures based on savannah flora. Temperate and tropical plant creatures are pretty common, I’d like a sentient baobab or something. If we’re doing a lodge I know it’s not a creature but a baobab lodge would be rad.

Anything crocodile and hyena. Maybe a birdman riding a crocodile to play of symbiotic relationships.

Gunter Schmidt

Gnolls and Hyena pack. Fire Ants or Killer Bees would be an interesting monster type.

I definitely want to see a secretary bird feature in some form!

Richard Gibson

Secretary bird mount, Honey Badger Trapper, Zebra Trapper, Wildebeest trapper, Painted Dog Trapper (Mount is theirs), Elephant Lodge, Crocodile Dragon, and a pet that looks like a Gazelle

Zachary Scriff

Lion Trappers and a beefy Buffalo/Elephant Dragon

Two words: Honey Badger

Like many have mentioned, a Loxodon character and a crocodile type dragon would be great. Also, lots of bone/skull armor and stretched hide shields/accessories would be amazing.

Travis

I'd love to see some kind of mirage lodge, some kind of illusion-protected structures or something similar. A building which moves by magic and is hidden by heat-haze distortions

Gregory Morris

how about something based on the Nandi Bear?

Marcel G

Grootslang dragon would be cool. An elephant/snake with wings would be awsome!

Ndy

I do like the idea of pangolin of some manner of aardvark creature/mount or maybe even some sort of creature or trapper based on the mythology of Anansi.

Darren

I think the African dragon Kirimu would be an ideal candidate… 7 heads, and the tail of an eagle (from the epic of Mwindo)… also some kind of aardvark… and a loxodon character would be awesome

Rob

Exotic animal centaur like creatures. Loxodons. Hippo lodge. A crocodile/dragon hybrid would be terrifying.

Joy Doner

The magnificent Elephant dragon of course

Jeff Abandonato

Adze (vampire moth creature), Grootslang (cool elepahnt/snake monster), Bultungin (Were-hyena), Ninki Nanka (Giant swamp dwelling reptile/dragon). There are so many awesome creatures in the lore of that part of the world that you could go for years. I cannot wait to see what you come up with. I do have to also say that while some sort of hippo creature would be cool, it seems a little redundant since we got the hippo-griff only a few months ago.

Darren

Lions, cheetahs, hyenas + bisons, zebras and antelopes Who is hunting who? You decide ;)

Eternal Reverie

Rhyno or hippo dragon. Lurks in the water or is buried in mud. Ostrich or Vulture Bird Folk.

Roddy Novogradac

I love the anthropomorphic characters that come out of this campaign, but on this one I'm really hoping for a couple of "pure" humanoids. Great African inspired heroes / NPCs are so rare.

Jamie

HONEY BADGER The most insane and fearless little scrappers of the Savannah. They have extra loose skin so when things bite or grab them they can twist 180 degrees to claw them. They eat venomous snakes as their main food source, if they get bitten by one they don't die, they just SLEEP IT OFF. They attack lions to run them off kills and claim them as their own, they just have no fear. I believe the DnD monster Blood Badger is based on them.

Or maybe a Hyena in the same style to better fit the theme?

So, croc seems like the obvious route to go for a dragon. But hippos... Hippos are TERRIFYING. That might make a fascinating aquatic dragon!

Kythera of Anevern

Agreed

Rhino mount please!

I think we've seen enough lodge models for now (they're big and impressive, but idk if everyone wants to print massive models like that when they have quite narrow applications for gaming), I would prefer a return to pack beasts and weird local fauna.

Definitely a classic gentleman hunter character! Pith hat and all.

Also, a large maned wolf would be really cool to see as a mount. Those long legs are just the right amount of unsettling

Austen Weitzel

Id love to see a big pangolin mount. So sturdy, you could build a little wandering tent up there

Austen Weitzel

+1 for Cheetah dragon and giraffe-something!

Caracal catfolk! Excellent hearing, flexible legs make for great trackers/rogues :D

Suzan Renner

Maribou stork dragon!

Would love to see some savannah centaur tribe or trapper! Can just be a single character

Frans

This!! 👆👆

Linnea Juul Sten

I think anything with a giraffe, an elephant or a rhino would be amazing

Damn you’re making me wish we had a bigger release so we could fit all these in.

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

Crocodile dragon and warthogs are great ideas.

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

Hornbill humanoid is awesome.

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

You’ve gone too far this time.

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

That sounds scary

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

Hippo man or hippo woman?

The Dragon Trappers Lodge

Yes!!!!!!!!!! 1000 times yes

Michael Abraham

A hippo mount would be cool

Jean-Luc Plante

Loxodon (elephant people) is something I would really like to see.

The Epic of Sunjata (a myth about the founder of Mali) has him kill a witch that is in the form of a horrible many horned beast. Something inspired by that could be cool.

I had no idea those were a thing, but they look so cool.

I would very much like to see a grootslang. It’s an abberant snake elephant thing from African mythology

Jake B.

I'll just pitch in here again for some kind of Horror Serval with unnervingly long legs. A lil' elephant shrew buddy for a trapper. Maybe a baobob tree ent?

Brian Gleine

Cheetah dragon or griffin, please! Maybe a gazel or giraffe style centaur? A water-buffalo mount? Or cheetah riders? (I just really want big cats.)

Anthro hyenas that are not apart of the gnolls "family"

RikerTheSergal

I know that versions of the big game animals are going to have to be represented, but could I request its not all just animal mashups or animal humanoids. You could find inspiration from the myths and legends of the many native cultures, as well as think about twists on classic fantasy creatures to make the suited to hiding out at water holes, skulking through talk grass or sprinting across the planes. What about a creature related to bush fires or maybe the first rains of the rainy season? I'm sure you'll come up with something great, I just want to balance out all the animal suggestions.

Josh Rodell

I'm sure whatever you create will be great, but I do have one request: do NOT make any female "tribal"-style trappers unless you're prepared to give them top-freedom. Imposing modern Western taboos on a fantasy counterpart to a culture with no such hangups is, at the very least, problematic.

JK

Emus are Australian; I think you're thinking ostriches.

JK

I’d love to see a gazelle humanoid and an ostrich mount. Big shields, iklwa spears and bushman bows. Multi trunk elephantine monsters. Beefy predators with lots of spines. Liontaur/lahmia. Dragon should be crocodilian. No wings or vestigial small ones; with a huge mouth and ambush lifestyle. Possibly with 6 legs or so to touch the classic basilisk

Jeffrey Ernst

Lets start with trappers. I can see a band well suited for this sort of work. A grizzled Lioness leads the band armed with dual long swords with hooks on the end for digging in and gripping onto prey, she brings along her young daughter to be taught the ways of the huntress. Next is an Water Buffalo tank, he towers over his comrades, his thick hide boosted by his armor. His only weapons are his natural horns and two massive tower shields. A cheetah mage, why a mage, you would think their natural quickness and agility would make for an excellent rogue. But just like the cheetah, makes are considered squishy, so what better way not to be hit. The Cheetah Mage can dash around the battle field firing off spells or coming to a party member's aid in a blink. A band of meerkat rogues and thieves accompany the party. These rascals are quick, dodging in and out of danger and always on the look out. Their small size lends itself to their abilities. Finally a Birdman, maybe an Oxbird or something else, acts as the scout. Able to soar into the air to act as an eye in the sky and do aerial recon. Then once battle has started flit from tree to rock and back firing using a specially crafted bow to shoot arrows and other projectiles as the foe. For creatures. Combinations as always fun. Hippo meets croc. The water ways are controlled by terrifying creature, a territorial brute who lives in massive colonies controlled by an alpha male. These creatures feature thick tough hide with large scales ridges on their backs and legs. Giant tooth filled maws great any who dare near the water. Capable of slamming their jaws shut to send a wave of water forward to knock prey off its feet. Though teeth alone are not all that this beast is armed with a thick muscled tail with heavy scales on the end whips back and forth to fling loose scales in all directions as a ranged deterrent or assault. Next, giraffe, zebra, and antelope. These are one of two giants that roam these lands. These striped striders roam the lands looking for food in the high trees. Long graceful necks help them reach the trees and leave fruits and leaves. On top of their heads long horns grown, these horns help them hit and shake loose leaves and fruits for their young to eat. As well the males use these horns in fights for making rights. They will swing their necks and heads towards each other smashing their horns together in loud cracks and clacks that can be heard across the Savanahs, the loser is either the male that backs down first or whose horns break and must spend the year regrowing them before he can compete again. Elephant, rhino, and warthog. The other giant who rules the lands is this beast. Large feet with 3 thick hard toes designed to scratch and dig the earth to make mud pits to cools themselves in. Thick bristle fur covers even thicker wrinkled skin. These creatures will eat what ever will fit into their broad tusked mouths, which end in a long flexible nose. On their nose, and head several large horns grow, making even more dangerous to face one of these beasts head on. If one of these charges at you as they are prone to do, you will face sharp horns, tusks, and grinding teeth, if you survive and dodge those you may be trampled under its large feet. Wild dog, hyena, and baboon These pack hunters roam the Savanah, able to run on two legs of four. They have begun the transition to sentient beings, primitive and dangerous, they will hunt anything they can find for meat, and even attack and canabilize other tribes. With thick spotted fur, long wicked fangs, and use of primitive stone tools, these beings are the true terrors of the land. Black mamba, frilled lizard, monitor lizard. These monster is one to behold and has a few deadly tricks up its sleeve. A long body, with 8 legs with sharp clawed feet, 4 to a side allow this beasts to travel nearly anywhere. Scales range in color from a burnish red to a deep brown. This predatory reptile is always on the look out for its next meal, though one of its favorites is the next on our list. It honestly has an unfair advantage when it comes to finding prey, it has a long forked tongue able to taste smell what's around, a strong eyes sight designed to spot the smallest of movements, and pitted heat sensors along its scaly snout. Once it has located its prey it has a few ways to go after its prey, it can try to sneak up and land a strike with its venom lined teeth and saliva, or it can just rush in and hope it can catch its meal. Though its favorite tactic is to use the huge frills on either side of its head, flashing these in and put in rhythmic patterns it can almost hypnotize its victims, before it launches forward to bite. The dragon, inspired by the insects, especially the termites with their giant mounds. Finally I feel no tour of the Savanah is complete without this unique species. This Draconian species is rather unique as it acts as a hive. It all starts with a mated queen and king. When the royal couple pair up they dig a new nest. They pack earth and rock together with a special glue like bile they produce. This hardens everything like stone. Once they have an acceptable hive and royal chamber she will settle in, never needing to leave this chamber again. Laying her first clutch of eggs, she will tend to them, while her king will bring her food. Once the clutch hatches baby drakelings will be born, these unlike their parents will have no wings and be sterile. They will never grow in size to match their parents instead they will act as drones and warriors for the hive. They will be the ones to hunt for food, and protect the hive with claw, tooth, and the acid spraying horn on top of their heads, protect by thick white exoskeleton like plates of scaled armor. They will build and grow the hive, their only purpose is to dedicate their lives to their royals and the good of the colony. Once in a decade will a grow of eggs birth new winged royals, a small clutch only three or four princesses and princes, who will be pampered till it is time for them to leave to seek their own mates and start their own colonies.

Lunacy

I like this idea. This is the best one I've seen: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/novum-terram/images/1/1c/Sivatherium_%28SciiFii%29.jpeg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/602?cb=20200617013825

Treebeard

Love the Anthropomorphic angle - lots please. Anthropomorphic: Wildebeest, Zebra, Warthog, Eland, Aardvark,... How about a hyena beast of some sort - different from the traditional Gnolls - bigger - more DTL. Ostrich Dragon. Fire-Breathing Giraffe. Wanna get really crazy?... put a Giraffe neck and head on an Ostrich body, and give it an Elephant's trunk.

Treebeard

this is a nice idea :)

Michael Abraham

lizards or lizardfolk would be amazing!

second!

Michael Abraham

Definitely Giraffes, rhino, hippo, tapir, Cheetah, maybe a cheetah person and a cheetah mount? maybe some cheetah cubs?

Michael Abraham

Giraffe dragon seems pretty logical to me - they actually have relatively similar proportions.

Zebra, Jereboa and Lions please

Lee Wendel

I second this!!!

I've seen some great images of zebra and okapi centaurs.

Shaun Mayne

Whatever you do, get something with some awesome Kudu horns on it!

Scott M.

You could take some inspiration from Australia, it has similar biomes. There were some pretty crazy prehistoric marsupials.

Peter Korteman

Or you could go the prehistoric okapi like Sivatherium, it has wide flat horns almost like moose antlers, you could give it wings and have it be an epic monster or weird dragon!!!

Or maybe an okapi??

Especially if they had tons of cool piercings along along the edge of their elephant ears!!!

Mixed race tribe idea: Smaller warthog or antelope spearmen, a rhino or hippo juggernaut, an elephant or giraffe seer, if elephant, can have huge guaged holes and earrings in its big elephantine ears, if giraffe, can have tons of neck rings like the women do in Africa!!!

Tribal warthogs could have some normal looking spearmen, a couple berserker beefcakes with giant thick tusks and huge warts on their faces like the giant forest pigs, and then a shaman that is really sickly "thin" by pig standards with blank blind eyes and really long, thin, insanely curling tusks!!!

Oh!!! Warthog and tribesman!!! And maybe an old fashioned African hunter with a blunderbuss gun hippo! Maybe even with a fancy curled mustache? Some aardvark monsters and an okapi "wendigo"? A crocodilian dragon with thick, smaller wings made for water use!!! Maybe in a pose like it is launching out of the water for a sneak attack!!!

I would love to see a hornbill-humanoid. A secretary bird monster would be incredible as well!

Harry Colquhoun

Maybe a female lizardfolk barbarian character? A Water Buffalo mount? Some sort of Draconic gazelle? Just to change it up from what you would usually expect.

Julianne Edwards

Maybe an amalgamation of the African "big 5"!!! A giant mix of traits from the lion, cape buffalo, hippo, rhino, and elephant!!! And maybe giraffe added for good measure? A giraffe with a lions mane, buffalo and a rhino horn, elephant trunk and hippos jaws with elephant tusks??

For sure some kind of giraffe. They're just wild without being fantasy-ized.

Seeing a loxodon of some sort would be sweet, not many models of them out there! Lots of cool things you could do with some type of elephant warriors!

Excellent excuse to make up some giggle dogs as trappers or an amelgimation creature like you guys are so good at.

Trent

There's some really cool tribal tabaxi art created by an artist called Ovopack. I can't find the original link, but I have one here to an image of there's from a discord server https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/832636206109950014/832636940834570280/image1.png

Yes!! Oh my gosh that would be so amazing.

I actually second this!!! Along with the aardvark I could see a really cool set happening!

Well savannah's can be a diverse area of life, with the lion roaming the planes, along with the cheetah running downs its prey, even to the wonderful Emu's with their long legs, now combine an Emu with a Roc, to give its beak a bit of an edge, pump up those roaming cats, i have never seen cheetah's for instance, and of course normally on the central plain watching and alarming the herd beasts is that central large fruit bearing tree upon which is living the murder of gibbons and other apes, specifically the fearsome Baboons, even the greatest of plains creatures fear the massed Baboon Family. 01) Baboons (Remember the killers ones in Jumanji) 02) Cheetah or similar (Hunters like to hunt the fastest land creatures) 03) Emu's with deadly Beaks 04) Dragon - Huge Snake dragon (Like the adders or Rattlesnakes (ok rattle snakes are more american desert plains) but a long snake like dragon is what i mean. 05) Hippopotamus is the deadliest killer in Africa??

Raven

A secretary bird would be great; maybe an aarakocra with a pet snake

An elephant dragon would be amazing with a fire breathing trunk!

Ryder Frankle

Maybe a hippo race? Giff adjacent? And then maybe an aardvark monster, a burrowing monster like the bullete but with a long snoot and ears? Maybe an giraffe or lion dragon? And maybe a giant elephant with a fortress on its back?

I would really love to see some kind of Cheeta creature, could also be a mount!

A lion-dragon. Like, a huge cat monster with giant wings…maybe something that combines the traits of several animals: an elephantine hide and tusks, a big back hump like a hyena, a thick and shaggy mane! Lion-Men, who maybe worship the dragon? Awesome savannah tribesmen.

Chris “Ace” Hendrix

The Okapi never gets enough representation in typical African based settings compared to its giraffe cousins. I would adore seeing an okapi inspired pull in your styles.

Hippo-man, the Chonk is Hype!

ShogunLogan

Armored Giraffe with a crew of triple goblins using it like a battle platform!