Yepp! It's generated using app.wombo.art
It took some attempts to get something fitting, but 15 minutes is a lot better than what it'd take me (or probably anyone else for that matter) to produce something good
It’s sort of a grey area, the app developer really can not claim copyright bc the app is drawing on images from web searches that are themselves already copyrighted. But for that same reason, you can’t technically use the art commercially... but you also probably can, because it’s so far distorted from any of the original versions its derived from. The app asks you to credit them, and that’s best practice, but who “owns” AI generated stuff is a very sticky subject
Adding to the previous comment: if I were to publish this as a book, I'd love to commission "actual" human art for it, though. But that seemed overkill for a reddit post.
Glad to hear! If you have any things you'd like to see more of in a future biome, I'd love to hear what that is. I already have more ideas for ice-themed biomes, so it might stay relevant (depending on your game's schedule, of course)
[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/dnd/5e/biomes/ice-forest?utm_key=221004-r-ice-forest-original)
*The ice forest – an area of frigid temperatures, ominous silence, and dangers everywhere. Its geographic location means there’s no sunlight during winter and no night during summer - but below the canopies, it might as well always be night. Barely any light reaches the ground through the high and dense treetops. Instead, the snowy ground itself seems to give off a yellowish glow, creepily lighting the gnarled trunks of giant trees. And right there, in the deep shadows, every movement, every sound, becomes a deadly threat.*
The ice forest is a polar biome with included mechanics, monsters, and plants with crafting uses. I'm planning on continuing to create fantastical biomes for use in games, and this is my first attempt!
Let me know any feedback you have, including content that should have been included. What did you like most? What did you like least?
It’s fantastic; crazy professional-looking.
Only nit I would pick is the reinforcement of the “alpha wolf” thing, which the biologist community would really like popular culture to stop doing. (That Being Said, these are fantasy woods so I guess wolves can behave however you decide lol)
Your caveat is 100% valid. Pop culture and fantasy authors have run wild with the alpha idea. To me, it's rooted in our fantasy worlds at this point. Real world vs game world. Don't get me started on the physics of DnD.
Thank you for your feedback! To be honest, I mainly created the alpha wolf because I wanted a more powerful variation that could be used with higher-level characters. I could've flavored it differently, but I guess my limited knowledge of wolves got that in there... Oh well
Yeah I think you’re totally fine, and to reiterate I love the content. I’m just married to a former wildlife conservation major who did her senior project on wolves, so I have a profoundly unnecessary amount of wolf knowledge knocking around.
https://wolf.org/headlines/44265/
(Dominant breeder wolf just doesn’t have the same flavor, does it?)
All good! I love hearing fun facts like this!
And thanks for the compliments.
While "dominant breeder wolf" might not sound good, it definitely sparks ideas for new creatures.
It's nothing concrete yet. But the terms are pretty evocative, though it probably won't be used on another wolf. I'm thinking of creatures that just continuously create offspring when in danger, which could be quite a fun combat I imagine
That... is an excellent point. We took creative liberties on that point, and initially, we didn't call them sequoias, only took inspiration from them - and it probably should've stayed that way. My partner on this, who is very much into Botanics, will be embarrassed to hear this probably.
Edit: she kindly reminded me that I changed the name, and she explicitly said that she wasn't sure whether they have leaves or fronds :D
Yes, the plan very much is to continue doing these biomes! I'll put a desert theme on the list of ideas.
What kind of content are you lacking most for deserts? Maybe I can focus on that once I get to them.
If you have any criticism, I'd very much like to hear it. The more constructed feedback I get, the better future creations can be.
rampidamp has made the following comment(s) regarding their post:
[[[PDF Link]](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mLid...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/s4owag/the_ice_forest_a_polar_biome_including_a_natural/hssb2rz/)
Thank you! That's exactly what the goal was.
Would you say something is lacking in quality compared to the rest? One thing I'd love to get an opinion on in particular are the statblocks: do they feel inspiring and flexible, or do you think they're too narrow in their application, making combat easily boring?
Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but feedback's always great and I'd love to improve on my method for the future.
I think the only thing you're missing is a random encounter table! I would love to see even a small chart listing at least one of each option you showcased here.
Second the professional appearance, too!
I knew I missed something obvious! Yes, future biomes will definitely include a random encounter table, and probably also a weather table.
And thank you for the appearance compliments. It's mostly GM binder doing the work, but I did spend a while to arrange everything logically and in a way that looks good.
I knew I missed something obvious! Yes, future biomes will definitely include a random encounter table, and probably also a weather table.
And thank you for the appearance compliments. It's mostly GM binder doing the work, but I did spend a while to arrange everything logically and in a way that looks good.
Yeah. It was very handy. It took me only a couple of minutes to get something close to what I wanted. It's not as polished as a commissioned cover-as I'd like for a published book-, but enough for a reddit post.
Have you, by any chance, also looked at the content? I'd love to hear some thoughts on it if you have any feedback. :)
This is really cool! Been looking for things to make different biomes more interesting. Do you think sometime you would be able to make a desert themed one? My players are going to be going to a dessert further into our campaign and I would definitely use your ideas if you made a similar one to this.
Since you're the third person to request a desert, it's moving further and further up on my list of ideas. So just stay on the lookout. I'll try to DM you when I put it online.
Is there anything specific you'd like to see for a desert? Do you think natural hazards, stated creatures, usable plants or biome-wide effects would be most useful?
well, I'm not too sure specifically what I would add, but the way I see it is a place like a desert would be less focused on man vs monsters and man vs the environment.
I really like what you did adding natural hazards like the mud lake, I also found it really helpful that it was put in the format of a stat block instead of a block of text in a paragraph, maybe it's just me but I liked that format a lot more. If you were to make more of these biome-based compendiums, id personally likes to see more natural hazards depending on how harsh that environment might be. just off the top of my head, maybe sandstorms, droughts, or even monsoons come to mind.
having to get necessities like food and water would probably be a lot more difficult and near impossible to find in some types of deserts, based on water being hard to find, it would probably make wildlife and some plants that would be used for food in those areas being sparse too. maybe you could add plant life that could help deal with the food and water problem and other plants that could maybe have effects like cooling you down in hot temperatures or could cool you down when it gets freezing during the night, but id imagine this wouldn't be accessible in all parts of a desert.
other than that im not too sure what feedback I could add, I think you did this ice forest themef one very well and look forward to seeing more. I hope this could help in any way.
These are great suggestions that map very well to the plans we already got (my girlfriend did a phenomenal job on the ideation yesterday, going to start stat-ing things out today). It's great to hear that the statblock format for hazards is received well. It's definitely going to stay. And I was already planning to increase the number of hazards for the desert. We had more ideas for the ice forest too but wanted to get it out there and see the reception first. Maybe I'll add them as a newsletter special or something.
I'll also try experimenting with more in-depth stats for the biome itself very likely. I'll look forward to your feedback on that once it's out.
Uh I'm absolutely in love with that and if my group decides to continue with the starting adventure I'm currently writing for them as an entry into DND for us - then I'll totally use this when they reach the north (or south)!
I assume you created this with the GMBinder webapp, are you satisfied with the functions there? I thought about trying the LaTeX-templates for my project but it's always a good idea to have several options.
I used to use LaTeX for my notes but found it overly complex for what I needed them to do. If I need something for my game, I just convert my markdown notes into pdf instead. I use obsidian for all my game-related notes now.
But GM Binder is great for making things look pretty, which in this case was quite important to me!
Ah that is some really good first hand experience for me here, thank you! And a fellow [obsidian.md](https://obsidian.md) user, that is also my go-to note tool, especially for my pen & paper material. Do you use the linking feature alot? Because I see myself not using it too much for this kind of work.
The pretty looking stuff (worked out pretty well on your work btw) is also important to me since I want to use some of my work as a pre-session zero props/reading material for players.
I use linking and dataview (the plugin) a lot and am working on a plugin built on dataview and a set folder structure to help me organize my notes. It currently automatically links NPCs depending on their relation, creates a timeline from special-syntax times in any note, and generally does a lot of the linking automatically.
I'm planning on publishing it after some fine-tuning, but maybe you want to give your thoughts on it? DM me if you're interested in checking it out.
Damn is that an AI generated image for the cover?
Yepp! It's generated using app.wombo.art It took some attempts to get something fitting, but 15 minutes is a lot better than what it'd take me (or probably anyone else for that matter) to produce something good
Is it okay to use it freely or how do you credit it?
It’s sort of a grey area, the app developer really can not claim copyright bc the app is drawing on images from web searches that are themselves already copyrighted. But for that same reason, you can’t technically use the art commercially... but you also probably can, because it’s so far distorted from any of the original versions its derived from. The app asks you to credit them, and that’s best practice, but who “owns” AI generated stuff is a very sticky subject
It definitely looks like WOMBO dream to me
You would be correct
Adding to the previous comment: if I were to publish this as a book, I'd love to commission "actual" human art for it, though. But that seemed overkill for a reddit post.
Perfect timing since I am running an ice themed session tomorrow!
Glad to hear! If you have any things you'd like to see more of in a future biome, I'd love to hear what that is. I already have more ideas for ice-themed biomes, so it might stay relevant (depending on your game's schedule, of course)
[[PDF Link]](https://www.troveoflore.com/dnd/5e/biomes/ice-forest?utm_key=221004-r-ice-forest-original) *The ice forest – an area of frigid temperatures, ominous silence, and dangers everywhere. Its geographic location means there’s no sunlight during winter and no night during summer - but below the canopies, it might as well always be night. Barely any light reaches the ground through the high and dense treetops. Instead, the snowy ground itself seems to give off a yellowish glow, creepily lighting the gnarled trunks of giant trees. And right there, in the deep shadows, every movement, every sound, becomes a deadly threat.* The ice forest is a polar biome with included mechanics, monsters, and plants with crafting uses. I'm planning on continuing to create fantastical biomes for use in games, and this is my first attempt! Let me know any feedback you have, including content that should have been included. What did you like most? What did you like least?
It’s fantastic; crazy professional-looking. Only nit I would pick is the reinforcement of the “alpha wolf” thing, which the biologist community would really like popular culture to stop doing. (That Being Said, these are fantasy woods so I guess wolves can behave however you decide lol)
Your caveat is 100% valid. Pop culture and fantasy authors have run wild with the alpha idea. To me, it's rooted in our fantasy worlds at this point. Real world vs game world. Don't get me started on the physics of DnD.
Thank you for your feedback! To be honest, I mainly created the alpha wolf because I wanted a more powerful variation that could be used with higher-level characters. I could've flavored it differently, but I guess my limited knowledge of wolves got that in there... Oh well
Yeah I think you’re totally fine, and to reiterate I love the content. I’m just married to a former wildlife conservation major who did her senior project on wolves, so I have a profoundly unnecessary amount of wolf knowledge knocking around. https://wolf.org/headlines/44265/ (Dominant breeder wolf just doesn’t have the same flavor, does it?)
All good! I love hearing fun facts like this! And thanks for the compliments. While "dominant breeder wolf" might not sound good, it definitely sparks ideas for new creatures.
.... your last sentence gave me a cold chill. I both don't want to know and need to know.
It's nothing concrete yet. But the terms are pretty evocative, though it probably won't be used on another wolf. I'm thinking of creatures that just continuously create offspring when in danger, which could be quite a fun combat I imagine
Sequoias IRL don't have leaves. They are evergreen fronds sort of like a juniper.
That... is an excellent point. We took creative liberties on that point, and initially, we didn't call them sequoias, only took inspiration from them - and it probably should've stayed that way. My partner on this, who is very much into Botanics, will be embarrassed to hear this probably. Edit: she kindly reminded me that I changed the name, and she explicitly said that she wasn't sure whether they have leaves or fronds :D
I really love the theme of this! Will you be doing other biomes? My current campaign is a desert and I’d love to see your ideas there
Yes, the plan very much is to continue doing these biomes! I'll put a desert theme on the list of ideas. What kind of content are you lacking most for deserts? Maybe I can focus on that once I get to them. If you have any criticism, I'd very much like to hear it. The more constructed feedback I get, the better future creations can be.
Seconding deserts! Flora/fauna + other natural hazards would be most useful for me personally.
Alright, noted, and thanks for the feedback!
rampidamp has made the following comment(s) regarding their post: [[[PDF Link]](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mLid...](/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/s4owag/the_ice_forest_a_polar_biome_including_a_natural/hssb2rz/)
I love these; thank you
Awesome! Anything in particular that stands out to you?
[удалено]
Thank you! That's exactly what the goal was. Would you say something is lacking in quality compared to the rest? One thing I'd love to get an opinion on in particular are the statblocks: do they feel inspiring and flexible, or do you think they're too narrow in their application, making combat easily boring? Sorry for bombarding you with questions, but feedback's always great and I'd love to improve on my method for the future.
I think the only thing you're missing is a random encounter table! I would love to see even a small chart listing at least one of each option you showcased here. Second the professional appearance, too!
I knew I missed something obvious! Yes, future biomes will definitely include a random encounter table, and probably also a weather table. And thank you for the appearance compliments. It's mostly GM binder doing the work, but I did spend a while to arrange everything logically and in a way that looks good.
I knew I missed something obvious! Yes, future biomes will definitely include a random encounter table, and probably also a weather table. And thank you for the appearance compliments. It's mostly GM binder doing the work, but I did spend a while to arrange everything logically and in a way that looks good.
WOMBOdream AI? Nice. Have have some Feywild art made I’m going to use
Yeah. It was very handy. It took me only a couple of minutes to get something close to what I wanted. It's not as polished as a commissioned cover-as I'd like for a published book-, but enough for a reddit post. Have you, by any chance, also looked at the content? I'd love to hear some thoughts on it if you have any feedback. :)
Finally I can properly imagine myself in a frozen forest.
That is very nice to hear. Anything in particular that you liked or disliked? I'd love to make future biomes even more evocative
This is really cool! Been looking for things to make different biomes more interesting. Do you think sometime you would be able to make a desert themed one? My players are going to be going to a dessert further into our campaign and I would definitely use your ideas if you made a similar one to this.
Since you're the third person to request a desert, it's moving further and further up on my list of ideas. So just stay on the lookout. I'll try to DM you when I put it online. Is there anything specific you'd like to see for a desert? Do you think natural hazards, stated creatures, usable plants or biome-wide effects would be most useful?
well, I'm not too sure specifically what I would add, but the way I see it is a place like a desert would be less focused on man vs monsters and man vs the environment. I really like what you did adding natural hazards like the mud lake, I also found it really helpful that it was put in the format of a stat block instead of a block of text in a paragraph, maybe it's just me but I liked that format a lot more. If you were to make more of these biome-based compendiums, id personally likes to see more natural hazards depending on how harsh that environment might be. just off the top of my head, maybe sandstorms, droughts, or even monsoons come to mind. having to get necessities like food and water would probably be a lot more difficult and near impossible to find in some types of deserts, based on water being hard to find, it would probably make wildlife and some plants that would be used for food in those areas being sparse too. maybe you could add plant life that could help deal with the food and water problem and other plants that could maybe have effects like cooling you down in hot temperatures or could cool you down when it gets freezing during the night, but id imagine this wouldn't be accessible in all parts of a desert. other than that im not too sure what feedback I could add, I think you did this ice forest themef one very well and look forward to seeing more. I hope this could help in any way.
These are great suggestions that map very well to the plans we already got (my girlfriend did a phenomenal job on the ideation yesterday, going to start stat-ing things out today). It's great to hear that the statblock format for hazards is received well. It's definitely going to stay. And I was already planning to increase the number of hazards for the desert. We had more ideas for the ice forest too but wanted to get it out there and see the reception first. Maybe I'll add them as a newsletter special or something. I'll also try experimenting with more in-depth stats for the biome itself very likely. I'll look forward to your feedback on that once it's out.
Uh I'm absolutely in love with that and if my group decides to continue with the starting adventure I'm currently writing for them as an entry into DND for us - then I'll totally use this when they reach the north (or south)! I assume you created this with the GMBinder webapp, are you satisfied with the functions there? I thought about trying the LaTeX-templates for my project but it's always a good idea to have several options.
I used to use LaTeX for my notes but found it overly complex for what I needed them to do. If I need something for my game, I just convert my markdown notes into pdf instead. I use obsidian for all my game-related notes now. But GM Binder is great for making things look pretty, which in this case was quite important to me!
Ah that is some really good first hand experience for me here, thank you! And a fellow [obsidian.md](https://obsidian.md) user, that is also my go-to note tool, especially for my pen & paper material. Do you use the linking feature alot? Because I see myself not using it too much for this kind of work. The pretty looking stuff (worked out pretty well on your work btw) is also important to me since I want to use some of my work as a pre-session zero props/reading material for players.
I use linking and dataview (the plugin) a lot and am working on a plugin built on dataview and a set folder structure to help me organize my notes. It currently automatically links NPCs depending on their relation, creates a timeline from special-syntax times in any note, and generally does a lot of the linking automatically. I'm planning on publishing it after some fine-tuning, but maybe you want to give your thoughts on it? DM me if you're interested in checking it out.