Plains (Dungeon Fantasy Biome)

Plains are generally "open country", populated by vast herds of grazers, and interrupted only by the occasional scampering of some small, ground-dwelling thing. Flying creatures (such as oversized birds) are particularly powerful in the plains, as they can detect any man-sized target (such as your average Delver) moving through grass. Prey animals tend to be on the faster rather than sneakier side, sprinting into brambles or burrows.
== Travel ==
Plains are one of the easier biomes to travel when it comes to overall speed--the relatively flat ground and intermittent rains mean that a horse (or similar) can carry an adventurer a long ways without difficulty. It may be wise to stick to riverways or trails when traveling these seas of grass.
=== Weather and Hazards ===
With the exception of open ocean or the tops of mountains, plains are traditionally the most "exposed" biome when it comes to bad weather, especially wind and storms. Tornadoes (or their elemental wind cousins) can whip across a plain, flash floods fill dry riverbeds,Fantasy, p.42 and lightning (and its own curious elementals) can crash dramatically on lone trees, and cause prairie fires. Furthermore, large herbivores might become a hazard if the herd is spooked and running towards the PCs.
== Creatures of the Plains ==
Niche 	Description 	Examples
Runners 	Plains are good locales for fast creatures, both predator and prey. If a creature can't fly, scurry underground, or avoid predation through sheer mass, it'll need to be fast. 	Gazelles, deer, cheetahs
Horses and Horselikes	If the untameability of the zebra is due to its predation in the savannah, one can only imagine how wild and powerful the zebras of Dungeon Fantasy would need to be, avoiding predation from karkadann, harpies, or wyverns! 	Zebras, wild horses, karkadann
Sky Tyrants 	In an environment with rukhsFantasy, p.50, not even fast creatures are immune to predation. Antlers and horns do double-duty, used in ground combat and in discouraging attacks from above. 	Rukhs, wyverns, griffons
Chonkers 	Herds of horses can already be quite the sight, but buffalo, bison, or fantasy equivalent could be seen in the hundreds. Elephants (or elephantine megafauna) may also be a common sight in Dungeon Fantasy. Perhaps the occasional slorn, who has an easy time making prey of most normal animals, has grown rather lazy in the plains. Along with the herds comes stalking, sprinting beasts--be they cougar, lion, or something more unusual. These tend to be the runner variety, above.	Buffalo, bison, elephants, rhinos
Digging Critters 	Burrowing creatures tend to be small in the real world, but in Dungeon Fantasy they can get rather large. Monstrous ants and antlions come to mind. Smaller or more mundane creatures use the burrower perk (such as moles or badgers), whereas supernaturally fast digging creatures use Tunneling. 	Rodents, mustelids, fantastically large bugs
=== Tactical Considerations ===
Keep your eyes on the skies. There are many creatures that can approach at speed, but none so swift as those on wings. A dire vulture or harpy will always have the high ground when swooping from above. But don't look only at the sky--plains also tend to have snakes and cats in the grass.
== Sapients ==
=== Farms and Villages ===
Plains are one of the more common biomes for human civilization, as it includes the vast farmland (and vineyards) found around larger settlements. Areas of natural plains will have much fewer trees than forest biomes, so it may be common to see architecture made of anything but wood, such as adobe, hides, and heavy but durable stone structures.
Some plains have basins that flood, becoming swamplands. 
== Weirdies / Supernatural Creatures ==
=== Elementals ===
Wind elementals love a good plain where they can reach their top speeds just above the ground, and fire elementals can get a bit carried away burning away underbrush. Some industrious wizards might even set up towers in the plains in order to literally "catch lightning in a bottle".
== Fey and Localized Spirits ==
The spirits never left--as the land changed, they did too. The epimelides (epimelid, singular) are nymphs of meadows and pastures, and protectors of rural areas. It is said that their hairstyles change through the seasons, growing from green to golden, and is short and cropped (pun intended) in late-mid summer.
== See Also ==
* Dungeon Fantasy Settings
** Dungeon Fantasy Biomes
== References ==
* Fanon page