Fictional Plants
Fictional plants are core worldbuilding elements and can be found in variations from bioluminescent fungi to planetary-scale mega-forests. Fictional plants are often critical components of fantasy potions where they may cure disease or poison the unwary. They may serve as the basis for fictional foods, drinks, or drugs, be sacred to fictional religions, or be a component of a powerful new fictional material. Their design often uses real world plants as their basis, only with exaggerated characteristics and the addition of unique properties.
| Synonyms: herbs, weeds, trees, vines |
| Example Mythonyms: dawnweed, quickroot, the Whiteflower Tree |
Designing Fictional Plants
Archetypes
Overview
Fictional plants can range from subtle variations on real-world species to entirely alien life forms. They can possess extraordinary abilities, such as sentience, carnivorous behavior, or magical properties. The design of fictional plants often involves careful consideration of their ecological niche, evolutionary history, and potential interactions with other elements of the fictional world such as their potential role in fictional cultures, as a source of fictional material, or their use within a fictional food or drink.
Most fictional plants are modeled after the kinds of plants we are already familiar with but have characteristics that have been altered or aggrandized. Examples of these include fast growing vines or giant trees. To design a fictional plant, it may be best to first start by knowing the type of plant you wish to design.
| Common Archetypes of Fictional Plants |
|---|
| Trees Mushrooms Vegetables Fruits Herbs Vines |
Habitat
The habitat or biome of a fictional plant can affect its physical appearance, its nutritional needs, and its ability to survive in different conditions. A plant that grows in a desert environment may have adaptations such as long taproots to access deep water sources, or thick, succulent leaves to store water. A plant that lives in a rainforest may have large, broad leaves to capture sunlight in the crowded canopy.
Physical Characteristics
The physical characteristics of your plant should be based on its environment and habitat. Consider the size and shape of the plant, the color of its leaves and flowers, and any unique features that it may have.
Plants that glow in the dark are common features of game-oriented worlds in locations where it may be difficult for players or an audience to otherwise to see, such as cavern systems. This characteristic is not based on ecology, but rather a need to solve the problem of dark places and showcase a world, setting, or scene.
Uses & Benefits
Fictional plants often find uses as the components of potions and poisons. Consider the uses and benefits of your fictional plant. Does it have medicinal properties, or is it used in cooking or for its fragrance? Is it a source of food or a valuable resource for a specific industry? Can it be refined into a powerful drug or a rich spice? If a plant has important uses, it may be farmed, trade routes may have been established to transport it vast distances, and wars may have been fought to control it.
In game-oriented worlds, fictional plants often contain properties that allow them to heal, poison, or bestow other status effects on players.
Nutritional Needs
Just like real-life plants, your fictional plant will have nutritional needs that must be met to survive. Consider what nutrients the plant needs, and how it obtains them. Does it rely on photosynthesis to create its own food, or does it obtain nutrients from the soil or other sources? Massive carnivorous plants are a common element in adventure and fantasy worlds and may pose a terrain hazard.
You could create a plant that obtains nutrients from a symbiotic relationship with a specific insect or animal, or a plant that creates its own food through a unique process of photosynthesis.
