Open Creative Collaboration: Prey vs Predator

[demibear]

This is a bit out of my "comfort" zone, but I am going to give it a try regardless. It feels like a lot of individuals here have increasingly become silo'd from each other to the point anyone tries to address any potential deficiencies you end up with inevitable bickering. I remember when we were looking for a new baddie to fight against, a number of players came together to propose a potential race. But unfortunately it fizzled out due to issues here.

So in the spirit of that, let's just forget about the Kikyo Sector for the time being. We have a massive galaxy out there that can be seeded with interesting species and locations, both big and small. So I propose something small to start with: create two species of animals. It should just be carbon-based so we don't have to worry about that at the moment. But I am looking for a prey animal and its predator.

At the moment, I really only have one rule: all discussions have to be within this thread. Everything else is up to you.

 

[Soban]

So, a couple of ideas for the prey species. It's a R selection species that reproduces quickly. Also the idea of something like a lizards tail. Basically it's life cycle starts as a sort of meaty nugget that grows off of it's parent and can be sacrificed or fall off naturally. If it falls off and survives, then it grows into a new member of the species.

 

[HarperMadi]

A bud-reproducing species like that would naturally be preyed upon by large and highly intelligent creatures, likely smaller than an adult member, but pack hunting. The evolutionary strategy being that killing the adult would mean a loss of food production, so these predators aren't very lethal, just scary enough for the prey species to drop its buds, which are an easier meal than the adult. This would force the prey species buds to be well camouflaged, hoping the predators will miss them or survivors allowed to grow to juveniles through predator satiation.