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Toady should start it now and include some of the beasts in the next (major) update!

3 (6.8%)

It sounds like something that should be done soon.

5 (11.4%)

Toady should probably do something like this eventually, but it's not important.

14 (31.8%)

Only if Toady needs the donations.

7 (15.9%)

No, this is a bad idea.

15 (34.1%)

Total Members Voted: 44

[Adrian]

Notice two things about Medusa and the basilisks and such.
...
2. There are ways around them, like peripheral vision, mirrors, closing your eyes/blindfolding yourself when you approach where the gorgons live...

Then just because someone wants Gorgons in dwarf fort, completely new game mechanics will need to be added to keep them from being game breakers.

Well, first off: If elves aren't snobbishly superior PETA/hippies to the max, are they elves? They sure can be. DF's elves are different, why not its wendigoes? In addition, other games have wendigoes which aren't created by cannibalism (D&D and Shadowrun come to mind), so do they also not have wendigoes?
Finally, just make an explanation and apply its effects across the board. For instance, elves and goblins might be filled with natural spirits already, which renders them immune to wendigoism and certain other curses.

I don't know much about D&D, so i looked Wendigoes up on DandDwiki.
"Wendigos are not a true race. Rather, they are creatures that have been resorted to cannibalism to survive."
And i'm afraid that if we start making up explanations to account for why X can't by Y, Dwarf Fortress' lore is going to be strung together by plotholes and explanations.

Well, you can argue the same about everything. Elves are cannibals? They're just tall gnomes. Dragons don't fly? They're just weird titans. Apes can't use crude tools? They're just semi-erect deer.

Now you're just trolling.
But like i said: "Wendigoes wouldn't be Wendigoes if they didn't have their origin in cannibalism".

While typing this i was browsing Wikipedia's entry on comparative mythology of Dragons, and one line in particular struck me:

It has been speculated that accounts of spitting cobras may be the origin of the myths of fire-breathing dragons.

Why can't Dwarf Fortress make it's own legendary creatures? Like a Forgotten Beast, but instead of a Forgotten Beast it'd be a Rarely-Documented Beast.
The game could take an animal, twist it into something horrible, give it something special like acid blood or spitting poison, let it loose on the countryside and have the people that survive encountering it retell their stories.

[Mayama]

Please dont use D&D as research material for mythological creatures like medusa or wendigo's, its not quite historical correct

@ topic

I dont really like a mythical beast sponsorship drive because i like how toady creates his creatures. Sure the night creatures and clowns share some similarity with myth's of our world but they are unique. Thats something I really like in dwarf fortress, that the fantasy setting is not boring and generic. I dont think it would really fit to add hardcoded/predefined creatures to the game. If it randomly generates something similar to a real world mythological beast it would be awesome but implementing for example real myth stuff like wendigos, that behave like wendigos and are named wendigos doesnt feel right.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Notice two things about Medusa and the basilisks and such.
...
2. There are ways around them, like peripheral vision, mirrors, closing your eyes/blindfolding yourself when you approach where the gorgons live...

Then just because someone wants Gorgons in dwarf fort, completely new game mechanics will need to be added to keep them from being game breakers.
[/b]
Gaze attacks are a part of many a fantasy beast. They'll probably be added eventually anyway.

Well, first off: If elves aren't snobbishly superior PETA/hippies to the max, are they elves? They sure can be. DF's elves are different, why not its wendigoes? In addition, other games have wendigoes which aren't created by cannibalism (D&D and Shadowrun come to mind), so do they also not have wendigoes?
Finally, just make an explanation and apply its effects across the board. For instance, elves and goblins might be filled with natural spirits already, which renders them immune to wendigoism and certain other curses.

I don't know much about D&D, so i looked Wendigoes up on DandDwiki.
"Wendigos are not a true race. Rather, they are creatures that have been resorted to cannibalism to survive."

I seem to recall that in 3.5, they needed to perform a ritual thingy involving some kind of immoral acts, of which cannibalism was a possibility but neither sufficient (without a wendigo) nor required.

And i'm afraid that if we start making up explanations to account for why X can't by Y, Dwarf Fortress' lore is going to be strung together by plotholes and explanations.

Explanations, yes. Plotholes? Only if done crappily.
Explanations are useful, but not needed. Just apply the consequences and have the reason.

Well, you can argue the same about everything. Elves are cannibals? They're just tall gnomes. Dragons don't fly? They're just weird titans. Apes can't use crude tools? They're just semi-erect deer.

Now you're just trolling.

How? I'm repeating your argument, but with variations on the creature.
Elves don't eat people outside of DF--in fact, they're usually vegetarians.
Dragons almost always fly.
Apes are most notable for their intelligence and tool use.

But like i said: "Wendigoes wouldn't be Wendigoes if they didn't have their origin in cannibalism".

Why not? Must basilisks result from a rooster incubating a snake egg? Do centaurs need to come from carnal knowledge with livestock? ...Okay, that may have crossed a line, but you get my point.

While typing this i was browsing Wikipedia's entry on comparative mythology of Dragons, and one line in particular struck me:

It has been speculated that accounts of spitting cobras may be the origin of the myths of fire-breathing dragons.

Why can't Dwarf Fortress make it's own legendary creatures? Like a Forgotten Beast, but instead of a Forgotten Beast it'd be a Rarely-Documented Beast.
The game could take an animal, twist it into something horrible, give it something special like acid blood or spitting poison, let it loose on the countryside and have the people that survive encountering it retell their stories.

Well, first off, that's a bit beside the point; second off, I have no problem with that; third off, isn't thay basically what FBs and titans are?; finally, how does it relate to this topic? Seriously.

Please dont use D&D as research material for mythological creatures like medusa or wendigo's, its not quite historical correct

Historically correct isn't the right word, but I wasn't using it as a source of info on wendigoes, but on other ways wendigoes have been depicted. Which don't always involve cannibalism.

@ topic

I dont really like a mythical beast sponsorship drive because i like how toady creates his creatures. Sure the night creatures and clowns share some similarity with myth's of our world but they are unique. Thats something I really like in dwarf fortress, that the fantasy setting is not boring and generic. I dont think it would really fit to add hardcoded/predefined creatures to the game. If it randomly generates something similar to a real world mythological beast it would be awesome but implementing for example real myth stuff like wendigos, that behave like wendigos and are named wendigos doesnt feel right.

Toady has also made things like dragons and hydras and harpies, which are mythical beasts, as well as modified D&D monsters like hungry heads and voracious cave crawlers. Not to mention the animalmen...

[King Mir]

I think Toady is pretty good at deciding which new feature to add, and doesn't need a sponsorship drive to help him. If anything should be sponsored it's bug fixes. 

[GreatWyrmGold]

Then why did he run the Animal Sponsorship Drive?

This would be that, but with mythical or otherwise fictional creatures.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

I don't see why not. It would have to be far further in the development cycle when we start seeing magic and the like and I'm sure Toady plans to add a whole range of "classical" monsters to the mix, why not make money off it at the same time?

As for the whole Wendigo debate I think it comes down to whether a culture finds that act taboo or not. 
I remember someone made a convincing theory that DF's Boogeymen were actually nightmares that managed to come alive. The rational was that they could only appear during the night and that they could only appear near settlements. The boogeyman is also a common image in a lot of children's nightmares.
Using this logic you could imagine that Wendigoes are the results of people breaking their cultural/religious taboos which is seen as a great act of evil which either creates or transform the person into a monster. This means you could see Dwarven or Human Wendigoes but since Elves have a very different view on cannibalism they wouldn't transform. Possibly you might get Elven Wendigo from an Elf that chooses to eat out of pleasure rather than not wanting to "waste meat". I think it would be very easy to flesh out and explain the "lore" behind the monsters if you don't dismiss it straight away because Elves eat people sometimes.

[Immortal]

I disagree with him spending time on this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I would rather him like previous people mentioned work on adapting the demon creation to normal animals and reduce their !!FUN!!.

I also wouldn't have a problem if he added many of the modded animals and creatures from the modding board. That would easily increase animal variety with almost no work.

[GreatWyrmGold]

As for the whole Wendigo debate I think it comes down to whether a culture finds that act taboo or not. 
I remember someone made a convincing theory that DF's Boogeymen were actually nightmares that managed to come alive. The rational was that they could only appear during the night and that they could only appear near settlements. The boogeyman is also a common image in a lot of children's nightmares.
Using this logic you could imagine that Wendigoes are the results of people breaking their cultural/religious taboos which is seen as a great act of evil which either creates or transform the person into a monster. This means you could see Dwarven or Human Wendigoes but since Elves have a very different view on cannibalism they wouldn't transform. Possibly you might get Elven Wendigo from an Elf that chooses to eat out of pleasure rather than not wanting to "waste meat". I think it would be very easy to flesh out and explain the "lore" behind the monsters if you don't dismiss it straight away because Elves eat people sometimes.

...Wow. I had not thought about that. That is an excellent answer. My previous made-up thing may be considered discarded.
Could elven quasiwendigoes be created by, say, an elf chopping down a tree?

I disagree with him spending time on this.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I would rather him like previous people mentioned work on adapting the demon creation to normal animals and reduce their !!FUN!!.

Well, those aren't mutually exclusive. Adding real-world legendary creatures has the advantage of being able to look them up in Wikipedia, though. You don't need to check Legends Mode to figure out if the Red Bear is friendly, dangerous if provoked, murderous, etc.

I also wouldn't have a problem if he added many of the modded animals and creatures from the modding board. That would easily increase animal variety with almost no work.

As would I, but I don't find it likely. Toady tends not to add things other people made to the game.

[Adrian]

Using this logic you could imagine that Wendigoes are the results of people breaking their cultural/religious taboos which is seen as a great act of evil which either creates or transform the person into a monster. This means you could see Dwarven or Human Wendigoes but since Elves have a very different view on cannibalism they wouldn't transform. Possibly you might get Elven Wendigo from an Elf that chooses to eat out of pleasure rather than not wanting to "waste meat". I think it would be very easy to flesh out and explain the "lore" behind the monsters if you don't dismiss it straight away because Elves eat people sometimes.

I can get behind this. Not just in regard to Wendigoism, but the cultural aspect to legendary creatures too.
There should definitely be a mechanism in place for giving different cultures their own legends and monsters.

Could elven quasiwendigoes be created by, say, an elf chopping down a tree?

So that would be a supernatural cannibal who's vegetarian? [/infallible logic]

[Catastrophic lolcats]

Could elven quasiwendigoes be created by, say, an elf chopping down a tree?

So that would be a supernatural cannibal who's vegetarian? [/infallible logic]

I would say that Wendigoes would be linked to a "cannibalism sphere". A monster formed from an Elf desecrating it's own holy lands would take on new characteristics and mechanics, possibly linked to "desecrate" and "nature" spheres. Obviously it's unique to Elven and other societies where nature is worshipped.
Linking mythical creatures to spheres not only helps to explain why they exist and what weaknesses they have but it also leaves it open for randomly generated "epic" monsters that could make a very interesting "Monster Slayer" role, think "The Witcher" novels where learning everything about the beasts is the most important part of the battle.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'd rather have wendigoes linked to more of a "taboo" concept, which leads me to contemplating if other mythical creatures could be pseudoprocedural as well.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

Well it would still be linked to a taboo system in a way. In my system Humans and Dwarves* would find cannibalism completely taboo and causes ill (although not always) on those who practise it. Elves would be semi-"aligned" with the "cannibalism sphere" since it governs a part of their culture.
Spheres can have "laws" and "punishments". An Elven society is less "aligned" with the "cannibalism sphere" than Goblins so they have more laws such as "only eating the dead so nothing is wasted". Breaking those laws is taboo and can result in punishments such as a "Wendigo" transformation. Goblins would be much more "aligned" with the sphere so they have less restrictions and taboos facing it. I think it would be impossible to see a Goblin Wendigo unless it was several generations incorporated into other cultures or a very mean god cursed them for whatever reason.

*This is based off current racial ethics and will change when we see cultural variation in races.

[Bloax]

We need more Wolf-copypasta-with-a-different-name-and-a-slightly-altered-size-and-speed #53203, not creatures with unique properties and gimmicks.

In other words, as I see this, this is actually something that may very well be needed.
Because for as weird of a mythical world that Dwarf Fortress is, it sure doesn't contain a big variety of mythical creatures, who possess unusual and/or unnatural gimmicks and twists.
Like, we have.. Uh, what do we have again? I mean there's blizzard men, who are mortal and feel pain - but are otherwise almost invincible.
I can't really think of more, simply because it's not like there are many.

Just as an example, you could just add another random critter, except it wouldn't be a completely dull critter. The critter would be, say the Wyverns somewhat inspired from HoMM3;
(Because it's personally my favorite take on "Wyvern"s.)
They would be rather strong, fast critters that fly with strong claws that cut deep when they decide to slash your Dorfs. (So far pretty average.)
But then they would have a poisonous bite that would cause strong, short-term dizziness and moderate pain, with the long-term effects being strong nausea and severe dizziness.

Nothing particularly interesting, it's just another critter, after all. But it's a critter that temporarily disables any dwarf it bites, and also it's a big, flying lizard.
How often do you see huge, flying lizards suddenly decide that they want a chunk of Urist McDoesStuff Quality Dwarf Meat?

The point here is that it doesn't have to be wildly mythological and way off the charts creatures. It can be, but it might as well be something like what I have just a couple of lines up.
Just something that has some properties. In this case a flying pest that's somewhat bigger than a dwarf, the gimmick with it being that it disables dwarves per-bite if they do survive.
I can't really see what would be so terrifyingly gamebreaking about adding big flying lizards that have a poisonous bite and who reside in swampy areas to the game.

[Adrian]

Spheres can have "laws" and "punishments". An Elven society is less "aligned" with the "cannibalism sphere" than Goblins so they have more laws such as "only eating the dead so nothing is wasted". Breaking those laws is taboo and can result in punishments such as a "Wendigo" transformation.
...
*This is based off current racial ethics and will change when we see cultural variation in races.

Instead of those laws being part of spheres, i'd rather see commandments being issued by the deities of those spheres to their followers.
Punishment could range from a slap on the proverbial wrist, to a plague, to permanent and ironic punishment (being turned into a wendigo for engaging in cannibalism)

[syyrah]

Pseudoprocedural? Like curent werebeasts and vamps? Would be cool if medusa would get different qualities, not straying too far from original concept. Like one medusas in one world has 13 king cobra hair, petrifying to bauxite statue stare and legs, and other 1 black mamba "hair", petrifying bite to iron ore statue with tail instead of legs. And idea that breaking a taboo could create a (night) creature, is totaly worth saving somewhere. And if I had to put this creature into some sphere would be corruption (a process of subverting things from how they are deemed supposed to be).