Creatures of the Dark

Happy Halloween everyone!~

Description:

Creatures of the Dark is a mod aimed to bring some creatures and cryptids from mythology and folklore to the game, along with some designs of my own, heavily inspired by some of these beings. Many of these creatures also possess more unique behaviors or abilities to set them apart from just another hostile mob.

None of these mobs have any drops, currently, and the mod is only loosely balanced; but it is still intended to be more challenging than not.

Features:

Currently the mod only offers over a dozen functioning, naturally spawning mobs, with a few more I started some work on but have yet to be modeled, and more still, which are planned, but are currently very bare-bones. There is also a system that checks for numerous variables when ever a player goes to sleep, where they may end up having a visitor if they're unlucky enough...
Later in development, I also intend to create several items, pieces of equipment, and new ore; as well as 'moral' and 'nature' meter variables attached to the player- so some types of entities will behave differently around them. However, currently the only item added is a hat.

To go through the list of implemented mobs and their features:

Implemented Mobs:

Prowlers, inspired various big cat cryptids, stalks its prey at a deceptively slow speed and freezes when spotted by the player. Once it closes in, however, it gains a burst of speed! Prowlers spawn more frequently in jungle biomes, but may also be found in deserts and savannas.

Kobolds, inspired by their namesake and several similar entities such as brownies, hobs, and other house spirits, can be found underground in almost all biomes, but more commonly in mountainous ones. They're generally wary of people and will flee if you hold anything made of iron. You may befriend, one, however, by feeding them a treat via right-clicking on them while holding it. Vanilla food, or food-like items that may be considered sweet or golden, as well as soups and stews are all favored by kobolds. These foods are also separated into several tiers, with kobolds preferring more complex or harder to obtain foods, such as cakes and golden apples to sweet berries and bread.

Once a kobold accepts you, it will transform itself into an item for easier carrying. If you hold and right-click the kobold on a block, it will bind the kobold to that location. Bound kobolds are complex creatures capable of performing chores for you, so long as you treat them right by continually offering treats for them- (by throwing them near the location where the kobold was bound) lest they turn on you and bother you instead! Bound kobolds have an invisible mood meter that decreases as they perform chores, get attacked, or if too much time has passed (a full day) without being offered a treat. Each morning, (just after the player wakes, should they sleep the night away), the kobold will perform various chores depending what it finds nearby. It may harvest and replant mature crops, breed nearby animals with crops it harvested, shear sheep, find empty buckets in chests and milk nearby cows, stock furnaces with coal, and slightly repair damaged equipment it finds in chests. It will also periodically close any doors or fence gates around it throughout the night, and often leaves gifts in return, at its bound location. Angry kobolds will instead destroy crops, increase the breeding cooldown of mobs, turn grass in a radius beneath sheep to dirt, throw fuel out of furnaces, slightly damage (but never break) equipment in chests, and even make you drop your held item! The nasty buggers will also open any doors and gates they see throughout the night and sometimes trigger buttons, lamps, dispensers, and the like!

Once a kobold has been sufficiently mistreated it will no longer accept treats and there will be no hope to bring it 'round again. You must endure its tricks until it leaves on its own. This can be hastened by gifting it pieces of leather armor- which they find very insulting! You may also try gifting the kobold a bucket of milk to cause it to become visible and vulnerable. An iron sword can swiftly finish it afterward...

Draugrs are, in short, "just a stronger zombie"; however, they are nigh invulnerable and must be slain by an iron weapon whilst on fire- in order to sufficiently slay them. They also have an aura of stench around them that inflicts hunger on nearby entities, and may visit players as a hallucination when they go to sleep- should one be nearby. Draugrs are a little rare, slow, and thus easy to avoid, but remain a persistent threat to the unprepared player! These ghouls lurk in various tall-tree forests and taigas, and may also be found more rarely in hilly and mountainous biomes. A burial mound dungeon structure is also planned for the draugrs, but currently is not implemented.

Prospectors are somewhat neutral undead that can be found in the badlands. There is little to them, currently, but they have a keen eye for gold and gems and will target players whom they sense possess these valuables- causing them to drop a little as the prospector attacks. Later on I would like to add a trading/bartering system with them.

Snow Stalkers were initially inspired by the sudden, dreadful feeling of being watched whilst out in the wilderness. These wendigo-like creatures can spot their prey from long distances and will relentlessly, but patiently, hunt them down. Like the prowler, these creatures move deceptively slow, and freeze when spotted. However, snow stalkers have the ability to periodically turn invisible- and will only move while invisible. This gives them the effect that they always only stand still and watch you from afar, while 'blinking' closer and closer to you over time. Again, once the snow stalker closes in, they will let out a shriek and sprint down their prey at breakneck speed. As you might expect, these beings make their home in snowy biomes- the colder the better!

 Death Moths are neutral, spooky-looking insects found in tall-tree forests, dark forests, and taigas. Similar to draugrs, they too have an aura around them, but one that inflicts slowness and poison instead of hunger. They normally flutter about peacefully, but won't hesitate to target you if disturbed. Rarely, they may also spawn with a fungal parasite attached to them (more on that below) causing them to become aggressive towards players and villagers.

Vampire Bats were, for all intents and purposes, intended to be a fairly realistic representation of real-life vampire bats. However, they use the vanilla bat model and I couldn't quite figure out how to scale them down to a more normal size, and they are much flightier than their real-world counterparts... Regardless, these bats have unique movement, making them seem curious and cautious, as they appear to wait for the right moment to swoop in and strike their target- which consists of various animals and you, too.
You may find them flying about savannas and badlands at night, and they'll despawn during the day.

Howlers, not to be confused with prowlers, are werewolf-esque creatures whom are also, sometimes, nigh invulnerable, and may rarely be found in various forests- with a preference for taigas and spruce forests. These ferocious predators remain on all-fours and their speed, strength, and resistance to damage is determined by the phase of the moon. They are intended to always be vulnerable to silver weapons; however, those aren't in the mod yet. (I'm unsure if silver weapons from other mods work or not, but I presume they would. The procedure checks for "silver" in an items display name). Being severely weakened during the day, this is the best time to kill them; however, they will also make a mad dash away from any players during this time and will despawn at a distance much closer than mobs usually would. Nights where the moon is close to empty also weaken them sufficiently to consider them manageable.

Kelpie are river horses known to lure victims to their watery graves. Here, they lie and wait in rivers. When players get close enough, they will slowly rise to the surface of the water. Even closer and they'll wade toward you... and closer still, they'll launch themselves toward you, give chase if necessary, force the player to ride on their back, and will drive them right into the river. Whilst swimming with the kelpie, they will blind you and forcibly drag you downwards- making escape difficult. They also become much more resistant to attacks while underwater, and remain somewhat resistant on land, too; but they become vulnerable when set on fire, or when silver or iron weapons are used against them.

Fungal Hives & Fungal Parasites are two closely connected mobs. They've yet to begin infecting the world, but the parasitic version may rarely spawn attached to death moths. Fungal Hives are stationary clusters of fungus that wither nearby entities and- once their potential prey weakens- will spawn a parasite that forcibly attaches to (rides) them. This parasite will hijack part of its host's AI and cause them to become aggressive toward players and villagers. They may be carefully removed from their host at no harm to them, so long as you don't accidentally attack the host in the process. (The sweeping ability of swords is bad for this). If their host is slain, however, they will seek out weakened entities nearby to attach themselves to; and if left alone for long enough, they will grow into a fungal hive to start the cycle anew.

Sylphs are graceful air elementals found in high up in mountainous biomes. Should they be bothered, they'll show you they mean business by firing projectiles that cause you to levitate and plummet.

Mara, an o.g. sleep paralysis demon, will sometimes visit the player when they go to sleep. The likelihood of this occurring depends on numerous factors such as light level, moon phase, status effects, the player's health, elevation, color of bed, weather, whether or not a cat's nearby, and so on. They are harmless, though, and will disappear should the player get up to confront them.

Implemented but still pretty WIP Mobs:

Shadows, shadow people, unsettling but harmless to the player. These entities may also sometimes appear as the player goes to sleep, watching them; and may rarely be found underground in any biome. They will vanish if you get to close and blind you should you attempt to harm them.

Wisps are small balls of light found in swamps and dark forests. They too will disappear should you approach them and are best viewed from afar.

Mist clouds are peculiar entities that poison, envelop, and ensnare their prey- picking them up into the air and slowly dissolving them. These, too, are found in swamps, but also along beaches at night.

Jinn are fairly complex mobs that spawn in the desert at night. Currently they don't do too much; however, they are invisible and neutral entities that will 'curse' their target with status effects, or by setting them on fire, should they be attacked. During the day, they will transform into an animal- such as a sheep, cat, donkey, or wolf- and retain their ability to curse targets, in self-defense. They may be tamed in these forms and they will remember their characteristics as they transform each day and night between their jinn and animal forms. They will remember things such as their owner, collar color, wool color, skin (for cats), and whether or not they have a saddle. Allegiances such as these are loose, however. While in their jinn form, they will not serve the player and won't hesitate to attack and kill them in self defense; however, they can prove to be useful wolf companions during the day. Should they die in their animal form, they will revert to their jinn form for a while- even during the day.

Ifrit, the fiercer and fierier counterpart to a jinn, may also be found in deserts, but only in areas where the view of the sky is obstructed- such as caves and dark buildings. These entities do not transform, but do have a fair amount of fire power, and will happily launch fireballs from a distance.

Death, a WIP boss entity, rarely appears at the location a player or villager dies, and if left alone, will peacefully despawn after a short period of time. If attacked, however, this entity will persistently float after you- including through blocks. If you decide to target Death itself, be warned that one strike is all it will take to end your life... (I intend to make this a more proper boss fight in the future. Currently it's a little too easy.)

Unimplemented but with some substance Mobs:

Merfolk are (as you might expect) intended to be oceanic humanoids. No details about their behavior have been planned.

Salamanders are intended to be- well, fiery salamanders. Currently they use the pig model, hiss, inflict poison and set their target alight, and periodically set fires beneath them as they move.

Death-Eaters, (no, this mob isn't a H.P. reference) are shadowy amalgamations that relentlessly, and erratically, chase down their prey. Currently they're more of a miniboss.

Shadow Serpents are entities that came about through testing serpentine movement. They consist of several smaller entities that may appear to closely follow one another. What's really happening, though, is the head periodically spawns body segments- which themselves last a few seconds before despawning.

Sandworms- inspired by Mongolian death worms- are small creatures that burrow in the sand and lie in wait for prey. They inflict slowness and negative jump boost on nearby entities who aren't wearing boots, and will occasionally fire poison-inflicting projectiles at their target.

Unimplemented but planned Mobs:

Bantam Spearmen, Archers, and Shamans are intended to be small, undead, masked, tribal entities.

Pukwudgies are intended to be nature spirits that appear and attack players with too low of a 'nature' score.

Pixies, as one might expect, are meant to be very pixie-like in appearance and nature. I also intend to add fairy rings with different effects when ever players remain inside them.

Hungry Ghosts are intended to be undead that, naturally, seek sustenance. I'd like the player to be able to feed them in some way and gain something in return. I also intend to incorporate paper money somehow. But nothing is fleshed out yet.

Clay, Mud, and Soul Sand Golems. These entities are intended to be simple servants that automatically perform menial tasks for their owner.

Lastly, as some of you know from my first mod, I have made quite a few aquatic creatures, and I intend to have some sort of sea serpent in this mod, too!

Looking Forward:

I had some great fun working on this mod after finishing- and in-between updating Aquatic Craft. However, after this recent burst of development to try and finish as much as I could in time for a Halloween release, I intend to take a decently long break from CotD. Future versions are planned- all the way up to 1.20 and beyond. Since this mod is much less complex than Aquatic Craft, it should be much easier and less time-consuming to continue updating. The only reason I haven't released CotD in multiple versions thus far is because I still have a lot of locked code and I wanted to spend more of my time developing content than fixing up several versions at once.
I also will not be uploading CotD to Curse Forge until it has substantially more content added to it.

It isn't much so far, but I hope you enjoy! Naturally, if there are any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know.