Weird Science Fantasy Island Generator

I will be running a one shot in my Vortekka micro-setting using Dungeon World later this evening! I had included Vortekka in my list of Places in Nova Arkham, but this version is a setting unto itself. Play report, micro-setting post, and possibly some other related posts will come soon, but for now, here is the very simple generator I created, with four example islands I created using this generator. This generator is very bare-bones, but worked well enough for my purposes, I think.

First you decide the size for the island, which affects the amount of treasure available on the island, and can influence whether or not there is intelligent life, or how many unique kinds of lifeforms to produce for it or how many weird properties you want to give it.

The intelligent life is based on the species in Vortekka but could be replaced with other species easily enough.

Roll 1-2 times on the flora / island properties table and 1-3 times on the weird table to get a general framework for the island which can be used as a theme for the various species you populate in it.

Each island should have 1 apex predator species, ~1-3 other threatening species, and ~1-3 non-threatening species which exist mainly for flavor. Larger islands can have more species. While you should roll 1-2 times on the apex predator and threat properties, respectively, you can also think about properties which would make sense given the other island properties or other species you've already populated the island with.

Size (d4)		Flora / Island properties (d8)
Tiny		Tall, sparse trees
Small		Short grass or mossy
Medium		Flowery
Large		Fungal forest
		Coral forest
		Dense woody forest
		Volcanic
		Ancient advanced relics
Intelligent Life (d12) (size small+, or shipwrecked for tiny)		Weird (d10)
None (1-8)		Singing flowers
Human colony		Scattered ancient advanced relics
Halfling tribe		Bathed in celestial light
Zapatotian tribe		Perpetual, localized storm
Penguin tribe		All predators have humanoid heads
		Color palette (2d10: R O Y G B I V K W P)
		Metallic-colored
		Synthetic (plastic, metal, etc.)
		River of cold blue magma
		Floating building-sized plates
Animal Types (d8)		Apex Predator Properties (d8)
Mammal		Poisonous
Bird		Camoflauge
Reptile		Massive
Plant		Super fast
Fungus		Super durable / armoured
Fish		Super strong
Arthropod		Swallow whole
Other (robot/golem/etc.)		Breath / area attack
Treasure (1d4) (1d4 x size x 100 Gold value)		Threat Properties (d8)
Natural resources (wood, skins, metals or minerals, lost jewels and coins, etc.). Low maintenance but requires space.		Poisonous
Ancient relic or natural oddity (mundane). Low weight / space demand but easily lost, stolen, or broken.		Camoflauge
Ancient relic or natural oddity (special). As above, but may be dangerous (or useful).		Far range
Live specimen. Depending on specimen, may require space, high maintenance, dangerous, etc.		Large
		Fast
		Durable / armoured
		Strong Trap
From this table, I pre-generated the following 4 islands for the game tonight. The "conflict" sections are specific to the scenario, which I'll post in full in the near future: Island 1 (small) Covered in the relics of an ancient advanced civilization. Plates of land and bodies of water float over and around the island, slowly rising and falling Apex Predators: Amphibious, deceptively fast barracudas which jump and glide from the ocean to bodies of water on the floating plates Threat 1: Dog-sized hermit crabs which have made powerful shells out of the relics. Some of the shells may have special magical or technological abilities. Threat 2: Strong dive-bombing albatross-like birds Non-threat 1: Glowing pig-like bugs which eat photosynthetic algae which continue to produce sugars for some time in their gut before being digested. Non-threat 2: Hand-sized bipedal flowers, look like little people. Not intelligent. Treasure: 200 gold value of ancient treasure. Conflict: To get to the treasure, the vault must be blasted open by the ship, destroying many of the relics Island 2 (medium) Covered in a rainforest of tall, dense trees supported by a perpetual, localized thunderstorm. The island also contains a hesitantly friendly penguin tribe. Apex Predators: Bear-like mammals with a humanoid head. Their saliva contains a powerful neurotoxin. Threat 1: Tiny fish that jump between the transient pools formed by the constant thunderstorm. Upon close examination, their tiny humanoid heads can be seen. When threatened, they release superhot explosive gases, turning the pool into an area-of-effect torrent of blistering steam. Threat 2: Halfling-sized lizard people with humanoid heads and chameleon eyes and tongues. They launch compacted mineral pellet feces from their tongues high in the canopy, like snipers. Non-threat 1: Nocturnal tarsiers covered in spines. Not dangerous, unless provoked. Non-threat 2: Lemur-like reptiles, larger than the spiny tarsiers and more active in the daytime. Treasure: 1200 gold value for a spitting hominid-bear with a metallic orange coat. Conflict: The local penguin tribe hold this bear sacred and must either be circumvented or destroyed (the captain prefers the latter plan). Subsequently, the captain’s plan to take down the bear is to throw as many of the crew at it as possible with nothing but clubs and nets. Additionally, once captured, the captain keeps it muzzled and in a cruelly small cage. Liquid food is injected directly into its gut. Island 3 (medium) A volcanic island spewing cold, blue magma. It is bathed in a celestial blue light and covered in a layer of soft, minerally, blueish snow. Apex Predators: Yeti-like fungi with blue flesh covered in snow-like whitish-blue fur that provides them camouflage. Threat 1: Cold lava golems swim in disguise along the magma rivers, instinctively attacking non-native lifeforms. Threat 2: Whitish blue birds adapted to the cold environment. Their beaks are superhot, and their droppings supercold. Non-threat 1: Miniature, friendly, monkey-like versions of the fungus yetis. Non-threat 2: Crystalline-looking iguanas somehow adapted to derive energy from the cold light and blue magma. Treasure: 600 gold value to gather as many fungus monkeys as possible. Conflict: The fungus monkeys are not suited to the warm climate of most of the vortex. Most will die during the journey, and the rest will likely die not long after unless properly cared for. The plan is to sell as many of them as possible, as quickly as possible, as pets or curiosities to any buyers. Island 4 (Large) A partially submerged island covered in a vibrant, metallic-colored coral forest. The corals produce usually pleasant humming and singing noises. Apex Predators: Starfish-shaped robots harvest the coral, without discernment for other present lifeforms within. Threat 1: Large robots disguised as coral which trap threats to the apex robots. Threat 2: An underwater hive of flying bee-like pistol shrimp which have evolved to ballistically propel themselves by producing sonic booms, as a means of rapidly targeting prey within the coral forest and avoiding the traps of disguised robots. Threat 3: Packs of raptors with vibrant metallic colors and frills which disguise them within the coral. Non-threat 1: Pteranodons with sharp beaks and claws capable of chewing through hard coral. They are only dangerous if threatened. Non-threat 2: A photosynthetic, slime-like yeast which has developed a symbiotic relationship with the coral. Can provide sustenance, but also causes inebriation or intense hallucinations. Non-threat 3: A metallic gold-colored tree which produces a multi-metallic-colored tropical fruit pollinated by the flying pistol shrimp. The fruit contains a chemical harmful to the slime yeast, and by extension the coral forest itself. Seemingly an invasive species outcompeting the coral for the same ecological niche. Treasure: 1200 gold value in slime yeast, to be sold as a recreational drug or as medicine. Conflict: While the metallic trees were eventually going to overtake the coral forest anyway, collecting so much yeast will give the trees an even larger advantage. The trees will overtake the island faster than the ecosystem can adapt, and the ecosystem will collapse. Additionally, the captain will be draconian in not allowing the crew to consume the slime, threatening death, while flagrantly abusing as much of the slime as he wants. Eventually a crew member will be caught stealing slime and the captain will force them to walk the plank.