Here are a list of creatures and curious plants to spice up travel and exploration without being big combat encounters.

1. Forest
2. Subterranean
3. Flying
4. Open Country & Mountains
5. Aquatic

Forest

For unusual, roll 1d10. For unusual or mundane, roll 1d20. For mundane only, roll 1d10+10.

1. Wood Wolf: A canine with fur that appears to be bark and leaves. They are very shy and, due to their excellent camouflage, rarely seen. They mostly eat fruit, mushrooms, insects such as caterpillars, but occasionally frogs and fish.
2. Hob: A species of rabbit with curved horns that engages in head-butting for dominance. They rarely bother such large creatures as humans, but may head-butt them if they find them sleeping. They are quite cuddly if befriended.
3. Stinkmonk: A small deer that eats vegetation and tents and, when frightened, sprays a foul-smelling musk as it flees. The second part of its name refers to the low, guttural mumbling it does, often mistaken for a monk in prayer.
4. Servant Fern: An animate fern plant that tries to be helpful to other creatures. It will pick up small things that are dropped and hand them back, hold lightweight things that are offered, pick insects out of fur, etc. It can often be identified because it is found petting a forest animal.
5. Loober: A tree-living, oversized-squirrel-like creature that calls “Loob” and teleports from tree to tree at will. Found in sizeable numbers, so the forest becomes rather noisy when they encounter strangers.
6. Fire Stick: A bright red-and-yellow stick insect a foot or more long that, when molested or squeezed (even when dead), will (one time) shoot a jet of fire up to three feet.
7. Flowering Friend: An animate blooming plant that produces flowers that resemble people known to (and favored by) the person who touches it.
8. Jester Marten: Furry marten-like creatures known for its playfulness and parrot-like mimicry. They may beg for food by saying things people say to it before giving it food.
9. Mandrake: Animate root vegetable that can uproot itself walk around for a short time. They may do a little weeding, pile up some stones for decor, or go find themselves better soil.
10. Courier Snail: Non-aggressive oversized snail that can deliver a letter like a homing pigeon, only much slower. Crawls on walls and ceilings with ease. Chance of carrying a letter in its shell: 4-in-6.
11. Lumber Insect: A gigantic stick insect the size of a log, sometimes even growing mushrooms on its back. Mostly stationary flat on the ground or leaning against a tree or rock, it will move away if disturbed. Eats carrion.
12. Burrower… (1d6: 1-2=badger; 3=stoat; 4=weasel; 5=polecat; 6=rabbit).
13. Predator… (1d6: 1-2=fox; 3=wolf; 4=lynx; 5=pine marten; 6=wildcat).
14. Beaver (always near water)
15. Snake (10% chance of being a venomous adder)
16. Otter (always near water)
17. Boar
18. Deer (roe, fallow, or reindeer)
19. Aurochs (in groups)
20. Brown bear

Subterranean

1. The Corpse Worm: A large, green caterpillar that crawls into the ear of a cadaver and eats the brain. As a result, it gains the memories and voice of the last cadaver it dined on. It knows it’s not the deceased, but often displays their attitude and preferences. The worm is not harmful to living folk and could even be of use at a later time, if the heroes need to know something a corpse could tell them.
2. Torch Beetle: A large, black beetle that, if caught and squeezed gently, casts a bright glow from its thorax. Lasts 20 minutes.
3. Song Moss: A carpet of green moss that tends to grow on walls. Touching it causes it to emanate soft sounds similar to a quartet of stringed instruments. Slower for bass. Quicker for treble. With a little practice, a skilled musician can play a tune.
4. Alarm Bugs: Largish, dark brown, beetles that make a loud noise when frightened or squashed, setting up a chain of alarms thruout the population in a given location. Their noises include, “whoop whoop”, “meeeeeeng”, and “gitchy-gitchy-gitchy”.
5. Whispering Whonks: Snails the size of an apple that call to one another in what sounds like the whispers of humanoid voices saying, “Over here”, “Get them”, “Get out”, and “Bring me more”. They seem to mimic local humanoids primarily but occasionally mimic other creatures as well.
6. Blue Ooze: An amorphous ooze creature that is harmless. Its digestive juices are weak. It normally feeds on moss, lichen, mold, and algae. One blue ooze can keep a large fountain, small pond, or medium reflecting pool clear and clean.
7. Glustucks: Small, unassuming beetle-like creatures that excrete an extremely sticky substance that dries to a hard but flexible, nearly permanent bond between virtually any two solid substances except sovereign materials. Can be squeezed for good-sized dollop once per day. Found in small numbers.
8. Glowfungus: A carpet of fungus that tends to grow on tunnel walls, ceilings, and floors that grows a soft green, yellow, or orange. A substantial patch may light a whole hallway or even a room.
9. Slipperwills: Snail-like creatures that excrete an extremely slippery substance that allows them to slide across flat surfaces, like dungeon floors, rather quickly. They happily bounce down stairs, leaving the steps a hazard for days. They tend to appear in groups and cover an area fairly thoroly.
10. Hanging Moss: Moss that clings to and hangs from the ceiling of subterranean passages. Highly flammable, catching it aflame will cause it to burn all along its length and give off substantial light until it burns out after several minutes.

Flying

1. Lantern Bugs: Small flying insects that take wing and glow bright colors when disturbed. They can easily light up a cavern in a dazzling show. Found in large numbers, often underground.
2. Chorus Bird: A red songbird that echoes back the sounds it hears in harmony. They often follow creatures that make noise. If those creatures sing a song, the chorus birds will raise an entire harmonious chorus. Sometimes carried in cages during ceremonial processions.
3. Buzzwing: Small, fast birds that make buzzing noises. Found in small numbers eating flying insects.
4. Messenger Bird: Small, yellow mimic bird that can be easily trained to deliver short spoken messages in exchange for food. They deliver in a high-pitched version of the sender’s voice.
5. Lightwing: Beautiful, dove-like birds that light up at night. Some emit a white light, other more a flame-orange or even a red, blue, or green. Somewhat rare, but encountered in sizeable numbers and highly attracted to scattered grain.
6. Augury Bugs: Flying insects, which if followed to their rest and prayed over, are used by the prayer’s god to reveal a one-word omen about the near future.
7. Dream Bugs: Small flying insects that blink in a rainbow of colors and impart pleasant dreams to those who view them.
8. Legless Gulla Bird: A large, beautiful, long-distance flyer with no legs. Lands in water or in tall grass, where it nests.
9. Furry Wingcoat: A small, short-haired, raccoon-like creature that wears a coat of feathers to fly but takes it off and folds it up when in the nest.
10. Spear Sloot: A very long, thin, wingless bird that can nevertheless fly. They often reach 10 feet in length but are only a half inch in diameter. Eats insects. Flocks appear as a host of spears whistling across the sky.

Open Country & Mountains

1. Great Rock Tortoise: A giant land tortoise 6 to 10 feet across whose shell looks like a rock in the area where it lives. Their dung appears to be small boulders but when dry burns well with no particular odor. They sometimes block trails or move if stood upon for a good view. If disturbed, they will only seek to move away, altho if unmolested, they will browse vegetation near humanoids. Delicious.
2. Portle: A soft-shelled turtle that has a magical connection to others of its kind. Touching one allows a person to teleport to the location of any other portle in sight, including areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Since each portle can only teleport a man-sized creature once per day, a party would have to each use different portles. Also found in forests and caves.
3. Leopard Horse: A fine wild horse so called for its leopard-like coloration and spots, known for its intelligence.
4. Necklace Snake: A slender snake that curls up around the throat of sleeping creatures, so that it is kept warm. It slips away at night to eat bugs. It appears such creatures are wearing a gold, silver, or copper necklace–sometimes several. Faery creatures may wear them in lieu of bracelets as well. Harmless.
5. Snake Dog: A large, furry, snake-like creature with a head resembling a dog. About as intelligent and trainable as a dog, but timid. Wags its tail.
6. Shellephant: A smallish member of the elephant family with a hard shell. Found in small herds in dry grasslands. Not aggressive.
7. Cat’s Shadow: A black shadow creature in the form of a cat. Curious enough to follow other creatures around. Tends to knock things over. Immunities and abilities as a shadow. Non-hostile.
8. Iron Cabbage: A boulder-sized plant like a cabbage that has a hard, brown shell resembling stone. Tasty, if you like cabbage.
9. Spring Shell: A 3-foot, land-based relative of the clam that, when stepped on, snaps open with enough strength to throw a human 10 feet. Stays open for 1 minute, then resets. Can be used strategically, altho aiming is haphazard.
10. Hermit Tree: Hardy tree that grows in crevices in rock. It appears to be a normal, gnarled tree until disturbed, whereupon is blossoms quite suddenly with enchanted flowers that, if eaten, provide a random insight. One effect per day per creature; once plucked, the blossoms last one day.

Aquatic

1. Glober: Very large, flat fish up to 4 feet long that lies on the bottom in shallow water, covered in fine silt. Rears up and swims away if stepped on.
2. Megamouth Bass: Enormous bass fish up to 7 feet long.
3. Fool’s Goldfish: Appears to be a small pile of gold coins at the bottom of a clear, shallow pool. Swims away when disturbed. Valuable if captured alive.
4. Iglidon: 25-foot long herbivorous amphibian that slithers thru shallow waters. Flees humanoids on sight.
5. Birdfish: Silvery fish up to two feet long, found in large schools that migrates from one body of water to another on functional wings. They are not elegant soarers, but can travel fairly long distances. When confused by weather or fooled by apparent ponds to rest in, they can sometimes fall out of the sky onto towns.
6. Water Blossom: A flowering plant that grows in all kinds of waters and purifies it, an excellent indicator the water is good to drink. The plant itself, however, is highly toxic and causes death (save) or vomiting if eaten by a man-sized creature.
7. Thief Fish: Sizeable fish known to leap into boats or onto land, snatch shiny objects, and flop back into the water. Not intelligent, but their lairs tend to be underwater nests near shore, filled with interesting small items.
8. Frollip: A frog-like creature that, as defense mechanism, tries to leap into the mouth of the predator and block its airway to cause it to choke. It is smart enough to know that creatures larger than humans will likely just swallow it. Often found on land, as well.
9. Fae Fish: A large, faery fish that can talk. It will play dumb despite acting nervous or curious and, if caught, will promise anything to be set free, but it is an awful liar. They tend to save coins they find and pretend to have a vast treasure to offer.
10. Water Whip: A long, thin grass that grows in water and that can be plucked, dried, and braided into decent rope.