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As I’ve mentioned, every fantasy novel needs two particular characters - magic, and landscape[a]. For BIND’s next edition (0.9) I’m hoping to tie the two together a little more. Specifically, more creatures could arise from magic.
Nura (goblins, ogres, et c.) come directly from the nuramancy sphere. They exist because some magic can twist gnomes into goblins.
The Polymorph sphere can twist creatures into other creatures, and that deserves a lot more attention. Armoured bears, foxes that spin webs, chickens which turn people to stone – all manner of monsters could be created without the need for any kind of proper ecology. They exist because ambitious spell-casters can make them, and release them into the world until they meet some sticky ending.
The new magic system will lean into the idea of making sentient things - sentient shadow-creatures, sentient acidic ooze, sentient clay men. Again - these things might wander a dungeon, aimless and abandoned, without any real ecology or explanation. Or perhaps sentient oozes can mate, giving them a reasonably full ecology. They wander, they slime, they feed, and reproduce like a swarm.
The bestiary seems a little small for such a continent full of monsters. But I won’t fill it up just to make it big. I’d rather fill it up, module by module, adding creatures where required.