Creating Creatures: Difference between revisions

Note that these are only benchmarks, not hard and fast rules. Remember a creature’s archetype: a monster that functions as an assassin will have lower max HP and higher DPR than the average for its ML.

ML, or Monster Level, represents how powerful a monster is. You use this to calculate the balance of a combat encounter.

A monster’s total stats is the sum of their STR, DEX, END, AWR, INT, and CHA. For example, a creature with ML 3 might have 2 STR, 0 DEX, 0 END, 3 AWR, 0 INT, and 2 CHA. Like heroes, creatures can have up to a -3 in a stat, and this is especially common among beasts, who typically have -2 or -3 INT.

A monster’s max stat is the cap on how high a single stat can be. A creature with ML 3 typically would not have more than a +3 in a single stat, while a creature of ML 16 might have as high as a +6. Monsters of specific archetypes might break this rule, but this is uncommon.

A monster’s HP is the recommended maximum HP that a creature of a certain ML would have. This is easy to scale up or down based on how long you want a monster to live. Minions should have very low maximum HP, while beefcakes might have more HP than their corresponding ML recommends.

AP Simulated is the number of Action Points that the monster is assumed to have. MCs do not track AP for monsters, as it would be very time consuming to attempt this for multiple NPCs and would cause no shortage of headaches. Instead, use the AP Sim’d column to convert AP into Monster Actions (below).

This is the recommended value of a creature’s AR based on their ML. Tough creatures or humanoids wearing heavy armor might have a higher AR, but this should usually come with some kind of tradeoff, such as a lower number of total stats, reduced speed, or a lower DPR.

A monster’s recommended attack bonus will correspond to their max stat. A monster that mainly fights with DEX will have the highest possible DEX that it can at that ML, for example.

DPR, or Damage Per Round, is the amount of damage a monster could do if it attacked as many times as it could on its turn and hit each time, dealing average damage. A soldier of ML 0.5 might have a STR of 2, dealing an average of 5 (1d6+2) damage with its shortsword and being able to attack only once per round. A highly trained soldier of ML 6 might have a STR of 3 and have the ability to attack twice on each of their turns, dealing 6 (1d6+3) damage with each hit. Assassins will obviously deal more damage, and beefcakes, controllers, and summoners will usually deal a little less.

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