Creating Creatures: Difference between revisions

Reskinning is the most valuable tool you have at your disposal. Reskinning is the practice of using the mechanics of one monster or spell, but describing it to your players as though an entirely different creature is fighting them. This is an easy way to save yourself some time when prepping a combat. If your party is attacked by dashing highwaymen, you might use the Knight stat block instead of the Bandit stat block, as the stats for Knight better reflect your vision of what a highwayman should be.

You can also make small modifications to a monster’s stat block to help reskin a little more effectively. Maybe you want an NPC that knows the Fireball spell to do toxic damage instead of fire, or you want to use a Large creature’s stat block as though it were a Medium creature.

When reskinning and tweaking a monster, you may overlook a few mechanics that arise in the middle of a combat. If a hero tries to disarm the pirate in the example by knocking their cutlass away, this technically would not be possible because the Grash’s claws and beak are natural weapons. Logically, though, one should be able to disarm a pirate of their cutlass. It’s fine to make such rulings in the spur of the moment as it makes sense for the story and situation.

NPCs are some of the easiest creatures to customize. Because NPCs are humanoid, they might undergo some of the same training that your heroes do. Think about the process of creating a hero: you pick a lineage, assign attributes, choose BOP, and gain a talent. You can use any or all of these steps to customize an NPC. For example, you might make a captain of the guard by taking the Guard stat block, giving them the plains elf lineage, making them a born warrior with the guard profession, and giving them one or two talents in the warrior class. This will make that particular guard a bit stronger than your average guard and will impact their fighting style, which can make the NPC seem like an entirely unique creature even if at its base level it is just a modified Guard.

You can also easily change an NPC’s equipment or even give them magic items, but be careful when you do so. If the NPC gets into a lethal confrontation with the heroes, then the heroes will undoubtedly take any magic items that the NPC possessed, so only give the NPC a magic item if you are ready for your heroes to use it.

'''Planar:''' Avadri, Celestial, Eldritch, Elemental, Fae, Fiend

'''Modifying:''' Abominable, Constructed, Giant, Swarm, Shapechanger, and Undead

For example, if you want to make a biotechnical avadri steed, you might take the stats of a Warhorse to start. Change its tag from beast to avadri. Then, look at some similar creatures that have the avadri tag, like the Trench Abomination. Maybe you want to give your Warhorse a similar Rapid Mutation table or the Electric Skin feature.

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

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).

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.

Finally, note that some monsters might have enough simulated AP for a strong or powerful ability, but this does not mean that they have to possess such an ability. Many AP might simply let the monster use light abilities much more rapidly. It all depends on the feeling you want to evoke when your heroes fight the monster. A nimble halfling rogue might have many light actions, while a heavyset trollkin berzerker might have only a couple actions that pack a stronger punch.