Neo
Explorer
HOW TO DESIGN A CREATURE:
Written by Mark “neo” Howe.
Statistic, Base Attack Bonus and Powers Benchmarks i'd suggest people use the Benchmarks Guide v.2, Copyright 2003, by Author Chris Finney
WHERE TO START:
So here you are sat down, blank piece of paper laid out before you, pencil in hand and wondering just how the heck do I make this creature I’ve had in my head for weeks, ready for next weeks game! Well hopefully I can help you out there a little and make the task a little less troublesome and a bit more organised.
There are as with normal character creation (which is also possible via this rule set by the way). These steps in order are as follows:
Step 1. Concept and Origin
Step 2. Allocate Points to Ability Scores
Step 3. Choose Basic Type
Step 4. Apply Subtypes
Step 5. Alter Creatures Size (Optional)
Step 6. Flesh It Out
Step 7. Choose Weakness (Optional)
Step 8. Add It All Up
All you need do is follow through each of the steps below in order to create your creature, robot, superhero, super villain, ninja, superspy or whatever else your imagination conjures up.
STEP ONE: CHOOSE A CONCEPT AND ORIGIN
First consider what you wish to create, what are the creature’s basic abilities? What role does it fill in your game? Is it a hero, villain, ally, or just some nameless minion? What does the creature do? How does it move? What does it attack with if anything? Where does it come from? And so forth. You can draw upon many sources of inspiration when creating a creature from literature, computer games, movies, anime, comics and more. Once you have a few notes written down, let them guide you through the rest of the design process. Remember this is your creation so however the end creature’s turns out so long as you are true to your concept you cant really goes wrong.
To help you through the design process we’ll include an example of a creature creation as we move through each step. Our concept is to create a Huge, reptilian, fire breathing Dragon of mythology. With this in mind we know we want it to be huge, have claws and teeth, breath fire, be scaled reptile and have wings to fly with.
STEP TWO: ALLOCATE POINTS TO ABILITY SCORES:
Now you have your concept in mind you should assign it some points to its ability scores. All characters have six attributes, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These six attributes affect many other facets of a character such as initiative, attack bonus, skill checks, and so forth.
Remember all creatures begin with a base of 10 in all attributes except Constructs, Undead, and Vermin. More information on how these deviate from this norm can be found under Step Three: Choose Base Type, later on. For now however we need to assign our creature some ability scores.
With our concept in mind it should be fairly easy to assign our creation some statistics, to make things easier we use Chris Finney’s Benchmarks as a guidelines for assigning appropriate ability scores. So with our Dragon in mind lets assign him some attributes.
Looking at the below benchmark tables we decide his strength should be around 18 giving our beast huge knotted muscles. Next we decide to give him 10 Dexterity, although our dragon is healthy its bulk impedes its reactions somewhat. Coming to Constitution we decide on human peak levels, as our dragon is very healthy so we give him a +6 modifier constitution, meaning he has a 20 Attribute plus one rank of Super constitution.
Next Intelligence, deciding our Dragon is gifted and very smart thanks to its age and genetic memories we give it 18 intelligence. For Wisdom we decide on gifted again, our dragon is cunning and it’s acute sense rarely miss anything, so we give it a higher end 19 in this attribute. Finally Charisma, once again we decide on gifted, our dragon is unsettling and has a strong personality we give him 18.
Adding it all up we have spent a total of 43 points on attributes. We also have one rank of Super constitution we mark this down but don’t need to worry about its cost just yet.
STEP THREE: CHOOSE BASIC TYPE
All creatures and beings typically fall into one of ten basic types, which can later be modified even further by the application of subtypes.
Each type is determined by a few specific traits, these are Cost (shows cost at power level one, then additional cost for each power level thereafter to 20th), Attack Bonus, Defence Bonus, Bonus feats, Skill Points and Base Size. Each of these traits tells you how a creature of that type starts out and how it develops as its Power Level increases.
The amounts indicated by a type are the minims required for the creature’s type, but they can be exceeded if the creator desires to the usual restrictions imposed by a creature’s final power level of course.
For example: In building our dragon we check to find the most applicable type, in our case for a dragon the most applicable is Mythical Beast. From looking at the Mythological Beast table we see Its Attack Bonus is base 1 at Power Level 1 and should increase by 1 for every power level the creature is beyond that. Well we don’t know its power level yet but we mark this down on our paper all the same. The same is true of its Defence score, base 1 at PL1 plus 1 for every power level past that. We also see that all Mythical beasts have the Dark Vision and attack Focus (unarmed feats) and are Medium sized. Next we see that Mythical beasts must spend 2 points on skills for every power level (bare in mind that we are using a 4:1 ratio) and looking to see if there are any special rules for our creature type we see that it must have an intelligence of greater than 2, it does so we don’t need to increase the attribute to this minimum level. Finally we see that the mythical beast type has a cost of 11 PP’s for power level one, which covers the cost of the base attack and defence, the required feats, the skill points and the types base size if not medium. We see that the cost will also cost 7 PP’s for each power level our dragon is beyond 1st; we mark these costs down on our paper.
ABERRATION TYPE
An aberration has a bizarre anatomy, strange abilities, an alien mindset, or any combination of the three.
Cost: 13/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Iron Will, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
ANIMAL TYPE
An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually vertebrae with no unusual powers and no innate capacity for language or advanced culture.
Cost: 15/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
*No animal may have an intelligence greater than 3 and be of this type.
CONSTRUCT TYPE
A construct is an animated object or artificially constructed creature.
Cost: 29/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Critical Hits, Disease, Exhaustion, Fortitude effects, Poison, Pressure, Psychic Source, Starvation, Suffocation)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
*Cannot heal naturally must be repaired or possess an appropriate power. Have no Con score instead they have a Hardness statistic. Their Damage save is equal to the Hardness.Mindless and have no intelligence score, however intelligence may be purchased for a construct from a base of 0. Constructs likewise have very little in the way of appearance or personality unless it is provided for them so their base charisma is 1, but it can be raised as with other statistic.
FEY TYPE
A fey is a creature with unusual powers and connections to nature or to some other force or place. Fey are usually human shaped.
Cost: 9/6/7/6/4/9/4/6/7/6/4/9/4/6/7/6/4/9/4/6
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (pick one)
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Most fey have the vulnerability (Cold Iron) weakness but this is optional
FREAKISH HUMANOID TYPE
Freakish Humanoids are similar to normal humanoids but with monstrous or animalistic features. They often have unusual abilities also.
Cost: 13+7 per Power level beyond 1st
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (pick one)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
HUMANOID TYPE
A humanoid usually has two arms, two legs, and one head, or a human-like torso, arms and a head. Humanoids can speak and usually have well-developed societies. They are typically of medium size.
Cost: 9/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Great Fortitude, OR Iron Will, OR Lightning Reflexes
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
MYTHICAL BEAST TYPE
Mythical beasts are similar to animals but can have intelligence scores higher than 2. Mythical beasts usually have unusual abilities or super powers, but sometimes are bizarre in appearance and habits.
Cost: 11/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Must have an intelligence higher than 2.
PLANT TYPE
This type comprises vegetable creatures. Note that regular plants, such as those one finds growing in fields and gardens lack Wisdom and Charisma scores and are not creatures but objects even though they are alive.
Cost: 27/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Immunity (Transformation, Critical Hit, Exhaustion), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Small (3 ranks of permanent Shrinking)
UNDEAD TYPE
The undead are once living beings that are animated by sorcerous or supernatural forces.
Cost: 29+7 per Power level beyond 1st
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Immunity (Poison, Disease, Aging, Suffocation, Starvation, Critical Hits, Fortitude Saves, Paralysis, Exhaustion), Toughness
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Have no Con score, nor can they heal naturally requiring some special power or ability. Mindless and have no intelligence score, however intelligence may be purchased for a construct from a base of 0.
VERMIN TYPE
This type includes insects, arachnids, other arthropods, worms, and similar invertebrates.
Cost: 45/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Immunity (Psychic), Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Miniscule (Permanent Shrinking rank 15)
* Mindless have no intelligence score.
STEP FOUR: APPLY SUBTYPES
Once you have chosen the type next choose and apply any applicable subtypes to your creation as applicable to its nature.
Any number of subtypes may be applied to a creature and the costs and criteria of all must be met with regards to the powers that need be applied from a subtype.
Four subtypes in particular however are special those are Mook, Henchmen, Hero and Villain. All creatures fall into one of these four categories and hence all creatures will have one of these four subtypes in addition to any others, which may apply. These four subtypes determine how damage affects the creature and whether or not they may use hero/villain points in play.
For our Dragon we apply the following subtypes, Aerial, as we know we want our dragon to have wings and fly. Fire as we know our Dragon will breathe fire and we want him to be immune to it also. Reptilian as we know our dragon is a reptile and finally Henchman, as we want our dragon to be more potent than a minion but not be considered a full villain type opponent.
On our sheet our dragon should look a little something like this at the moment.
Dragon
Medium sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [11pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 1 (so far)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +1 (+4 Str) = +5 melee; base +1 (+0 Dex) = +1 ranged
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +1 (+0 Dex, +0 Size) = 11
Saves: Dmg: +6, Fort: +5, Ref: +0, Will: +4
Skills:
8 points to spend
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above]
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +1 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at least half PL. [1pp so far]
Natural Weapon – Claws +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] has to be at least half their PL [2pp so far]
Amazing Save Damage +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at PL [1pp so far].
As you can see our dragon isn’t quite complete, but is beginning to take shape.
AERIAL SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of the sky that possesses the ability of flight by some means.
Bonus Power: Always have the Flight [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher. The restricted Wings flaw is commonly taken but not always.
Bonus Feat: Aerial Combat
Cost: 2+ cost of power
ANGELIC SUBTYPE
Angels are a race of higher beings, the servants of a higher power and a more righteous cause.
Bonus Power: All Angelic beings have Comprehend [Flaws: Limited – Speech only; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] at a power level equal to their power level.
Healing [Extras: Resurrection; Flaws: Others only; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] at a power rank equal to half their power level or higher.
Bonus Feats: Attractive, Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Cold, Disease, Poison)
Cost: 12+ cost of powers
AQUATIC SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of the sea that is by nature a water breather and not an air breather. As such aquatic creatures can only breath in water not in air unless the amphibious feat is taken.
Bonus Power: Always have the Swimming [Source: Training; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher.
Bonus Feat: Underwater Combat
Cost: 2+cost of power
COLD SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of that is native to arctic or sub zero climates. Such creatures are invariably resistant to extreme cold. Many cold subtype creatures tend to be somewhat vulnerable to extreme heat.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: Endurance, Immunity (Cold)
Cost: 4
DEMONIC SUBTYPE
Demons represent those otherworldly beings that have sworn themselves completely to dark beings and otherworldly powers. As agents of these dark powers they are dedicated to corrupting the pure and thwarting good wherever they can.
Bonus Power: Always have the Energy Control - Fire [Extras: Energy Field; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Telepathy [Flaws: Communication only; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Disease, Fire and Poison)
Cost: 10+cost of powers
EXTRADIMENSIONAL SUBTYPE
Extra-dimensional beings are those who are native to another dimension altogether as such their life force exists between two places effectively linking them to the place of their origin.
Bonus Power: Protection [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Exhaustion, Starvation)
Cost: 4+cost of power
EXTRATERRESTRIAL SUBTYPE
Extra-terrestrial beings are those who are native to another world or even galaxy. They are alien in many ways, sometimes just physically but more often in their beliefs, cultures and outlooks. Extraterrestrials do not always have more advanced technologies than that of Earth but do quite often seem to.
Bonus Power: None or one or more but any powers gained through this subtype all have the Alien as their source.
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: varies
FIRE SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of that is native to volcanic, and other such places of incredibly intense heat, places whose high temperature would normally mean life existing in them is all but nonexistent. Such creatures are invariably resistant to extreme fire. Many fire sub-typed creatures tend to be somewhat vulnerable to extreme cold.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: Endurance, Immunity (Fire)
Cost: 4
HENCHMEN SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Henchmen are in many ways like regular character but they do not have, nor can they spend hero or villain points. Henchmen take damage just like regular characters and represent those more important minions, sidekicks, and the like.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
HERO SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Heroes represent those heroic regular characters, the true, and honest to goodness Super Heroes. Heroes are able to use Hero Points to help influence events and take damage in all ways as normal characters.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
IMMORTAL SUBTYPE
Immortals are commonly those undying individuals who have existed for ages such as higher beings, gods and certain other rare types of beings. Immortals are invariably incapable of dying through age or disease and almost any other kind of mundane threat except physical violence and other such non-naturally occurring extremes.
Bonus Power: Regeneration [Extras: Back from the Brink; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Aging, Critical Hits, Disease, Exhaustion, Poison, Pressure, Starvation, Suffocation)
Cost: 16+cost of power
MOOK SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Mooks represent the rank and file minions and as such do not take damage like regular characters. Nor may they use hero or villain points. Mooks who take damage from a lethal strike are considered dead, whereas those who take damage from a stun hit are considered knocked out.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
MUTANT SUBTYPE
A Mutant is anyone who has been changed or altered in some way, be it through science, gamma rays, magical rite, or any other method. A mutant is purely someone who has been changed from what they were originally.
Bonus Power: Any one or more but any powers gained through this subtype all have the Mutation as their source.
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: varies
MYSTICAL SUBTYPE
A mystical creature is either one composed of magic, summoned by magic, or gifted with magic. Any creature that opens themselves to magical influences are forever changed by them and marked thereafter as creatures of magic themselves.
Bonus Power: Sorcery [Source: Mystical; Cost: 7/rank] power at a power rank equal to one quarter their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Mystical as their source.
Bonus Feat: Mystic Awareness
Cost: 2+cost of power
PSYCHIC SUBTYPE
A psychic creature is one whose mind is developed and opened to such an extent that they are capable of incredible mental feats and tasks powered only by their will and a thought. Psychic beings not only have potent mental abilities at their disposal but have also typically developed very strong mental barriers to protect them for the mental powers of others.
Bonus Power: Telepathy [Source: Psionic; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to one their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Psionic as their source.
Bonus Feat: Psychic Awareness, Indomitable Will
Cost: 4+cost of power
REPTILIAN SUBTYPE
These creatures are scaly and usually cold-blooded and used to describe creatures that are true reptilians. They also typically have acute olfactory receptors, which make them very aware and difficult to surprise.
Bonus Power: Natural Weapon [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher.
Amazing Save Damage [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Scent, See Invisibility
Cost: 4+cost of powers
SHAPESHIFTER SUBTYPE
Shapeshifters are those creatures that have the ability to assume one or more forms.
Bonus Power: Shapeshift [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Transformation)
Cost: 2+cost of power
SPACEBORN SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature whose natural environment is the airless void of space.
Bonus Power: Always have the Space Flight [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher. If the spaceborn creature wishes to be able to fly within an atmosphere it may choose to take Flight as a power stunt of this power.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Cold, Pressure, Suffocation, Radiation)
Cost: 8+cost of power
SPIRIT SUBTYPE
Spirits are those insubstantial beings that do not exist quite fully in the real word, either because they are dead, etheric or otherwise exist in a state of trans-dimensional flux. Spirits are only able to interact with our world in a limited fashion or under certain circumstances.
Bonus Power: Incorporeal [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: See Invisibility, True Sight
Cost: 4+cost of power
SUBTERRANEAN SUBTYPE
A subterranean creature is one that dwells and moves underground albeit through naturally occurring caves and tunnels or by moving through the earth and rock themselves. Subterranean creatures tend to avoid bright light as it hurts their eyes, but can see perfectly in pitch darkness naturally.
Bonus Power: Tunnelling [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher.
Bonus Feat: Dark Vision
Cost: 2+cost of power
SWARM SUBTYPE
A swarm is a group of many fine, diminutive or tiny sized creatures that act together as one cohesive unit and for all intent and purposes count as a single organism.
Bonus Power: Natural Weapon [Extras: Area; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: All Around Vision, Immunity (critical Hits)
Cost: 4+cost of power
TECHNOLOGICAL SUBTYPE
A technological is one whose abilities stem from some advanced gear, science, technology, or knowledge of some kind.
Bonus Power: Super Intelligence [Source: Training; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Super Science as their source.
Bonus Feat: Talented (choose one science and one craft)
Cost: 2+cost of power
VILLAIN SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Villains represent those vile and reprehensible characters that choose to break the law, harm innocents or use whatever resources at their disposal to impress their wills upon those around them. Villains are able to use Villain Points to help influence events and take damage in all ways as normal characters.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
STEP FIVE: ALTER THE CREATURES SIZE (OPTIONAL)
All creatures have a base size that is indicated by the creature’s type and covered points wise in the cost of the type. However you as the creator may wish your creator to be larger or smaller than the base type indicates and see here we will provide the tables and costs necessary for making your creation larger or smaller than normal.
Note if you wish your creature to have the ability to grow or shrink as abilities and not have their size altered permanently then ignore this step and move on to the next.
Growing It.
Rank Size Att/Def Mod. Dimensions Weight Cost
0 Medium +0 4-8 ft. 60-500 lb 0
4 Large -1 8-16 ft. 500-4,000 lb 24
8 Huge -2 16-32 ft. 4,000 – 32,000 lb 48
12 Gargantuan -4 32-64 ft. 32,000 – 250,000 lb 72
16 Colossal -8 64-128 ft. 250,000 – 2,000,000 lb 96
20 Awesome -16 128 ft + 2,000,000 lb + 120
When increasing a creature’s size, remember also that as with the Growth power you are permanently granting them Immovability, Protection and Super Strength at a rank equal to their Growth.
Shrinking It.
Rank Size Att/Def Mod. Dimensions Weight Lifting Cost
3 Small +1 2 ft. – 4 ft. 8 – 60 lb X3/4 6
6 Tiny +2 1 ft. – 2 ft. 1 – 8 lb X1/2 12
9 Diminutive +4 6-12” 1/8 – 1 lb X1/4 18
12 Fine +8 1-6” 1/16 – 1/8 lb X1/8 24
15 Miniscule +16 1” or less 1 oz or less X1/16 30
18 Infinitesimal - - - - 36
Infinitesimal creatures are so small they can no longer interact with larger creatures, being no bigger than a dust mote effectively.
For our dragon we want him to be huge and imposing, so we choose to increase its base size to Huge. This will cost 48 points, and incur a –2 penalty to all attack and defence scores. However on the up side it will provide 8 ranks of Immovability, Protection, and Super Strength to our creature because of its new size. This has an immediate impact on our dragon, which is beginning to look more terrifying with every second.
One thing to note here is that the size we have chosen also in a fashion increases our required power level as 8 ranks of a power requires us to be at least power level 8, so we now know our dragon must be at least power level 8 when we are done as we ALWAYS increase the power level of our creation to the highest rank it possesses. This will not determine its final power level, mind
STEP SIX: FLESH IT OUT
Now we have the basics of our creature determined, we need now to add in any additional feats, or powers we want to add to our creature to finish it off as well.
At this stage we can also begin to further gauge at what power level we want to produce our creature, size from the previous design step may also have given us a starting point for power level, this in turn will allow us to advance its base attack bonus, base defence bonus and points spent on skills to the necessary minimums as determined by our creatures type.
Included below are some benchmark tables for base attack bonus and powers, these will give some idea of the power level our creature will be too.
Note DO NOT increase any abilities that may be altered by changes from type or subtype UNTIL a highest power rank for your final creature has been determined. The reason for this is because, until the highest rank is determined the working power level of your creature can change and any points spent raising abilities your type will increase is ALREADY factored into the costs of your type costs per power level.
Lets take a look, at this stage we know our dragon only has a +4 base attack because it is Power Level 8 so far because of its size and its type requires its base attack increases by 1 per two power levels hence the +4. Looking at the base attack bonus benchmarks we see this would mean our dragon is only regular training quality. This is not quite what we want but we wait until we have assigned any additional abilities as they may raise the power level of the beast and hence our attack bonus to a more fitting level for such a magnificent and terrifying beast.
So far our dragon now looks like this.
Dragon
Huge sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [73pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 8 (so far)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +8 (+4 Str, -2 Size) = +10 melee; base +10 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = +8 ranged
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +8 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = 16
Saves: Dmg: +13, Fort: +5, Ref: +0, Will: +4
Skills:
64 points to spend
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above]
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +4 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at least half PL. [4pp so far]
Natural Weapon – Claws +4 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] has to be at least half their PL [8pp so far]
Amazing Save Damage +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at PL [8pp so far].
Growth +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: 6/rank] [48pp]
-Super Strength +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Immovability +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Protection +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
Considering what else we want to add to complete our dragon we decide to make the following changes and additions.
We want our dragon as a beast of legend and myth to be somewhat sensitive to magic so we give it the Mystic Awareness feat this costs us 2pp. We also need to add its ability to breathe Fire, we want this to be a very potent ability, befitting of such a legendary creature, as such we decide to raise the bar a little again and give our dragon Energy Blast – Fire at rank 14, again as this rank is higher than our current power level adding this power raises our power level to match, which in turn increases base attack, base defence, and skills again and the respective costs for the type at each of the two new power levels. We also check with our subtypes once more and ensure any powers granted meet the necessary minimum ranks and re-calculate their point costs.
Next we also decide to improve our amazing save power, not by increasing its power rank as that would increase our power level. Instead we choose to add a couple of Extras in order that we get the amazing save power to all saving throw types. Again we recalculate the cost for the power at its rank.
Happy with how our dragon now looks so far we look at out sheet. We see that its highest rank is 14, which acts as its effective power level for now, so we increase the base attack, base defence and skills as well as subtype granted powers to appropriate minimums and add up the new points costs.
At Power level 14 our flight – Wings power is +7, which gives us 35 feet base movement with flight, we decide to raise that power a further rank to +8, this new power rank is below our power level so cause no more changes on that front. We recalculate the point cost for an extra rank of flight and mark it on our sheet.
Included below are the Base Attack Bonus and Powers benchmark charts as created by Chris Finney in order to help you gauge at what level these characteristics should be with your given creation.
As mentioned above our dragons highest rank is its Fiery Breath, which is at Legendary finally earning our beast an appropriate title for its power.
STEP SEVEN: CHOOSE A WEAKNESS
If appropriate to your creature give it one or more weaknesses as suits your concept. You need not give a creature a weakness if you do not believe it needs one however, though as with weaknesses for normal character generation each weakness applied gives some points back.
For our Dragon we do not feel it needs a weakness so we ignore this step and move on to the final one.
STEP EIGHT: ADD IT ALL UP
Now you have all the information you need for your creature, simply make the calculations and add up all the costs in order to determine the final (not the working) power level of the creature you have created.
Note a final power level (the power level determined by the total cost of all abilities, types, subtypes, and additional alterations) does not increase our base attack etc. as per type, because such changes are ONLY made up to the highest rank of any ability the creature possesses (in our example the dragons highest ability was +14 so the changes for type were made only up to that power level). The power level noted up until this point, is only the effective (working) power level not the final total calculation power level.
For our dragon we add up all the associated cost as follows
Total Cost = Type (84) + Subtypes (10) + Ability Scores (43) + Skills (14) + Extra Feats (2) + Powers (156) = 309
The total cost gives us our final power level of 20.
Dragon
Huge sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [84pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 20 (final)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +11 (+4 Str, -2 Size) = +14 melee (+19L claws); base +11 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = +9 ranged (+14L Fire breath)
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +14 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = 22
Speed: 30 ft. (fly 40 ft.)
Saves: Dmg: +19, Fort: +19, Ref: +14, Will: +18
Skills:
Listen +20, Spot +20, Search +20, Knowledge – Occult +20, Knowledge – Geography +16, Survival +16,
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above], Mystic Awareness
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +8 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] [8pp]
Natural Weapon – Claws +7 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [14pp]
Amazing Save Damage +14 [Extras: added save Fort, Reflex, Will; Source: Alien; Cost: 4/rank] [56pp].
Energy Blast - Fire +14 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [28pp].
Growth +8 [Flaws: Permanent; Source: Alien; Cost: 6/rank] [48pp].
-Super Strength +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Immovability +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Protection +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
And that is all there is too it! Simple!
NEO.
Written by Mark “neo” Howe.
Statistic, Base Attack Bonus and Powers Benchmarks i'd suggest people use the Benchmarks Guide v.2, Copyright 2003, by Author Chris Finney
WHERE TO START:
So here you are sat down, blank piece of paper laid out before you, pencil in hand and wondering just how the heck do I make this creature I’ve had in my head for weeks, ready for next weeks game! Well hopefully I can help you out there a little and make the task a little less troublesome and a bit more organised.
There are as with normal character creation (which is also possible via this rule set by the way). These steps in order are as follows:
Step 1. Concept and Origin
Step 2. Allocate Points to Ability Scores
Step 3. Choose Basic Type
Step 4. Apply Subtypes
Step 5. Alter Creatures Size (Optional)
Step 6. Flesh It Out
Step 7. Choose Weakness (Optional)
Step 8. Add It All Up
All you need do is follow through each of the steps below in order to create your creature, robot, superhero, super villain, ninja, superspy or whatever else your imagination conjures up.
STEP ONE: CHOOSE A CONCEPT AND ORIGIN
First consider what you wish to create, what are the creature’s basic abilities? What role does it fill in your game? Is it a hero, villain, ally, or just some nameless minion? What does the creature do? How does it move? What does it attack with if anything? Where does it come from? And so forth. You can draw upon many sources of inspiration when creating a creature from literature, computer games, movies, anime, comics and more. Once you have a few notes written down, let them guide you through the rest of the design process. Remember this is your creation so however the end creature’s turns out so long as you are true to your concept you cant really goes wrong.
To help you through the design process we’ll include an example of a creature creation as we move through each step. Our concept is to create a Huge, reptilian, fire breathing Dragon of mythology. With this in mind we know we want it to be huge, have claws and teeth, breath fire, be scaled reptile and have wings to fly with.
STEP TWO: ALLOCATE POINTS TO ABILITY SCORES:
Now you have your concept in mind you should assign it some points to its ability scores. All characters have six attributes, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These six attributes affect many other facets of a character such as initiative, attack bonus, skill checks, and so forth.
Remember all creatures begin with a base of 10 in all attributes except Constructs, Undead, and Vermin. More information on how these deviate from this norm can be found under Step Three: Choose Base Type, later on. For now however we need to assign our creature some ability scores.
With our concept in mind it should be fairly easy to assign our creation some statistics, to make things easier we use Chris Finney’s Benchmarks as a guidelines for assigning appropriate ability scores. So with our Dragon in mind lets assign him some attributes.
Looking at the below benchmark tables we decide his strength should be around 18 giving our beast huge knotted muscles. Next we decide to give him 10 Dexterity, although our dragon is healthy its bulk impedes its reactions somewhat. Coming to Constitution we decide on human peak levels, as our dragon is very healthy so we give him a +6 modifier constitution, meaning he has a 20 Attribute plus one rank of Super constitution.
Next Intelligence, deciding our Dragon is gifted and very smart thanks to its age and genetic memories we give it 18 intelligence. For Wisdom we decide on gifted again, our dragon is cunning and it’s acute sense rarely miss anything, so we give it a higher end 19 in this attribute. Finally Charisma, once again we decide on gifted, our dragon is unsettling and has a strong personality we give him 18.
Adding it all up we have spent a total of 43 points on attributes. We also have one rank of Super constitution we mark this down but don’t need to worry about its cost just yet.
STEP THREE: CHOOSE BASIC TYPE
All creatures and beings typically fall into one of ten basic types, which can later be modified even further by the application of subtypes.
Each type is determined by a few specific traits, these are Cost (shows cost at power level one, then additional cost for each power level thereafter to 20th), Attack Bonus, Defence Bonus, Bonus feats, Skill Points and Base Size. Each of these traits tells you how a creature of that type starts out and how it develops as its Power Level increases.
The amounts indicated by a type are the minims required for the creature’s type, but they can be exceeded if the creator desires to the usual restrictions imposed by a creature’s final power level of course.
For example: In building our dragon we check to find the most applicable type, in our case for a dragon the most applicable is Mythical Beast. From looking at the Mythological Beast table we see Its Attack Bonus is base 1 at Power Level 1 and should increase by 1 for every power level the creature is beyond that. Well we don’t know its power level yet but we mark this down on our paper all the same. The same is true of its Defence score, base 1 at PL1 plus 1 for every power level past that. We also see that all Mythical beasts have the Dark Vision and attack Focus (unarmed feats) and are Medium sized. Next we see that Mythical beasts must spend 2 points on skills for every power level (bare in mind that we are using a 4:1 ratio) and looking to see if there are any special rules for our creature type we see that it must have an intelligence of greater than 2, it does so we don’t need to increase the attribute to this minimum level. Finally we see that the mythical beast type has a cost of 11 PP’s for power level one, which covers the cost of the base attack and defence, the required feats, the skill points and the types base size if not medium. We see that the cost will also cost 7 PP’s for each power level our dragon is beyond 1st; we mark these costs down on our paper.
ABERRATION TYPE
An aberration has a bizarre anatomy, strange abilities, an alien mindset, or any combination of the three.
Cost: 13/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Iron Will, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
ANIMAL TYPE
An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually vertebrae with no unusual powers and no innate capacity for language or advanced culture.
Cost: 15/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7/2/7
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
*No animal may have an intelligence greater than 3 and be of this type.
CONSTRUCT TYPE
A construct is an animated object or artificially constructed creature.
Cost: 29/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Levels
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Critical Hits, Disease, Exhaustion, Fortitude effects, Poison, Pressure, Psychic Source, Starvation, Suffocation)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
*Cannot heal naturally must be repaired or possess an appropriate power. Have no Con score instead they have a Hardness statistic. Their Damage save is equal to the Hardness.Mindless and have no intelligence score, however intelligence may be purchased for a construct from a base of 0. Constructs likewise have very little in the way of appearance or personality unless it is provided for them so their base charisma is 1, but it can be raised as with other statistic.
FEY TYPE
A fey is a creature with unusual powers and connections to nature or to some other force or place. Fey are usually human shaped.
Cost: 9/6/7/6/4/9/4/6/7/6/4/9/4/6/7/6/4/9/4/6
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (pick one)
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Most fey have the vulnerability (Cold Iron) weakness but this is optional
FREAKISH HUMANOID TYPE
Freakish Humanoids are similar to normal humanoids but with monstrous or animalistic features. They often have unusual abilities also.
Cost: 13+7 per Power level beyond 1st
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Attack Focus (pick one)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
HUMANOID TYPE
A humanoid usually has two arms, two legs, and one head, or a human-like torso, arms and a head. Humanoids can speak and usually have well-developed societies. They are typically of medium size.
Cost: 9/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2/7/2/2
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Great Fortitude, OR Iron Will, OR Lightning Reflexes
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
MYTHICAL BEAST TYPE
Mythical beasts are similar to animals but can have intelligence scores higher than 2. Mythical beasts usually have unusual abilities or super powers, but sometimes are bizarre in appearance and habits.
Cost: 11/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7/4/7
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Levels
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Must have an intelligence higher than 2.
PLANT TYPE
This type comprises vegetable creatures. Note that regular plants, such as those one finds growing in fields and gardens lack Wisdom and Charisma scores and are not creatures but objects even though they are alive.
Cost: 27/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Immunity (Transformation, Critical Hit, Exhaustion), Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Small (3 ranks of permanent Shrinking)
UNDEAD TYPE
The undead are once living beings that are animated by sorcerous or supernatural forces.
Cost: 29+7 per Power level beyond 1st
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 1 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Immunity (Poison, Disease, Aging, Suffocation, Starvation, Critical Hits, Fortitude Saves, Paralysis, Exhaustion), Toughness
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Medium
* Have no Con score, nor can they heal naturally requiring some special power or ability. Mindless and have no intelligence score, however intelligence may be purchased for a construct from a base of 0.
VERMIN TYPE
This type includes insects, arachnids, other arthropods, worms, and similar invertebrates.
Cost: 45/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5/4/5/2/7/2/5
Attack Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 2 Power Level
Defence Bonus: Base 1 at PL 1 +1 per 3 Power Level
Bonus Feats: Dark Vision, Great Fortitude, Immunity (Psychic), Attack Focus (Unarmed)
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier per Power Level (*each point is 4 ranks of skills)
Base Size: Miniscule (Permanent Shrinking rank 15)
* Mindless have no intelligence score.
STEP FOUR: APPLY SUBTYPES
Once you have chosen the type next choose and apply any applicable subtypes to your creation as applicable to its nature.
Any number of subtypes may be applied to a creature and the costs and criteria of all must be met with regards to the powers that need be applied from a subtype.
Four subtypes in particular however are special those are Mook, Henchmen, Hero and Villain. All creatures fall into one of these four categories and hence all creatures will have one of these four subtypes in addition to any others, which may apply. These four subtypes determine how damage affects the creature and whether or not they may use hero/villain points in play.
For our Dragon we apply the following subtypes, Aerial, as we know we want our dragon to have wings and fly. Fire as we know our Dragon will breathe fire and we want him to be immune to it also. Reptilian as we know our dragon is a reptile and finally Henchman, as we want our dragon to be more potent than a minion but not be considered a full villain type opponent.
On our sheet our dragon should look a little something like this at the moment.
Dragon
Medium sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [11pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 1 (so far)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +1 (+4 Str) = +5 melee; base +1 (+0 Dex) = +1 ranged
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +1 (+0 Dex, +0 Size) = 11
Saves: Dmg: +6, Fort: +5, Ref: +0, Will: +4
Skills:
8 points to spend
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above]
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +1 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at least half PL. [1pp so far]
Natural Weapon – Claws +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] has to be at least half their PL [2pp so far]
Amazing Save Damage +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at PL [1pp so far].
As you can see our dragon isn’t quite complete, but is beginning to take shape.
AERIAL SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of the sky that possesses the ability of flight by some means.
Bonus Power: Always have the Flight [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher. The restricted Wings flaw is commonly taken but not always.
Bonus Feat: Aerial Combat
Cost: 2+ cost of power
ANGELIC SUBTYPE
Angels are a race of higher beings, the servants of a higher power and a more righteous cause.
Bonus Power: All Angelic beings have Comprehend [Flaws: Limited – Speech only; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] at a power level equal to their power level.
Healing [Extras: Resurrection; Flaws: Others only; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] at a power rank equal to half their power level or higher.
Bonus Feats: Attractive, Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Cold, Disease, Poison)
Cost: 12+ cost of powers
AQUATIC SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of the sea that is by nature a water breather and not an air breather. As such aquatic creatures can only breath in water not in air unless the amphibious feat is taken.
Bonus Power: Always have the Swimming [Source: Training; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher.
Bonus Feat: Underwater Combat
Cost: 2+cost of power
COLD SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of that is native to arctic or sub zero climates. Such creatures are invariably resistant to extreme cold. Many cold subtype creatures tend to be somewhat vulnerable to extreme heat.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: Endurance, Immunity (Cold)
Cost: 4
DEMONIC SUBTYPE
Demons represent those otherworldly beings that have sworn themselves completely to dark beings and otherworldly powers. As agents of these dark powers they are dedicated to corrupting the pure and thwarting good wherever they can.
Bonus Power: Always have the Energy Control - Fire [Extras: Energy Field; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Telepathy [Flaws: Communication only; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Dark Vision, Immunity (Aging, Disease, Fire and Poison)
Cost: 10+cost of powers
EXTRADIMENSIONAL SUBTYPE
Extra-dimensional beings are those who are native to another dimension altogether as such their life force exists between two places effectively linking them to the place of their origin.
Bonus Power: Protection [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Exhaustion, Starvation)
Cost: 4+cost of power
EXTRATERRESTRIAL SUBTYPE
Extra-terrestrial beings are those who are native to another world or even galaxy. They are alien in many ways, sometimes just physically but more often in their beliefs, cultures and outlooks. Extraterrestrials do not always have more advanced technologies than that of Earth but do quite often seem to.
Bonus Power: None or one or more but any powers gained through this subtype all have the Alien as their source.
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: varies
FIRE SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature of that is native to volcanic, and other such places of incredibly intense heat, places whose high temperature would normally mean life existing in them is all but nonexistent. Such creatures are invariably resistant to extreme fire. Many fire sub-typed creatures tend to be somewhat vulnerable to extreme cold.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: Endurance, Immunity (Fire)
Cost: 4
HENCHMEN SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Henchmen are in many ways like regular character but they do not have, nor can they spend hero or villain points. Henchmen take damage just like regular characters and represent those more important minions, sidekicks, and the like.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
HERO SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Heroes represent those heroic regular characters, the true, and honest to goodness Super Heroes. Heroes are able to use Hero Points to help influence events and take damage in all ways as normal characters.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
IMMORTAL SUBTYPE
Immortals are commonly those undying individuals who have existed for ages such as higher beings, gods and certain other rare types of beings. Immortals are invariably incapable of dying through age or disease and almost any other kind of mundane threat except physical violence and other such non-naturally occurring extremes.
Bonus Power: Regeneration [Extras: Back from the Brink; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Aging, Critical Hits, Disease, Exhaustion, Poison, Pressure, Starvation, Suffocation)
Cost: 16+cost of power
MOOK SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Mooks represent the rank and file minions and as such do not take damage like regular characters. Nor may they use hero or villain points. Mooks who take damage from a lethal strike are considered dead, whereas those who take damage from a stun hit are considered knocked out.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
MUTANT SUBTYPE
A Mutant is anyone who has been changed or altered in some way, be it through science, gamma rays, magical rite, or any other method. A mutant is purely someone who has been changed from what they were originally.
Bonus Power: Any one or more but any powers gained through this subtype all have the Mutation as their source.
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: varies
MYSTICAL SUBTYPE
A mystical creature is either one composed of magic, summoned by magic, or gifted with magic. Any creature that opens themselves to magical influences are forever changed by them and marked thereafter as creatures of magic themselves.
Bonus Power: Sorcery [Source: Mystical; Cost: 7/rank] power at a power rank equal to one quarter their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Mystical as their source.
Bonus Feat: Mystic Awareness
Cost: 2+cost of power
PSYCHIC SUBTYPE
A psychic creature is one whose mind is developed and opened to such an extent that they are capable of incredible mental feats and tasks powered only by their will and a thought. Psychic beings not only have potent mental abilities at their disposal but have also typically developed very strong mental barriers to protect them for the mental powers of others.
Bonus Power: Telepathy [Source: Psionic; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to one their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Psionic as their source.
Bonus Feat: Psychic Awareness, Indomitable Will
Cost: 4+cost of power
REPTILIAN SUBTYPE
These creatures are scaly and usually cold-blooded and used to describe creatures that are true reptilians. They also typically have acute olfactory receptors, which make them very aware and difficult to surprise.
Bonus Power: Natural Weapon [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher.
Amazing Save Damage [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Scent, See Invisibility
Cost: 4+cost of powers
SHAPESHIFTER SUBTYPE
Shapeshifters are those creatures that have the ability to assume one or more forms.
Bonus Power: Shapeshift [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Transformation)
Cost: 2+cost of power
SPACEBORN SUBTYPE
This subtype is usually applied to any creature whose natural environment is the airless void of space.
Bonus Power: Always have the Space Flight [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to at least half their Power Level or higher. If the spaceborn creature wishes to be able to fly within an atmosphere it may choose to take Flight as a power stunt of this power.
Bonus Feat: Immunity (Cold, Pressure, Suffocation, Radiation)
Cost: 8+cost of power
SPIRIT SUBTYPE
Spirits are those insubstantial beings that do not exist quite fully in the real word, either because they are dead, etheric or otherwise exist in a state of trans-dimensional flux. Spirits are only able to interact with our world in a limited fashion or under certain circumstances.
Bonus Power: Incorporeal [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: See Invisibility, True Sight
Cost: 4+cost of power
SUBTERRANEAN SUBTYPE
A subterranean creature is one that dwells and moves underground albeit through naturally occurring caves and tunnels or by moving through the earth and rock themselves. Subterranean creatures tend to avoid bright light as it hurts their eyes, but can see perfectly in pitch darkness naturally.
Bonus Power: Tunnelling [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher.
Bonus Feat: Dark Vision
Cost: 2+cost of power
SWARM SUBTYPE
A swarm is a group of many fine, diminutive or tiny sized creatures that act together as one cohesive unit and for all intent and purposes count as a single organism.
Bonus Power: Natural Weapon [Extras: Area; Source: Alien; Cost: 3/rank] power at a power rank equal to their Power Level.
Bonus Feat: All Around Vision, Immunity (critical Hits)
Cost: 4+cost of power
TECHNOLOGICAL SUBTYPE
A technological is one whose abilities stem from some advanced gear, science, technology, or knowledge of some kind.
Bonus Power: Super Intelligence [Source: Training; Cost: 2/rank] power at a power rank equal to half their Power Level or higher. Most powers gained through this subtype all have Super Science as their source.
Bonus Feat: Talented (choose one science and one craft)
Cost: 2+cost of power
VILLAIN SUBTYPE (SPECIAL)
Villains represent those vile and reprehensible characters that choose to break the law, harm innocents or use whatever resources at their disposal to impress their wills upon those around them. Villains are able to use Villain Points to help influence events and take damage in all ways as normal characters.
Bonus Power: none
Bonus Feat: none
Cost: none
STEP FIVE: ALTER THE CREATURES SIZE (OPTIONAL)
All creatures have a base size that is indicated by the creature’s type and covered points wise in the cost of the type. However you as the creator may wish your creator to be larger or smaller than the base type indicates and see here we will provide the tables and costs necessary for making your creation larger or smaller than normal.
Note if you wish your creature to have the ability to grow or shrink as abilities and not have their size altered permanently then ignore this step and move on to the next.
Growing It.
Rank Size Att/Def Mod. Dimensions Weight Cost
0 Medium +0 4-8 ft. 60-500 lb 0
4 Large -1 8-16 ft. 500-4,000 lb 24
8 Huge -2 16-32 ft. 4,000 – 32,000 lb 48
12 Gargantuan -4 32-64 ft. 32,000 – 250,000 lb 72
16 Colossal -8 64-128 ft. 250,000 – 2,000,000 lb 96
20 Awesome -16 128 ft + 2,000,000 lb + 120
When increasing a creature’s size, remember also that as with the Growth power you are permanently granting them Immovability, Protection and Super Strength at a rank equal to their Growth.
Shrinking It.
Rank Size Att/Def Mod. Dimensions Weight Lifting Cost
3 Small +1 2 ft. – 4 ft. 8 – 60 lb X3/4 6
6 Tiny +2 1 ft. – 2 ft. 1 – 8 lb X1/2 12
9 Diminutive +4 6-12” 1/8 – 1 lb X1/4 18
12 Fine +8 1-6” 1/16 – 1/8 lb X1/8 24
15 Miniscule +16 1” or less 1 oz or less X1/16 30
18 Infinitesimal - - - - 36
Infinitesimal creatures are so small they can no longer interact with larger creatures, being no bigger than a dust mote effectively.
For our dragon we want him to be huge and imposing, so we choose to increase its base size to Huge. This will cost 48 points, and incur a –2 penalty to all attack and defence scores. However on the up side it will provide 8 ranks of Immovability, Protection, and Super Strength to our creature because of its new size. This has an immediate impact on our dragon, which is beginning to look more terrifying with every second.
One thing to note here is that the size we have chosen also in a fashion increases our required power level as 8 ranks of a power requires us to be at least power level 8, so we now know our dragon must be at least power level 8 when we are done as we ALWAYS increase the power level of our creation to the highest rank it possesses. This will not determine its final power level, mind
STEP SIX: FLESH IT OUT
Now we have the basics of our creature determined, we need now to add in any additional feats, or powers we want to add to our creature to finish it off as well.
At this stage we can also begin to further gauge at what power level we want to produce our creature, size from the previous design step may also have given us a starting point for power level, this in turn will allow us to advance its base attack bonus, base defence bonus and points spent on skills to the necessary minimums as determined by our creatures type.
Included below are some benchmark tables for base attack bonus and powers, these will give some idea of the power level our creature will be too.
Note DO NOT increase any abilities that may be altered by changes from type or subtype UNTIL a highest power rank for your final creature has been determined. The reason for this is because, until the highest rank is determined the working power level of your creature can change and any points spent raising abilities your type will increase is ALREADY factored into the costs of your type costs per power level.
Lets take a look, at this stage we know our dragon only has a +4 base attack because it is Power Level 8 so far because of its size and its type requires its base attack increases by 1 per two power levels hence the +4. Looking at the base attack bonus benchmarks we see this would mean our dragon is only regular training quality. This is not quite what we want but we wait until we have assigned any additional abilities as they may raise the power level of the beast and hence our attack bonus to a more fitting level for such a magnificent and terrifying beast.
So far our dragon now looks like this.
Dragon
Huge sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [73pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 8 (so far)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +8 (+4 Str, -2 Size) = +10 melee; base +10 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = +8 ranged
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +8 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = 16
Saves: Dmg: +13, Fort: +5, Ref: +0, Will: +4
Skills:
64 points to spend
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above]
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +4 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at least half PL. [4pp so far]
Natural Weapon – Claws +4 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] has to be at least half their PL [8pp so far]
Amazing Save Damage +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] has to be at PL [8pp so far].
Growth +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: 6/rank] [48pp]
-Super Strength +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Immovability +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Protection +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
Considering what else we want to add to complete our dragon we decide to make the following changes and additions.
We want our dragon as a beast of legend and myth to be somewhat sensitive to magic so we give it the Mystic Awareness feat this costs us 2pp. We also need to add its ability to breathe Fire, we want this to be a very potent ability, befitting of such a legendary creature, as such we decide to raise the bar a little again and give our dragon Energy Blast – Fire at rank 14, again as this rank is higher than our current power level adding this power raises our power level to match, which in turn increases base attack, base defence, and skills again and the respective costs for the type at each of the two new power levels. We also check with our subtypes once more and ensure any powers granted meet the necessary minimum ranks and re-calculate their point costs.
Next we also decide to improve our amazing save power, not by increasing its power rank as that would increase our power level. Instead we choose to add a couple of Extras in order that we get the amazing save power to all saving throw types. Again we recalculate the cost for the power at its rank.
Happy with how our dragon now looks so far we look at out sheet. We see that its highest rank is 14, which acts as its effective power level for now, so we increase the base attack, base defence and skills as well as subtype granted powers to appropriate minimums and add up the new points costs.
At Power level 14 our flight – Wings power is +7, which gives us 35 feet base movement with flight, we decide to raise that power a further rank to +8, this new power rank is below our power level so cause no more changes on that front. We recalculate the point cost for an extra rank of flight and mark it on our sheet.
Included below are the Base Attack Bonus and Powers benchmark charts as created by Chris Finney in order to help you gauge at what level these characteristics should be with your given creation.
As mentioned above our dragons highest rank is its Fiery Breath, which is at Legendary finally earning our beast an appropriate title for its power.
STEP SEVEN: CHOOSE A WEAKNESS
If appropriate to your creature give it one or more weaknesses as suits your concept. You need not give a creature a weakness if you do not believe it needs one however, though as with weaknesses for normal character generation each weakness applied gives some points back.
For our Dragon we do not feel it needs a weakness so we ignore this step and move on to the final one.
STEP EIGHT: ADD IT ALL UP
Now you have all the information you need for your creature, simply make the calculations and add up all the costs in order to determine the final (not the working) power level of the creature you have created.
Note a final power level (the power level determined by the total cost of all abilities, types, subtypes, and additional alterations) does not increase our base attack etc. as per type, because such changes are ONLY made up to the highest rank of any ability the creature possesses (in our example the dragons highest ability was +14 so the changes for type were made only up to that power level). The power level noted up until this point, is only the effective (working) power level not the final total calculation power level.
For our dragon we add up all the associated cost as follows
Total Cost = Type (84) + Subtypes (10) + Ability Scores (43) + Skills (14) + Extra Feats (2) + Powers (156) = 309
The total cost gives us our final power level of 20.
Dragon
Huge sized
Mythical Beast (Aerial, Reptilian, Fire) [Henchmen] [84pp] [10pp]
Power Level: 20 (final)
Str: 18 (+4), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 20 (+5), Int: 18 (+4), Wis: 19 (+4), Cha: 18 (+4) [43pp]
Attack Bonus: base +11 (+4 Str, -2 Size) = +14 melee (+19L claws); base +11 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = +9 ranged (+14L Fire breath)
Defence Bonus: 10 + base +14 (+0 Dex, -2 Size) = 22
Speed: 30 ft. (fly 40 ft.)
Saves: Dmg: +19, Fort: +19, Ref: +14, Will: +18
Skills:
Listen +20, Spot +20, Search +20, Knowledge – Occult +20, Knowledge – Geography +16, Survival +16,
Feats:
Dark Vision, Attack Focus (unarmed), Aerial Combat, Endurance, Immunity (Fire), Scent, See Invisibility [cost covered in subtypes above], Mystic Awareness
Powers:
Super Constitution +1 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [2pp]
Flight – Wings +8 [Flaws: Restricted – wings; Source: Alien; Cost: 1/rank] [8pp]
Natural Weapon – Claws +7 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [14pp]
Amazing Save Damage +14 [Extras: added save Fort, Reflex, Will; Source: Alien; Cost: 4/rank] [56pp].
Energy Blast - Fire +14 [Source: Alien; Cost: 2/rank] [28pp].
Growth +8 [Flaws: Permanent; Source: Alien; Cost: 6/rank] [48pp].
-Super Strength +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Immovability +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
-Protection +8 [Source: Alien; Cost: n/a]
And that is all there is too it! Simple!
NEO.
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