Monster creation

Leveling Up

Use these guidelines to raise an existing monster by one or more levels.

1. Raise its attack bonuses and defenses by 1 per added level.
2. For damage, hp, and related special abilities (like healing), multiply the monster’s stats accordingly:

Levels Added	Damage Multiplier
+1 level	x 1.25
+2 levels	x 1.6
+3 levels	x 2.0
+4 levels	x 2.5
+5 levels	x 3.2
+6 levels	x 4.0

Monster Creation

Initiative

Establish a monster’s initiative bonus by adding its level to a modifier between –1 and +9.

Modifier	Speed	Example
–1	Super-slow and utterly clumsy	oozes, zombies
+0	Slow and clumsy	animated statues
+1	Awkward or small	city guards, dire rats
+2	Average	hellhound, human thug
+3	Just above average	derro sage
+4	Quick	owlbear
+5	Fast	wyvern
+6	Really fast	gnoll ranger
+7	Fast like a fast PC	ogre mage
+8	Blindingly fast	rakshasa
+9	Competing with the rogue

Attack Bonus

Add or subtract 1 to adjust how accurate a monster is.

Strike Damage

Orient yourself around the average damage for a monster’s attack at any given level. When it comes to large (or double-strength) or huge (or triple-strength) monsters, you don’t have to put all their damage into one strike. Split damage up into smaller attacks or use conditional follow-up attacks.

HP & AC

Use the defense numbers as the top-end rather than the baseline unless you want the difficulty to scale up.

Better Defense/Lesser Defense

Make either PD or MD better than the other, in general.

Fear Threshold

If the monster has a fear ability, it’s the number of hit points where creatures are dazed (–4 attack) while engaged with the monster and can’t use the escalation die. It’s based on level, so that higher-level monsters are more fearsome.

Stat Adjustments

Ad hoc adjustments work fine when limited to adjustments of 1 or 2 points. If you raise a couple scores, drop a couple others.

If you want to add a full level to a monster

• and you only want to boost its attack: Give the monster a +6 attack boost.
• and you only want to boost AC: Give the monster a +6 AC boost.
• and you only want to increase the monster’s hit points: Double the monster’s hit points.
• and you only want to increase the damage the monster deals: Add a second attack or ongoing damage.
• and you only want to increase every stat: Add +1 to attack, +1 to all defenses, multiply its damage output by 1.25, and multiply its hit points by 1.25.

Powers to Avoid

Avoid defensive powers that make it harder for the monsters to be killed unless there’s an offense to unlock the defense.

Baseline Stats for Normal Monsters

Monster Level	Attack Bonus	Strike Damage	HP	AC	Better Defense	Lesser Defense	Fear threshold (HP)
0	5	4	20	16	14	10	7
1	6	5	27	17	15	11	9
2	7	7	36	18	16	12	12
3	8	10	45	19	17	13	15
4	9	14	54	20	18	14	18
5	10	18	72	21	19	15	24
6	11	21	90	22	20	16	30
7	12	28	108	23	21	17	36
8	13	38	144	24	22	18	48
9	14	50	180	25	23	19	60
10	15	58	216	26	24	20	72
11	16	70	288	27	25	21	96
12	17	90	360	28	26	22	120
13	18	110	432	29	27	23	144
14	19	135	576	30	28	24	192

Baseline Stats for Mooks

Monster Level	Attack Bonus	Strike Damage	Damage to kill one (HP)	AC	Better Defense	Lesser Defense
0	5	3	5	16	14	10
1	6	4	7	17	15	11
2	7	5	9	18	16	12
3	8	6	11	19	17	13
4	9	7	14	20	18	14
5	10	9	18	21	19	15
6	11	12	23	22	20	16
7	12	18	27	23	21	17
8	13	23	36	24	22	18
9	14	31	45	25	23	19
10	15	37	54	26	24	20
11	16	46	72	27	25	21
12	17	60	90	28	26	22
13	18	74	108	29	27	23
14	19	90	144	30	28	24

Baseline Stats for Large or Double-Strength Monsters

Monster Level	Attack Bonus	Strike Damage	HP	AC	Better Defense	Lesser Defense	Fear threshold (HP)
0	5	9	41	16	14	10	7
1	6	10	54	17	15	11	9
2	7	14	72	18	16	12	12
3	8	21	90	19	17	13	15
4	9	28	108	20	18	14	18
5	10	36	144	21	19	15	24
6	11	42	180	22	20	16	30
7	12	56	216	23	21	17	36
8	13	76	288	24	22	18	48
9	14	100	360	25	23	19	60
10	15	116	432	26	24	20	72
11	16	140	576	27	25	21	96
12	17	180	720	28	26	22	120
13	18	220	864	29	27	23	144
14	19	270	1152	30	28	24	192

Baseline Stats for Huge or Triple-Strength Monsters

Monster Level	Attack Bonus	Strike Damage	HP	AC	Better Defense	Lesser Defense	Fear threshold (HP)
0	5	12	60	16	14	10	7
1	6	15	81	17	15	11	9
2	7	21	108	18	16	12	12
3	8	30	135	19	17	13	15
4	9	42	162	20	18	14	18
5	10	54	216	21	19	15	24
6	11	63	270	22	20	16	30
7	12	84	324	23	21	17	36
8	13	114	432	24	22	18	48
9	14	150	540	25	23	19	60
10	15	174	648	26	24	20	72
11	16	210	864	27	25	21	96
12	17	270	1080	28	26	22	120
13	18	330	1296	29	27	23	144
14	19	405	1728	30	28	24	192