As with creating characters, this is a fairly quick process that provides a lot of customization while still remaining within a framework of rules. The first step is to decide what it is, painting in broad generalities. Is it a small, quick fairy with magical attacks? Or is it a hulking Behemoth with incredible physical strength? Once you’ve got the basic idea down, go through each of the following sections in turn, making notes about your monster as you go.
Attitude
How will your monster react to the players when the inevitable encounter takes place? Knowing a creature’s attitude offers a useful yardstick for deciding how the combat might develop from there. Although most opponents the heroes will face are probably going to be Hostile, it’s still good to know your options; pick one of the five categories below.
Loyal monsters offer direct support, aiding characters in battle and almost always follow their directions with little questions. They will often help without compensation and become shocked and emotionally hurt if attacked by the party.
Friendly monsters offer advice, directions, items, or healing, depending on the circumstances. Some may expect compensation for their troubles, while others help the party for free. They generally will try to escape instead of fighting back, unsure why the party hurt them.
Neutral monsters are passive, and will retaliate only if threatened. While they won’t go out of their way to help the players, they won’t attempt to hinder them either. If not attacked or otherwise intimidated and intelligent enough, they may be willing to barter or offer their assistance in exchange for payment or some other small favor.
Wary monsters won’t pounce on the players outright, but it won’t take much to provoke their ill-will. If they feel even a little bit threatened by the party, they will almost certainly be the first to attack. Wary monsters are more likely to consider fleeing from overwhelming odds than hostile ones.
Hostile monsters will attack the characters on sight, regardless of the circumstances and odds. This may be for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from an outright evil nature to simple hunger.
Loyal monsters offer direct support, aiding characters in battle and almost always follow their directions with little questions. They will often help without compensation and become shocked and emotionally hurt if attacked by the party.
Friendly monsters offer advice, directions, items, or healing, depending on the circumstances. Some may expect compensation for their troubles, while others help the party for free. They generally will try to escape instead of fighting back, unsure why the party hurt them.
Neutral monsters are passive, and will retaliate only if threatened. While they won’t go out of their way to help the players, they won’t attempt to hinder them either. If not attacked or otherwise intimidated and intelligent enough, they may be willing to barter or offer their assistance in exchange for payment or some other small favor.
Wary monsters won’t pounce on the players outright, but it won’t take much to provoke their ill-will. If they feel even a little bit threatened by the party, they will almost certainly be the first to attack. Wary monsters are more likely to consider fleeing from overwhelming odds than hostile ones.
Hostile monsters will attack the characters on sight, regardless of the circumstances and odds. This may be for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from an outright evil nature to simple hunger.
Monster Difficulty
Once you’ve established how aggressive your monster is, we need to decide what sort of challenge the monster will present to the party, as well as its importance to the story. Choose one of the following:
Lesser monsters are cannon fodder, and should make up most of the opponents the group runs into during the course of their adventures. They are generally easy to defeat and often only pose a challenge in large groups.
Standard monsters are a step up with a power level comparable to a hero, albeit with less options. They provide a decent challenge in small groups and can dish out and take more punishment than those of a lesser variety.
Notorious monsters represent grizzled veterans and one-of-a-kind creatures. Notorious monsters are usually encountered every two or three games. Unlike normal monsters, Notorious monsters and their superiors can have quite developed personalities, and should make for a memorable combat if handled correctly. Notorious monsters generally begin combat with a single point of Destiny.
Bosses usually appear during a chapter's climax, and should typically be constructed as an epic showdown that requires resources, teamwork, and quick-thinking to overcome. Bosses generally begin combat with a point of Destiny per tier.
Superbosses are the players’ most powerful archenemies. These are typically either found only at the end of a full-fledged campaign, being an integral part of the game’s ongoing storyline, or hidden away as a super powerful secret enemy. Superbosses generally begin combat with two Destiny points per tier.
Once you’ve established that, it’s time to choose the monster’s level. As with PCs, monsters have a level from 1 to 30 that reflects their overall experience and toughness. The monster’s level should generally be equal to the average level of the party it is intended for; a level 5 party, for instance, will generally be best off facing level 5 monsters - though a GM who wants to challenge experienced players might go a little higher, and a group who wants their game to be a little less challenging might prefer slightly lower ones.
Lesser monsters are cannon fodder, and should make up most of the opponents the group runs into during the course of their adventures. They are generally easy to defeat and often only pose a challenge in large groups.
Standard monsters are a step up with a power level comparable to a hero, albeit with less options. They provide a decent challenge in small groups and can dish out and take more punishment than those of a lesser variety.
Notorious monsters represent grizzled veterans and one-of-a-kind creatures. Notorious monsters are usually encountered every two or three games. Unlike normal monsters, Notorious monsters and their superiors can have quite developed personalities, and should make for a memorable combat if handled correctly. Notorious monsters generally begin combat with a single point of Destiny.
Bosses usually appear during a chapter's climax, and should typically be constructed as an epic showdown that requires resources, teamwork, and quick-thinking to overcome. Bosses generally begin combat with a point of Destiny per tier.
Superbosses are the players’ most powerful archenemies. These are typically either found only at the end of a full-fledged campaign, being an integral part of the game’s ongoing storyline, or hidden away as a super powerful secret enemy. Superbosses generally begin combat with two Destiny points per tier.
Once you’ve established that, it’s time to choose the monster’s level. As with PCs, monsters have a level from 1 to 30 that reflects their overall experience and toughness. The monster’s level should generally be equal to the average level of the party it is intended for; a level 5 party, for instance, will generally be best off facing level 5 monsters - though a GM who wants to challenge experienced players might go a little higher, and a group who wants their game to be a little less challenging might prefer slightly lower ones.
Categories
Once you’ve got the basic idea for your monster down, it’s time to start the actual construction. While characters have Jobs that give them starting abilities and help determine their hit points, magic points, and starting abilities, Monsters have a similar idea based on what species they belong to.
Select one or more of the fourteen Monster Categories outlined below; in design terms, each offers a broad template from which the finer details of the monster can be worked out.
If you want to build a monster that’s a member of multiple different species, that’s not only easy to do but also actively encouraged. Simply choose their ‘primary’ species for the purpose of figuring out attributes, but make sure that the creature also has all the pros and cons of all the other species it represents. For example, if Adam wanted to create a spectral and sentient Ghost Ship, he might decide that it’s an Undead first and foremost. He’d therefore calculate the creature’s HP based on the Undead entry. This monster would gain Auto-Zombie for being Undead, and an immunity to Fear and Poison thanks to its construct side.
Select one or more of the fourteen Monster Categories outlined below; in design terms, each offers a broad template from which the finer details of the monster can be worked out.
If you want to build a monster that’s a member of multiple different species, that’s not only easy to do but also actively encouraged. Simply choose their ‘primary’ species for the purpose of figuring out attributes, but make sure that the creature also has all the pros and cons of all the other species it represents. For example, if Adam wanted to create a spectral and sentient Ghost Ship, he might decide that it’s an Undead first and foremost. He’d therefore calculate the creature’s HP based on the Undead entry. This monster would gain Auto-Zombie for being Undead, and an immunity to Fear and Poison thanks to its construct side.
- Aerial: All Aerial monsters have the Flight ability, making them immune to damage from earth-based attacks and spells. They also tend to have a weakness to Lightning and a resistance to Wind, and Aerial creatures are the most likely species to use the Inhale power.
- HP: 5
- MP: 1
- ACC: 4
- AVD: 6
- HP: 5
- Amorph: It’s difficult to target their weak points since they don’t really have any; this is generally represented by the Unusual Defense or Controlled Defense properties. Some Amorphs may be capable of shifting from one Form to another, others still use Multiple Parts to baffle their enemies, and still others use their gelatinous bodies to absorb enemies by Inhaling them. Amorph enemies often take extra damage from Earth.
- HP: 5
- MP: 6
- ACC: 2
- AVD: 3
- HP: 5
- Aquan: Best-known as users of Submerge and sufferers of a weakness to Lightning, the dwellers of the deep tend to be vicious and alien, and almost always have the Specific Habitat (Water) ability due to their struggle to breathe on the surface. It is also generally more common to see Large predators in the depths of the sea than roaming the surface. Schools of fish or sentient coral reefs are best-described with the Swarm property.
- HP: 5
- MP: 3
- ACC: 3
- AVD: 5
- HP: 5
- Arcana: The most potent spellcasters of all the species, arcane enemies generally take the upper hand in combat through the use of Magical Counterattack, Elemental Immunity, and in some cases, even Flawless Spell. Their elemental weaknesses and strengths are as varied as the species itself.
- HP: 5
- MP: 6
- ACC: 1
- AVD: 4
- HP: 5
- Beast: Beasts often move in packs, herds, or work together when they hunt to bring down prey. They’re notable for being the species most likely to Call For Help as well as to be found naturally skittish and Wary. Because they rarely use magic and tend to overcome adversaries with physical force, they also tend to lash back at their aggressors with Counterattack. Those that hibernate in the cooler months of the year might demonstrate this with a weakness to Ice.
- HP: 10
- MP: 1
- ACC: 4
- AVD: 5
- HP: 10
- Construct: All Construct monsters are automatically immune to Fear, Poison and Zombie. Regeneration and Controlled Defense are also commonly used to represent constructs capable of repairing themselves, or throwing up energy shields to defend themselves – but shield or not, most have a strong reaction to Lightning attacks. This element might either overload a construct….or charge it up. Constructs are also the most likely species to be built as a Vehicle, for obvious reasons.
- HP: 15
- MP: 2
- ACC: 4
- AVD: 3
- HP: 15
- Dragon: Powerful and deadly adversaries, Dragons often have wings – and therefore Flight – and are generally associated with one specific element. This might grant them an Elemental Immunity or an inclination to use a certain type of elemental attack. It isn’t uncommon to see particularly ancient and grouchy dragons toting around Final Attacks, and some members of this species have earned their Fearsome ability.
- HP: 15
- MP: 3
- ACC: 2
- AVD: 4
- HP: 15
- Fiend: All Fiends monsters have an Elemental Weakness to Holy. As the most thoroughly vile species that exists, extremely high-level Fiends are often Bosses with the Undying or Fearsome abilities. Still others shapeshift back and forth between their true Form and one that appears less threatening, such as a nondescript humanoid or even a painting or other inanimate object.
- HP: 10
- MP: 4
- ACC: 2
- AVD: 4
- HP: 10
- Humanoid: Many Humanoids have an elemental Weakness to Shadow and tend to stay in the Neutral to Wary attitudes; it’s rare to find a humanoid that’ll fight to the death on sight, without ever thinking of backing down or cutting a deal. Swarms of humanoid enemies are common, as are those who battle with the aid of Item Use, Job Ability, or Call Minions.
- HP: 10
- MP: 3
- ACC: 3
- AVD: 4
- HP: 10
- Insect: Seeing tens of thousands of buzzing insects moving in a Swarm might be considered dangerous, but experienced adventurers know that the real threat lies in Larger specimens that fight with every natural stinging and slashing Multiweapon at their disposal. Although most insects don’t take well to Ice damage, quite a few use their protective shells to grant them Improved Defenses in combat situations.
- HP: 5
- MP: 1
- ACC: 5
- AVD: 5
- HP: 5
- Plant: Status Touch is commonplace among the war-waging weeds, sentient shrubbery and vicious vegetation that can threaten an unsuspecting adventuring troupe, especially poisonous or petrification-inducing strains. Quite a few prefer one very Specific Habitat such as Forest, Swamp or Plains, and almost all plant-type creatures suffer from a weakness to Fire. Those that don’t are generally weak to Ice instead.
- HP: 10
- MP: 4
- ACC: 3
- AVD: 3
- HP: 10
- Undead: Undead monsters all receive the Auto-Zombie status, reversing the effects of curative magic, draining effects, and a multitude of other things. Many undead creatures gain a Resistance, Immunity or even an Absorbency to Shadow damage, and just as many have a Weakness to Holy damage. And finally, all Undead are Immune to Poison.
- HP: 15
- MP: 3
- ACC: 3
- AVD: 3
- HP: 15
Attributes and Defenses
Once you’ve got the basics figured out, it’s time to get into the number-crunching.
Like characters, monsters have four Attributes: Power, Dexterity, Mind and Resolve. You receive a set number of points based on the monster’s difficulty and level to spend however you like, so long as no attribute is left at 0 (The exception to this is enemies with the Vehicle ability, who can have a MND score of 0 without penalty).
Lesser Monsters have (Level + 12) points to allocate between the four stats.
Normal Monsters have the standard (Level + 24) points to allocate between the four stats.
Notorious Monsters instead get (Level + 35) points to allocate between the four stats.
Bosses use a total of (Level + 45) points to allocate between the four stats.
Superbosses possess (Level + 60) points to allocate between the four stats.
Once you’ve written down the base attributes, follow the rules below to determine all the other derived stats of your beast.
For Maximum Hit Points, add the creature’s RES Score to the HP Bonus granted by their species, then multiply this amount by the creature’s Level and again by their Tier.
For Maximum Magic Points, add the creature’s MND Score to the MP Bonus granted by their species, then multiply this amount by the creature’s Level and again by their Tier.
To calculate a monster’s ACC scores, add half their level, rounded down then add the Bonus granted by their Species.
To calculate a monster’s AVD score, add the Bonus granted by their species to one-fourth their DEX score.
Force and Finesse attributes, just like a character, are the sum of either PWR and RES or DEX and MND, divided by 4. They'll be used a lot in opposed checks and resistance rolls.
Derived Stats are then modified based on the type of creature being fought:
Lesser Monsters have half as much HP and MP and have both a -1 to AVD and ACC.
Notorious Monsters have twice as much HP with a +1 to AVD and ACC.
Bosses have five times as much HP, twice as much MP, and a +2 to AVD and ACC.
Superbosses have ten times as much HP, three times as much MP, and a +2 to AVD and ACC.
The creature then gains an amount of points to split between ARM and M.ARM based on their level:
Like characters, monsters have four Attributes: Power, Dexterity, Mind and Resolve. You receive a set number of points based on the monster’s difficulty and level to spend however you like, so long as no attribute is left at 0 (The exception to this is enemies with the Vehicle ability, who can have a MND score of 0 without penalty).
Lesser Monsters have (Level + 12) points to allocate between the four stats.
Normal Monsters have the standard (Level + 24) points to allocate between the four stats.
Notorious Monsters instead get (Level + 35) points to allocate between the four stats.
Bosses use a total of (Level + 45) points to allocate between the four stats.
Superbosses possess (Level + 60) points to allocate between the four stats.
Once you’ve written down the base attributes, follow the rules below to determine all the other derived stats of your beast.
For Maximum Hit Points, add the creature’s RES Score to the HP Bonus granted by their species, then multiply this amount by the creature’s Level and again by their Tier.
For Maximum Magic Points, add the creature’s MND Score to the MP Bonus granted by their species, then multiply this amount by the creature’s Level and again by their Tier.
To calculate a monster’s ACC scores, add half their level, rounded down then add the Bonus granted by their Species.
To calculate a monster’s AVD score, add the Bonus granted by their species to one-fourth their DEX score.
Force and Finesse attributes, just like a character, are the sum of either PWR and RES or DEX and MND, divided by 4. They'll be used a lot in opposed checks and resistance rolls.
Derived Stats are then modified based on the type of creature being fought:
Lesser Monsters have half as much HP and MP and have both a -1 to AVD and ACC.
Notorious Monsters have twice as much HP with a +1 to AVD and ACC.
Bosses have five times as much HP, twice as much MP, and a +2 to AVD and ACC.
Superbosses have ten times as much HP, three times as much MP, and a +2 to AVD and ACC.
The creature then gains an amount of points to split between ARM and M.ARM based on their level:
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Finally, all we need to do now is figure out how well the enemy reacts to the various elements and status effects. After all, every opponent has a weakness.
There are 8 elements in the game that creature may interact with aside from Non-Elemental damage: Earth, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Water, Holy, and Shadow. Whenever you make a monster, you must choose two elements for the creature to have a Vulnerability to (taking 50% more damage from each), or one element the beast has a Weakness to (taking double damage from it). Then, you also get to pick two elements the creature Resists, or one element that it is Immune to completely.
There are also many different types of negative status ailments. Although there’s no hard and fast rules here, most of the time, a monster can be affected by any of them unless you can think of a good reason why it wouldn’t make sense – for example, you probably wouldn’t be able to Petrify a sentient tornado. All Notorious Monsters, Bosses, and Superbosses are automatically Immune to Transform and Charm. Such creatures are also usually immune – or at least very resistant – to instant-death inducing attacks.
There are 8 elements in the game that creature may interact with aside from Non-Elemental damage: Earth, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Water, Holy, and Shadow. Whenever you make a monster, you must choose two elements for the creature to have a Vulnerability to (taking 50% more damage from each), or one element the beast has a Weakness to (taking double damage from it). Then, you also get to pick two elements the creature Resists, or one element that it is Immune to completely.
There are also many different types of negative status ailments. Although there’s no hard and fast rules here, most of the time, a monster can be affected by any of them unless you can think of a good reason why it wouldn’t make sense – for example, you probably wouldn’t be able to Petrify a sentient tornado. All Notorious Monsters, Bosses, and Superbosses are automatically Immune to Transform and Charm. Such creatures are also usually immune – or at least very resistant – to instant-death inducing attacks.
Enemy Abilities
With the monster’s basic attributes and defenses covered, the second-to-last step is to further customize it with monstrous abilities – just like how characters are further defined with Job and Shared abilities!
Certain monster categories automatically get specific abilities, as outlined previously:
From there, monsters get a number of additional abilities based on their difficulty:
Abilities are divided into three broad types – Biological Abilities, Combat abilities, and Job abilities. Combat Abilities are usually a little bit better than biological ones, but they can be ‘turned off’ if the monster is afflicted by certain status effects or teamwork attacks, similar to a lot of job abilities and spells.
Certain monster categories automatically get specific abilities, as outlined previously:
- Aerial monsters all have the Flight ability
- Aquan monsters have the Specific Habitat (Water) ability in almost every case
- Undead monsters all have the Auto-Zombie ability
From there, monsters get a number of additional abilities based on their difficulty:
- Lesser monsters get one additional ability every 10 levels.
- Standard Monsters get one additional ability every 4 levels.
- Notorious Monsters get one additional ability every 4 levels and an extra ability at level 1.
- Bosses and Superbosses get one additional ability every 2 levels and an extra ability at level 1. In addition, they automatically gain the Break Damage Limit weapon property as a bonus ability, allowing them to deal more than 999 damage in a single round.
Abilities are divided into three broad types – Biological Abilities, Combat abilities, and Job abilities. Combat Abilities are usually a little bit better than biological ones, but they can be ‘turned off’ if the monster is afflicted by certain status effects or teamwork attacks, similar to a lot of job abilities and spells.
Biological Abilities
- Controlled Defense: As Unusual Defense, but the monster may shift forms at will as an Instant action. The GM must describe that this is being used in some fashion, whether it be a change of color or shape or something more subtle, and the description must be consistent as the battle continues. A Monster must have Unusual Defense before it can also take Controlled Defense.
- Elaborate Attacks: The creature may build its secondary attacks with extra Finesse or Force equal to the creature’s tier. This may be taken multiple times.
- Elemental Absorption: One of the creature’s elemental immunities is transformed into an Elemental Absorbency instead; all attacks dealt to the creature by that element restore HP instead of reducing it.
- Elemental Immunity: The creature takes no damage from one additional elemental type; an element the creature is already Weak or Vulnerable to cannot be improved upon with this ability.
- Extra Resistant: The creature is resistant to two additional elemental types; this cannot be taken for any element the creature is Weak or Vulnerable to.
- Fearsome: The monster is terrifyingly powerful. Whenever a character wishes to make an attack against the creature, they must succeed at a resistance check (generally an opposed Finesse roll). If they succeed, they may attack the monster freely until the start of their next turn. If they fail the check, they are affected by the Fear status until the start of their next turn instead. This can only be used by Bosses.
- Flight: The monster is capable of flight, putting it out of reach of most weapons and giving it greater maneuverability in combat. Short-range weapons suffer a -4 penalty to hit flying creatures.
- Form: The creature has multiple forms that it switches between every round, with them sharing the same HP and MP total but acting differently otherwise in terms of immunities, weaknesses, spells, and attacks. This does not allow them to change their species and may be taken multiple times, cycling through all their forms in a continual loop.
- Heavy Strikes: This Biological ability makes the creature’s attacks use their heavy body, calculating damage using RES instead of PWR.
- Impervious: An ability generally only possessed by bosses, Impervious grants an Immunity to every negative status effect except those that have been specifically listed. A good GM will generally leave the monster vulnerable to a select few status effects despite Impervious.
- Improved Defenses: Choose either ARM or M.ARM when this ability is taken; that particular defense is increased by 50%. This could theoretically be taken multiple times, increasing the defensive value by 50% each time. If you’re the GM, combining this ability with Unusual Defense or Controlled Defense is a surefire way to have projectiles angrily lobbed at your head.
- Large: The monster is huge, making it Immune to Knockback and the action-interruption that knockbacks normally cause. Just remember that size doesn’t mean an awful lot in the world of Final Fantasy; small monsters are just as capable of dealing out grievous damage as large ones.
- Mount: The monster can allow one smaller creature to ride on top of it. The rider gains the Mount’s entire ARM and M.ARM scores as a bonus to their own defenses, can travel a Medium range with their movement, and an individual has a +4 bonus to AVD while riding. This comes at the penalty of the rider not being able to take Slow or Standard actions of their own.
- Multiple Forms: When reduced to 50% of their total hit points, the creature with this ability may adopt a different physical shape. This allows it to change its Species (but not recalculate HP or any of the other combat attributes) and generally unlocks one or more new attacks.
- Multiple Parts: The monster is made up of several separate entities - the main body, which has normal HP, and up to two other parts. The total HP of the extra parts adds up to half the HP of the main body (for example, a creature with 100 HP might have two parts with 25 HP each). The monster dies if the main body is destroyed, but the additional parts can often make this difficult. Each additional part allows the main body to take one additional Standard action each turn while it remains active, and Multiple Parts are immune to all status effects (both positive and negative). By spending a single point of Destiny after at least 1 round has passed, the monster may revive a destroyed Part as an Instant action. The creature gains one additional Part each time this ability is taken.
- Skilled: The creature has some sort of innate understanding or advantage with a skill or maneuver due to their biology, granting them a +5 bonus on checks of that particular type.
- Skittish: The monster calculates their AVD score as 1/4th of their DEX plus the bonus granted by their species, instead of half their level plus the base value. This gives a slight advantage to extremely quick-moving creatures.
- Small: Small creatures are hard to spot and hit based on their size, granting them +1 AVD and a +2 bonus to Stealth checks to avoid being seen.
- Specific Habitat: The creature is generally only adept at fighting in the type of terrain it is most used to; this might be a arid, sandy Desert, a dense temperate Forest or jungle, a place of extreme heat and Lava such as the inside of a volcano or the earth’s core, a fetid Swamp known for its muddy and unstable ground, a rocky Mountain highland, the large and unbroken stretches of rolling grasslands and Plains, a large natural body of Water, a Town or other area of civilization such as ancient ruins or a dungeon, a cold and Snow-covered tundra characterized by extreme temperatures and sparse vegetation, an Underground cave, tunnel, or mine, or even an interdimensional site outside of the normal boundaries of realities, dubbed by scholars as a ‘Cosmic’ location. When the creature is fighting in the type of location specified in its Specific Habitat, they gain either a +2 bonus to its AVD score or its ACC score, chosen at the time this ability is taken. When in any other habitat, this is treated as a -2 penalty to ACC or AVD, instead. Some types of Difficult Terrain or Elemental Fields might count as a certain type of terrain for the purpose of this ability, at the GM’s discretion. There’s no reason to claim that a battlefield flooded after a massive tidal wave couldn’t be counted as Water terrain, for example.
- Swarm: Swarms are groups of literally dozens - or even hundreds, or thousands! - of individual enemies that can surround and close in on the heroes. Swarms act as a single unit, such as teams of imperial soldiers or armies of shambling undead. Spells, attacks and abilities that affect only a Single target deal half damage to a Swarm, and Swarms are Immune to all status effects and Knockback effects that only target a single enemy. Conversely, spells, attacks and abilities that damage an entire enemy group, or all enemies within a specific range, deal double damage to a Swarm.
- Swift Strikes: This Biological ability allows the monster to calculate all their physical attack damage with their DEX attribute instead of their PWR.
- Undying: After an Undying creature is killed, they return to life (or undeath, in some cases) after a varied period of time, ranging anywhere from several minutes to several years. Some White Magic spells can stop Undead enemies with this ability, and the Red Mage’s Seal Evil ability can handle more fearsome adversaries who possess it. There is generally one condition that can be met to cancel out the Undying property, though we don’t list what it might be in individual entries and instead leave this up to your imagination. Perhaps an entity who has immortalized themself in a painting can be subject to the normal rules of death if he or she ever gazes upon their painted likeness, or perhaps only a certain magical sword can stop the reign of terror caused by a shape-shifting master of darkness.
- Unusual Defense: Due to some racial characteristic, the monster takes either half damage from Physical attacks and 200% damage from Magical attacks, or vice versa. If combined with Shell and Protect, the damage sustained from attacks might be as low as 25%.
- Vehicle: The monster – which is almost always a Construct – gains the ability to move a Medium range with its movement and can allow one smaller creature to ride on top or inside of it. The rider may not take Standard or Slow actions while inside or upon the Vehicle, but they gain the Vehicle’s entire ARM and M.ARM scores as a bonus to their own defenses, and an individual has a +4 bonus to AVD while ‘piloting’ a vehicle monster.
Combat Abilities
- Bonus Spellcasting: The creature has access to a number of additional Blue, White or Black magic spells equal to their tier. This may be taken multiple times.
- Call for Help: The monster uses a Slow action to call for another monster of the same type, who arrives when this ability Is used and immediately joins the battle. Because the monster must be the same type as the one that calls for help, boss monsters cannot choose this power; it is recommended they look into Call Minions instead.
- Call Minions: The monster can take a Standard action once per combat to call for one minion or four Lesser minions, who arrive at the end of the round to join the fray. Each time Call Minions is taken, it increases the number of minions that can be summoned by the same amount.
- Combination Attack: May only be used by a monster with the Multiple Parts biological ability. If ALL parts are intact, they may all combine their actions for the round into one powerful attack that deals more damage than normal. Combination Attacks use one of the creature’s standard attacks, but deals 300% damage.
- Counterattack: The monster has a 25% percent chance to counterattack any physical attack against it with a normal attack. If this ability is taken more than once, the Counterattack chance increases by an extra 25% each time, all the way up to 100%.
- Destined: The monster begins combat with a single additional point of Destiny. This Destiny is lost when they leave combat.
- Equipment Property: The monster always has access to a specific equipment property, such as accurate, auto-status, status touch, or spellburst. Generally the equipment property should not be stronger than what the players have access to.
- Final Attack: When reduced to 0 hit points, the monster may use any one predetermined spell or attack as an Instant action. Final Attack will fail if the monster doesn’t have enough MP to cast its chosen spell at the time of its defeat.
- Flawless Spell: The creature has one spell that’s as much a part of them as any attack, and they can cast it once per combat as an Instant action that costs 0 MP. Each time Flawless Spell is taken it grants one additional use of the same spell.
- Inhale: The monster can use powerful lungs or gravitational force to pull strongly against their adversaries, dragging them through the air towards the beast. Each round the monster may attempt to Inhale a single target as an instant action, making an opposed Force roll; if the monster is successful, the character loses any Flight effects until the end of the creature’s turn, and is moved a Medium Range toward the beast unless the path is impeded by obstacles. As a Standard action, the monster can choose to affect an entire group with Inhale instead of only a single target.
- Item Use: The monster may use any recovery item listed in the Drop section of its entry during combat as an Instant action. Note that the characters will not find this item after defeating the enemy if the monster uses it. Monsters will generally only use items when they find their lives endangered.
- Limit Break: The monster has a Limit Break appropriate for their tier which they may use when at 25% HP or less. Limit Breaks from monsters require a single point of Destiny to be used and as such as reserved for notorious monsters and bosses.
- Magical Counterattack: The monster has a flat 25% chance to counterattack any magical attack against it with an Instantly-casted spell that they know. A Magical Counterattack cannot be taken if the monster is already in the middle of a Slow action, and this can be taken multiple times to increase the odds of a counterattack by an additional 25% each time.
- Mental Strikes: The monster uses magic to attack, using MND instead of PWR to calculate damage.
- Multiweapon: Without needing to have Multiple Parts, the monster has a variety of weapons at its disposal and can strike simultaneously with them, making its attacks harder to dodge. Monsters with Multiweapon may attack a number of additional times with their standard attacks equal to the amount of times they take this ability.
- Regeneration: The monster’s skin is constantly healing and its injuries knitting, and it regains HP at the start of each of their rounds equal to their level. This ability may be taken multiple times, increasing the value by the same amount each time. So, a tenth-level creature that has taken this ability 5 times would have Regeneration 50! Regeneration always comes with a way of temporarily or permanently disabling it, such as using holy magic on an undead creature or breaking a specific part of a machine.
- Submerge: As a Standard action the monster may burrow beneath the earth or dive underwater, making them Immune to any negative or beneficial Group-target attacks or spells from targets who are not also underwater or underground. Status conditions such as Poison continue to affect the monster whilst underground, and they can still be affected by Single-target attacks. Any Group-targeting attacks, spells or abilities that the monster uses are turned into Single-target instead while the creature remains submerged. They may return to the surface as an Instant action or move a Medium Range, and they may move underneath enemies to attack them with standard attacks as normal. Any creature that is affected by a knockback effect is also generally returned to the surface, ending the effects of Submerge.
Enemy Attacks
At last, we’ve moved into the final stage of monster-building; describing how they’ll horribly mutilate the heroes! A monster’s Attacks are simple, offensive, damage-dealing maneuvers that all take Standard actions in combat, and are never affected by the Seal status effect. That said, the exact form of a beast’s attack is largely dependent on the monster’s species and how you envision them battling. A Humanoid-type monster, for instance, might have a sword or spear, whilst a Plant-type monster could attack with thorns or vines. An Amorph who relies heavily on magic might use his attacks to replenish or drain MP so he can keep on casting powerful spells.
Like the heroes, monsters calculate damage based on their PWR attribute – unlike the heroes, their base damage multiplier is equal to half their level instead of the Tier of weapon they swing around.
So, jot down your monster’s base damage and imagine what a basic, straightforward attack might be like from your creature – and when we say basic, we mean basic. No weapons, no elemental breath or interesting techniques here. Just a last-ditch smack with whatever body part might hurt the most. For Lesser Monsters, the damage they would deal with any attack is halved.
For some monsters you may choose to also give them spells – for this the monster needs to have the MP to cast them, the Tier of the spells shouldn’t greatly exceed what a similarly-leveled mage could use, and the amount of spells a monster has is generally one per tier or less. More spells can be given with the Bonus Spellcasting ability.
Got it figured out? Fantastic! You know your creature’s base accuracy and base damage, and that’s combined to make one very simple-looking attack! Let’s give it a name, and hopefully your monster won’t have to use that one much – the rest of their attacks are built using the instructions within the Enemy Skills section.
Like the heroes, monsters calculate damage based on their PWR attribute – unlike the heroes, their base damage multiplier is equal to half their level instead of the Tier of weapon they swing around.
So, jot down your monster’s base damage and imagine what a basic, straightforward attack might be like from your creature – and when we say basic, we mean basic. No weapons, no elemental breath or interesting techniques here. Just a last-ditch smack with whatever body part might hurt the most. For Lesser Monsters, the damage they would deal with any attack is halved.
For some monsters you may choose to also give them spells – for this the monster needs to have the MP to cast them, the Tier of the spells shouldn’t greatly exceed what a similarly-leveled mage could use, and the amount of spells a monster has is generally one per tier or less. More spells can be given with the Bonus Spellcasting ability.
Got it figured out? Fantastic! You know your creature’s base accuracy and base damage, and that’s combined to make one very simple-looking attack! Let’s give it a name, and hopefully your monster won’t have to use that one much – the rest of their attacks are built using the instructions within the Enemy Skills section.