Monsters?

[Fjw70]

Are there any other official monsters stats for the game besides what is in the book?

[imported_Rasyr]

Are there any other official monsters stats for the game besides what is in the book?

Not yet.

The issue of Libram Novus that I am currently working on will introduce a few more races, including Centaurs, Lizardmen, and Ursoc (i.e. Bugbears). (still have to do "Monster Stat Blocks" for them).

And after that, I was thinking of perhaps doing a monster supplement before doing the next issue of Libram Novus. Perhaps something focusing on Demons, Devils, and Undead (I could call it "Something Wicked").

[Fjw70]

Thanks.

I am going through the game bit-bybit right now to get a better feel for it.  maybe after I do that I will have a better feel for how the monsters are built and do some of my own.

However, don't take the above as lack of interest in any monster supplements you plan to do. 

[imported_Rasyr]

Oh, yeah, I fully encourage coming up with your own stuff if that interests you.

As for how Monsters are built, here is basically how I did it (I used a spreadsheet for the most part to automate the math, so that I basically only had to fill in stats and level and size and most everything else filled in automatically).

[li]Stats - Figure out the average stats for the creature (this includes racial mods). However, note that the average stats for monsters may be lower or higher than given for PC type characters. Doing this also gives me its Saving Throw modifiers[/li]
[li]Size/Level - My next step is to fill in its Size (in 2 different fields, actually) and the average level for this monster.[/li]
[li]Hit Points - I basically figured this exactly the same as PCs. Starting hits, however, is based on size (Libram Novus #7 will have a size table that shows what the base hits are for different size creatures), and the creature is given the Talent "Minor Physical Training" each level (except for Dragons, which got the Major Physical Training talent each level)[/li]
[li]Combat Skills - I basically only developed this as 2 different attack bonuses - melee and ranged. I gave each creature 2 ranks in each as background. I then treated them as Scouts (which I used to call Rogues at one point), which grants a +2 to one favored weapon skill, and +1 to all other Favored Weapon skills. Then, so long as their number of ranks was less than their weapon sskill's stat, they got 2 ranks per level, and then 1 rank per level after that. (note: this actually breaks down for some of the higher level monsters like Dragons (based upon ranks gained, versus Character Points cost (versus how many Character Points they get per level), but I basically hand-wave that requirement away for the monsters (note: I would NOT handwave it for PC-able mosters developed up to that level, only for basic monsters that Players should never be playing as PCs).[/li]
[li]Other Skills - I gave them 2 ranks in each from background, and then 1 rank per level and stat bonus.[/li]
[li]DEF - This is figured the same as for PCs. ([15] + [Scout DEF bonus] + [Speed Stat Bonus] + [Ranks in main melee skill divided by 5])[/li]
[li]AR - This is something I determined specifically for each creature. For Humanoid creatures, I decided what armor they wear and used that. For the rest, I basically made the decision on the fly based on how tough I consider its skin to be.[/li]
[li]Everything else was basically just fill in the blanks as required.[/li]
[/list][/list]

[Fjw70]

Cool, thanks for sharing the methodology. I love spreadsheets. I am going through the book and putting a bunch of stuff in spreadsheets to summarizes it and to see the patterns that develop to get some insight into how the game is built (don't woory these spreadsheets are for my personal use and won't be distributed). The monster methodology will save me some guess work since I was going to break the stats down to see what went into them.

The other thing I am looking to do after deconstructing the game is doing some mods to make it a little simpler to play with my two oldest sons (11 and 7).  When I start that I will post a thread and would love to get your thoughts on my mods.

[imported_Rasyr]

Great!

Also,

Libram Novus #1 -- Has the rules/guidelines for how spells are built/designed
Libram Novus #3 -- Has lots of new talents plus rules on creating new Classes
Libram Novus #6 -- Has rules for playing without levels
Libram Novus #7 -- Will have the rules for creating new Races

I am very very open about the methodology that I use, simply because I KNOW that I cannot do everything, nor do it quickly enough to suit everybody, so I want others to be able to add to the volume of material on their own.

[Fjw70]

Okay your high pressure sales technique work and I just bought the Libram bundle.

[imported_Rasyr]

[Fidoric]

(I could call it "Something Wicked").

Really? Don't forget to copyright it !

[Fjw70]

Okay I am trying to back into the defense numbers for the monsters but I seem to be missing something.

For the Kobold and Goblin I get

15 + 1 (spd) + 1 (scout) + 1 (melee skill/5) = 18

But the Kobold has 19 and the Goblin has 17.

What am I missing?

[Fjw70]

Okay I see that I did miss the size bonus of +2 for the kobold. So now I am 1 too high for each one.  I also did the hobgoblin and I am 1 too high for him too.  At least I am consistently off now.

[imported_Rasyr]

Okay I am trying to back into the defense numbers for the monsters but I seem to be missing something.

For the Kobold and Goblin I get

15 + 1 (spd) + 1 (scout) + 1 (melee skill/5) = 18

What am I missing?

Try this

15 + 1 (spd) + 1 (scout) + 0 ( less than 5 ranks in melee skill/5; rounded down) = 17

I always rounded down for doing that sort of division (and yes +2 for Kobold due to size)

[Fjw70]

Ah, I see I was using the +2 Combat Training I modifer as skill ranks and now I see that is wrong.

[imported_Rasyr]

Yup, the Goblin only has 4 actual skill ranks in a melee weapon, the rest is simply various bonuses and modifiers.

[samwise7]

"Something Wicked" hehe, oh my...  You're bad Tim. 

That reminds me of the time when The Offspring tried to take the name Chinese Democracy from Guns 'n Roses because they didn't seem like they were every going to release it.  haha.