Chapter 7: CREATURES

[RosenMcStern]

Here we start the discussion about the beta rules. For chapter 7, I want to present the list of creatures in the making. It is a generic list, not limited  to fantasy and focused on creatures that fit multiple genres easily. For this reason I have included many examples from the pulp age sci-fi writers (Burroughs, Lovecraft, Wells) which can be adapted to both horror, fantasy and sci-fi, and have the non-trivial advantage of being based on public domain works.

REAL WORLD CREATURES

• Bear
• Crocodile
• Horse
• Lion
• Python
• Wolf

PREHISTORIC CREATURES

• Allosaur
• Dimetrodon
• Mammoth
• Plesiosaur
• Pteranodon
• Smilodon
• Stegosaur
• Velociraptor

CLASSIC FANTASY/HORROR CREATURES

• Basilisk
• Djinn
• Dragon
• Dwarf
• Elf
• Ghost
• Giant
• Giant Scorpion
• Giant Spider
• Goblin
• Lich
• Medusa
• Minotaur
• Mummy
• Orc
• Shade
• Skeleton
• Succubus
• Troll
• Vampire
• Werewolf
• Wraith
• Wurm
• Wyvern
• Zombie

PULP FANTASY CREATURES

• Banth
• Deep One
• Ghoul
• Great Race
• Green Martian
• Lizard Man
• Mi-go
• Morlock
• Nightgaunt
• Plant Man
• Thoat
• Tripod Martian
• White Ape

SCI-FI CREATURES

• Alien, Barbarian [Klingon archetype]
• Alien, Elder Brother [Vulcan archetype]
• Alien, Grey
• Alien, Hunter [Predator archetype]
• Alien, Slaver [typical space opera bad guy]
• Alien, Parasite [Alien archetype, incubator aspect]
• Alien, Shapeshifter [Rull archetype]
• Alien, Xenomorph [Alien archetype, monster aspect]
• Cyborg [Borg archetype]
• Emancipated AI [Dalek archetype]

I hope this is enough for the core book. And of course we are still in time for suggestions

[Sean_RDP]

Well because you are including such a wide variety, there was a series of books about the Tripods that was serialized in Boys Life (yes I was a Boy Scout) and apparently a TV series in the UK. These are not Wells' Martians.  The Masters make great villains.

A question about real world animals. Lately in a home campaign (not BRP based) I created small snakes whose poison did damage over time. I was amazed at how well small normal sized snakes worked against experienced players and characters. Our own world is full of small stompable creatures who none the less can kill us. Do you think there any reason to put mundane SIZ 1 poisonous or otherwise dangerous creatures in with the beasts? Or just one as an example? Been contemplating this one myself for my own creations.

Oh and the classic (burial) Wight is always a good one. And space Vampires (movie Life Force and an episode of the 80s TV series Buck Rogers... campy as hell but fun)

[RosenMcStern]

12 minutes ago, ReignDragonSMH said:

A question about real world animals. Lately in a home campaign (not BRP based) I created small snakes whose poison did damage over time. I was amazed at how well small normal sized snakes worked against experienced players and characters. Our own world is full of small stompable creatures who none the less can kill us. Do you think there any reason to put mundane SIZ 1 poisonous or otherwise dangerous creatures in with the beasts?

Apart from the fact that - as Loz reminded us - snakes are among Indy's worst enemies, it is indeed true that small snakes are a big threat for a human-sized adventurer. The reason why they are not included among creatures is that you are rather unlikely to "fight" them: either they bite you by surprise, or they flee. Thus snakes are best handled as a general threat (a poison rating and a chance to go undetected is enough) and not as a combat encounter that needs stats.

[Zit]

The unicorn ?

[muminalver]

Demon!!! including a generator for chaotic features and or mutations.

 

 

[RosenMcStern]

Unicorn: noted.

I left demons out on purpose. As anyone who owns any of the previous editions knows, Merrie England has a big chapter on demonology. No need to duplicate

[threedeesix]

I would like to suggest that maybe in the creature section, as you have several barsoomian creatures, you include a sidebar or text box with information on "Playing Humans on Mars". This is where you could note that red martians, yellow martians, black martians, etc. are simply created using the normal rules for character creation. However you could also include a few brief notes for playing humans transported from Earth to Mars, and how it effects things such as strength, jumping, etc. Obviously the "pulp" version, nothing based in reality.

Rod

Edited November 23, 2015 by threedeesix

[Zit]

On 22.11.2015, 22:29:15, RosenMcStern said:

Unicorn: noted.

Then please the classical medieval big-goat-like version of it, not the drippy fantasy 20th Century Hollywood-y white-horse-wtih-a-horn.

 

I know, I can be a true nerd .

[Joerg]

16 minutes ago, Zit said:

Then please the classical medieval big-goat-like version of it, not the drippy fantasy 20th Century Hollywood-y white-horse-wtih-a-horn.

What, not the Woolly Rhino?

[Zit]

3 hours ago, Joerg said:

What, not the Woolly Rhino?

may be in the next prehistorical setting.

[threedeesix]

3 hours ago, Zit said:

Then please the classical medieval big-goat-like version of it, not the drippy fantasy 20th Century Hollywood-y white-horse-wtih-a-horn.

 

Actually I disagree. Being a generic write-up of fantasy critters, I would have it be the one most people are familiar with. The "real" version would be best reserved for an appropriate setting like "Merrie England".

Rod

[Sunwolfe]

Greetings all,

As I was meditating on the list, I found myself musing on large avian creatures: the classical Roc or giant birds of prey type. Do you think they have a place or are they too easy to come up with ourselves? I. E. Giant eagle? No problem; little eagle times ten.

Cheers!

[GianniVacca]

The creatures from the "classic fantasy" list above are too.... classic, too vanilla. Since Revolution D100 seems to have its roots in Europe (judging by the backers, but I might be wrong), I'd rather you provided stock characters from European folklore: the ambiguous elf (à la Erlenkönig, or changeling-style) rather than the Tolkienesque/D&Desque one, the disturbing Dwarf (Nibelungen-like) again rather than the Tolkienesque/D&Desque one, trolls of many different sizes and characters, child-eating ogres, sentient/shape-shifting animals, beings from Central European folklore: leshy, rusalka, vodyanoy, from Italy: babau, uomo nero, from Greece: Mormo...

[Joerg]

1 hour ago, GianniVacca said:

The creatures from the "classic fantasy" list above are too.... classic, too vanilla. Since Revolution D100 seems to have its roots in Europe (judging by the backers, but I might be wrong), I'd rather you provided stock characters from European folklore: the ambiguous elf (à la Erlenkönig, or changeling-style) rather than the Tolkienesque/D&Desque one, the disturbing Dwarf (Nibelungen-like) again rather than the Tolkienesque/D&Desque one, trolls of many different sizes and characters, child-eating ogres, sentient/shape-shifting animals, beings from Central European folklore: leshy, rusalka, vodyanoy, from Italy: babau, uomo nero, from Greece: Mormo...

These creatures could be done for an urban fantasy catalogue just as well (thinking of Butcher's Dresden Files, Hearne's Iron Druid, Aaronovich's magical Britain with the Newtonian magics, TV series like Lost Girl or True Blood). They mostly come with a home territority, often enough with an Otherworld of their own, too, and don't usually go with the times where technology is concerned. This makes them universally useful whether you are playing in a paleolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, mediaeval or modern magical setting.

If you provide information how to use some of them as player characters, you have an entire supplement.

[RosenMcStern]

Quote

As I was meditating on the list, I found myself musing on large avian creatures: the classical Roc or giant birds of prey type. Do you think they have a place or are they too easy to come up with ourselves? I. E. Giant eagle? No problem; little eagle times ten.

The Roc is too big to face it in combat. If you introduce such a creature as a threat - I did it only once and it was on the God Plane of Glorantha - you better treat it as an impersonal force you have to avoid. Which means Generic Conflict, and thus no stats necessary.

For big birds of prey, just use a feathered version of the Pteranodon and you are good to go.

On the other hand, you reminded me that I wanted to include a flying mount. The hippodactyl, or Moebius bird (pterodelphe). I have used it extensively and it is really fun to use in game. Consider it added.

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

These creatures could be done for an urban fantasy catalogue just as well (thinking of Butcher's Dresden Files, Hearne's Iron Druid, Aaronovich's magical Britain with the Newtonian magics, TV series like Lost Girl or True Blood). They mostly come with a home territority, often enough with an Otherworld of their own, too, and don't usually go with the times where technology is concerned. This makes them universally useful whether you are playing in a paleolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, mediaeval or modern magical setting.

If you provide information how to use some of them as player characters, you have an entire supplement.

Also called Nameless Streets But it is for HeroQuest.

The "cultural" creatures are better left to the historical supplement(s) that focus on their home. We will have some in Merrie England, and more will come with the revised or new historical supplements. For a "generic" core, I prefer to leave the creatures as unbound as possible to a specific setting, and use creatures from public domain works or so ingrained in common imagination to have become public domain.

Besides... how would you stat the "babau"? It screams "SETTE-TEH!" and everyone must roll Willpower or be demoralised?

 

[soltakss]

22 hours ago, Zit said:

may be in the next prehistorical setting.

The woolly rhino is in Land of Ice and Stone ...

[Zit]

22 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

Besides... how would you stat the "babau"?

In my home town, the babaù is a dragon.

 

Since revolution intends to provide something new in the world of rpg, it may be the chance to go back to the origins of the main fantasy monsters. This is my preference, but on the other hand, referring to the common fantasy monsters of the D100 family and other systems makes revolution more familiar to players and easier to cross-over with other systems. So I’ll live with it.

 

So we could think of a “historical monster coliseum” as a future publication, including of course the babau.

[xalabin]

More real wild life will be great wild board, bobcat, etc.

Terror bird http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Phorusrhacidae

About the "historical monster coliseum" i'm with Zit

[RosenMcStern]

Agh!  My bad! I have actually already written the terror bird stats and I forgot to put it on the list. You will find it in next version of the bestiary.

[GianniVacca]

The terror bird would be nice for a Revolution D100 game set in Pamaltela...

[RosenMcStern]

Ok, just to tease you a bit...

Terror Bird

Characteristic          Attribute                                   D4/D6      Location    AP/Cov     AP/Cov  Toughness

STR    14   4d6          Size Class                  L                  1            RH Leg          -/-             2/0+              8

CON  10   3d6           Might                        +3                  2             LH Leg          -/-             2/0+              8

DEX   14   4d6           Strike Rank              14               3,5,6           Torso            -/-             2/0+              9

INT      4                    Encumbrance             -                  4               Head            -/-             2/0+              8

WIL   10   3d6           Life Points                20                  

CHA    7   2d6           Move                           7                  

Weapon                    SR    Cost   Damage  Parry           Special

Bite                             14      3/-     1d4+3d2      -                slash (effect)

Skills: Athletics [Dodge, Running] 54%, Close Combat [Bite] 58%, Perception [Acute Vision] 44%.

Armour: Feathers 2/0+.

Powers: -

Notes: medium-sized opponents are -2 SR when in melee with a Terror Bird.

Edited November 28, 2015 by RosenMcStern

[threedeesix]

Looks good, but average DEX is wrong.

Rod

[RosenMcStern]

Fixed. But this will not save you if one of them is after you.

[smiorgan]

Average STR of 14 for lions, horses or terror birds sound kind of wimpish if read in BRP terms. It's the score of a strong man. And I've never seen a strong man wrestle down a cape buffalo or pull a cart full of people for hours. I don't know about terror birds, but lions (especially male lions) are brutally strong, and well... horses are strong like horses...

That said, also in BRP/ RQ some strenght scores for animals are often off. Many animals are pound for pound stronger than people. All big cats, for instance, are ridiculously strong for their size while they lack in stamina (low CON?). A male chimp is stronger than a burly man almost double its size.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2015 by smiorgan

[soltakss]

1 hour ago, smiorgan said:

Average STR of 14 for lions, horses or terror birds sound kind of wimpish if read in BRP terms. It's the score of a strong man. And I've never seen a strong man wrestle down a cape buffalo or pull a cart full of people for hours. I don't know about terror birds, but lions (especially male lions) are brutally strong, and well... horses are strong like horses...

In Revolution D100, STR is relative, so a giant with STR 18 would be stronger than a human with STR 18, but because his Size Class is bigger he can do more with it.