[DF] Homebrew Monsters

[Mailanka]

GURPS doesn't have monsters. That's what I keep hearing from various DF fans who bemoan the lack of a bestiary. Strictly speaking, however, this is not true. GURPS is loaded with monsters, if you know where to look for them. To just name a few:

GURPS Characters: Dragons, Vampires
GURPS Magic: Zombies, Skeletons, Mummies, Wraiths, Liches, Demons, Elementals of all four varieties. Thaumatology adds even more Elementals.
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Gargoyles, Trolls, Dark Ones, Shadow Elves, giant bug people, lizard men, and many more.

Even more options exist in GURPS Fantasy (including a chapter dedicated to monsters), GURPS Banestorm (loads of racial templates), and other sources, if you care to dig around.

The problem isn't the lack of monsters, though, it's the lack of detail on these monsters. Most of these are racial templates. It's all fine and well to know what a Vampire or a Dragon is like, racially, but what sorts of skills, weapons and powers does he actually have? We have no quick-and-easy way to toss together a disposable monster to unleash on the table.

Astute veterans of GURPS will point out that we simply slap on whatever skills and such that we find appropriate and move on, but I would caution that you could do the same with racial templates themselves, that the average DF player isn't interested in wholesale world-building, but prefers some kind of quick-start guide, the equivalent for monsters what DF 1 is to dungeoneers.

So, at the request of my Dungeon Fantasy GM, I put together what follows in this thread: a list of "occupational" templates that can be quickly applied to a monster to give it a role within combat, and a large list of example monsters, ready for any dungeon.

Disclaimer

This work is insufficiently playtested.

I'm a veteran GURPS GM, running on 15 years of experience now, and I created this document for another GM, who promptly used it for his DF campaign which ran for several sessions, but not for long as campaigns are measured. My experience with it suggests that it works. However, the best of us make mistakes all the time. We mean things that we don't say. We forget a rule, or over- or underestimate player capability. I bet Kromm himself has some embarrassing stories to tell about "obvious" mistakes that only turned up after a thorough playtesting. This work has not had the kind of fisking necessary to work out all the chinks. While I'm sure further posters in this thread will help to refine it, understand that this work should be regarded cautiously and taken with a grain of salt. Consider it a work-in-progress

How This Works

Dungeon and Dragons 4e included "roles" for its monsters, a guide on how to use a monster and what sort of tactics they designed it for. This document does the same. Each role has a list of associated templates that, if applied to a racial template, should help you put together a monster ideally suited to that sort of tactic in combat. The standard templates are worth roughly 50 points, the "Greater" templates are worth 100 points, and the Epic templates are worth 150. "Core" templates are worth 50 points, and every monster should have at least one, to provide a solid basis of skills. Beyond that, no limitations or prerequisites apply (You're just making a monster, not carefully balancing a character).

Furthermore, each role has a set of "strange" templates, which represent unique powers associated with that role. Strange templates always have a power modifier. The most common power modifiers for monsters are:

• Magical: The powers can be nullified with counter-magic effects and do not work in no-mana zones
• Unholy: The powers do not work in areas of High (Holy) Sanctity, and might not affect "faithful" characters
• Biological: The power is always a manifestation of some interesting internal organs, which the players may harvest after the battle. Generally, these organs provide bonuses to appropriate alchemy and invention rolls. Minion organs provide +1, Worthy organs provide a +2, and Bosses generally have multiple harvestable organs with +2.

I haven't always explicitly outlined how the templates are constructed, because I feel the average DF GM is more interested in knowing how a monster works, rather than looking at a list of advantages and modifiers. If you want to know how I did something, feel free to ask. I bet I can still remember.

Every core template has a list of associated disadvantages, which I discuss in each section. Sometimes, these disadvantages are described beyond their normal, PC context. That's because a monstrous disadvantage that does not disadvantage the monster isn't interesting or worth mentioning. These disadvantages exist to allow players to come up with clever solutions to defeating their foe, and thus must represent real vulnerabilities. Where possible, exaggerate these weaknesses and make sure the players are aware of them.

Wait, Points? What do you mean Points?

GURPS Sages will carefully recite the hallowed mantra "don't use points when designing monsters" Dungeon Fantasy 2 itself offers this tid-bit of wisdom. Points unnecessarily slow down monster creation, and they won't necessarily balance the encounter. After all, 250 points of carefully nuanced player character is no match for 250 points of pure, distilled lethality.

However, points still have their place. While points won't necessarily balance a monster for an encounter, that's primarily because of the existence of non-combat traits (15 points of Empathy just isn't as useful in a fight as 15 points of DR or even 10 points of High Pain Threshold). Combat traits, however, tend to be fairly well balanced against one another. Thus, a 50 point combat monster should measure up nicely against another, differently designed 50 point combat monster, so points do give us nice "ball park" figures for balance. Moreover, certain advantages and aspects of the system demand points, things like summoning and shape-shifting. By noting the points involved, if a player sees a demon he likes and asks to summon it in the next adventure, the GM can swiftly give him a total Energy Cost associated with that demon, for example.

I have a few caveats regarding these point-costs, however. Monsters need to be kept simple. They don't need to worry about things like perks, and you don't have the time to worry about fatigue cost this and recharge time that. Thus, those who carefully reverse engineer my templates might discover that not everything adds up exactly to the described point value, because monsters are too simple to worry about the small change. Moreover, points do not trump good monster design. Kromm's advice on page 27 of DF 2 remains very valid and pertinent. A 250 point "worthy" monster who has 200 points of DR (DR 40 or so, more with limitations) isn't very fun to fight because you can't actually hurt it. When we design monsters, we want to create interesting fights, so consider what your players have at their disposal before you sic a particular beastie on them. If your goal is an unbeatable monster that your players cannot escape from, these rules won't prevent you from succeeding, but all you'll have really designed is a unique invitation to write up new characters. If done too often, you're really telling your players not to invest emotion into their characters or, worse, not to invest interest in your game.

In general, I have found that a minion needs only one or two templates (no more than 100 points) to be an acceptable "quick" challenge, and about 5-10 per player is enough. Worthies generally take 3 to 5 standard templates (150-250 points), and one to two per player is enough. I find bosses need at least 500 points worth of templates (often at least one epic for truly awesome fights), and you only need one per group of players.

Final Notes

Where possible, I have discarded any reference to fatigue, but when it comes to spell-casting monsters, or powers that attack fatigue, players will want to know how much fatigue a monster has. For the purpose of these rules:

• Minions have sufficient fatigue to cast one effect. Don't worry about the exact cost, they just get to cast one spell or use one fatigue-based ability.. Any fatigue damage will knock them unconscious
• Worthies have normal fatigue, but should they run out of fatigue, they automatically fall unconscious, without rolling.
• Bosses use the normal fatigue rules.

This document offers no tips or suggestions for equipment. Generally, monsters have access to items that suit their skill set: a monster with Broadsword 15 will have a broadsword, and a monster with Traps 12 will have some traps. Don't bother with minor stuff, like rations or rope, except perhaps as loot for the players. When it comes to equipment quality, don't worry about wealth and simply give the monsters whatever gear you think is suitable remembering that players will loot them after they defeat the monster. Giving a goblin minion an Very Fine Enchanted fire sword is really just handing the players a Very Fine Enchanted fire sword for free. Monsters are certainly allowed to wear armor (provided they don't have some ability that precludes it), again, with the note that players can and will loot said armor at the end of the fight.

Oh, and on a very final note, I'd like to eventually collect all this into one big downloadable PDF, but I'd need some art for that. If any of your artistically inclined folks out there wanna donate any, I won't say no :D

(Be patient with me, this involves alot of typing)

[Mailanka]

Dire Beasts

Some monsters, such as the Dungeon Fantasy Dire Wolf, are really just vicious wild animals grown far too large because of the effects of strange magic or... whatever. Pedants will note that “Dire Wolves” were actually smaller than modern-day wolves, but we won't let details get in the way of our fun.

Dire Beasts gain +4 ST, +1 DR (With the Tough Skin limitation) and +1 Size Modifier. This is worth approximately as much as a standard template.

Giant Beasts gain +10 ST, +2 DR (with the tough skin limitation) and +2 Size Modifier. This is worth approximately as much as a Greater template.

Killers

Monsters are lethal. They have long claws, sharp fangs, dangerous spines and the touch of death. People fear monsters because monsters murder, and Killers epitomize this fact. Whether they are knife-wielding assassins or marauding berserkers, these monsters focus on dealing damage.

The primary stats for a Killer are his Strength and Dexterity. This makes Killers surprisingly well-rounded fighters. Their high Strength grants them plenty of damage to defeat a foe, and plenty of HP to survive his counter attack. His higher Dexterity allows him to both evade attacks and to ensure his own attacks land home. Killers focus primarily on melee combat, wading into the players and attempting to inflict as much damage as possible, representing a very clear threat to everyone.

When using Killers, be careful that they don't overwhelm the players too quickly. Because of their high damage and accurate attacks, Killers bring with them the very real possibility of a PC death (and, in fact, this occurred during one of our practice fights). Killer Bosses, in particular, can be extremely lethal. On the flip side, they're not as tough or as agile as other monsters, and their lack of solid defenses often means that if they do not overwhelm the players, the players will defeat them quickly.

Attributes: ST +1 [10], DX +1 [20]

Advantages: Choose either Combat Reflexes [15] or +1 ST
and +1 Striking Strength for [15]

Disadvantages: Choose one of the following: Bad
Temper (12), Berserk (12), Bestial, Bloodlust(12),
Bully(12), Easy to Read, Life Bane, Obsession (Killing
members of a particular race or religion), all [-10]

Skills: Choose one of the following packages:

• Brawl at DX+5 [16]
• Brawl at DX+3 [8] and one of the following: Knife at DX+3 [8] or Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Two-Handed Axe/Mace, Two-handed Sword or Wrestling at DX+2 [8] or Flail or Two-Handed Flail at DX+1[8]

Notes: Most Killers should generally take Combat Reflexes unless they already have it as part of a racial template.
Killers with Bad Temper must always test to resist rushing the first hero to insult them or call them out.
Berserk Killers should always use All-Out Attacks.
Bestial Killers only kill when hungry and can easily be distracted with some spare meat or the player can negotiate with them with an Animal Handling roll.
Killers with Bloodlust operate more like they have a "Murder addition." Theyshould always stop to finish someone off, especially their own fallen allies (With players, they might prefer to kidnap them and “finish them off later, when they can enjoy it”). He must roll to keep from killing his own off if he has nothing to do.
Bully Killers must roll to resist the temptation to mistreat and
generally alienate allies on his own side. Players can easily trick them into turning on their own.
Easy to Read Killer wear their lethality on their sleeve, and suffer a -4
to trick delvers into thinking they're going to do something else. If the monster is the sort that wouldn't try to trick the delvers anyway, he suffers a -4 to feint
attempts as well.
Life Bane Killers always give away their presence with dead plants or dark vibes. In addition to the +2 to detect their presence, even Delvers who aren't actively looking for a stealthy target should get a roll to detect their presence.
Obsessed Killers always target their obsession first. They'll disregard anyone that isn't part of their obsession until they've finished off their favored foes first.

Additional Killer Templates

Elegant Killers
Elegant Killers use high DX and skill to slide past their opponent's defenses. They typically use more tact and cunning than most of their Killer brethren, often using Feints and Deceptive attacks to breach a foe's skilled defense.

Attributes: DX +2 [40]

Skills: Increase weapon skill or Brawl by +2 [8], or alternatively, replace weapon skill with Polearm or Shortsword at DX+4 [16], Brawl with Karate at DX+3 [16] (or DX+5 if Brawl was your only combat skill), or Wrestling with Judo DX+3 [16]

Greater Elegant Killers
Greater Elegant Killers resemble their Elegant Killer kin, but have completely mastered the use of a particular weapon. This template includes the Elegant Killer Template.

Attributes: DX+2 [40]

Advantages: Choose either Weapon Master (Single Weapon) [20] or increase DX by +1 [20]

Skills: Increase weapon skill or Brawl by +8 [32], or replace weapon skill with Polearm or Shortsword at DX+10 [48], Brawl with Karate at DX+9[48], or Wrestling with Judo at DX+9[48]

Swift Killers
Swift killers use speed over power to kill their opponents as quickly as possible. They often blur into a pack of enemies, slashing wildly. Multi-armed creatures make for good Swift Killers Their Extra Attack means they get a minimum of two attacks every turn. For All-Out Attacks or Rapid Attacks, only increase total available attacks by 1.

Secondary Attributes: Basic Speed +1 [20]

Advantages: Extra Attack (Multi-strike) [30]

Greater Swift Killers
Greater Swift Killers expand on their speed to supernatural proportions, killing their foes before they can even act. This template includes the Swift Killer template. A Greater Swift Killer's Accelerated Time Rate allows him to gain 10 seconds where he has two turns for every second that passes. He may only activate this ability once during a fight.

Secondary Attributes: Basic Speed +2 [40]

Advantages: Extra Attack (Multi-Strike) [30], Accelerated Time Rate (Maximum Duration 10 seconds -75%) [25]

Power Killers
Power Killers sacrifice their speed and grace in favor of making devastating attacks. Power Blow requires several turns to activate and costs 1 fatigue (so minion Power Killers may only use it once), but once it hits, it doubles the Killers ST for the purposes of damage.

Attributes: ST +4 [40]

Secondary Attributes: Basic Speed -0.5 [-10]

Skills: Power Blow Will+4 [20]

Greater Power Killers
Greater Power Killers merely expand upon the skill and capability of their Power Killer brethren, gaining sufficient skill in Power Blow to activate it instantly. This template includes the Power Killer template.

Attributes: ST +6 [60]

Secondary Attributes: Basic Speed -0.5 [-10]

Skills: Power Blow Will+10 [44]

Strange Killers
Magical, mutant or unholy Killers display deadly attacks when their weapon or hand connects with their foe. They may only use their strange attack 3 times in a fight, and it always requires a successful melee attack (declared before hand). If a Strange Killer chooses to take a second, Alternate Attack as part of his package, he may only use both of his attacks a total of 3 times.

Advantages: Choose one power below.

Skills: Either increase Brawl or a weapon skill by +2 [8], or gain a second power as an alternate ability [8]

Special Powers: Choose one of the following:

• Burning Touch: The killer ignites his target in a fiery attack. Ideal for sheer damage. Inflict 3d Burning damage on a successful blow, and Follow-Up immediately with 2d Burning, which further cycles every turn for the next 3 seconds.
• Icy Touch: The killer freezes his foe in place. Ideal for eliminating lesser Delvers from the fight. Inflict 2d Freezing Fatigue damage, and the target must roll HT (with a penalty equal to the damage inflicted) or be Paralyzed for the remainder of the fight. This paralysis might be removed with a careful thawing.
• Flaying Touch: The killer rends skin and sends fire coursing along nerves in this devastating attack. Ideal for weakening a strong foe. Inflict 3d Impaling damage, and the target must roll HT (with a penalty equal to the damage inflicted) or suffer Terrible Pain (-6) for the remainder of the battle.
• Corrupting Touch: The killer imparts a lethal disease, poison, or simply a entropic energy that slowly dissolves the target. Ideal for scaring players after the fight is finished, and forcing them to come up with solutions. Inflict 4d toxic damage and the target must make a HT roll or suffer an immediate Follow Up of 2d toxic damage, that also cycles every minute for the next ten minutes. Depending on the nature of the attack, Cure Disease, Neutralize Poison or simple Esoteric Healing (either Druid or Holy) will purge the victim of the taint that besets him.

[Mailanka]

Stalkers

Monsters are sneaky. They don't play by the rules everyone else plays. Instead, they hide in the dark with their snatching claws, lurk behind walls or scuttle across ceilings. They move swiftly and grab what they want, harrying heroes before racing away to hide once more. These monsters focus on stealth, mobility and battlefield control.

The primary statistic for a Stalker is his Dexterity. Agile, swift and mobile, they use their high dexterity and basic move to stay out of the reach of the adventurers, often attacking with ranged weapons, or using their superior stealth to slip around behind adventurers and ambush them. In a stand-up fight, though, they don't usually fair so well, so Stalkers work best when they use the terrain to their advantage.

Stalkers have two flaws. Poorly equipped players may find themselves constantly outmaneuvered, unable to mount an effective defense to such a fluid enemy. Stalkers might be a bad match for slow-moving, primarily melee characters, unless you want to make a point about the importance of maneuverability. On the other hand, Stalkers don't fare well when the player's finally pin them down, so you have to place them in positions that will suit their talents: wide open areas with plenty of hiding places or strange terrain that they are well-suited for. Remember, including Stalkers in your encounters changes the rules of engagement from a straight up brawl to one of mobility and awareness.

Stalkers generally work best as minions, which suits the stalker stereotype of a cowardly, sneaky beast that dies easily when you pin it down. Worthy or Boss stalkers tend to work best as "assassins."

Also, remember that creatures with a move higher than 10 get a step of 2 or more.

Attributes: DX +2 [40]

Secondary Attributes: Perception +1 [5]

Advantages: Night Vision 3 [3]

Disadvantages: One of HT-1, Will -2, Bad Smell, Cowardice, Dread (Light), Easy to Kill -5, Fearfulness -5, Loner (6, -4), Low Pain Threshold, Paranoia all at [-10]

Skills: Stealth at DX+2 [8], and one of the following packages:

• Brawl DX+2 [4]
• Knife DX+2 [4], or Shortsword or Spear at DX+1 [4]
• Both Knife DX+1 [2] and Thrown Weapon (Knife) DX+1 [2] or both Spear or Axe/Mace DX [2] and Thrown Weapon (Spear or Axe/Mace) DX+1 [2]
• Bow or Sling, both DX [4]
• Innate Attack, DX+2 [4]

Stalkers should only take Innate Attack if you plan on giving them a Strange template.
Smelly Stalkers can be detected by anyone with a good nose (and automatically fail any Stealth rolls against someone with Discriminatory Smell).
Cowardly Stalkers should do everything they can to avoid a direct conflict with the heroes. Harrying them from a distance is fine, but they'll run the instant the heroes close in. Furthermore, they suffer a -2 to Fear checks.
Stalkers with Dread will avoid bright light, and cower (rather than fight) should they be trapped in a sudden blaze of light. Optionally, you can instead inflict a -2 or -4 penalty on all their rolls while in bright light.
Easy to Kill is only appropriate to Stalker Bosses.
Loner Stalkers suffer from Bad Tempers whenever they are around lots of other monsters, and must roll to keep from violently lashing out at them.
Low Pain Threshold is not appropriate for minion Stalkers.
Paranoid Stalker must roll to avoid believing anything dark and malicious said about their comrades, and generally prefer to fight alone. They can be turned against their own with some successful trickery (or good Fast-Talk rolls)

Additional Stalker Templates

Cunning Stalkers
Cunning Stalkers defeat their foes with their intellect and traps rather than direct confrontation. Before the fight, consider secretly rolling Tactics to allow the Stalkers to know and exploit one of the party's weaknesses, and consider allowing the Stalker to roll traps to set up a trap of their own (or two!). Beyond that, their main asset is their ability to see through the delvers' trickery.

Attributes: IQ +1 [20]

Secondary Attributes: Perception +2 [10]

Skills: Tactics IQ+3 [12], Traps IQ+2 [8]

Swift Stalkers
Swift Stalkers rely on mobility and use their terrain to the best of their advantage. Swift Stalkers are, in fact, a wide category of various subsets. Some Swift Stalkers are quick swimmers or deft climbers or race through tree branches to avoid their foes. Make sure you have some interesting terrain to give them the most of their advantages.

Attributes: DX +1 [20]

Secondary Attributes: Move +2 [10]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15], Surefooted (Choose one) [1]

Skills: Choose one of the following: Swimming HT+2 [4], Acrobatics DX [4], or Climbing DX+1 [4]

Assassin Stalker
A Stalker's Stalker, the Assassin Stalker uses stealth and combat skill to his greatest advantage, slipping behind his foes and eliminating them ruthlessly. As all Assassin Stalkers have access to the poison skill, consider allowing them to slather their blades or arrows with some deadly poison. Worthy or Boss Assassin Stalkers often carry a spare vial of poison on them that the heroes can loot.

Attributes: DX +1 [20]

Secondary Attributes: Perception +2 [10]

Advantages: Silence 2 [10]

Skills: Increase Stealth by +1 [4] and one weapon skill by +2 [8]. Gain Poison at IQ [2]

Greater Assassin Stalker
Truly deadly Assassin Stalkers perfect their already considerable stealth and become nearly as proficient with their weapon as most Killers are, making him a terror in his own right. This template includes the Assassin Stalker template:

Attributes: DX +2 [40]

Secondary Attributes: Perception +2 [10]

Advantages: Silence 2 [10]

Skills: Increase Stealth by +4 [16] and one weapon skill by +5 [20]. Gain Poison at IQ [2]

Strange Stalkers
Magical, mutant and unholy stalkers can manipulate their environment in strange fashions or unleash terrible blasts upon their foes.

Special Powers: Choose on of the following powers

• Shadow Casting: These creepy Stalkers drag shadows around them to deepen the darkness, where they feel most comfortable. Inflict darkness on an area up to 32 yards around the Stalker (generally, an entire room), enough to inflict a -4 on all rolls regarding vision. Replace Nightvision with Dark Vision
• Blink: The Stalker vanishes from one point and arrives at another in an instant. The Stalker may use Warp to a distance of up to 10 yards up to 3 times a day. He gains +6 to his roll, but for practical purposes, he should spend 1 turn concentrating, and then assume a success.
• Invisibility: The stalker vanishes from view! He has Invisibility, which he may switch on and off automatically, and allows him to carry up to Light Encumbrance.
• Thorny Blast: The stalker snipes his foes with poisoned darts. The attack has Acc 3 1/2D 10, Max 100, RoF 1. On a hit, inflict 3d Impaling damage and the target makes a HT roll with a penalty equal to the damage dealt. Failure Stuns the target and inflicts 1d toxic damage for the next 3 seconds.
• Fire Blast: The stalker unleashes an explosive blast of fire! The attack has Acc 3 1/2D 10, Max 100, RoF 1. On a hit, inflict 5d Burning damage. Everyone within 1 yard of the target takes 2d burning damage, and everyone within 2 yards of the target takes 1d burning damage. Even on a miss, the target might take some burning damage from the explosion (Roll for scatter).
• Storm Casting: The stalker summons wind and lightning to buffet and blast his targets. The attack has Acc 3 1/2D 10, Max 100, RoF 1. On a hit, inflict either 6d(2) Burning damage with the Surge modifier, or inflict 2 yards of Knockback if you successfully roll higher than the target's ST-2 on 3d6 (4 yards if you double his ST). Note that the air blast is mainly useful to position targets.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Each role has a list of associated templates that, if applied to a racial template, should help you put together a monster ideally suited to that sort of tactic in combat.

I heart this idea.

[Mailanka]

Tricksters

Monsters are deceptive. They wear human skins and walk among men. They seduce, lie, cheat, steal and always have some trick hidden up their sleeve. Only a fool would trust a monster, and yet some monsters are so capable, so cunning, that people find themselves falling for their lies anyway. These monsters focus on supporting other monsters, social skills and defeating their foes via non-combat tactics.

Tricksters focus on IQ as their primary attribute. As a result, they often lack the raw, physical power of other monsters. They tend to make up for this by supporting other monsters in battle, or finding a way to engage the players outside of typical combat, such as disguising themselves as a helpless maiden, or dazzling the characters with Awe or Terror.

Ideal Tricksters tend to be worthies or, better, bosses who force the players to deal with their foe in an unusual manner. Unlike most other monsters, they're quite happy to negotiate, and quite good at it as well. If the players choose not to play the Trickster's game, the fight can be over very quickly, so you should have some back up ideas in case the players just ignore the beast's honeyed words and just attack. Generally, this involves either some convoluted trickery (the monster is at the far end of a very acoustic labyrinth), making the Trickster enormously powerful in combat by adding other templates (motivating the players to play the Trickster's games rather than fight him), or including additional monsters under the Trickster's command. Combat-obsessed delver groups might not appreciate the finer points of a Trickster, but a party who enjoys talking to monsters, especially a party with social characters like Bards, will appreciate the challenge more.

Attributes: IQ +2 [40]

Advantages: One of Empathy, Will +3 or Perception +3 [15]

Disadvantages: One of Compulsive Lying (12), Overconfidence and Impulsive; Lecherousness; Sadism; Trickster; Vow (Harm none who can answer my riddles); All [-15]

Skills: One of Brawl or Knife at DX+1 [2], Rapier, Smallsword, Shortsword, Staff or Broadsword at DX [2]; One of Acting or Fast Talk at IQ+2 [8], Sex Appeal at HT+2 [8] or Intimidation at Will+2 [8]

Notes: Overconfident and Impulsive Tricksters always assume that they can handle the heroes. Unlike the rest of their Trickster kin, they don't spend time plotting, but merely leap into the fray to test their wits. They should never be allowed to plan in advance.
Lecherous Tricksters can easily be persuaded or distracted by attractive members of the opposite sex, and will often seek to kidnap or befriend said characters. Naturally, Lecherous Tricksters are attracted to any Attractive delver, regardless of race.
Sadistic Tricksters have to attempt kidnapping, rather than kill, their prey and then monologue endlessly while they torture and tease their prey (often loudly, giving the players a chance to recover their missing party member). Trickster Tricksters focus on non-violent pranks over actual combat, and might prefer to create convoluted puzzles to confound the players, and admit defeat when the puzzle is solved.
Finally Tricksters with the Vow (Harm none who can answer my riddles) must attempt to riddle with the players before going into combat with them. Successfully “outriddling” such a trickster effectively defeats him.

Additional Trickster Templates

Clever Trickster
Clever Tricksters are broadly useful, more capable in combat and adept at social skills. They tend to be deceptive, but often focus more on warfare than pure trickery. They make excellent leaders for lesser monsters. With their tactics, you should give patient Tricksters a chance to “plan ahead” and exploit the weaknesses of heroes. With their Psychology, consider letting them know the emotional weaknesses of a player, and play off of them. With Leadership, consider letting them roll to overcome the mental disadvantages of other monsters and bring them together to defeat the delvers. As with Cunning Stalkers, consider allowing Clever Tricksters a roll ahead of time to discover and exploit a player's weakness, and a roll ahead of time to establish some traps.

Attributes: IQ +2 [40]

Skills: Tactics IQ-1 {2}, Traps IQ [2], your choice of +1 to Fast Talk or Acting, or gain either Leadership or Psychology at IQ+1 [4]. Finally, Add +1 to a single combat skill [2].

Luscious Trickster
Some monsters are just plain sexy. Even relatively ugly monsters can be gorgeous if they turn out to be Luscious Tricksters. The Luscious Trickster uses her (it's usually a her, but doesn't have to be) beauty to disarm the players, often posing as a victim or a damsel, or simply offering them a night in her bed, before striking. If that doesn't work, she hammers them with Awe.

When applying this template to a normally ugly monster, disregard that monster's ugliness.

Advantages: Beautiful (Universal +25%) [15], Awe [30]

Skills: Increase Sex Appeal by +1 [4] (But remember that her Beauty gives her an additonal +3)

Nightmarish Trickster
The opposite of the Luscious Trickster, the Nightmarish Trickster revels in his monstrosity. He is the mind-numbing terror that makes the weak-minded go still. He still prefers to talk, but from the position of strength that his chilling visage brings. Most Nightmarish Tricksters are Impressive, but you can ignore that advantage for an ugly species, and instead improve the Terror to a -2 to rolls, if you wish.

Advantages: Attractive (Impressive, Universal) [5], Terror (-1 to Fright Check) [40]

Skills: Increase Intimidation by +1 [4] (But don't forget to add the bonus from Impressive Looks for an addition +1)

Strange Tricksters
More than any other type of monsters, Tricksters are likely to exhibit strange abilities. Magical, mutant or unholy tricksters can deceive the senses, the mind, or even hoodwink fate.

Special Powers: Choose one of the following:

• Hypnotic Voice/Eyes: 3 times per day, the Trickster can attempt to control the mind of another who can hear his voice or sees his eyes (Choose one when taking this power). This is Mind Control. Concentrate, and then roll IQ +2 vs the Target's will. If the Trickster wins, he can control his target for one minute per point he won the quick contest by. Incapacitation or forcing the target to do something they would not (such as violating a Sense of Duty) forces another Quick Contest. Furthermore, the Hypnotic Trickster gains +1 to IQ for [20] points.
• Dream-Weaving: You can manipulate what others think they see and hear. After concentrating, roll IQ+2 vs the target's will. Success allows you to control what they see and hear. Your illusions may be anything, but they cannot directly harm the target (an illusion of an arrow striking him does no damage), and they still have control over their body. They can always choose to ignore what they see and hear and “fight blind.” Thus, most Tricksters choose to create subtle illusions, so the target doesn't realize he's being tricked
• Mimic: The Trickster can change its form to imitate what it sees. By spending a turn concentrating, it can shifts its form to match whatever it can see (in general terms: if it sees humans, it can choose to exactly mimic the humans it sees, or it can choose to become a general human). It gains none of the powers of the creature it changed into. It must retain its mass and it can only change into other “animals,” but it may appear to be any creature it sees otherwise.
• Luck Shifter: The Trickster can rewrite chance to a limited degree. Once per 30 minutes of game play, it may force any roll (its own or others made it its presence) to be rerolled twice, and it chooses the roll it likes the most. It can use this to force others to fail, or to force itself to succeed. It may not use its power against a very specific subset of people (for example, people that know its name, or people wearing the color blue, etc). Determine this limitation ahead of time.

[The_Nightwatch]

Very impressive!!

[Mailanka]

Brutes

Monsters are tough. They ignore the lesser blows of mortal men, armored in plates of demonic steel, slabs of greasy flesh or alien carapaces. Even if you do kill them, they just rise from the grave, hungry for flesh and revenge. Only the blessed blade of heroes can hope to defeat these monsters.

Brutes focus on Strength and Health as their primary attributes. This makes them extraordinarily tough fighters who can be dangerous as well, making them vital for a "tanking" role, acting as a living wall of meat for their monstrous allies. In general, they simply wade into battle and harry the delvers, forcing them to pay attention to them while other, less durable monsters are free from danger. Brutes have more than just physical durability, however. They're often treated with mental and spiritual durability as well, making them tough on spell caster and social characters too.

Brutes make for poor minions, for obvious reasons. As worthies, Brutes do what they can to distract the players, and work well if they are dangerous, but if the players can ignore them to go after more interesting targets, then the Brute has failed in his defensive role. Design him accordingly. Brute Bosses make excellent adversaries, however, as their durability forces the players to problem-solve if they want to defeat him.


Advantages: ST +1 [10], HT +1 [10]

Secondary Attributes: HP +4 [8], Will +2[10]

Advantages: High Pain Threshold [10], +1 ST [10] or +1 HT [10]

Disadvantages: Choose one of Perception -2, Berserker, Bestial, Sense of Duty (A specific group of monsters or followers of a Religion), Gullibility (12), Gluttony (6), Vow (To Defend a particular spot eternally) or Vulnerability (x2 damage from a Rare substance, defaults to Silver) all worth [-10]

Skills: One of the following packages:

• Brawling DX+2 [4] and Wrestling DX+2 [8]
• Wrestling DX+1 [4] and one of the following weapon skills: Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Staff, Spear, Two-Handed Axe/Mace, Two-Handed Sword at DX+2 [8]
• Shield DX+2 [4] and one of the following weapon skills: Broadsword, Axe/Mace, Spear at DX+2 [8]

Notes: While this and all the other templates lists odd hit point values, when your final values are determined, consider rounding to the nearest 5 for ease of dealing with the huge Brute HP totals. Remember the rules of High HP and Shock (419) and High HP and Natural Recovery (424), as Brutes will often enjoy those benefits.
Berserk and Bestial Brutes behave much like their Killer counterparts.
Dutiful Brutes go out of their way to protect their kin and can easily be persuaded or negotiated with if it becomes clear that the heroes will kill everyone the Brute intends to protect.
Gluttonous Brutes must roll to resist their disadvantage if, while negotiating, they are offered food.
Brutes with a Vow will never consciously leave the side of the thing they have vowed to protect, and no negotiation is possible. However, players can generally avoid them by avoiding the protected item.
Finally Vulnerable Brutes provide an opprotunity for players to get around their huge defenses more easily. The vulnerability can be anything rare, but silver is the default, because “silver weapons” are synonymous with attacking monstrous vulnerabilities. However, you may use something else similarly appropriate.

Additional Brute Templates

Graceful Brute
While many Brutes rely on their sheer HP totals to get them through their fights, the Graceful Brute prefers to rely on his speed and skill to prevent injury to himself. They force players to use Feints and Deceptive attacks to get past his solid parries and dodges.

Attributes: DX +1 [20]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes or Enhanced Dodge [15], Enhanced Parry (One Melee Weapon) +2 or Enhanced Block (Shield) +2 [10]

Skills: Increase one Weapon Skill, Brawl or Shield by +1 [4]

Greater Graceful Brute
This Brute has honed its skill with a weapon to complete perfection, creating a wall of flashing steel that keeps any foe at bay, and allows him to slip past the defenses of unprepared foes. This template includes the Graceful Brute template.

Attributes: DX +2 [40]

Advantages: Combat Reflexes or Enhanced Dodge [15], Enhanced Parry (One Melee Weapon) +2 or Enhanced Block (Shield) +2 [10]

Skills: Increase one Weapon Skill, Brawl or Shield by +7 [28]

Hardy Brute
The Brute's Brute. The Hardy Brute is just tougher than everyone else, with more hit points than any single monster has the right to. They lack elegance, charging forward and letting their massive meat-bodies absorb all damage.

Attributes: ST+1 [10], HT +1 [10]

Secondary Attributes: HP +12 [24]

Advantages: Damage Resistance 2 (Tough Skin -40%) [6]

Greater Hardy Brute
Even tougher than his Hardy Brute kin, almost nothing can put a Greater Hardy Brute down. Ideal for absurdly tough Bosses. This template includes the Hardy Brute

Attributes: ST +2 [20], HT +2 [20]

Secondary Attributes: HP +16 [32]

Advantages: Damage Resistance 5 (Tough Skin -40%) [15], Hard to Kill +3 [6]

Stolid Brute
Not all fights are about HP or Parry values. Sometimes the battle is won by a resistance to any and all influence attempts. The Stolid Brute focuses tirelessly on the goal at hand, never wavering.

Secondary Attributes: Will +4 [20]

Advantages: Indomitable [15], Unfazeable [15]

Mana Breaker Brute
Like the Stolid Brute, the Mana Breaker focuses on something other than physical durability. In his case, spiritual durability, resisting the powers of mages and clerics alike.

Advantages: HT +2 [20]

Secondary Attributes: Will +4 [20]

Advantages: Magic Resistance +5 [10]

Strange Brutes
Magical, mutant or unholy Brutes display unnatural tenacity and hardiness, forcing the players to problem solve on how best to defeat such a monstrosity. Each Strange Brute, in addition to the Power Modifier, has a vulnerability that heroes can exploit.

Disadvantages: Choose either Vulnerability (Rare (Default: Silver), x2) or Increase current Vulnerability to (Rare, x4) or (Occasional, x2). Occasional Vulnerabilities might include: Magical Weapons, non-magical weapons, steel, wood.

Special Powers: Choose one of the Following

• Vampiric Aura: Everyone within a 2 yard radius of the Brute loses 1 HP per turn, which increases the Brutes HP by a similar amount.
• Invulnerability: Choose one type of damage or one broad weapon type (Steel, Wood, Cutting Damage, Crushing Damage, Impaling Damage). The Brute gains +4 DR vs that damage type, and any remaining damage is reduced to one-fourth before it is applied to the Brute's HP.
• Pain Aura: Everyone within 2 yards of the Brute must roll HT or be wracked by Terrible Pain (-6). This pain lasts for 1 minute, or until the Brute is killed
• Greater Armor: The Brute is sheathed in powerful armor (a magical shield, a potent carapace, runic platemail). It prevents him from wearing any additional armor, but grants a DR of 20.
• Regeneration: The Brute focuses his inner energies and unleashes enormous healing potential, his flesh knitting before the eyes of the Delver. It grants him 10 seconds of Extreme Regeneration (requires 1 turn of concentration, 3 uses per day), and an additional +10 HP.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Great idea, thanks for sharing! :)

[b-dog]

How about some insanity radiating beasts like Lovecraftain Elder Things? Maybe exposure to such creatures makes the character go insane or develope phobias or other mentally debilitaing things?

[Mailanka]

Casters

While not in the first version of my monster book, we quickly discovered that you must have magical monsters in a dungeon fantasy game, and so I put together some Caster templates.

Like Tricksters, Casters focus on IQ, but where Tricksters are leaders and social characters, Casters focus entirely on scholarly pursuits and magic spells. Casters are well suited for warlocks, liches, witches, cultists and demi-gods. They perform the same basic roles that casters do in a party: the harry the enemy, support and heal their allies, and cast powerful attack spells.

The primary problem with casters is that they are hard for the GM to track. They have many spells, they must spend turns casting and track fatigue. As a result, I recommend having no more than one or two casters per encounter, simply for your own sanity! In general, I offer the option of taking Wild Car Spell Colleges, and I recommend you take it. It's not necessarily well balanced, but it's alot easier to note that a monster has Fire Magic! at 16 than it is to list his various and sundry fire spells. If you choose to use Caster minions, remember that each can cast one spell once, and that's it. No worrying about Fatigue.

I have a table of "quick references" for common spells that monstrous casters might use, including page numbers (not the actual effects: gotta by the Magic book for that :P), a prerequisite count (for use with the Wild Card Magic), which I might post at the end, provided I have time.

Attributes: IQ+1 [20]

Secondary Attributes: Fatigue +2 [6]

Advantages: Choose one of the following

• Magery +1 [15] (Or, if your race begins with Magery 0+, gain +1 Magery and +1 Will)
• Clerical Investment [5] and Power Investiture 1 (Holy or Unholy) [10]
• Perception +1 [5] and Power Investiture 1 (Druid) [10]

Disadvantages: Choose one of: ST -1, Bully (12), Cowardice (12), Dread (Holy Symbols, 1 yard), Easy to Read, Frightens Animals, Life Bane, Megalomania, Paranoia, or Phantom Voices (Disturbing), all worth [-10]

Skills: Choose one of Innate Attack or Knife, both at DX+2 [4] or Staff at DX+1 [4]; Choose one of Occultism at IQ+1[4] or Theology at IQ [4]

Spells: Choose twelve spells at IQ-1* for [1] each, or choose one Spell College! Skill at IQ* for [12]

Notes: Casters can resemble Wizards, Clerics or Druids when it comes to their magic, and generally learn equivalent spells. They have a wide assortment of disadvantages available to them, many of which have already been discussed or need no further explanations.
Easy to Read Casters suffer -4 to all rolls to try to trick the delvers, or to resist any attempts to discern his real motives or interests.
Casters that Dread Holy Symbols will not willingly approach within a yard of one (cheap holy symbols work, improvised do not).
Megalomaniacal Casters behave exactly as you might expect they would.

Additional Caster Templates

Archcaster
More advanced casters often bury their noses into books or spend all their time praying to their dark god, and thus master the fine art of their magic. These casters have high skill levels, or very broad powers, providing them with numerous options in a fight. You may take this template repeatedly.

Attributes: IQ +1 [20]

Advantages: Magery +1 or Power Investiture +1 (Holy, Unholy, Druid) [10]

Skills: +2 to Innate Attack, Staff, Knife, Occultism or Theology[8]

Spells: 12 points divided among spells, +1 to Spell College!, or gain a new Spell College! At IQ+1* [12]

Power Caster
Some casters are innately powerful. They bear the gift of their dark god, or magic burns bright in their dark, twisted soul. While these casters lack the proficiency of their Archcaster cousins, they more than make up for it in sheer power. Their enormous fatigue reserves allows them to cast the more powerful of spells more often, thus laying waste to the party with sheer, brute spiritual might. You may take this template repeatedly.

Secondary Attributes: Fatigue +10 [30]

Skills: +2 to Innate Attack, Staff, Knife, Occultism or Theology[8]

Spells: 12 points divided among spells, +1 to Spell College!, or gain a new Spell College! At IQ+1* [12]

Wild Caster
Some casters use their magic innately, calling on their ancestral heritage or the very power of the air in their lungs and the ground beneath their feet. Three times per session, they may cast any single spell, regardless of prerequisites or capability, by rolling IQ + Magery. They must still pay the appropriate energy costs and spend the appropriate time casting. You may take this template repeatedly, each time adding three more uses. This template is ideally suited to magic users whose spell lists the GM doesn't want to work out ahead of time, merely casting "whatever is appropriate."

Advantages: Wild Talent 3 (Magic Spells only -20%) [48]

Blood Caster
Blood Casters have a special pact with their dark god, or have unlocked malicious, necromantic secrets that allow them to power their magic with the souls of the recently slain. Either way, once per session, if they kill one of their own comrades in a gruesome, ritual fashion (generally fodder), they instantly gain 25 fatigue that they may use to power a single spell. You may take this template repeatedly, each time adding an additional (unique, non-stackable) use of the sacrificial power. This sort of caster is ideal for scaring the crap out of the players with vast displays of power, but also gives them a chance to prevent the caster from unleashing his enormous spell by stopping him from killing a minion.

Secondary Attributes: +25 Fatigue (Once per day (Usable for one spell) -40%, Requires a sacrificed minion -10%) [50]