A “monster,” in a role playing
game, is any enemy, from the little goblins and huge dragons of
classic fantasy, to security guards and ninja in modern games, to
little robots and huge mutants in science fiction. They don’t have
to be inhuman — even your evil twin is a monster, after all. Since
our guiding principle in USR is to be simple and fast, let’s create
an entire Monster Manual in one chart.
 |
| Like these ones, but all in one blog post. (image: dungeonsmaster.com) |
This is inspired by the original
monster chart, found in Scott Malthouse’s Halberd Fantasy
Roleplaying, page 26. It assigns levels to monsters, to approximate
their power and competence. We’ll streamline it here.
Power Level
|
Main Stat Die
|
Combat Bonus
|
Hit Points
|
Examples
|
I
|
D6
|
+0
|
5
|
Giant Rat, Goblin |
II
|
D6
|
+1
|
10
|
Guard, Orc, Thug, Wolf |
III
|
D8
|
+2
|
15
|
Ninja, Security Robot, Soldier |
IV
|
D8
|
+3
|
20
|
Bear, Gang Boss |
V
|
D10
|
+4
|
25
|
Ogre, Super-Soldier |
VI
|
D10
(or
D12)
|
+5
|
30
|
Dragon, Vampire Lord |
Main Stat Die: The die used for most of
the monster’s rolls. In most cases, this will be its Action stat,
but a psychic warrior might have its Mind as the main stat, to better
use its powers.
You can assign the other stats as
needed, based on what’s appropriate for the monster (for example,
the guard standing outside the emperor’s throne room has Action as
his main stat, representing his fighting skills with that halberd
he’s carrying. But if you’re trying to convince him to let you
pass, you’ll have to decide what his Wits stat is — probably
about the same as his action, a D6). In the same way, Specialisms
aren’t listed for monsters, but they can be assigned as needed,
probably offering a bonus of +1 or +2, like a starting hero. You
might even assign a penalty to a monster’s roll, say -2 if a big,
dumb ogre is trying to solve the riddle your hero has posed. And trying to play a riddle game with a normal wolf simply won't work at all, no dice rolls, penalties or bonuses needed.
Combat Bonus: This is used for both the
monster’s attacks and defenses, and represents weapons, armor,
brute strength, magical ability, and whatever else is needed. It too
can fluctuate depending on the specific attack the creature is
making: that vampire lord uses a +5 to lure your hero close to him,
but only a +2 to throw a punch.
Hit Points: The maximum hit points for
the monster, putting Power Level II and III monsters on par with most
Domino Writing-style USR heroes. You can take a cue from Dungeons &
Dragons 4th Edition and decrease a monster’s HP to 1, if you want
to have heroes wipe out a half-dozen monsters in just a few turns.
The math here is pretty easy to see, so
you can create more mosters easily, though most things will fit
somewhere on this scale.
Where do monsters in
your game fit on the Power Level chart?
