1.0 Simplified Enemy Stats
1.1 Enemy Ranks and Tick Tables
1.2 Elaboration On Enemy Ranks
2.0 Sample Enemies
2.1 Enemy Abilities
2.2 Drops
1.1 Enemy Ranks and Tick Tables
1.2 Elaboration On Enemy Ranks
2.0 Sample Enemies
2.1 Enemy Abilities
2.2 Drops
1.0 Simplified Enemy Stats
Feel free to basically never make your NPCs follow the same rules as the player in so far as things like character progression (Maximum HP, Skill Points, etc.) for several reasons.
1. It is often indescribably difficult to convey the NPC stats that you actually imagined in your mind. Its more important that you know what the result of the NPC's hypothetical stats should be rather that what their stats should be to attain that result.
2. If you tried to make a character sheet for every possible NPC that might show up in your game then you wouldn't able to run your game because the heat death of the universe would have already shimmied by twice. You won't always have stats for a dude, but that's fine.
Here's some alternate rules for when the stats of the game don't/won't fulfill your needs as a Host, which will be most of the time. The stats in this game are solid for players and high lethality PvP but can be cumbersome and more complex than necessary for a Host who plays several more than one character per session, and whose job is to entertain. All uses of the words "Player Level" below assume all players being the same Level, or that you have chosen a Level for this to refer to such as the average level of all players'.
HP is imprecise for the purposes of a Host. The damage the players' deal can be surprising, whether its an unforeseen tactic, good rolls, or bad rolls drawing out a combat for too long. Instead you could choose to use Tallies. A creature loses 1 Tally each time it takes damage, 1 additional Tally when it is it is critically hit and takes damage, 1 Tally when a player(s) use good strategy against the creature and, in the case of Bosses, 5 Tallies when the players complete its Mechanic (Bosses elaborated on below). If something deals weak damage (due to being Resisted or being something which relies on multiple instances of damage such as Arcane Beam) feel free to make it only deal 0.5 Tallies or even 0 Tallies sometimes.
Damage is complex, relying on multiple facets of a character that can even take time to keep track of when you're only playing one character. I mostly recommend that a Host references the "Attacks" and "Damage" headings on the table below when dealing damage unless you have a specific skill combo you want to show off, or are using a Magical Offensive Skill because it saves a lot of time and can make for more theatrical encounters if there are weaker enemies such as Fodder.
Damage Types are only important to consider in the case of Resistances, Immunities, and Vulnerabilities, making it a concern if a player is playing a Race with many which may be difficult to remember (such as a Skeleton) or if they're wearing Heavy Armor (being resistant to Slashing and Piercing) and sometimes medium armor (being resistant to a single damage type of their choice).
Hit is complex, relying on multiple facets of a character that are easy to keep track of when you're only playing one character. I fully recommend that a Host instead uses Accuracy to determine the Hit of enemies as it is mathematically very similar to the typical method and can save a lot of time.
Enemies have to roll 9 or higher on 1d20 + Accuracy to hit the player.
If the player is wearing Light/Medium/Heavy Armor respectively then the enemy has to roll 10/12/14 respectively instead of 9.
If the player dodges and the dodge result is lower than the enemy's Hit + 3 + Player Level, the player fails to dodge and is hit.
If the player parries and the parry result is lower than the enemy's HIT + 5 + Player Level, the player fails to parry and is hit.
Use Evasiveness. If it saves you 35 seconds of looking up armor defense bonuses across 100 NPCs it will save you an hour, and its almost the same, just use Evasiveness if you're not a player, save some time, save a life.
The below table lists ranks of enemies and their bonuses in the above alternate stats. Feel free to mix and match to some extent. Want to make Fodder more dangerous? Increase their Accuracy to that of Competent. Want to deal high damage, but a Powerful has too many Tallies for the (really cool) honorable duel the knight in the party challenged them with? Give the Powerful the Skilled's Tallies. Also feel free to adjust on the fly. If a fight that you planned on lasting 3 rounds is rolling around to round 5 or a fight you wanted to last 30 minutes is creeping up on 40 minutes, reduce all the the foe's Tallies by 1 (to a minimum of 1 so that none of them just drop dead, and the players still defeat the enemies themselves) or the opposite as need be.
There are literally thousands of stories which all sound the same in how they describe "I had a boss planned, it was gonna be super cool, then my players killed it in one round because of some lucky crits." Just make it live. Fighting the boss is playing the game, which is why the players are here, its what they do, players play, its not punishment to let them fight the cool enemy(s) you made, and I dare say it is punishment to allow the boss to die in a single round. Nothing about that is epic or theatrical. Its almost a let down of a story. Someone says "You guys fought a dragon?! That's so cool!" and the player says "Yeah, it was, but he just kinda breathed fire once then died, so its whatever."
1. It is often indescribably difficult to convey the NPC stats that you actually imagined in your mind. Its more important that you know what the result of the NPC's hypothetical stats should be rather that what their stats should be to attain that result.
2. If you tried to make a character sheet for every possible NPC that might show up in your game then you wouldn't able to run your game because the heat death of the universe would have already shimmied by twice. You won't always have stats for a dude, but that's fine.
Here's some alternate rules for when the stats of the game don't/won't fulfill your needs as a Host, which will be most of the time. The stats in this game are solid for players and high lethality PvP but can be cumbersome and more complex than necessary for a Host who plays several more than one character per session, and whose job is to entertain. All uses of the words "Player Level" below assume all players being the same Level, or that you have chosen a Level for this to refer to such as the average level of all players'.
HP is imprecise for the purposes of a Host. The damage the players' deal can be surprising, whether its an unforeseen tactic, good rolls, or bad rolls drawing out a combat for too long. Instead you could choose to use Tallies. A creature loses 1 Tally each time it takes damage, 1 additional Tally when it is it is critically hit and takes damage, 1 Tally when a player(s) use good strategy against the creature and, in the case of Bosses, 5 Tallies when the players complete its Mechanic (Bosses elaborated on below). If something deals weak damage (due to being Resisted or being something which relies on multiple instances of damage such as Arcane Beam) feel free to make it only deal 0.5 Tallies or even 0 Tallies sometimes.
Damage is complex, relying on multiple facets of a character that can even take time to keep track of when you're only playing one character. I mostly recommend that a Host references the "Attacks" and "Damage" headings on the table below when dealing damage unless you have a specific skill combo you want to show off, or are using a Magical Offensive Skill because it saves a lot of time and can make for more theatrical encounters if there are weaker enemies such as Fodder.
Damage Types are only important to consider in the case of Resistances, Immunities, and Vulnerabilities, making it a concern if a player is playing a Race with many which may be difficult to remember (such as a Skeleton) or if they're wearing Heavy Armor (being resistant to Slashing and Piercing) and sometimes medium armor (being resistant to a single damage type of their choice).
Hit is complex, relying on multiple facets of a character that are easy to keep track of when you're only playing one character. I fully recommend that a Host instead uses Accuracy to determine the Hit of enemies as it is mathematically very similar to the typical method and can save a lot of time.
Enemies have to roll 9 or higher on 1d20 + Accuracy to hit the player.
If the player is wearing Light/Medium/Heavy Armor respectively then the enemy has to roll 10/12/14 respectively instead of 9.
If the player dodges and the dodge result is lower than the enemy's Hit + 3 + Player Level, the player fails to dodge and is hit.
If the player parries and the parry result is lower than the enemy's HIT + 5 + Player Level, the player fails to parry and is hit.
Use Evasiveness. If it saves you 35 seconds of looking up armor defense bonuses across 100 NPCs it will save you an hour, and its almost the same, just use Evasiveness if you're not a player, save some time, save a life.
The below table lists ranks of enemies and their bonuses in the above alternate stats. Feel free to mix and match to some extent. Want to make Fodder more dangerous? Increase their Accuracy to that of Competent. Want to deal high damage, but a Powerful has too many Tallies for the (really cool) honorable duel the knight in the party challenged them with? Give the Powerful the Skilled's Tallies. Also feel free to adjust on the fly. If a fight that you planned on lasting 3 rounds is rolling around to round 5 or a fight you wanted to last 30 minutes is creeping up on 40 minutes, reduce all the the foe's Tallies by 1 (to a minimum of 1 so that none of them just drop dead, and the players still defeat the enemies themselves) or the opposite as need be.
There are literally thousands of stories which all sound the same in how they describe "I had a boss planned, it was gonna be super cool, then my players killed it in one round because of some lucky crits." Just make it live. Fighting the boss is playing the game, which is why the players are here, its what they do, players play, its not punishment to let them fight the cool enemy(s) you made, and I dare say it is punishment to allow the boss to die in a single round. Nothing about that is epic or theatrical. Its almost a let down of a story. Someone says "You guys fought a dragon?! That's so cool!" and the player says "Yeah, it was, but he just kinda breathed fire once then died, so its whatever."
1.1 Enemy Ranks and Tick Tables
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1.2 Elaboration On Enemy Ranks
You should usually describe the players' enemies in such a way that are able to tell on sight what Rank and enemies fall into, especially when it comes to Fodder and Bosses. One subversion is fine after "normal" has been established, but the players trust their senses less and less with every subversion.
Fodder are foes which are insignificant to your players. Depending on Level and the game these foes may be rats or angels, but they're best used by the fist full and/or alongside other Enemy Ranks. Allow them to all stand next to each other to make your player with AoE attacks laugh maniacally. A Boss with endless Fodder is classic and helps the players to feel progress even when the Boss is soaking up the damage with ease.
Weaklings are foes which are easily dispatched en mass with a little teamwork. A sort of middle ground enemy which makes for a good replacement for Fodder if their leader has fewer but stronger minions narratively, or if they're Powerful instead of being a Boss, but Weaklings are usually uninteresting on their own, lacking the staying power of Competents for mechanics, and lacking the disposability and weakness of Fodder to allow for just smacking down thirty dudes and saying "Go ham." unless the party has good AoE damage dealers.
Competents are foes which are difficult to fight in large numbers due to their high number of Tallies and noticeable damage output, making them good for light challenges in groups of equal numbers to the players, or legitimate challenges when they outnumber the players 1.5 to 1. Probably the best Rank to be the most common enemies to show up in a game. Grouping these with some fodder can be a very well rounded encounter, or with a couple of Skilled foes or a single Powerful enemy for a serious encounter.
Skilleds are foes which are a bridge between Competents and Powerfuls. Similar to Weaklings in that they have a niche and are not likely to be used as much as that which they bridge. Any time you would have a Competent you could instead have a Skilled if you want a more deadly game. Good as lieutenants to Powerfuls or Bosses.
Powerfuls are foes which are likely to be roughly equal to an individual player. Take that with a grain of salt, as no two characters are the same except for on purpose. Powerfuls likely have 2-4 too many Tallies, and 1-2 too many attacks for a player to fight them solo if the player is beneath level 8 or 6 (so adjust as necessary if a player wants a duel). Powerfuls make for good rivals and reoccurring adversaries for that reason a party of Powerfuls in equal number (or equal number minus 1) can make for very memorable and dangerous encounters, or a single Powerful and a couple of Competents make for a lighter form of a Boss fight.
A Boss is a foe of nuance. A Boss can be many things, but shouldn't simply be a normal enemy with more HP. Good Bosses have their own abilities and are allowed to use them against the players in interesting ways, but a great Boss can't be fought the same way as other enemies. Parts of the above text refer to a Boss's mechanic. If you've played a video game, tabletop game, or seen one of many pieces of media before you've likely seen one of these mechanics before, just called something else. Short term challenges such as not attacking the Boss while it has certain colors of barrier because it reflects corresponding damage types, or a long term challenge such as an evil who can only be defeated by delivering his ring to a volcano. A Boss can just be strong enemy, but they're an oppertunity to create something more interesting that your players can tell exited stories about for years.
Fodder are foes which are insignificant to your players. Depending on Level and the game these foes may be rats or angels, but they're best used by the fist full and/or alongside other Enemy Ranks. Allow them to all stand next to each other to make your player with AoE attacks laugh maniacally. A Boss with endless Fodder is classic and helps the players to feel progress even when the Boss is soaking up the damage with ease.
Weaklings are foes which are easily dispatched en mass with a little teamwork. A sort of middle ground enemy which makes for a good replacement for Fodder if their leader has fewer but stronger minions narratively, or if they're Powerful instead of being a Boss, but Weaklings are usually uninteresting on their own, lacking the staying power of Competents for mechanics, and lacking the disposability and weakness of Fodder to allow for just smacking down thirty dudes and saying "Go ham." unless the party has good AoE damage dealers.
Competents are foes which are difficult to fight in large numbers due to their high number of Tallies and noticeable damage output, making them good for light challenges in groups of equal numbers to the players, or legitimate challenges when they outnumber the players 1.5 to 1. Probably the best Rank to be the most common enemies to show up in a game. Grouping these with some fodder can be a very well rounded encounter, or with a couple of Skilled foes or a single Powerful enemy for a serious encounter.
Skilleds are foes which are a bridge between Competents and Powerfuls. Similar to Weaklings in that they have a niche and are not likely to be used as much as that which they bridge. Any time you would have a Competent you could instead have a Skilled if you want a more deadly game. Good as lieutenants to Powerfuls or Bosses.
Powerfuls are foes which are likely to be roughly equal to an individual player. Take that with a grain of salt, as no two characters are the same except for on purpose. Powerfuls likely have 2-4 too many Tallies, and 1-2 too many attacks for a player to fight them solo if the player is beneath level 8 or 6 (so adjust as necessary if a player wants a duel). Powerfuls make for good rivals and reoccurring adversaries for that reason a party of Powerfuls in equal number (or equal number minus 1) can make for very memorable and dangerous encounters, or a single Powerful and a couple of Competents make for a lighter form of a Boss fight.
A Boss is a foe of nuance. A Boss can be many things, but shouldn't simply be a normal enemy with more HP. Good Bosses have their own abilities and are allowed to use them against the players in interesting ways, but a great Boss can't be fought the same way as other enemies. Parts of the above text refer to a Boss's mechanic. If you've played a video game, tabletop game, or seen one of many pieces of media before you've likely seen one of these mechanics before, just called something else. Short term challenges such as not attacking the Boss while it has certain colors of barrier because it reflects corresponding damage types, or a long term challenge such as an evil who can only be defeated by delivering his ring to a volcano. A Boss can just be strong enemy, but they're an oppertunity to create something more interesting that your players can tell exited stories about for years.
2.0 Sample Enemies
Goblins afflicted by their Blood of Tenacity. Need nothing but to physically harm others, and can only die by the hands of another creature.
Enemy | Enemy Rank [Rank Modifications] (Weapon: Damage Type) | Size | Description | Abilities | Drops |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tenacious Goblin | Fodder (Bite: Piercing) | Small | Their sickly pale green complexion, swollen yet sunken eyes make it clear that these goblins are suffering from their blood curse, bringing postmortem madness and savagery. Their clearly visible and browning teeth are the cleanest part of their Small bodies. |
Bleed [4] | x1 Clothes, x0-x3 Throwing Melee Weapons (Pole), x1-x2 Workable Rations |
Tenacious Goblin Shaman | Weakling [Powerful Damage] (Arcane Bolt: Arcane) | Small | A fallen Goblin Shaman, still leading their tribe in death. Powerful and dangerous arcanists wearing surprisingly clean ceremonial hides and feathers. | Chain [3] | x1 Goblin Token, x1 Formal Clothes, x0-x1 Staff of Bolt Ricochet, x2-x4 Gold, x1-x4 Fine Ration |
Tenacious Hob | Competent (Club: Bludgeoning) | Medium | A noteworthy goblin troop good at following orders, still bearing fine equipment. | Swift Suboordinate, Smasher [4] | x0-x1 Light Armor, x1 Average Melee Weapon (Hammer), x0-x1 Waterskin (x2-x5 Water), x2-x4 Workable Rations, x0-x1 Fine Ration |
Tenacious Bugbear | Skilled (Axe: Slashing) | Stocky | A fallen goblin commander, burly and covered in filthy reddened fur. | Grunt Commander | x1 Average Melee Weapon (Axe), x1 Light Armor, x1 Signal Horn, x0-x3 Gold, x0-x2 Fine Rations |
Tenacious Troll | Powerful (Fists: Bludgeoning) | Large | A powerful goblin who is above commanding. Wears hand wraps and loose fitting pants for easy movement. | Regeneration [.5], Fast [1], Jab | x1 Work Clothes, Drinking Gourd (x3-x10 Water), Drinking Gourd (x1-x3 Purified Spirit) |
Ogre | Boss (A regionally befitting unreasonable weapon such as a tree, a lamp post, a cow, a Hob, etc.: Bludgeoning, Crushing) | Huge | A hulking fleshen hill of a creature, dim as the day is bright. It can sometimes be hard to tell if an ogre has Fallen because often their behavior is unchanged. Wields a Massive Weapon as if it were weightless. | Ogre Overrun, Unmoving [5] | x1 Massive Melee Weapon |
2.1 Enemy Abilities
The Abilities of the above sample enemies.
Ability | Action Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|
Bleed [Variable] | Passive | When you deal Slashing or Piercing Damage also deal [Variable] Bleed Damage. |
Chain [Variable] | Bonus | When you deal Damage to a target, any [Variable] target(s) within 6 Spaces of the first target also takes that damage. |
Fast [Variable] | Any | Gain +[Variable] to all Move Speeds. |
Grunt Commander | Any | Each of your Fodder, Weakling, and Competent allies gain +1 Attack. |
Jab | Bonus | Gain +1 Hand Attack. |
Regeneration | Passive | Gain +0.5 Tallies at the start of your turn. |
Swift Subordinate | Passive | Gain +1 to all Move Speeds when another creature activates Battle Commander on you. |
Smasher [Variable] | Passive | Reduce the Guard of any target you attack by [Variable]. |
Unmoving [Variable] | Passive | If you would be moved and don't want to be be, reduce the amount you would be moved by by [Variable] |
Ogre Overrun | Multi-Action (2 Attacks+M) | Move straight towards a single target within 8 Spaces at top speed. Make an attack against the target which is an automatic critical hit if it hits. If your attack misses, continue to move in a straight line for 2 Spaces. If this movement would cause you to contact an object of at least your Size (such as a tree, a cliff face, or a building) you lose 5 Ticks. The object you run into is likely to capsize. |
2.2 Drops
Items and objects which the above sample enemies have on their person. Loot. The items on this table are not listed elsewhere on this site. The Sample Enemies won't have every item listed under Drops, but should have some.
Item Name | Inventory Slots |
Cost | Special |
---|---|---|---|
Goblin Token | 0 | 8 | A polished granite coin, of clearly goblin make, covered in masterfully engraved runes... Cultured (2 Ranks): ...by a goblin shaman, a tradition passed down for centuries, first passed on to the goblins by the Painter. Shamans carry these tokens to reward those who help a goblin or a tribe in a time of need. No goblin will attack anyone who presents a Goblin Token (except in self defence) though a Goblin Shamman may choose to take a token when it is presented... Cultured (3 Ranks): ... if the presenter is someone who has slain a goblin before, or intends harm upon others within their heart. Even Fallen Goblins will will not attack the presenter if they are occompanied by a Fallen Shaman. If you are a Goblin, you are treated as though you have +3 Ranks of the Interest Cultured. If you are an Ork, you are treated as though you have +2 Ranks of the Interest Cultured. |
Staff of Bolt Ricochet | 2 | 10 | Grants +1 Ranks in the skill Bolt Ricochet. Bolt Ricochet: (Passive) When you hit with Arcane Bolt, automatically hit +1 target with that arcane bolt per Rank. Each additional target must be within your Arcane Bolt's range from the previous target. |