[BFRPG] Quick Monster Creator

[MacLeod]

I'm looking for something that would help with generating monsters on the fly.

I know you can zip over to a monster entry and just use that... or find the equivalent, but sometimes even that is a pain.

I wrote up this table real fast (based on BFRPG) as a starting point to my own attempt.

GMs can find HD, Attack Bonus and Xp pretty fast using this table... but, AC is kind of wonky generally so instead of placing a particular number I wrote in a maximum.

DO/Rnd stands for Damage Output Per Round. Essentially, this is the maximum damage the monster should be able to deal in a single round across all of its attacks. Like Max AC this is more of a guideline than a hard coded number of any kind. I'm not sure about the numbers at all...
A Giant Roc, a 32 HD monster, can deal 72 damage (Claw/Claw/Beak:3D6+3D6+6D6) at maximum in a given Round which is pretty close to the table.

In any event, the point of this thread is two-fold...

1) Are there any documents or what-have-you out there that could help with on the fly generation of monsters?

2) Is my table completely useless and incorrect?

Thanks in advance!

[Flynn]

I created a similar table in my blog for Swords & Wizardry, and included my underlying assumptions. I hope that you find it helpful:
http://flynnwd.blogspot.com/2010/04/swo ... table.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With Regards,
Flynn

[MacLeod]

Cool, at least I know my intentions aren't completely insane.

The Minor/Moderate/Major damage idea is all kinds of smart and better than my DO/Rnd thing.
For instance, the GM could easily distribute the dice across different attacks or split them at low levels.

Thanks a bunch! The only thing I need to do is write up some quick and dirty generic abilities to give monsters on the fly.

[Solomoriah]

Nice. You need an edition tag here. I'll fix this one for you, since I know it's for BFRPG.

[MacLeod]

Nice. You need an edition tag here. I'll fix this one for you, since I know it's for BFRPG.

Thank you, good sir.
As the creator of BFRPG... what do you think of the numbers?

[Solomoriah]

I like the overall concept, but I'd likely never use it myself.

One of the things that really changed the game back in 2000 was the effort to fully abstract the game. To record in detail metarules that previously were just understood. When you formalize what was previously informal, then you develop an urge to follow the formalized rule where previously the metarule merely informed your decision rather than making it for you.

This table is a formalization of a mechanism for monster creation. If I had published something like this, then in the monster creation thread I'd find people referring to it. "No, that monster's too tough, it does too much damage for its hit dice," and so on.

I know that sounds like an indictment of your idea. Please don't take it that way; I'm just saying I wouldn't use this as a design tool personally.

[MacLeod]

I know that sounds like an indictment of your idea. Please don't take it that way; I'm just saying I wouldn't use this as a design tool personally.

Oh, well... That is the problem. It isn't a design tool per se. It is a reference guide (guidelines) for use when generating monsters on the fly that aren't within the book or when you can't or don't want to refer to the book.

This tool might be useless to some... but for me, I generally run my games fast and loose. This means that monsters used don't always have a perfect analogue in the book. This happens more often than you might think... my games tread the ground of gonzo quite regularly. I don't see this as a bug but more of a feature.

So yeah, this table is meant... at the very least... to provide myself with strong guidelines on what sort of stats the monsters I generate on the fly should have.

[lionrampant]

As a general guideline, I think this chart is useful. I haven't created enough monsters from scratch to be able to tell how well the numbers work, of course, but it conceptually looks OK, barring the fact that the maximum damage per round numbers look a little low; maybe bump them up by 2, to get a maximum of 8 at level 1...

EDIT: And reading the whole post shows that you revised the table to do just that.

[MacLeod]

Thanks for your insights, sir.

I guess the true test will be when it is actually used during a game.
Accompanying the table will be a small list of simple generic abilities as well.

[SmootRK]

I think this is a great reference point. I create stuff freely, then try to figure out stuff like XP and other balancing factors afterwards, tweaking as necessary.

I don't think I would do the actual creating via this table, but will certainly reference it for comparison purposes.

[MacLeod]

Yeah, the major point of the table would be to look at it and make sure that the monster would be a challenge but not overwhelming for an appropriately leveled party. Not really a hard guide of any kind but I know I can feel confident in my selections with some loose guidelines at my fingertips.