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Firehawk Games RPG Products => Fantasy Express => Topic started by: Rasyr on March 31, 2025, 08:49:10 AM

Title: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Rasyr on March 31, 2025, 08:49:10 AM: Ok, so for the first issue, I am thinking of something like 65-ish critters.... Some of these are creatues from Against the Darkmaster, that I had not previously converted since I was going light on the Darkmaster stuff at the time, but I felt that it was appropriate to bring them across now.

Here is the list of what I am aiming for.....

Animals
   Alligator/Crocodile
   Antelope-Like, Small
   Antelope-Like, Large
   Dire Bear
   Dire Boar
   Dire Wolf
   Eagle
   Elephant
   Hawk
   Swarm
   Tasmanian Devil
   Viper - (venomous snake)
   Wolverine
Celestial
   Holy Guardian -- spirits tied to a place (i.e. of a forest or river, mountain,etc), they protect thier place, rarely appearing before mortalts.
   Sacred beast -- spirits that manifest as animals of great size/beauty (i.e. White deer, giant boar, etc), mischievous but enemies of arkenss
   Shield Maiden -- guide the spirits of fallen warriors to the afterlife enemies of darkness
Constructs
   Carytid - statues of women that come to life to protect a location, usually carved into columns that support a structure
   Stone Guardian - kinda like a stone golem, but with a specific task - rough appearance
Demons
   Faceless - muscular demons with no eyes, often in service to Dark Mages (i.e. evil mages)
   Shadowflame Demon - twisted spirits of fire who have been corrupted and turned to evil
Devils
   Efreet - Fire devils
   Marid - water devils
Draconic
   Kraken -- (gigantic cuttlefish-like sea montster)
   Lindworm - giant reptilian creature that lives in forest
   Sea Drake - aquatic version of the Cave Drake
Fey Folk
   Banshee -- avatars of fury and death
   Bauchan -- sometimes referred to as a Buckawn, similar to Brownie/Boggart, but more evil in nature
   Dark Elf (think evil Tylweth Teg, not true elves)
   Feyblade - Seelie and Unseelie who have lost themselves to battle, and basically liveto fight now
   Leprechaun -fey shoemakers who often guard great wealth
   Pech - nocturnal stone masons,
Floronic
   Bloodthorn - vampire vine
   Chillvine - frost attacks
   Fire Flower - fire-breathing flower, chars victims and then eats them via roots
   Sentients
      Fungoids (sentient) - mushroom people
      Oakmen/Yewmen (sentient) - like twiglings butbigger
      Swamp Shambler (sentient) - swamp creature
Giant Races
   Firbolg - slightly bigger than Asgerdi
   Fomorion - type of giant
   Trolls
      Dark Troll - trolls bread using dark magics
      Maimlord (think Dire Troll - also made using dark magics)
      Stone Troll - turns to stone in daylight, similar to Ogres
      Wild Troll - similar to forest trolls, but wanderers, can be found anywhere
Mythical Creatures
   Alce (wingless griffon)
      Blackfeather - large gorcrows that can also travel through shadows
   Giant Eagles
      Giant Eagle - like it says on the tin
      Wind Lord - type of Giant Eagle, often rules them
   Gorcrow
      Gorcrow - evil ravens, often serve evil masters
      Blackfeather - large gorcrows that can also travel through shadows
   Sky Manta - flying manta rays
   Vargr - giant riding wolf-like creatures - think Wargs)

Prehistoric Creatures
   Besr (Pygmy Mastadon) - about the size of cattle, but more dangerous
   Sognar (Compsognathus) - tiny velociraptor-like creatures
   Ursyon (Amphicyon) - like a cross be a giant bear and wolf
Undead
   Merlock - undead obessed with gold and riches
   Lich - undead spell user, very evil
   Vampire - more poweful version of the Vampyri
Unusual Races
   Dragonspawn -- humanoid dragon-like beings
   Dwergar - twisted evil dwarves
   Minotaur - bullmen
   Stylithi - reptile men (not the same as lizardmen)
   Wulver - Wolfmen

thoughts and opinions welcome!
Title: Re: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Fidoric on April 11, 2025, 11:52:16 AM: Lots of interesting critters. At first I thought some iconic monsters were lacking but then realized that those are in addition of core bestiary.
Title: Re: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Rasyr on April 11, 2025, 12:05:41 PM: Quote from: Fidoric on April 11, 2025, 11:52:16 AM
Lots of interesting critters. At first I thought some iconic monsters were lacking but then realized that those are in addition of core bestiary.

Yup, these are NEW critters for FX. :)
Title: Re: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Rasyr on April 19, 2025, 09:32:23 AM: I reently saw an article about assigning Combat Values in Against the Darkmaster as a way balancing encounters, and I am now working on a rating system of my own that will also go into this

(the sytem will also appear in an issue of expres Additions as well, along with the rating for all of the creatures in the core rules, plus the rating for the 16 pre-gens and creatures from additional products).

The Encounter Rating (or Combat Rating, still deciding on name) system is actually pretty easy

Level + Defensive Modifier + Primary Attack Bonus + 1/5 Secondary Attack Bonus*

* this only applies if more than one attack per round is possible
Title: Re: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Fidoric on April 19, 2025, 01:27:57 PM: I am not a huge fan of this kind of stuff. It only works if combat is a succession traded blows like in DnD from years ago. It ignores tactics, environment, planning, attack/defense pairing…
I understand the value of it to give a rough estimate of an encounter destructive power though.
Title: Re: In the works..... Bestiary Express #1
Post by: Rasyr on April 19, 2025, 02:36:29 PM: Quote from: Fidoric on April 19, 2025, 01:27:57 PM
I am not a huge fan of this kind of stuff. It only works if combat is a succession traded blows like in DnD from years ago. It ignores tactics, environment, planning, attack/defense pairing…
I understand the value of it to give a rough estimate of an encounter destructive power though.

That is the idea -- to give a ROUGH comparison and I am planning on stressing that strongly.

It is meant to be a tool that the GM can use to roughly estimate power levels to make a sure a party does not end up seriously over-matched...