In the works..... Bestiary Express #1

[Rasyr]

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!

[Fidoric]

Lots of interesting critters. At first I thought some iconic monsters were lacking but then realized that those are in addition of core bestiary.

[Rasyr]

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. 

[Rasyr]

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

[Fidoric]

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.

[Rasyr]

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...