Creature Templates
GM's Eyes Only
Spoilers. This page is written for the GM, and players who read on will learn things their characters don't know.
Variants that can be laid over a creature to change it. Source: Iron Kingdoms Monsternomicon, p. 92 (Appendix: Creature Templates), plus Handler-bred from Eberron.
A creature can carry several templates, but not the same one twice. They work best as storytelling: Starving makes an encounter about desperation, and Man-eater can just as well mean a beast that has learned to answer people with violence.
The General Templates¶
- Adapted (environment). At home in desert, forest, mountain, or swamp: crosses it freely and is better at tracking and surviving there.
- Alpha. Bigger, stronger, and smarter than the rest; leads the pack, coordinates a surprise strike, and makes its packmates hit harder.
- Juvenile. Young: weaker and frailer, but quick to find cover and easy to overlook.
- Large Specimen. Massive: hits harder, takes more punishment, counts as a size bigger, and is harder to miss and worse at hiding.
- Lone Wolf. Driven out or living alone: hardier and fiercer, and better when it's the only thing fighting a target.
- Man-eater. Prefers people: lunges at the living, can attack again on a critical hit, and heals by feeding on the fallen.
- Pack Hunter. Rerolls misses against a target its packmates are already fighting, and drags prey down on a critical hit.
- Predator. Hides well in cover and hits hard in an ambush's first round.
- Protector. Defends its young or kin: takes hits meant for them and strikes back at whatever hurt them.
- Resilient. Hard to kill: tougher, and sometimes gets back up after dropping.
- Runt. Stunted by disease or hunger: frail and small, but still drags prey down.
- Skittish. Wary and quick to dodge, and likely to flee once a fight starts.
- Starving. Desperate: frailer, but harder to frighten or cow.
- Stealthy. Natural camouflage; very hard to spot in cover.
- Swarm. Hundreds acting as one: shrugs off single blows, slips through armor, and strikes everyone in reach.
- Swift. Lean and fast: harder to hit, and runs down prey or escapes predators.
- Trained. A watchdog or hunting companion that follows simple commands; a little less clever than wild stock.
- Handler-bred. Bred over generations by the Handler Sigil's Wayfolk for one job: a sturdier warhorse, a keener-nosed hound, a tireless pack beast. Better at that job, always Trained, and worth a great deal. Source: Eberron's magebred animals (Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 295).
For Peoples, Not Beasts¶
- Chieftain. A tribe's leader: better armed and armored, and leads others in battle.
- Hunter. A wilderness hunter of any people: armored, a tracker, unhampered by forest or cover, and armed with bow, javelins, or long gun.
In WWN Terms¶
First draft. Apply these to a creature's stat line. Hit dice changes also move the save (15 minus half the HD) and, usually, the attack bonus one-for-one.
| Template | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Adapted | +1 Skill in its home terrain, and it moves through that terrain freely |
| Alpha | +1 HD, +1 ML; packmates within 30 feet get +1 to hit |
| Juvenile | -1 HD (minimum 1), damage drops one die size, -2 ML |
| Large Specimen | +2 HD, +1 AC, damage rises one die size, -2 to stealth |
| Lone Wolf | +1 to hit and damage when it's the only one fighting a target; +1 ML |
| Man-eater | +1 to hit; picks living people as targets first; heals 1d6 by feeding on a fallen foe as a Main Action |
| Pack Hunter | +1 to hit a target a packmate is already fighting; knocks prone on a natural 20 |
| Predator | +2 to stealth; +2 to hit and damage in an ambush's first round |
| Protector | Once per round, takes a hit meant for its young or kin within 10 feet |
| Resilient | +1 HD; the first time it drops to 0 hit points, roll 1d6, and on 5–6 it's back up with 1 hit point |
| Runt | -1 HD (minimum 1), +1 AC, damage drops one die size |
| Skittish | +1 AC, -2 ML; checks Morale the first time it's hurt |
| Starving | -1 HD (minimum 1), +2 ML, +2 Inst |
| Stealthy | +2 to stealth; can't be targeted from range while in cover until it attacks |
| Swarm | As the Razorbat swarm: half damage from single-target weapons, attacks everyone in reach |
| Swift | +1 AC, +10 feet of movement |
| Trained | -1 Inst; follows simple commands; attacking on command takes its handler's Main Action |
| Handler-bred | Trained, plus one of: +1 HD, +10 feet of movement, +2 Skill at its job, or +2 ML |
| Chieftain | +1 HD, +1 to hit, +1 ML; leads a band |
| Hunter | +1 HD, +2 to stealth and tracking, armed with bow, javelins, or long gun |
Not Brought Over¶
IK's creature-specific templates (cephalyx, croak, devil rat, dregg, hollowed, pistol wraith, and specter) don't apply. The creature-specific ones Tir Hathar does use (the Duskwolf male, the Razorbat King, the Vektiss Queen, and the free Iron Maiden) belong on those creatures' pages.
Still open: playtesting the adjustments, and which templates to keep. Suggested, not settled: IK's Blighted (warped by living near a dragon) reworked as a template for creatures warped by the Long War's dead zones and echo sites. Eberron's horrid animals (beasts warped by dark manifest zones, Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 287) could feed into the same template.