Niche D20This document goes over the creation of monsters or NPCs and their various statistics. While some guidelines are made, generally some level of discretion and care is needed when creating creatures as not all abilities are equal and some combinations may be deadlier than others.
Below we will describe the steps needed to create a creature to give you a baseline and then slowly scale it up.
1. Determine Creature Type
First you should determine the type of creature you wish to make. Usually this means if selecting a nonstandard creature determines the creature type, then selecting the appropriate creature class.
When making a humanoid, or other creature, who is a standard player race you may select instead a character race as normal, and apply classes. Usually when doing so it’s recommended to use some levels of the humanoid class to keep the number of abilities the creature possesses more simple, though boss-type creatures may want to be more complex.
When selecting a creature type without a race (such as a beast) you may grant the creature a +4 to two ability scores and a -2 to a single ability score. These ability scores should represent the strengths and weaknesses of the creature. We grant a larger ability score bonus due to the lack of other racial features.
2. Select A Base Body
Select a base body for your creature, if the creature did not have a specific race. This helps define limbs, reach progression, hands, and what creature types are generally compatible. These tend to be referenced in the creature classes to help determine how it will progress.
While all creatures are assumed to start at Medium-sized, you may always choose to instead make them small sized, granting them the usual adjustments for being Small from Medium. Your creature class may further adjust this at first level; either overwriting this or further adjusting a creature’s size up or down.
Avian
Size: Medium
Reach Progression: Tall
Limbs: Head, 2 Legs, and 2 Wings
Hands: No
Humanoid
Size: Medium
Natural Weapons: 2 slams
Required Types: Humanoid, Elemental
Reach Progression: Tall
Limbs: Head, 2 arms, 2 Legs
Hands: Yes
Monstrous Humanoid
Size: Medium
Required Types: Monstrous Humanoid, Elemental
Reach Progression: Tall
Limbs: Head, 2 arms, 2 Legs (additional arms or legs may be added by class)
Hands: Yes
Quadruped
Size: Medium
Required Types: Beast, Elemental
Reach Progression: Long
Limbs: Head, 4 legs
Hands: No
Serpentine
Size: Medium
Required Types: Beast, Elemental
Reach Progression: Tall
Limbs: Head, Tail Hands: No
3. Hit Dice & CR
You will see mention of CR(Challenge Rating), this is a general approximation of the creature’s power and difficulty, this generally keeps within relation to the creature’s hit dice, but some factors may adjust this value further.
Hit dice is the effective measure of the level of the creature; as a result you should attempt to decide before making a creature what the desired hit dice and CR you are aiming for.
The following table is a rough estimate of CR compared to hit dice.
| Challenge Rating | Hit Die | XP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 400 XP |
| 2 | 2 | 600 XP |
| 3 | 3 | 800 XP |
| 4 | 4 | 1,200 XP |
| 5 | 6 | 1,600 XP |
| 6 | 7 | 2,400 XP |
| 7 | 8 | 3,200 XP |
| 8 | 9 | 4,800 XP |
| 9 | 10 | 6,400 XP |
| 10 | 12 | 9,600 XP |
| 11 | 13 | 12,800 XP |
| 12 | 14 | 19,200 XP |
| 13 | 15 | 25,600 XP |
| 14 | 16 | 38,400 XP |
| 15 | 18 | 51,200 XP |
| 16 | 19 | 76,800 XP |
| 17 | 20 | 102,400 XP |
| 18 | 21 | 153,600 XP |
| 19 | 22 | 204,800 XP |
| 20 | 24 | 307,200 XP |
| 21 | 25 | 409,600 XP |
4. Ability Scores
Before applying your racial bonuses to your ability scores your base ability scores should be determined.
Basic Creatures for sake of simplicity should use a 20 point-by to begin with; using one of the following stat arrays:
Balanced: 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8
Average: 14, 14, 14, 14, 10, 10
Specialized: 18, 14, 12, 10, 8, 8
Boss Creatures usually use a 25 point buy and should use the following stat arrays:
Balanced: 16, 14, 14, 12, 12, 11
Average: 14, 14, 14, 14, 13, 12
Specialized: 18, 15, 14, 10, 8, 8
Of these options Balanced is almost universally recommended, as it gives the creature a lean into a specialized stat while keeping the rest of the stats properly rounded out. If you wish to customize a creature further then assigning stats similar to a player may be done, but it is still recommended to stay within the range of 20 point buy for standard creatures, and 25 for boss.
Like player characters the creatures add a +1 inherent bonus to an ability score of their choice and continue to gain as they level (as seen on the character advancement chart).
If you wish to create a younger version of a creature, try to keep it to a 1 HD creature, at maximum 2, with their size category reduced by 1. In addition to this you can utilize a 15 point buy, or one of the following stat arrays:
Balanced: 15, 14, 13, 10, 10, 10
Average: 14, 13, 13, 13, 11, 10
Specialized: 17, 14, 12, 10, 9, 7
A young creature should have its CR reduced by 1; in the case of a creature who is already CR 1, instead treat them as being CR ½. If you wish for the young character to no longer be so, simply adjust their stats to be their appropriate amounts for a normal creature, and undo the initial size adjustment.
5. Saving Throws
Unlike player characters, creatures will have 2 good saves and 1 bad saving throw rather than save allocation. This value is just save base bonus before abilities scores or other modifiers are added in. Usually the saves should reflect the strengths and weaknesses of a creature; for example a bear might have good fortitude and reflex, but a poor will save due to its animal level intelligence.
Use the progression below to determine their saves:
| Hit Dice | Good Saves | Bad Saves |
| 1 | +2 | +1 |
| 2 | +3 | +2 |
| 3 | +4 | +2 |
| 4 | +5 | +3 |
| 5 | +5 | +3 |
| 6 | +6 | +4 |
| 7 | +7 | +4 |
| 8 | +8 | +5 |
| 9 | +8 | +5 |
| 10 | +9 | +6 |
| 11 | +10 | +6 |
| 12 | +11 | +7 |
| 13 | +11 | +7 |
| 14 | +12 | +8 |
| 15 | +13 | +8 |
| 16 | +14 | +9 |
| 17 | +14 | +9 |
| 18 | +15 | +10 |
| 19 | +16 | +10 |
| 20 | +17 | +11 |
| 21 | +17 | +11 |
| 21 | +17 | +11 |
| 22 | +18 | +12 |
| 23 | +19 | +12 |
| 24 | +20 | +13 |
| 25 | +20 | +13 |
| 26 | +21 | +14 |
| 27 | +22 | +14 |
| 28 | +23 | +15 |
| 29 | +23 | +15 |
| 30 | +24 | +16 |
| 31 | +25 | +16 |
| 32 | +26 | +17 |
| 33 | +26 | +17 |
| 34 | +27 | +18 |
6. Feats and Perks
Monsters are made similar to characters, but with a few adjustments for simplicity.
First creatures gain 2 feats, 1 major perk, and 2 minor perks at 1st level. This is because most creatures don’t need or wouldn’t make sense thematically with the skill feat, and many creatures may not qualify for a race feat like a player character would.
As the creature levels, generally they should follow the character advancement chart except they do not gain skill feats as they level (but may still select them feats that may be of any type), and gaining a feat of any type anytime a racial feat would be gained.
Creatures with feats beyond their normal allocation should have their CR adjusted to be 1 higher for every 2 additional feats granted; this goes for minor perks as well. Creatures with an additional major perk should automatically gain 1 additional CR.
7. Special Abilities
If an ability seems non-relevant to a cretature, or would make it too complicated, always feel free to remove it from the creature. Otherwise generally these abilities are almost always provided by the creatures, race, class, creature class, feats, or perks. Be aware removing too many abilities may justify a drop in CR if this would cut the creature’s overall offensive or defensive power; while adding extras may have the effect of making a creature too complex or too powerful.
8. Equipment
Some creatures may have weapons, armor, or other items at their disposal. Generally most monsters will not have proficiency or the capability of welding equipment, but for those that do such as humanoids their primary method of attack may be through martial equipment rather than natural levels.
A creature may be equipped with any common or uncommon variants of their equipment without impact to their CR; though 1st level, or otherwise lower wealth creatures, shouldn’t generally carry masterwork. For every 3 hit dice the creature possesses their weapons and armor may gain a +1 enhancement bonus. At 5th hit die and every 3 thereafter they should gain a special ability on their weapon. Creatures may use implements as well if they have levels in a casting class, or have the ability to cast spells that require an implement. These bonuses each have a maximum of +5 as is normal for enhanced weapons and armor.
For creatures without equipment and only natural weapons you may instead grant them a +2 bonus to their primary attack ability score (usually strength or dex); and a +1 bonus to natural armor. No increase or bonus is gained when the creature would gain a weapon special ability meaning most creatures should cap out at +5 natural armor and +10 to their ability score at 15th level.
Creatures with equipment above their level should gain a +1 to their CR for every +1 enhancement bonus or special ability their equipment has beyond what they should for their hit dice. Remember any equipment on the creature should generally be available to the players once it has been slain so be careful in giving a creature a weapon too far above what would be appropriate for the players.
9. Spell Points and Stamina
If a creature would have spell points or stamina to cast spells it is generally recommended to not have a creature with maximum stamina or spell points entering an encounter; this is because while i player may need to reserve their strength for later encounters, most creatures are not planned to have multiple encounters in a day and thus can spend resources without concern; to balance this better a creature should generally not be at full power unless it is meant to be a higher difficulty encounter.
A creature should have 40% of their daily available resources for a fight (minimum 2 for spell points and stamina), a creature with 50% or greater of their daily available resources should have their CR increased by 1.
10. Boss and Non-Boss Creatures
As mentioned in previous sections, a boss creature is a creature intended to be tougher than other creatures of its same CR, in addition based on the party, the boss monster may want to be a couple CR higher than other creatures, but generally not too much higher to avoid making a fight potentially unwinnable (unless that was the goal).
If using the Boss stat array the CR should be at least 1 higher that would normally be for a creature of its Hit dice. In addition boss creatures should have the boss tag on their creature entry to indicate this.
11. Size and CR
Some creatures usually will increase or reduce in size due to their class. When this happens it usually should not have a major impact on a creature’s CR as they usually gain the size increase in place of other major bonuses of progression. But most creatures should be at least CR 2 if Large plus an additional CR per size category above large.