Manticore (Monster Generator)

[Hotrod]

Behold, my first Monster Generator!

I've been kicking this idea around for a while: a different way of presenting monsters and animals such that GMs can have ready-made beasts for their games without having to roll them up or cross-reference bonuses, and by having a range of different strengths, a GM can tailor the beast to suit the scenario.

The "level" of the beast is either a linear scale from its minimum to maximum, or else it's a result of dice roll averages, rounded down. For example, for 3D6, the Puny result is 1 + 2 + 1 = 4, the Weak result is 2 + 3 + 2 = 7, the Average result is 3 + 4 + 3 = 10, the Strong result is 4 + 5 + 4 = 13, and the Mighty result is 5 + 6 + 5 = 16. Note that it's possible for a Manticore to be slightly worse than the Puny result and slightly stronger than the Mighty result; I'm not using the most extreme combinations possible. Rather, I'm trying to show the most plausible range of the beast. If you follow a standard distribution and treat each column as a standard deviation, maybe 15% are "Strong," 2% are "Mighty," 15% are "Weak," 2% are "Puny," and the other 66% are "average."

I adapted my simple global Palladium map to show the range of the animal (Baalgor Wastelands and a bit of the Old Kingdom, in this case), and I adapted and modified some free-use images of a lion's head and a gryphon from https://game-icons.net/ to make the Palladium version of the Manticore (human face, spiky knob at the end of its tail, body of a lion). I sized the image to be printed on a single piece of paper.

This is a prototype, and I crave your feedback. I've been thinking that it might be useful to indicate how common each level is, provide a P.P.E. total (not generally important for Manticores, but maybe a spell caster wants to sacrifice one?). Any thoughts on these aspects or other ideas you have are most welcome.

If there's sufficient interest, I might make some more of these.

[Veknironth]

Well, that looks pretty swank.

-Vek
"Who wouldn't like that?"

[Reagren Wright]

Hmm I've seen something like this before Very nice Wil.

[Whiskeyjack]

That's pretty damn handy. I'm always going through the races for a a couple of days before an adventure to gauge attributes and stats. It's a pain.

[Hotrod]

That's pretty damn handy. I'm always going through the races for a a couple of days before an adventure to gauge attributes and stats. It's a pain.

Glad you like it! I think I'll try making some more.

[Zer0 Kay]

Behold, my first Monster Generator!

I've been kicking this idea around for a while: a different way of presenting monsters and animals such that GMs can have ready-made beasts for their games without having to roll them up or cross-reference bonuses, and by having a range of different strengths, a GM can tailor the beast to suit the scenario.

The "level" of the beast is either a linear scale from its minimum to maximum, or else it's a result of dice roll averages, rounded down. For example, for 3D6, the Puny result is 1 + 2 + 1 = 4, the Weak result is 2 + 3 + 2 = 7, the Average result is 3 + 4 + 3 = 10, the Strong result is 4 + 5 + 4 = 13, and the Mighty result is 5 + 6 + 5 = 16. Note that it's possible for a Manticore to be slightly worse than the Puny result and slightly stronger than the Mighty result; I'm not using the most extreme combinations possible. Rather, I'm trying to show the most plausible range of the beast. If you follow a standard distribution and treat each column as a standard deviation, maybe 15% are "Strong," 2% are "Mighty," 15% are "Weak," 2% are "Puny," and the other 66% are "average."

I adapted my simple global Palladium map to show the range of the animal (Baalgor Wastelands and a bit of the Old Kingdom, in this case), and I adapted and modified some free-use images of a lion's head and a gryphon from https://game-icons.net/ to make the Palladium version of the Manticore (human face, spiky knob at the end of its tail, body of a lion). I sized the image to be printed on a single piece of paper.

This is a prototype, and I crave your feedback. I've been thinking that it might be useful to indicate how common each level is, provide a P.P.E. total (not generally important for Manticores, but maybe a spell caster wants to sacrifice one?). Any thoughts on these aspects or other ideas you have are most welcome.

If there's sufficient interest, I might make some more of these.

People keep putting up x generators and I keep thinking they've got an automated spreadsheet, database or something; and with a click, boom the work is done. But then I'm always disappointed to find it is a sheet with rules.

I wonder if I can sell the random list of super powers in the back of PU3 pinned to a wall in a house as a connected power generator.