6 thoughts on “Has anyone ever explored the idea of “scalable” monsters?”

  1. I’m starting to think about it more, as I consider the possibilities of a “Freebooters Complete” or 2nd edition that folds in Funnel World and a bunch of other stuff. Changing the monster checklist mostly around size to look something like:

    Horde: 4 base HP, 1d6 damage

    Group: 8 base HP, 1d8 damage

    Solitary: 12 base HP, 1d10 damage

    Tiny: -1 damage die size, 25% base HP

    Small: -1 damage, 50% base HP

    Large: +1 damage, 150% base HP

    Huge: +1 damage die size, +2 damage, 200% base HP

    And then using the rest of the checklist as-is.

    I’d love to hear other ideas!

  2. I’m also looking to scale the challenge. For instance, I want to be able to say, “This story needs a ___ and know that its eventual presence can represent an EASY/BALANCED/DIFFICULT encounter for the players.” This stems from my work on the Manual of Monsters by the way. 

  4. How about additional tags as it scales; additional moves as it scales; additional instincts (?) as it scales.

    Super simple example; but there’s got to be a way to mechanize it along several multiple axes.

    Vampire Fledgling: Solitary, Devious

    etc etc 8 HP, 1 armor

    Special Qualities: Changing Form

    Text description text etc

    Instinct: To feed indiscriminately

    Move: Feed on their blood

    Vampire Master: Group, Intelligent, Stealthy

    etc etc 10 HP 2 armor

    Special Qualities: Changing Form, Ancient Mind

    Text description text etc

    Instinct: To manipulate

    Moves: Feed on their blood

    Charm Someone

    Vampire Lord: Solitary, Intelligent, Organized

    etc etc 12 HP Armor 3

    Special Qualities: Changing Form, Ancient Mind, Set a nefarious trap

    Text description text etc

    Instinct: To dominate and control

    Moves: Feed on their blood

    Retreat to Plan Again

    Send Thralls to do its bidding

    Or something along those lines. Haven’t read the article linked above yet.

  5. Having read the article, it would be cool if you took a monster template, and indicated it’s “Leaning”. As the monster gets more challenging, it leans towards more “Cohesion” (Goblins for instance, going from factional to militaristic; or giant beetles going from Unorganized to Gestalts). Or the monster template leans towards “Numbers”.

    It would be really cool to loop/hack these decisions into the “Making Monsters” section already in the DW main book.

    Or if somehow it could be integrated into the Perilous Journey’s random monster generator – that would be great too.

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