5/31/2022
Welcome Back, Adventurers!
Hey Adventurers, some people have been asking me “what are the rules for making monsters in Crowns?” So, I’m writing up this post to try to lay out a foundation for the future!
Monster Stat-Block Breakdown
In Crowns, monster stat-blocks are supposed to be quick and easy to understand and take up as little room on the page as possible.
For the uninitiated, a stat-block is the formatted bundle of text that is used to show all the important information about a monster (like hit points, damage, ability scores, etc).
A Crowns Monster Stat-Block looks like this:
- A. Name.
- B. Core Attributes and Attacks.
- C. Special Abilities.
- D. Wants.
The Monster’s name is self-explanatory, but I’ll explain the rest.
Core Attributes and Attacks. This section is split into two lines:
The top line is where the monster’s Resolve, Morale, and Defiance go, as well as Armor (damage reduction) if they have any. It’s also where the Leader trait goes if the monster is expected to lead or inspire others.
The bottom line is where the monster’s attacks go, these are either separated by commas or the word “or”. If it’s a comma that means the monster has access to all of these attacks, if it’s an “or” then the monster has either or of the attacks listed. This is also where a shield would be mentioned.
Special Abilities. This is a list of the monster’s special abilities, with an attempt to fit each one onto a single line. In the case of the Zombie, it has two special abilities, “Undead” and “Players have -2 in VIT saves to deal critical damage to this monster”. These are Preset abilities that all Zombies have.
There are also 6 Unique abilities below the zombie’s wants, more on those later.
Wants. This is what the monster wants (if no other obvious want is present). If at any point the monster realizes it cannot or can no longer get what it wants from this situation, it will try to find another way to solve the situation.
Deciding on Resolve and Defiance
Resolve and Defiance go hand-in-hand in determining how much staying power a monster has in a fight.
Think of Resolve as “how imposing is this monster” or “is a chump that could get wounded in one hit, or is it a tank that needs to be widdled down”. I use the following table to decide on Resolve for monsters.
| Resolve | Hit Dice | Description (what could kill this creature in one hit) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d2 | Any hit could kill this creature |
| 3 | 1d4 | A good sword blow could kill this creature |
| 5 | 1d8 | A well-placed crossbow bolt could kill this creature |
| 7 | 1d12 | A solid great ax swing or the average critical hit could kill this creature |
| 9 | 1d12+2 | A critical hit might kill this creature |
| 12 | 2d8+2 | Not even a critical hit could kill this creature |
The Hit Dice mentioned above is in reference of another way to determine resolve. Instead of all your monsters having the same Resolve all the time, roll the corresponding hit dice and give them that much Resolve.
Using the Zombie example above, each Zombie in a group of five could have 1, 4, 3, 2, and 2 Resolve respectively.
I treat Defiance as a level of a monster’s “oh shit” factor. Run-of-the-mill minion monsters have DEF 1, monsters with a specific role have DEF 2, bosses/mini-bosses have DEF 3.
By specific role, I mean something like a Skeleton Warrior instead of just a Skeleton, or a Bandit Lieutenant instead of just a Bandit. Unless the specific role of a monster would lead to it dying quickly (example: Goblin Suicide-Vest Bomber), it should probably be DEF 2.
Most monsters should be DEF 1, even at higher levels.
Deciding on Morale and Leader
Morale is a measure of a monster’s battle experience, I use the following table to assign it to monsters:
| Morale | Description |
|---|---|
| 7 | This monster has never been in a fight before and is not in shape |
| 8 | This monster hasn’t been in a fight before but is in shape |
| 9 | This monster has been in a fight before but isn’t good at it yet |
| 10 | This monster has been in a few fights before |
| 11 | This monster has been in fights and is starting to get good at it |
| 12 | This monster trains regularly for combat |
| 13 | This monster has been on a campaign before, fighting throughout |
| 14 | This monster is seen as a veteran amongst its peers |
| 15 | This monster is seen as elite amongst its peers |
The Leader trait should be reserved for monsters with high Morale for the obvious reason that it doesn’t come into effect if they’re “leading” people with higher Morale than them. I recommend reserving Leader for monsters with 12 Morale and above.
Deciding on Attacks, Armor, and Shields
Attacks and Armor are based on the equipment of the creature. However, monsters do not always follow the same rules as the players and can use weapons that deal d8 damage in one hand, or d10 depending on their size.
Give it Attacks equivalent to the weapon it’s using. If it uses teeth and claws instead of swords and shields, then give it equivalent damage.
- Are the claws roughly as powerful as a dagger or broadsword? d6
- Are they as powerful as a great sword or maul? d10
- Are they somewhere in between? d8
Armor is based on equipment as well. For monsters, Armor is just raw damage reduction, it does not give bonuses to Defense like Light Armor does for players.
If a monster is wearing light armor (or has a particularly thick hide, scales, etc) give it Armor 1.
If a monster is wearing heavy armor (or is made out of stone or metal, some really strong material beyond normal flesh) give it Armor 2.
Shields allow monsters to ignore one hit made against them (it breaks their shield). This must be declared before the “to-wound” save is made just to be fair. If a shield is used to block an enhanced attack, it instead reduces it to just doing normal weapon damage.
Deciding on Special Abilities
There are two kinds of special abilities: Presets and Uniques.
Presets are abilities that apply to an entire class of monster. For example, all Skeletons are Undead, all Harpies can Fly, all Zombies give players -2 to-wound them, all Wolves have a base movement of 40ft, etc.
Here’s a big list of some of the usual suspects:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Undead | Immune to peril (panic) and exhaustion, susceptible to holy symbols |
| Shocktrooper | Gets two attacks on the first turn |
| Flying | While flying, ranged attacks made against this monster have -2 to hit |
| Intelligent Undead | Immune to exhaustion, susceptible to holy symbols |
| Construct | Immune to peril (panic) and exhaustion |
| Big | Attacks against this monster have +2 to hit |
| Small | Attacks against this monster have -2 to hit |
Uniques are made specifically for THAT monster, not even the whole class of that monster. For example, all Zombies are Undead, but not all Zombies are Armored or Rotten
Often when I make a new monster type (Zombies let’s say), I try to create six unique versions of that Zombie. That way in my notes I can just write “2d4 Zombies here (minimum 3)” and just mix in a few unique Zombies.
The 2-3 Rule:
Try to have a unique monster every 2-3 monsters in an encounter to keep things from becoming repetitive.
For example, let’s say the party sees a pack of seven zombies walking by. Well, following the “2-3 rule” earlier, we’ll say that three of these zombies are unique. Let’s roll 3d6 on the chart we made:
- (3) One is Rotten and only has DEF 1
- (1) One is Armored and has Armor 1
- (6) One is Shrieking and calls in d6 allies when alerted
- The other four are regular, cream-of-wheat zombies
This diversity of enemies gives the players the ability to make tactical decisions in an otherwise bland situation. With the Shrieking Zombie involved, perhaps the players will just try to avoid the conflict, or maybe they’ll see if they can take it out in one Amubush round. With it removed, replaced by a second Rotten Zombie, the combat just became easier, and maybe their more willing to risk it.
Not every unique has be an “improved” version of the original (see Rotten Zombies) but they do have to make things more interesting. If it’s only a cosmetic change, it’s not significant enough to affect gameplay.
A Quick Defense
At this point some may ask,
“Reese, some of the monsters in the core rules have d6 unique abilities and others only have cosmetic options, why is that? Doesn’t that just break your rule?“
In the Core Rules I was trying to emphasize the Emergent Storytelling over gameplay, and I limited space, but these are notes for you to use after you (assumedly) have already written up your dungeon’s backstory.
Deciding on “Wants”
Monsters Want something, usually separate from “Kill the Players”. It include killing the players for a reason, for example, Zombies want “to feed on the flesh of the living” which could put them at odds with the players.
However, Skeletons want “to protect their burial place”, meaning if the players are scrapping with bandits in a tomb and skeletons arrive on the scene, you could have a three-way battle on your hands.
What’s important is that monster’s wants are usually overshadowed by what their Leader wants.
If a Wraith is leading a bunch of Zombies and Skeletons, whatever those lesser undead wanted is now irrelevant, the Wraith wants “to feed on the souls of the living” and so they want that now too.
Wants do not have to lead to conflict. A Man-at-Arms wants “to care for their family and go home at the end of the day”, which could lead to them willfully ignoring a player’s actions if it means they get to live a little longer.
Why Create New Monsters?
Because its fun mostly. But let there be no elitism to it, some of the greatest stories ever written and games ever played only use the regular monsters that are in most media. Orcs, Zombies, Bandits, Knights, Dragons, etc.
If you want to run a Goblin-Infested castle, go for it. Make a base stat-block for goblins, at least d6 unique variations, and boom, you have 99% of the goblins in your castle. They’ll still be fun, tactically interesting, and it simplifies your notes!
Thank you so much, everyone!
Until we meet again,
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR ADVENTURES
Ward Against Evil 
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