Building Creatures

Creatures are assembled, not authored from scratch: pick a rank (F through S+), take its base stat block, roll the feat-count die, and fill slots from the feat tables — slot one is always Offensive. The procedure, the base stat blocks, and the standard biological tables are in @Missing file.

Three parallel libraries

The same procedure runs on three themed table sets: the standard biological tables, the augmented and mechanical tables in @Missing file, and the supernatural tables in @Missing file. All share the base stat blocks — only the feat flavor changes. A new setting usually needs zero new procedure and at most one new table set, and before writing one, check whether reflavoring an existing library gets you there — the feat entries are mechanics-first, so a "Bite" is a "Hydraulic Clamp" with no rules change.

Creature Power is the contract

Every feat carries a Feat Rank, and Creature Power = base Power + sum of Feat Ranks. That single number is what the encounter balancer consumes, and it only works if new creature feats are ranked honestly against their table-mates. When you add a feat to a library, price its Feat Rank by comparison: find the two nearest existing feats in punch and slot between them.

When to hand-build

The dice are for speed and surprise; the house rules in the creature rules — themed builds, power targets — are for intent. A boss deserves a hand-picked feat list, but keep the accounting: even a set-piece monster totals its Feat Ranks, because the balancer doesn't care how the creature was made.

NPCs versus creatures

Rival adventurers and important NPCs are built as characters using the rank benchmarks in @Missing file, not as creatures — they get real pools and real feats. The creature system is for everything that doesn't need a character sheet's depth.