MetaMythos - RPG Campaign and World Design

RPG Rules Systems/RuneQuest/Monster SRD

Creatures as Characters

A creature is made into a full character just as any Player Character is created. The creature’s Characteristics are determined, along with its Combat Actions, Damage Modifier and sundry other Attributes according to the Characteristic ranges given in its description. At the Games Master’s discretion, you may add one more die to the Characteristic and drop the lowest, just as is done for human characters.  

Creatures & Intelligence

A creature with a randomly determined INT is considered sentient – it is a rational creation capable of logical thought and self-determination. A creature with a fixed INT (any INT listed as a single number, rather than a die roll) is not sentient. Fixed INT creatures operate solely on instinct rather than logic or intuition.

Traits

Blood Drain: The creature drains its victim’s blood, causing the loss of hit points.

Breathe Flame: The creature may breathe flame over an area as a Combat Action. The flame will cover a cone in front of the creature, which stretches for its POW in metres. At its furthest extent, the cone is equal to the creature’s POW in width.

Any creature caught in the flame suffers the noted fire damage to all hit locations, though a character may dive for cover to halve this damage and AP counts as normal.

A creature may only breathe flame once in a specified time period (usually once per hour or once per day). Further attempts to breathe flame within this time period require the creature to make a Resilience test, with a cumulative –20% penalty for every attempt.

Burrower: The creature is adept at moving through the ground, creating its own tunnels as it goes. The creature may move through the ground at its normal Movement rate. Some creatures are limited in the kind of ground they can move through. This is noted in the creature’s description.

Chaotic Aura: This creature is tainted by Chaos and other Chaotic creatures can sometimes recognise this. When encountering a creature of Chaos, it may make a CHA or POW test (its choice which). If successful, the creature will not be attacked by his enemy, so long as he does not take any hostile action towards it.

Chaotic Feature: Creatures of Chaos do not always obey the normal laws of physical growth and many are hideously malformed. Each Chaotic Feature trait forces the creature to roll once on the Chaotic Feature table on page 10, applying the effects immediately.

Communal Mind: Though a single creature of this type has only a low fixed INT, a large group of them together possess a vastly improved intellect.

Dark Sight: Allows the creature to treat pitch black conditions as darkness.

Disease Immunity: The creature is immune to all diseases. All creatures without SIZ automatically have this Trait, and it is not listed in their descriptions.

Earth Sense: Some creatures are so in tune with the rock around them that they can work perfectly well in the total darkness of the deep. By sensing heat and air pressure, a creature with Earth Sense can fight and make Perception tests with no penalty so long as their target is no more than 10 metres away.

Echolocation: The creature is able to sense its environment through reflections of sonic waves.

Excellent Swimmer: The creature gains a permanent +30% bonus to its Athletics skill whenever swimming. In addition, the creature uses its normal Movement score when swimming.

Formidable Natural Weapons: This creature’s natural weapons are tough and durable as metal. As such they may parry weapon attacks.

Gaze Attack: The creature has a gaze attack. This attack may be active (the creature must consciously use it on a foe) or passive (anyone looking at the creature is affected).

Life Sense: In tune with the rhythms of nature, this creature can determine the vitality of any living creature by touch alone. If the creature touches another and makes a successful Perception test, it will learn of the target’s current hit points, Fatigue level and whether it is currently afflicted by any poison or disease.

Night Sight: Allows the creature to treat partial darkness as illuminated and darkness as partial darkness.

Poison: The creature has a venomous bite, sting or other means of attack. The description will describe the particular poison or venom the creature displays.

Poison Immunity: The creature is immune to all poisons. All creatures without SIZ automatically have this Trait, and it is not listed in their descriptions.

Possession, Covert: An insidious means of possession, covert possession means, essentially, that the spirit is a hitchhiker in the body of the possessed. It exhibits no control over the body, and the possessed remains completely in charge. In many cases, the possessed may not even know he is possessed.

Possession, Dominant: The more well-known and obvious form of possession, dominant possession occurs when the possessing entity literally takes control of the possessed body. The identity (INT, POW and CHA) of the body’s owner is subsumed beneath the identity of the possessing spirit. The possessed is absolutely helpless, unable to take any action at all, unable even to regain Magic Points, a prisoner in his own body. The possessor is in complete control, though it does not have access to any of the memories, skills or magic of the possessed.

Regeneration: The creature is able to regenerate hit points lost to damage. The speed of regeneration varies depending upon the creature.

Trample: The creature is able to trample beings with a SIZ of half or less its own. This attack inflicts damage equal to double the creature’s Damage Modifier, and requires the creature to expend Movement. A creature with this trait may Trample even if it has only one Combat Action – the Trample is assumed to be part of its Movement.

Wall Walking: The creature can move freely on vertical surfaces and even move upside down on a ceiling with no special equipment. Such Movement is always at half the creature’s normal Movement rate.

Vampiric Touch: The creature can drain one or more of a character’s Characteristics by touch.