Altering Creatures
There are several situations where the Master may wish to alter a creature and, in Runarcana, there is more than one way to do this, based on the final objective of the alteration.
Opulence
Creatures are presented with characteristics based on their CR, but there are situations where the GM may wish to have a version of the same creature at a different CR. Some creatures, such as Stone and Vine Elementals, have the Opulence trait as part of their traits, allowing them to be adapted to other CRs with ease.
Some creatures have their own rules to define their changes based on increasing their CR (with familiars being the most common example), in creatures with Opulence, these own rules are defined as part of the feature. If a creature with Opulence does not have specifics about its specific traits (such as hit points) listed in its characteristic, the default rules are used.
Additionally, Opulence rules can be used with creatures that do not naturally possess it, making it possible to use any creature at a different CR. When using the Opulence trait to adapt a creature that does not have it, the general Opulence rules must be used.
Rules of Opulence
Life Points
A creature with Opulence gains an increase in hit points as its CR increases. If the creature does not have its own rule, the increase is based on its Function and proficiency bonus, as described below:
- Grunt: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 1 additional Hit Die. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 2 additional Hit Dice instead of 1.
- Soldier: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 2 additional Hit Die. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 4 additional Hit Dice instead of 2.
- Elite: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 3 additional Hit Dice. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 6 additional Hit Dice instead of 3.
- Paragon: With each increase in CR, the creature receives an amount of additional Hit Dice equal to its Threat Level. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives double the additional Hit Dice.
In addition to hit dice, every creature adds to its hit dice an additional fixed value equal to its proficiency bonus × its Constitution modifier, with the value of maximum hit points changing according to the changes therein.
Attributes
A creature with Opulence has its attribute values increased according to the increase in its CR. The creature's Attribute points are increased based on its proficiency bonus before the change, receiving additional attribute points only after reaching a specific CR increase.
This range is also affected by the creature's Role, as indicated below:
- Grunt: The creature receives +1 in one of its attributes, this increase occurs at intervals equal to the creature's proficiency bonus.
- Ex. A creature with the Grunt Role of CR 1 has a proficiency bonus of 2, so its attributes are increased only when its CR is increased to 3. The increase occurs again at CR 5, where its proficiency bonus becomes 3, increasing again only at CR 8, with the range increasing progressively.
- Soldier: The creature receives +1 in one of its attributes, this increase occurs at intervals equal to half the creature's proficiency bonus.
- Ex. A creature with the CR 11 Henchman Role has a proficiency bonus of 4, so its attributes are increased only when its CR is increased to 13, with the range increasing progressively as its CR increases.
- Elite: The creature receives +2 in one of its attributes (or +1 in two different attributes), this increase occurs at intervals equal to half the creature's proficiency bonus.
- Paragon: The creature receives a number of attribute points equal to half its TL, distributed across its attributes as makes sense. Unlike other roles, a Pinnacle receives an attribute increase with every CR increase.
Increasing the attribute modifier used in the creature's attacks, spells or characteristics can also increase its hit, damage or CD.
Attacks and Damage
Based on the increase in CR, a creature with Opulence also receives an offensive increase, which can be in the form of an increase in its damage dice or multiple attacks.
Damage Dice Increase
The most common type of offensive buff when empowering creatures with Opulence is the addition of damage dice to increase their destructive force. The creature receives additional damage dice on its attacks or offensive spells/features, varying according to the creature's role, as indicated below:
- Grunts: A creature with the Grunt role takes one additional damage die for every 4 additional CR.
- Soldiers: A creature with the Soldier role takes one additional damage die for every 2 additional CR.
- Elite: A creature with the Elite role receives one additional damage die for each increase in CR.
- Paragon: A creature with the Paragon role receives an amount of additional dice equal to half its Threat Level with each increase in CR.
Multiple Attacks
In addition to increased direct damage, a creature can gain the Multiattack trait upon reaching certain Challenge Levels. The minimum CR where this can occur depends on the creature's Role, as indicated in the table below:
| Role | Minimum CR |
|---|---|
| Grunt | 16 |
| Soldier | 12 |
| Elite | 8 |
| Paragon | 1 |
Upon gaining this feature, the creature does not receive an increase in damage dice. Furthermore, the dice are divided between the number of attacks the creature can make.
Ex.: A Paragon that would deal 6d4 in an attack and receives Multiple Attacks now deals 3d4 in each attack if it attacks twice with its action or 2d4 if it can attack 3 times.
| Using Multiple Attacks
When using multiple attacks, the creature receives an increase in utility in combat, which can be exponentially more powerful than a creature without this trait. It is recommended to prevent a creature from being able to perform more than 1 attack per threat level, avoiding both an overload of skills and a delay in its turn. |
Runes
Creatures with Opulence follow the standard Rune progression, however it is recommended to keep the Runes already possessed by the creature, avoiding both an overload of abilities and a change in identity.
| Using Additional Runes
When a creature acquires a new Rune, it also receives its Imposition, having its appearance changed accordingly, remember this when granting a new Rune to a creature! Runes don't appear for no reason, try to relate them to the narrative that makes this creature stronger than normal. By granting additional uses of the same rune 7 times, it is possible to achieve Runic Dedication and grant an additional effect to it, making the creature considerably stronger. |
Promotion
In addition to the ND, the characteristics in Runarcana are divided based on their Role, generating types of enemies that generate different dangers within each CR. In some cases, it may be in the GM's interest to modify the function of a creature to generate a different version of it, generating more independence for the creature and even allowing it to deal with more players on an equal footing.
Promotion Rules
The process of changing a creature's function to increase its lethality can be called Promotion, having its own rules for the same.
Function Features
Some characteristics are exclusive to each function, when changing a creature's function, these characteristics can be acquired or lost, according to the Role Characteristics table.
| Role | Hit Dice Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Grunt | Replaceable |
| Soldier | None |
| Elite | Epic Actions |
| Paragon | Epic Actions and Resilience |
Life Points
Creatures with different functions have different Hit Dice multipliers, changing the function changes the same, increasing as per the table below:
| Role | Hit Dice Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Grunt | 1 HD |
| Soldier | 2 HD |
| Elite | 3 HD |
| Paragon | Paragon's TL in HD |
Based on these values, a creature receives a multiplication on its Hit Dice
- Ex.: When promoting a Soldier to a T4 Paragon, the number of his life dice are doubled; When promoting an Elite to a T4 Paragon, the creature receives ⅓ of its hit dice as additional hit dice (that is, it receives 1 additional hit dice for every 3 hit dice it has).
A creature with Opulence gains an increase in hit points as its CR increases. If the creature does not have its own rule, the increase is based on its Function and proficiency bonus, as described below:
- Grunt: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 1 additional Hit Die. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 2 additional Hit Dice instead of 1.
- Soldier: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 2 additional Hit Die. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 4 additional Hit Dice instead of 2.
- Elite: With each increase in CR, the creature receives 3 additional Hit Dice. Upon reaching a CR where the creature's proficiency bonus is increased, the creature receives 6 additional Hit Dice instead of 3.
Attributes
Whenever a creature promotes, it receives an increase in its attributes based on its size, as indicated in the table below:
| Size | Attribute Increase |
|---|---|
| Small or smaller | +2 attribute points |
| Medium or Large | +3 attribute points |
| Huge or Garagantuan | +4 attribute points |
| Colossal | +6 attribute points |
Attacks and Damage
Promoting a creature increases its offensive capabilities, increasing its damage and, in some cases, the number of attacks it can make per round.
Damage Increase
When promoting a creature into a role, its damage dice can be increased by one category. When a creature is promoted into two roles, its damage-dealing attacks and traits receive an additional damage die.
Multiple Attacks
In addition to the increase in direct damage, a creature may receive the ability to perform an additional attack, if it makes sense for it. When a creature is promoted to the Paragon role, the GM can choose to grant this feature, making 2 attacks if it does not originally have the feature. When a creature that already has this characteristic is promoted, it can receive an additional attack to the total it can make per round.
Promoting Minions
Minions differ from other creatures in that they do not have a CR greater than 1, which makes the promotion process even easier.
When promoting a Minion, he loses his Ignoble Servant characteristic and receives Role Traits according to the desired role, in addition to receiving additional benefits, indicated in the Minion Promotion Table:
| New Role | Hit Points | Damage Scale | Damage Dice | Role Traits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grunt | 3 HD + 2×Con | +1 | +0 | Replaceable |
| Soldier | 6 HD + 2×Con | +1 | +1 | None |
| Elite | 9 HD + 2×Con | +2 | +2 | Epic Actions |
| Paragon | 3×NA DdV + 2×Con | +2 | +2 | Epic Actions, Multiple Attacks and Resilience |
Description of the table traits:
- Hit Points: The creature's total Hit Points, including its Hit Dice (HD) and its added bonus (twice its Constitution modifier).
- Damage: Changes to the creature's characteristics that cause damage:
- Scale: Increase in the damage scale of the damage caused by the creature. Some Minions deal fixed damage, without an associated damage die, in these cases, the first increase adds one die from a category below the creature's hit die to the creature's damage.
- Dice: Number of additional damage dice.
- Role Characteristics: Characteristics received by the creature.
In addition to these benefits, the creature also receives increased attributes based on its Size.
