The Traits of a Creature

Explaining the Traits

Every monster shares a set of common traits on its stat block. Here are the descriptions for each of them.

Type

A creature’s type speaks to its fundamental nature. Certain spells, magic items, class features, and other effects in the game interact in special ways with creatures of a particular type. For example, a dragon slayer’s arrow deals extra damage not only to dragons, but also to other creatures of the dragon type, such as dragon hounds and wyverns. The game includes the following creature types, which have no rules of their own:

Celestials are creatures with divine powers. Many of them serve deities, such as the Aspects of Targon, employed as messengers or agents in the world of Runeterra. Celestials include Aspects, Ascended, Demigods and Deities.

Constructs are made, not born. Some are programmed by their creators to follow a simple set of instructions, while others are capable of independent thought and imbued with sentience.

Dragons are large reptilian creatures of ancient origin and tremendous power. Celestial Dragons are highly intelligent and possess extremely powerful innate magic, capable of destroying worlds with a snap of their fingers. Elemental Dragons are typical of Ixtal; they lack a celestial dragon’s outsized power but are still very powerful. This category also includes creatures related to dragons in some way, though less powerful, less intelligent and less magical, such as Dragon Hounds.

Elementals are creatures that are little more than animated masses of their respective elements, including the creatures simply called elementals. Others have biological forms infused with elemental energy.

Spirits are usually incorporeal beings of great magical power. Most are found on the spiritual plane, mainly in Ionia, such as the Kanmei.

Fae are magical creatures intimately connected to the forces of nature. They dwell in twilight groves and misty forests, closely bound to the Glade, the Spiritual Plane, and Bandle City. Fae include Fairies, Sylphs and Yordles.

Beasts are non-humanoid creatures that are a natural part of the ecology. Some have magical powers, but most lack intelligence and any concept of society; even so, like most beings of nature, they understand the Sylvan language. Beasts include every variety of ordinary animal, as well as giant versions of animals.

Humanoids are the standard people of the world of Runeterra, both civilized and savage, including humans and a tremendous variety of other species. They have language and culture, some innate magical abilities in a few peoples (although most humanoids are capable of learning to cast spells), and a bipedal form. The most common humanoid origins are the best suited for player characters: Humans, Minotaurs, Vastaya and Yordles. An origin that inhabits both the deserts of Shurima and the frozen fields of Freljord, far wilder and more brutal and, for the most part, uniformly evil, are the Troll tribes (Sand or Ice Trolls).

Fiends are creatures of wickedness whose origin is unknown. Evil priests and wizards sometimes summon fiends into the world to sow chaos or to strike a bargain. Fiends include demons such as Tahm Kench, Evelynn and Nocturne, as well as spirits such as the Akana.

Undead were once living creatures, now brought into a terrible state of unlife through necromantic magic or some unclean curse. The undead include walking corpses, such as zombies, as well as disembodied spirits, such as ghosts and specters. The beings of the Shadow Isles fall into this category.

Plants, in this context, are plant creatures, not ordinary flora. Many of them are ambulatory and some are carnivorous. The quintessential plants are Antroplantae such as Maokai or Zyra. This category also includes creatures such as Thornspitters and Rough Vines.

Voidborn are creatures from the Void, an unknown region that seeks to devour all life on the planets it touches. Voidborn are, by their very essence, Chaotic Evil.

Size

A monster can be Diminutive, Small, Medium, Large, Huge or Gargantuan. The Size Categories table shows how much space a creature of a particular size controls in combat. See the Player’s Handbook for more information on creature size and space.

A monster can have as many Hit Dice as you want, but the size of the die used to calculate its hit points depends on the monster’s size, as shown in the Hit Die by Size table.

Descriptors

A creature can have one or more descriptors attached to its type, in parentheses. For example, a vastaya has the humanoid (vastaya) type. The descriptor in parentheses provides additional categorization for certain creatures. Descriptors have no rules of their own, but something in the game, such as a magic item, may refer to them. For example, a spear especially effective in combat against the undead would work against any creature that has the undead descriptor.

Alignment

A creature’s alignment gives a clue to its disposition, as well as how it behaves in a combat or roleplaying situation. For example, a chaotic and evil creature may be hard to reason with and may attack characters on sight, while a neutral creature may be willing to negotiate.

The alignment specified in a creature’s stat block is the default. Feel free to ignore it and change a creature’s alignment to fit your campaign’s needs. If you want a good-aligned voidling or an evil poro, nothing stops you.

Many creatures of low intelligence have no understanding of law or chaos, good or evil. They don’t make moral or ethical choices, but instead act on instinct. These creatures are unaligned, meaning they have no alignment.

Armor Class

A creature that wears armor or carries a shield has an Armor Class (AC) that accounts for its armor, its shield, and its Dexterity. Otherwise, a creature’s AC is based on its Dexterity modifier and its natural armor, if any. If a creature has natural armor, wears armor, or carries a shield, this is indicated in parentheses after its AC value.

Hit Points

A creature usually dies or is destroyed when it drops to 0 hit points. A creature’s hit points are presented both as a dice expression and as a numeric average. For example, a creature with 2d8 hit points has 8 hit points on average (2 × 4). A creature’s size determines the die used to calculate its hit points, as shown in the Hit Die by Size table.

A creature’s Constitution modifier also affects the number of hit points it has. Its Constitution modifier is multiplied by the number of Hit Dice it has, and the result is added to its hit points. For example, if a creature has Constitution 12 (+1 modifier) and 2d8 Hit Dice, it has 2d8+2 hit points (average of 10).

Speed

A creature’s speed tells you how far it can move on its turn. All creatures have a walking speed, called simply the creature’s speed. Creatures that have no form of ground-based locomotion have a speed of 0 feet. Some creatures have one or more of the movement types presented below.

Climb

A creature that has a climbing speed can use all or part of its movement to move on vertical surfaces. The creature doesn’t need to spend extra movement to climb.

Burrow

A creature that has a burrowing speed can use it to move through sand, earth, mud, or ice. A creature can’t burrow through solid rock unless it has a special trait that lets it do so.

Swim

A creature that has a swimming speed doesn’t need to spend extra movement to swim.

Fly

A creature that has a flying speed can use all or part of its movement to fly. Some creatures have the ability to hover, which makes them hard to knock out of the air. Such a creature stops hovering when it dies.

Skills

The Skills entry is reserved for creatures that are proficient in one or more skills. For example, a creature that is very perceptive and stealthy might have bonuses to Wisdom (Perception) and Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

A skill bonus is the sum of a creature’s relevant ability modifier and its proficiency bonus, which is determined by the creature’s Challenge Rating (as shown in the Proficiency Bonus by Challenge Rating table). Other modifiers may apply. For example, a creature might have a higher than expected bonus (typically double its proficiency bonus) to account for its heightened specialization.

Vulnerabilities, Resistances and Immunities

Some creatures have vulnerability, resistance, or immunity to certain types of damage. Certain creatures are even resistant or immune to damage from nonmagical attacks (a magical attack is an attack made by a spell, a magic item, or another source of magical energy). Additionally, some creatures are immune to certain conditions.

Senses

The Senses entry gives a creature’s Passive Perception score, as well as any special senses it may have. Special senses are described below.

Blindsight

A creature with blindsight perceives its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius.

Creatures without eyes, such as Thornspitters, typically have this special sense, as do creatures with echolocation or heightened senses, such as bats and elemental dragons.

If a creature is naturally blind, it has a note in parentheses indicating this, showing that the radius of its blindsight sets the maximum range of its perception.

Seismic Sense

A creature with seismic sense can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within a given radius, as long as it and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance. Seismic sense can’t be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures. Many burrowing creatures, such as Xer’Sai or Sand Swimmers, have this special sense.

Darkvision

A creature with darkvision can see in the dark within a specific radius. The creature can see in dim light within that radius as though it were bright light, and in darkness as though it were dim light. The creature can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Many creatures that live underground have this special sense.

Truesight

A creature with truesight can, out to a specific distance, see in normal and magical darkness, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceive the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic.

Additionally, the creature can see into the Spiritual Plane within the same range.

Where They Are Found

Runarcana’s creatures can be found in a variety of locations, and some may be spread across the whole globe.

The Region entry on a creature’s stat block shows where it can most easily be found, leaving it up to the Master to decide where they want to use it; for example, Elemental Dragons are mostly found in Ixtal, but the Master may want to use them in Noxus or Freljord.

Languages

The languages a creature can speak are listed in alphabetical order. Sometimes a creature can understand a language but can’t speak it, and this is described in this line. A “–” indicates that the creature neither speaks nor understands any language.

Telepathy

Telepathy is a magical ability that allows a creature to communicate mentally with another creature within the specified range. The contacted creature doesn’t need to share a language with the creature to communicate with it, but it must be able to understand at least one language. A creature without telepathy can receive and respond to telepathic messages, but can’t initiate or end a telepathic conversation.

A telepathic creature doesn’t need to see a contacted creature and can end telepathic contact at any time. Contact is broken as soon as the two creatures are no longer within range of each other, or if the telepathic creature contacts another creature within range. A telepathic creature can start or end a telepathic conversation without using an action, but while the creature is incapacitated, it can’t initiate telepathic contact, and any contact currently maintained ends.

A creature inside the area of an antimagic field or in any other location where magic doesn’t function can’t send or receive telepathic messages.

Challenge Rating

A creature’s Challenge Rating (CR) tells you how much of a threat it represents. A group of four properly equipped and rested adventurers should be able to defeat a creature with a Challenge Rating equal to their level without suffering any deaths. For example, a group of four 3rd-level adventurers should find a creature with a Challenge Rating of 3 to be a worthy challenge, but not deadly.

Creatures significantly weaker than 1st-level adventurers have a Challenge Rating lower than 1. Creatures with a Challenge Rating of 0 are insignificant except in large numbers; those with no effective attacks are worth no experience points, while those that do have attacks are worth 10 XP each.

Some creatures present a challenge greater than even a typical group of 20th-level adventurers can handle. These creatures have a Challenge Rating of 21 or higher and are specifically designed to test a player’s skill.

Experience Points

The number of experience points (XP) a creature is worth is based on its Challenge Rating. Normally, XP is awarded for defeating the creature, although the Master can also award XP for neutralizing the threat the creature poses in some other way.

Unless stated otherwise, a creature summoned by a spell or other magical ability is worth the XP noted on its stat block.

Opulence

Creatures are normally presented with standard characteristics for a given Challenge Rating. However, for various reasons, a Master may want to use a creature outside of its Challenge Rating, whether stronger or weaker. Below is a description of how to raise a creature’s Challenge Rating; you must adjust the X’s present in the feature according to the creature’s size category, as in the following list:

• Tiny creatures gain 8 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence can only reach a maximum CR of 4.

• Small creatures gain 8 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence can only reach a maximum CR of 8.

• Medium creatures gain 7 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence can only reach a maximum CR of 25.

• Large creatures gain 6 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence must have a minimum CR of 1/8 and can only reach a maximum CR of 28.

• Huge creatures gain 5 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence must have a minimum CR of 2 and can only reach a maximum CR of 28.

• Gargantuan creatures gain 4 hit dice per CR above the creature’s CR; a creature of this size category that has Evolutionary Essence must have a minimum CR of 5 and can only reach a maximum CR of 30.

Opulence. This creature can be used at Challenge Ratings different from its own, according to the Master’s wishes. For each Challenge Rating above the creature’s original CR, it gains X hit dice, up to a maximum of CR X. For every 3 Challenge Ratings above the creature’s original CR, it gains +1 to its Strength or Dexterity score (Master’s choice), +1 to its Constitution score, its save DC increases by +2 if it has any ability that requires a saving throw, and it gains +2 damage dice on its attack if it has an attack action that deals damage.

It’s important that the Master do this carefully and with clear criteria; some changes may look small but can substantially raise the danger a creature presents.

Special Traits

Special traits (which appear after a creature’s Challenge Rating, but before any actions or reactions) are traits that can be relevant in a combat encounter and that require some explanation.

Spellcasting

A creature with the Spellcasting special trait has a caster level and spell slots, which it uses to cast its 1st-circle and higher spells (as explained in the “Spellcasting” chapter). The caster level is also used for any cantrips included in the trait.

The creature has a list of spells known or prepared from a specific class. The list can also include spells from a feature in that class, such as the Acolyte’s Effluvium feature. The creature is considered a member of the class when attuning to or using a magic item that requires class membership or access to the class’s spell list.

A creature can cast a spell from its list at a higher circle if it has a spell slot for it. For example, a Soul Shepherd with the 3rd-circle spell lightning bolt could cast it as a 5th-circle spell using one of its 5th-circle spell slots.

You can change the spells a creature knows or has prepared, replacing any spell on its spell list with a spell of the same circle from the same class list. If you do so, you can make the creature a greater or lesser threat than its Challenge Rating suggests.

Innate Spellcasting

A creature with the innate ability to cast spells has the Innate Spellcasting special trait. Unless stated otherwise, an innate 1st-circle or higher spell is always cast at its lowest possible level and can’t be cast using a higher circle. If a creature has a cantrip where its level is relevant and none is given, use the creature’s Challenge Rating.

An innate spell can have special rules or restrictions. For example, an eternal scribe might innately cast the levitate spell, but the spell has the “personal” restriction, meaning it only affects the Scribe.

A creature’s innate spells can’t be swapped for other spells. If a creature’s innate spells don’t require attack rolls, no attack bonus is granted to them.

Psionic

A creature that casts spells using only the power of its mind has the Psionic descriptor added to its Spellcasting or Innate Spellcasting special trait. This marker carries no rules of its own, but other parts of the game may refer to it. A creature with this marker typically doesn’t require any components to cast its spells.

Actions

When a creature takes its actions, it can choose among the options in the Actions section of its stat block or use one of the actions available to all creatures, such as the Dash or Hide actions.

Melee and Ranged Attacks

The most common actions a creature will take in combat are melee attacks and ranged attacks. These can be attacks made with spells or weapons, where the “weapon” can be a manufactured item or a natural weapon, such as a claw or a tail spike.

Creature vs. Target. The target of a melee or ranged attack is usually a creature or a target, with the difference that a “target” can be a creature or an object.

Damage. Any damage dealt, or other effects that occur as a result of an attack hitting a target, are described after the “Damage” heading. You have the option of using the average damage or rolling for damage; because of this, both the average damage and the dice expression are given.

Miss. If an attack has an effect that occurs on a miss, this information is given after the “Miss:” heading.

Multiattack

A creature that can make several attacks on its turn has the Multiattack action. A creature can’t use Multiattack when making an opportunity attack, which must be a single melee attack.

Ammunition

A creature carries enough ammunition to make its ranged attacks. You can assume a creature has 2d4 pieces of ammunition for a thrown weapon attack, and 2d10 pieces of ammunition for a projectile weapon, such as a bow or a beast.

Reactions

If a creature can do something special with its reaction, that information is given here. If a creature has no special reaction, this section is absent.

Limited Usage

Some special abilities have restrictions on how many times they can be used.

X/Day. The “X/Day” notation means a special ability can be used X number of times, and a creature must finish a long rest to regain expended uses. For example, “1/Day” means a special ability can be used once, and the creature must finish a long rest to use it again.

Recharge X–Y. The “Recharge X–Y” notation means a creature can use a special ability once, and that ability has a random chance to recharge during each subsequent round of combat. At the start of each of the creature’s turns, roll a d6. If the roll is one of the numbers in the recharge notation, the creature regains the use of the special ability. The ability also recharges when the creature finishes a short or long rest. For example, “Recharge 5–6” means a creature can use the special ability only once. Then, at the start of the creature’s turn, it regains use of the ability if it rolls a 5 or 6 on a d6.

Recharges after a short or long rest. This notation means a creature can use a special ability once and must then finish a short or long rest to use it again.

Equipment

A stat block rarely refers to equipment beyond the armor or weapons used by a creature. A creature that habitually wears clothes, such as a humanoid, is assumed to be dressed appropriately.

You can outfit creatures with additional equipment and trinkets as you see fit, and decide how much of a creature’s equipment is recoverable after the creature is killed, and whether any of that equipment is still usable. A worn suit of armor made for one creature can rarely be used by someone else, for example.

If a spellcasting creature needs material components to cast its spells, assume it has the material components it needs on its stat block.