Sample Monster: Svart-alfar Wretch: Advantage Dice System

GreyKnight felt inspired and wrote up a monster, a Svart-Alfar Wretch. Because his posts sometimes fall down, I’ve got his permission to import the creature here.

Svart-Alfar Wretch, Advantage Dice Version

The teeming masses of the svart-alfar lurk in caves and dark corners all over the world. Small and wiry, their coal-black skin makes a sharp contrast to their wide pale eyes, and the musty smell of rot often accompanies them on their rare forays to the surface on moonless nights. They are individually cowardly and prefer to move in groups when fighting others, and are at their most brave and wild-hearted when they have overwhelming force of numbers on their side.

The svart-alfar originally hail from Norse mythology, and this particular presentation is based off Alan Garner’s treatment of them in The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. –GK

Talents Chosen
Expert (d4)

  • Sneaking (move silently)
  • Cornerstone: Svart-alfar (racial; includes ‘cave dweller’)
Basic (d2)

  • Capstone: Lurker in Darkness (move silently, hide)
  • Acute Vision
  • Thick Hide
  • Sense Magic
  • Berserker
  • Mob Courage
  • Cornerstone: unassigned; I moved ‘Cave-Dweller’ to the expert tier of Svart-alfar.

Statistics

  • Level: 5 (Expert tier; nominal D&D/PFRPG CR 1/6)
  • Hit Points: 9 (level + tier*tier)
  • Magic Points: 7 (level + tier, probably)
  • Base Roll: d4

Saves (base d4)

  • Fort: d4
  • Ref: d4
  • Will: d4 [Mob Courage: +d2 if they outnumber opponents 2:1]

Skills (base d10)

  • Move Silently: d4+d2 [expert Sneaking, basic Lurker in Shadows]
  • Hide: d4+d2 [basic Lurker in Shadows]
  • Perception: d4+d2 [basic Acute Vision]
  • Spellcraft: d4+d2 [basic Sense Magic]

Combat (base d4)

  • Claws: d4 [Berserker: +d2 if they outnumber their opponents 2:1]

Equipment and Property

elided

Notes

Not all the talents here are yet defined, but they give some idea of the sorts of capabilities the creatures have. As a level 5 creature this is nominally on par with a CR 1/6 creature in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game… of which there are a very, very small number indeed (mostly familiars, including a platypus and a sloth).

I might want to rethink that supposed parity, this creature looks a little more capable than that. Not a lot more capable, perhaps CR 1/4 (kobold) or even CR 1/3 (goblin).

Perhaps level 1..2 is CR 1/8, level 3..4 is CR 1/6, level 5..6 is CR 1/4, then level 7 is CR 1/3 and level 8 is CR 1/2. That might be a worthwhile mapping to consider.

 

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