Creatures#

What walks Urd

Urd is full of animals, from the apes in the canopy of Menusia to the white bears of the Rimefield, and of older things that came in the Age of Peace and never left. Every creature on these pages is ready to drop into a game: how big it is, how hard it fights, where it lives and what it’s worth if you bring it home alive.

In a fight a creature’s AC is its Defense, and it adds a fifth of its level to hit. Running a Fight has the rest.

Reading a creature#

Every creature on these pages is written the same way, in the order you’ll want it at the table.

1. SizeFrom fine, smaller than your hand, to gargantuan, bigger than a house.
2. RankHow it fights: weak, regular, a minion of something bigger, a mini-boss that leads the pack, or a boss.
3. LevelThe level of party it's a fair fight for. Far above the party's level is a reason to run.
4. Health, armor and biteIts health, its armor class and the die it rolls when it hits.
5. GroupHow many turn up together. Roll between the two numbers.
6. GroundThe kinds of ground it lives on, and so the provinces where you'll meet it.
7. TamingThe DC to tame it and what a tamed one sells for. Magical creatures can't be tamed.

A wolf is medium and regular, level 8: 24 health, AC 4, bites for 1d6, turns up alone, in Tharsis, Esthar and New Saellem. It tames against DC 5, and a tamed one sells for 40 vern.

How dangerous#

Health is the quickest way to size up a fight. A hare dies to one good swing; the things at the bottom of this list are why parties hire more people.

1. Hare13 health
2. Wolf24 health
3. Grizzly Bear33 health
4. Unicorn90 health
5. Wyvern240 health
6. Rimefang wolf196 health
7. Tarasque300 health

Rank and experience#

A creature’s rank says how it carries itself in a fight, and its experience modifier multiplies what killing it earns: a wolf at x0.85 is worth a little less than its level, a wyvern at x3 a great deal more. Bosses and mini-boss leaders hold a fight together, so killing one first often sends the rest running.

WeakHealth x0.5

Feeble creatures with diminished strength and vitality. Often young, sickly, or malnourished specimens that pose little threat to adventurers.

RegularHealth x1

Standard creatures representing the baseline for their species. Typical examples found throughout the world with average capabilities.

MinionHealth x1.25

Slightly enhanced creatures serving a greater power. Often found guarding lairs or accompanying more dangerous foes.

UncommonHealth x1.5

Hardier than their kind, with an edge that sets them apart from the regular run of foes. Pack leaders, seasoned hands and the better armed among a crowd.

Mini-BossHealth x1.75

Notable adversaries that command lesser creatures. Significantly tougher than regular foes, often guarding valuable treasures or key locations.

BossHealth x2

Powerful leaders and apex predators. These formidable enemies require careful strategy and coordination to defeat, but reward victors handsomely.

EliteHealth x2.1

Exceptional individuals who have risen above their peers through skill, training, or natural talent. Veterans, sergeants, and specialists who command respect.

Meeting creatures#

Creatures turn up by the ground the party is crossing, the same way the game spawns them. Common animals turn up most, rare ones a quarter as often, and magical creatures wherever the ground feeds their element. Vermin are everywhere. Pick the ground and roll; the roller gives you what, how many, and the numbers to run it.

Keep it fair

The roller doesn’t care about the party’s level, and neither does the wild. If it rolls a pack of rimefang wolves at a party of level 3, that’s a chase, not a fight. Tell them what they see before anyone draws steel.

The pages#

Each kind of creature has a page of its own.

Wild Animals The ordinary animals of Sedia by family, from great cats to frogs, with the vermin that turn up everywhere. 350 animals, 20 vermin Pets & Hunting Birds Dogs, cats and hunting birds you can buy, and the ones only an animal husband can bring home. 43 pets Mounts Every horse, pony, donkey and camel on Sedia: how fast it is, what it carries and where it's sold. 41 mounts Magical Creatures The creatures that came in the Age of Peace, by the element that feeds them. None of them can be tamed. 115 creatures Beasts of the Provinces The beasts the provinces are known for, and the worse things under the Bleak. 34 beasts The Restless Dead Skeletons, the drowned dead, wraiths and shades: the things that should have stayed buried. 26 of the dead Lairs The groves, nests, graves and dens where creatures gather, by the ground they're found on, with who lives there and how often. 49 lairs