DC20 Alpha Monster Guide

Hello there! This is designed to be an “Alpha Monster Creation PC Base Stats

Advice Helper” and further explanations, tools, systems, rules, This is average number you can expect a PC to have in each of
etc will be available in the future. I just wanted to give a little the following stats:
guide on how I have had success at making monsters from
scratch. It is SO much easier and simpler to do that than in Health: 8 (see above for more on HP)
other game systems I have played, and the 4 Action Point Physical Defense: 12
system makes it very easy to add features and abilities too.
Mental Defense: 10
In this little guide I will go over the TWO pillars of making
Damage Reduction: 0 (or 1 at most)
a Monster (Base Stats and Features), then give some general
GM Tips for running monsters. I just didn't want to leave Attack & Spell Check: +4
y’all hanging when you wanted to create monsters for your Base Damage: 2-3 (but each will usually have a Class Feature or
campaigns and one shots! Here ya go! other mechanic to give them an additional +1)
Speed: 4
Monster Base Stats Action Points: 4
These are the basic numbers that make up the creature's
baseline stats (health, plus to hit, defense, etc). These numbers
are not flashy or exciting, but they still get across the power Monster Stat Table
of a monster and how unique they are. A monster with a high This table shows numbers for what would be considered above
SPEED will FEEL fast as it moves around the battlefield, so try average (high), below average (low), or standard (middle) for
and think of how to best represent your monster with their a monster at levels 1 and 2. When you make a monster you
Base Stats so they work how you want them to. can decide to give it low scores in one category, but high in
another. Mix and match these stat ranges to fit the type of
creature you want to make to make them more unique.
Monster vs PC
Example: You can make more standard Monster Types of
The FIRST thing to understand when making a “balanced”
an assassin with high Base Damage and low Health, a brute
monster for DC20 is what the Base Stats of the PCs are. with high Physical Defense but low Mental Defense. Or you
could make a huge monster that has high Base Damage,
PC Health and + Attack Check, but it has low Speed, Action Points, and
Physical Defense.
This helps me as a GM know how much health my PCs have,
so I can establish a “baseline” for what would be a normal The low values are lower than any PC could be and the high
amount of HP for monsters to have in comparison. values are higher than any PC could achieve also. This just gives
Health Point Formula = 4 + (2 x PC Level) + Might + you a range to play within, and then branch out from there.
Agility + (Possible Class or Ancestry Bonus HP)
DC Tip: If you were to make a monster with ALL “high”
DC Tip: In general you would want to have the HP of a stats… it would be VERY strong and I would love to hear a
“normal” monster be slightly lower than the PCs, unless it is a group defeat such a monster, but just be careful and aware
boss or mini boss. that you need to “even it out” between high and low if you
truly want the monster to be balanced.
Low Middle High
Low Middle High
Level 1 5 10 15
Health 2-5 8-10 20-30
Level 2 7 12 18
Physical Defense 8 11-13 17
Level 3 9 14 20
Mental Defense 6 9-10 15
Damage Reduction 0 0 1
Attack & Spell Check +2 +4 +5
Base Damage 1 2 3
Speed 3 4 6
Action Points 2 4 4
Legendary Reaction Points 0 1 3

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Stat Explanations Monster Feature Options
The Middle stat on the table above also can represent an
“Average PC” stat line. So when making a monster you can Here are a few options for adding cool and unique Features
easily balance it around that average. to your monsters. I have found it FAR easier to create cool
things that monsters can do with the 4 Action Point system in
Health: I really like to give smaller creatures like goblins 4 or DC20. There are so many things to customize and tweak that
5 HP, this makes it to where one BIG hit from a PC can kill are also balanced around their action economy. Here are some
them, or 2 small hits. Anything lower than 4 HP can easily options for inspiration for you to take and run with!
die in 1 hit. Keep in mind a creature's Defense and Damage
Reduction also count towards how long it survives. Be careful
giving a creature the “high” value for ALL of those stats. PC Class Features —> Monster Features
You can 100% look to the Classes in DC20 for inspiration for
Defense: Be careful to give too high of a Defense, but your monsters. That is literally the easiest thing you could do
also remember, in DC20 you can get Help Actions, grant (and very balanced). This works great when you choose Class
yourself ADV and much more to increase your Checks to get Features from Classes that are NOT represented by the other
higher than usual. PCs to show something unique, but it can also be pretty fun to
Damage Reduction: This is very strong and should be have an opposing enemy with the same Class Feature as a PC.
used sparingly.
Example: You could describe the following. The large hulking
Attack / Spell Check: I usually just default to +4 since that's orc jumps down and lets out a loud angry scream… and
what the PCs have, but you can shift up and down accordingly. enters a Rage (then you look to your Barbarian PC). This
But remember, in DC20 your + to your Attack Check also is fun to do and also depends on if you openly say some of
can translate into more DAMAGE, because you could get these things out loud when you run games as a GM.
Heavy Hits +.
Base Damage: Be careful if you try to give a monster higher base DC Tip: I like to use Class Features for monsters because it
lets me play (and playtest) features from classes that I am
damage than 3. I have done a monster with 4 base damage, but
excited to play myself as a GM… and this gives us GMs a way
I gave it lower speed and Action Points etc to balance it out. to play with the Class Features we’d want if we were a PC.
Action Points: I usually have the monsters have 4 AP, but see
the Action Point Section below for more tips on how to run
and track AP for multiple monsters. Monster Cheat Sheet
This is a chart that I used forever in 5e and I have converted
Legendary Reaction Points: These are a unique resource
some of it here for DC20. They are listed off into categories
for Legendary Monsters (see Legendary Monsters below
and you could even glance at this list on the fly and add 1 or 2
for more info).
onto a monster.
Alpha Note: More features like this will be released in future
Monster Features Kickstarters and on Patreon
These are the unique mechanics that monsters have to Offense
make them unique and dangerous in combat. My general • Cleave: Apply 1 Attack Check per turn to 2 adjacent targets
rule of thumb is to give AT LEAST 1 Monster Feature to within range.
everything you use, otherwise they just turn into a sack of HP • Rampage: Each Round the monster increases its Base
that hits stuff. Damage by +1 (make sure not to start off too high already).
• Enrage: Once you become Bloodied (1/2 HP or lower) you
DC Tip: The only exception to this is if I use a Monster
gain +1 damage on all Attack Checks.
for some sort of tactical purpose, like capturing a PC, or
running away to alert others. Even those monsters can have Defense
some sort of additional feature (like ADV on Grappling or • Regeneration: You heal for 2 HP at the start of each of your
increased Speed). turns.
• Resistance: You have Resistance to X damage type.
• Shielded: You can spend 1 AP to give yourself 2 Temp HP
How many Features? (this cannot stack).
I recommend giving Monsters a number of Features equal to
the level of the PCs. Think of it like this; PCs have Base Stats Utility
and then they gain features from their class to make them • Shot Caller: When you give the Help Action to another
stronger, they get those features every level (usually multiple creature, their next Attack Check deals +1 damage.
at each level). So your monsters have Base Stats (see above) • Inspire: Once per turn you can give a Help Die to any allied
and you can give them Features the same way. creature for free.
• Walls: You can spend 1 AP to create a 4 Space long wall that
DC Tip: Be careful about giving too many features, this can is 1 Space wide and 1 Space high. (choose a material that
be complicated to keep track of for less experienced Game makes sense for the monster).
Masters and could also make monsters VERY powerful
depending on what you give them.

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 Other Ideas Swallow Grapple Maneuver: (1 AP) If you have a creature
• Damage Type: Change the damage type the monster deals grappled you can initiate another Grapple Check. Success:
(or part of it) to another damage type. Swallow the creature and it takes 1 Acid damage at the start
• Reach: Give the creature a 2 or even 3 Space Melee Attack of each turn while swallowed. If you take over 4 damage from
range. a single hit, make a DC 15 Might Save. Failure: Spit out the
• Death’s Door: Give this monster the ability to use the Death's creature inside you.
Door mechanic that the PCs have.
Monster Passive Effects
Monster Maneuvers These are extra little passives that you can give monsters that
If you are familiar with Martial Maneuvers (see the Core work just like how Martial Weapon Passives work. If a target
DC20 Rules for more), these work the same way. You can has a certain Condition (or other triggering effect) then you
give ANY monster you want FULL access to Martial Attack, deal an extra +1 damage.
Defense, and Grapple Maneuvers. Below is a compiled list of
extra effects that you can add to the Attacks of your monsters. Example: This can be any condition (such as bleeding, prone,
poisoned, exposed, etc.) or any sort of other mechanic (such
You can also choose to put these type of effects on Spell Checks as being flanked, using a Help Die, moving at least 2 Spaces
as well (especially single target Spell Attacks) before the Attack, etc.)

DC Tip: These effects are based on Martial Maneuvers

and Conditions combined together and can be expanded
even farther. Game Master Tips
These are just tips on running Combat in DC20, there is
Attack Check Enhancements: These modify your Attack Check SO much I have on this, but I just wanted to get these out
in some way and each cost 1 AP to y'all here!
• Grant yourself ADV
• +1 Space Attack Range (or +5 for ranged)
• +1 Damage (possibly of another type) Monster Action Point Tips
Physical Save Effects: These force the target to also make a A big concern that some of my team had when developing
Save against one of the following effects and each cost 1 AP. DC20 was the GM tracking Action Points (AP) for multiple
These work like Dynamic Attack Saves (see Dynamic Attack monsters. So here are some tips on how I handle it, and after a
Save rules for more) and work exactly like Martial Maneuvers TON of playtesting, I feel it is very simple to do and each GM
too. Listed below are the conditions that you can attempt to just needs to find what methods work best for them.
inflict on your target. Overall I do NOT use any of these methods, because I can
usually remember if a monster has taken any Reactions or
DC Tip: You can even combine multiple of these together if it
not. BUT if you do have a Combat Encounter with a lot of
makes sense for the monster, just remember that the target
would only make a single Physical Save.
monsters or lots of things going on, then I do use some of
these methods to help me keep track of things.
• Shove (pushed 1 Space + 1 for every 5 it fails its Save by)
DC Tip: My biggest tip here is to limit how many REACTIONS
• Slowed 1 (Every 1 Space you move costs an extra 1 Space
you give your monsters. If a monster doesn't have any
of movement) reactions… then they are SUPER easy to run. So as you get
• Exposed (ADV on the next Attack Check against the target) more practice you can start to add more and more Reactions
• Hinder (target has DisADV on its next Attack Check to your monsters.
• Impaired (target has DisADV on Physical Checks)
• Dazed (target has DisADV on Mental Checks) Tally Marks
• Prone This is my preferred method. Next to the monster's name
• Grappled on my Initiative Tracker (a piece of paper I write down the
• Bleeding Initiative Order on), I will simply put a tally mark next to
• Burning a monster that has spent AP as a Reaction. Then once the
• Vicious: If you use any of the Physical Save Maneuvers, you monster's turn comes, I can see how many tally marks it
can give the target DisADV on that Save as part of the same used, erase them, and reduce the amount of AP they have by
Attack Check. that amount.
• Other Powerful Effects (these should cost 2 AP since they
are so strong) Example: If a Goblin spends 2 AP as part of Reactions then
I would have 2 tally marks next to its name. Once it’s turn
• Poisoned
comes, I would look at its name and see 2 tally marks. I would
• Restrained subtract the number of tally marks (2) from the AP of the
• Exhausted Goblin (4) and now I know he only has 2 left.
• Weakened (Dis ADV on ALL Checks)
Most of the time you do NOT have monsters taking Reactions
all the time, so you normally don't have to even use tally marks.

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Use Dice Legendary Action Points (LAP)
I have used a d4 or a d6 and placed them behind my GM Screen Legendary Action Points work similar to how you have used
next to the monster's name on the Initiative Order (where I write them in other systems, and they actually fit into DC20 very
it down on a piece of paper). I put the d6 next to their name and smoothly. You can spend LAP in between the PCs turns. This
leave it with the 4 facing up. Once a monster uses a Reaction lets these monsters act more often and in more dynamic ways.
of some kind, I turn it to a 3 and place it back down on the Turn Limit: You cannot spend Legendary Action Points during
paper initiative tracker next to the monster's name. Once that your turn in the Initiative Order.
monster's turn comes, I see there is a dice with a 3 next to it, so I Number of Points: You can give a monster any number of these
remember that way. (usually between 1-3)
You could also use these dice and put them out on the battlefield Recharge: They recharge at the beginning of each Round of Combat
next to the monster, but I find that to be too cluttering on the Interrupt Initiative Order: You can spend Legendary Action
map. If you use VTTs you can track it easily on the monsters Points In between any PCs turn. After a PCs turn in Combat, you
that way too. can spend 1 Legendary Action Point take any Action that costs 1
AP (unless otherwise stated).
Enhancements & Maneuvers: You can spend AP or LAP to enhance
Glass Beads / Gems / Tokens maneuvers and spells, just make sure you keep track of which one
If you like having tangible things to play with, then behind your
you are spending.
screen you can have a number of little tokens to represent the
Example Scenarios
AP of each monster. This makes it VERY easy to track, but it
• If a Legendary Monster wants to take an Opportunity Attack,
can get messy behind your screen. So I personally only do this
Spell Duel, or any other normal Reaction, they can spend
for Legendary Monsters (and their Legendary Reaction Points).
Legendary Action Points instead of their normal Action Points.
The only time you can get overwhelmed as a GM is if your This lets them keep their (usually 4) Action Points to use on
monsters have a TON of things that they can do as a Reaction. their turn to still have a “full” turn.
• If a Legendary Monster makes an Opportunity Attack and they
want to enhance it by spending more on it, they can use either
Monster Combos their Action Points OR their Legendary Action Points to boost
If you pre-plan monsters to have a “signature move” or just a
it.
combo of how they spend their AP, then it can make running the
• Some Legendary Monsters might have a unique Reaction that
monster SO much easier. You can also have this tactical plan in
lets them do something cool… when they take that Reaction,
place with multiple monsters that work together.
they can spend EITHER AP or LAP on it.
Example: One Combat I had a pair of Mercenary brothers, one
had a whip and the other had huge boulder gauntlets. The whip Boss Points
brother would constantly use Maneuvers to try and make the Alpha Note: This is an Alpha Concept (and an Alpha name… it could
target fall Prone, while the other brother would always pour ALL definitely use a better name lol). Basically these are similar to the
of his AP into ONE really big hit. This playstyle of the monsters concept of “Legendary Resistance”. These are points that Legendary
played into their personality and Roleplay too. Monsters can have that lets them do unique things, but only a limited
number of times.
Creatures can have any number of Boss Points (usually between
Alternative Monster Action Economy 1-3) and they can spend them on some things listed below.
I personally have not had to do this (because I feel like it is simple
Additionally creatures can have unique effects that spend Boss
enough) BUT if you want to have monsters feel a bit more
Points that the GM can choose to use them on as well. This gives
familiar to other systems, you can try this.
the GM a LIMITED resource that they can choose to spend in
Instead of your monsters having a default of 4 AP, you make it a variety of ways (offensive, defensive, utility, etc). Boss Points
to where they have 3 AP and 1 Reaction. This might be more Reset on a Long Rest, so these points are very limited.
familiar to keep track of “one reaction” and then have less AP to
Boss Point Default Uses
mess with during a turn.
• Choose to Succeed on a Save that you just failed
Legendary Monsters • Reduce the damage that you just took by half
If you want to add some of these features onto a normal monster, • (possibly more to come)
you can make them feel even scarier! You can still give these Boss Point Specific Creature Example Uses
Features to a simple Goblin Chief or other smaller creatures. I • When hit with Fire damage, you take no damage, absorb it and
don't want you to reserve the concept of “LEGENDARY” with heal for the same amount. Additionally you now can increase
only final bosses, dragons, or other powerful creatures. Sprinkle the damage of your next Attack Check by an amount equal to
these in on ANY monster! the damage absorbed.
• When Bloodied, you can spend 1 Boss Point for free at the start
of your turn for 0 AP. You heal for an amount equal to your
Level or Prime Modifier (whichever is higher).
• Recharge your Breath Weapon (or other large ability with a
“recharge” component).

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