Giant Beast Template

Viola! A simple template for creating home-brewed “giant” beasts that are statistically in line with those found in the Monster Manual.

Score Change Per Size Increase

Speed(s)	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
+5	+1	+21	+4	+1	+2	+1	+0	+1	+1	+4

In fact, as you can see in the table below, if we use our template to create the giant beasts found in the Monster Manual* and then compare our home-brews with the official versions, we find the average difference in scores to be less than 1 point.

(Absolute) Average Score Difference

Speed(s)	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.4

As an example, if we use our template to make the tiny raven (MM, pg. 335) two sizes larger the result is the following medium raven:

Giant Raven (#1)

Size

LS

FS

AC

Avg. HP

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Atk.

Avg. DR

Med.

20

60

14

43

10 (0)

16 (+3)

12 (0)

4 (-3)

12 (+1)

8 (-1)

+6

9

Of course, some adjustment may be necessary. For instance the raven’s average hit points seem a little on the high side. This observation is born out when we compare our scores with the Monster Manual’s five flying giants.**

Monster Manual Flying Giants

LS	FS	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
5-10	50-80	10-13	13-26	10-16	10-17	10-15	1-8	10-14	3-10	3-5	5-8

However, the excess HP is not actually due to the raven’s flying ability. Closer inspection of the Monster Manual’s giants shows a significant jump in HP and Avg. DR as we move from large to huge.

So, rather than using a single template, we propose two templates, one for large or smaller giant beasts and a second for huge or larger. We will use Template A to grow from tiny through large and switch to Template B to grow from large through gargantuan.

Template A: Score Change Per Size Increase (Tiny-Large)

Speed(s)	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
+5	+0	+9	+4	+1	+1	+1	+0	+1	+1	+3

Templet B: Score Change Per Size Increase (Large-Gargantuan)

Speed(s)	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
+5	+2	+65	+5	+0	+3	+1	+0	+1	+3	+10

Thus, our medium raven (Template A x2) will have the more modest scores shown below.

Giant Raven (#2)

Size	LS	FS	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
Med.	20	60	12	19	10	16	10	4	12	8	+6	7

On the other hand, a huge raven (Template A x3, Template B x1) will have more intimidating scores that are in line with the Monster Manual’s huge giants.

Giant Raven (#3)

Size	LS	FS	AC	Avg. HP	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	Atk.	Avg. DR
Huge	30	70	14	93	19	17	14	6	12	10	+10	20

Simply apply these two templates to create giant beasts of your own.

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* Ape, Badger, Bat, Boar, Constrictor Snake, Crab, Crocodile, Eagle, Elk, Frog, Goat, Hyena, Lizard, Octopus, Owl, Poisonous Snake, Rat, Scorpion, Seahorse, Spider, Vulture & Weasle

** Bat, Eagle, Owl, Vulture & Wasp

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