A Different Way of Thinking about Creatures in Cairn 2e

I recently read through Cairn 2e and thought it was excellent. Yochai Gal is a real class act for putting that much quality RPG out there for free. I more or less immediately started making an adventure with the system's tools.

I ran into a bit of a problem when trying to create creatures, though. Using the system's procedure, I whipped up a few. Some I thought were good, likely to be useful and interesting in play. Some, I thought didn't do enough to make themselves more than a mere statblock.

This whole process got me thinking about Cairn creatures. What separates a good one from a bad one? And what can adventure designers keep in mind to make their creatures better?

What makes a good creature?

What I want most out of my OSR monsters are challenges for my players' brains rather than their characters' numbers. A creature that is exactly the same as every other except for higher damage and health is deeply uninteresting, in my mind. I want a set of creatures that force my players to think about them critically and make new decisions in each encounter, combat or not.

So how do we do that?

I'm not going to claim to have the best solution to this problem, but I might have a lead on a solution, at least.

Summed up in one sentence: Focus on the points where players make decisions, and write your creatures to target those points.

Cairn 2e and other Odd games have infamously short and punchy combat. The reason for this is that they are intended to focus attention and table time on 3 important decisions:

  1. Instigation: Should we fight this thing?
  2. Execution: Should we run, or keep fighting?
  3. Conclusion: Now that the fight's over, one way or the other, what has changed about our situation?

For more on these decisions, check out this article by Chris McDowall, ItO designer.

Because these are the 3 most important questions to Cairn combat, it stands to reason (to me, at least) that if we want to make better creatures for Cairn, everything that we write about them should relate to these questions.

Let's look at how that might work in practice:

Instigation

What is the creature's first impression to the players? Does it look fearsome? Flimsy? Does its appearance betray its strength during the Execution phase or any nasty tricks that it might leave behind in the Conclusion phase?

How likely is the creature to attack the players? Instigation goes both ways, after all. Is it more aggressive or defensive? If aggressive, what might let a clever party avoid a fight? If defensive, what might cause an incautious party to trigger one?

Execution

How statistically strong is the creature? Can it soak a lot of damage? Does it deal a lot of damage? Does it have some sort of weakness or resistance? Do they appear in swarms, or is there just one? Page 107 of the Cairn 2e Warden's Guide contains some good guidance on this question.

Resist the urge to add too much detail when answering these questions. Other RPGs love to add lots of complexity here, but in Cairn, it just one way among many that creatures can be distinct from one another.

How likely is the creature to run away? Does it just follow the standard morale rules to the letter? Does it mindlessly fight until destroyed? Does it have a special phobia that will cause it to run immediately if encountered? 

Conclusion

Does it leave any lingering effects after the battle is finished? Does it inflict poison or disease? Does it destroy equipment? Often, these lingering effects are triggered by critical damage.

Does something interesting happen when the creature dies? For example, it might regenerate and return to life after a time, or its corpse might explode.

Peaceful Interaction

What does this creature value? What can the players use to trade with or bribe it?

Examples from the Cairn Rulebook

One thing that you will notice flipping through the Cairn bestiary is that many of the creatures already contain details of this type. To take a few random examples:

The root goblin stat block, aside from its stats, speaks to when root goblins will start a fight (Instigation), when they will and will not run (Execution), and what they value as trade goods (Peaceful Interaction).

The zombie stat block contains two different Conclusion effects, resurrection after its death and a disease it can inflict on victims.

Thinking about the stat blocks in this way gives me, at least, more insight into how to run these creatures.

Examples of my own creation

Let's take a few examples of creatures created entirely with this method, for my own adventures:

Guardian Beast Statue:

  • Description: Make of white stone, powerfully built, and roughly the size and shape of a lion. However, its head resembles an eagle's, and though it has no wings, it is carved all over with feather-like designs.
  • Aggression: Upon catching sight of a humanoid creature, the statue waits for that creature to make a sign swearing loyalty to the old Feathered Goddess. If no such sign is forthcoming, the statue attacks.
  • Statistics: 6 HP, 2 Armor, 14 STR, 6 WIL, claws (d8)
  • Number appearing: d4
  • Morale: Will never run, but will never chase fleeing creatures either, always remaining at their post.

The Last Ranger:

  • Description: Might have once been human, but is now covered in bark and leaves. Clutches a greatbow and quiver carved with flowers. Living flowers of the same kind sprout out of the large arrows instead of fletching.
  • Aggression: Will instantly attack strangers wearing the symbol or making the sign of the Feathered Goddess. Interrogates other strangers about their purpose, and leaves them in peace if they convince him they don't intend to loot the forest's ruins.
  • Statistics: 10 HP, 16 DEX, 16 WIL, greatbow (d8)
  • Critical Damage: An arrow pins the creature to the ground and grows roots. Moving the pinned creature without slowly and carefully cutting them free deals d8 STR damage. If the arrow is left in place for years, it will grow into a healthy tree.

Conclusion (Of the post, this time)

Hopefully this is useful to others making adventures for Cairn, I've been using it and having a good time with it. Let me know what you think, and if you have any more points to add to this structure.

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