Understanding Statistics

Most of the statistics in this section use a scale of extreme, high, moderate, and low—some use terrible values as well. Extreme: The creature is world-class in this statistic and can challenge almost any character. Most creatures have no extreme statistics or only one extreme statistic, although some creatures might have additional extreme statistics and weaker related statistics elsewhere (a common example being a creature trading accuracy for extreme damage). Examples from Alien Core include the zitteroc's Athletics modifier and the necrovite's spell DC. High: Extremely capable but not world-class, the creature presents a challenge for most characters. Just about all creatures have at least one high value. Most combat-focused creatures have high AC and either a high attack bonus and high damage, or a merely moderate attack bonus but extreme damage. A cerebinite's attack bonus and a heliad nymph's Diplomacy modifier are high values. Moderate : A middle-of-the road statistic covers anything unremarkable about the creature. Use this one often. Low: The creature is actively bad at this. Choose these intentionally to represent the creature's weak points. Most creatures should have at least one low statistic; an example is the warp troll's Will save. Terrible: Some statistics can dip even lower than low, to terrible. This indicates a truly awful statistic that still isn't game-breakingly bad. A tech zombie's Intelligence is terrible, as is a void ooze's Reflex save.