Creature Creation Guidelines

The following is intended to be a companion piece to the Building Creatures guidelines featured in GM Core. This page is intended to be used for Proficiency Without Level - elements of creature building that do not relate to the various modifiers of a creature, such as damage rolls, should be referenced from the GM Core guidelines.

Creature Building Guidelines, minus Level

Perception

Perception Modifier (d20 + modifier below)

Level	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low	Terrible
-1	10	9	6	3	1
0	10	9	6	3	1
1	10	9	6	3	1
2	10	9	6	3	1
3	11	9	6	3	1
4	11	10	7	4	2
5	12	10	7	4	2
6	12	11	8	5	2
7	13	11	8	5	3
8	13	11	8	5	3
9	14	12	9	6	3
10	14	12	9	6	4
11	15	13	10	7	4
12	15	13	10	7	4
13	16	13	10	7	5
14	16	14	11	8	5
15	17	14	11	8	5
16	17	14	12	9	6
17	18	15	12	9	6
18	18	15	12	9	6
19	19	16	13	10	7
20	19	16	13	10	7
21	20	17	14	11	7
22	21	17	14	11	8
23	21	17	14	11	8
24	22	18	14	12	8

Skills

Skill Modifier (d20 + modifier below)

Level	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low
-1	9	6	5	3 to 2
0	9	6	5	3 to 2
1	9	6	5	3 to 2
2	9	6	5	3 to 2
3	10	7	6	4 to 2
4	11	8	6	4 to 3
5	11	8	7	5 to 3
6	12	9	7	5 to 3
7	13	10	8	6 to 4
8	13	10	8	6 to 4
9	14	11	9	7 to 4
10	15	12	9	7 to 5
11	15	12	10	8 to 5
12	16	13	10	8 to 5
13	17	14	11	9 to 6
14	17	14	11	9 to 6
15	18	15	12	10 to 6
16	19	16	13	10 to 7
17	19	16	13	11 to 7
18	20	17	13	11 to 7
19	21	18	14	12 to 8
20	21	18	14	12 to 8
21	22	19	15	13 to 8
22	23	20	15	13 to 9
23	23	20	15	13 to 9
24	24	21	16	14 to 9

AC

AC

Level	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low
-1	19	16	15	13
0	19	16	15	13
1	18	15	14	12
2	19	16	15	13
3	19	16	15	13
4	20	17	16	14
5	20	17	16	14
6	21	18	17	15
7	21	18	17	15
8	22	19	18	16
9	22	19	18	16
10	23	20	19	17
11	23	20	19	17
12	24	21	20	18
13	24	21	20	18
14	25	22	21	19
15	25	22	21	19
16	26	23	22	20
17	26	23	22	20
18	27	24	23	21
19	27	24	23	21
20	28	25	24	22
21	28	25	24	22
22	29	26	25	23
23	29	26	25	23
24	30	27	26	24

Saving Throws

Saving Throws Modifier (d20 + modifier below)

Level	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low	Terrible
-1	10	9	6	3	1
0	10	9	6	3	1
1	10	9	6	3	1
2	10	9	6	3	1
3	11	9	6	3	1
4	11	10	7	4	2
5	12	10	7	4	2
6	12	11	8	5	2
7	13	11	8	5	3
8	13	11	8	5	3
9	14	12	9	6	3
10	14	12	9	6	4
11	15	13	10	7	4
12	15	13	10	7	4
13	16	13	10	7	5
14	16	14	11	8	5
15	17	14	11	8	5
16	17	14	12	9	6
17	18	15	12	9	6
18	18	15	12	9	6
19	19	16	13	10	7
20	19	16	13	10	7
21	20	17	14	11	7
22	21	17	14	11	8
23	21	17	14	11	8
24	22	18	14	12	8

Strike

To-hit modifier (d20 + modifier below)

Level	Extreme	High	Moderate	Low
-1	10	8	6	4
0	10	8	6	4
1	10	8	6	4
2	11	9	7	5
3	11	9	7	5
4	12	10	8	5
5	12	10	8	6
6	13	11	9	6
7	13	11	9	6
8	14	12	10	7
9	14	12	10	7
10	15	13	11	7
11	16	13	11	8
12	16	14	12	8
13	16	14	12	8
14	17	15	13	9
15	17	15	13	9
16	18	16	14	9
17	18	16	14	10
18	19	17	15	10
19	19	17	15	10
20	20	18	16	11
21	20	18	16	11
22	21	19	17	11
23	21	19	17	12
24	22	20	18	13

Spell DC and Spell Attack

Spell DC and Spell Attack Modifer

Level	Extreme DC	Extreme Spell Attack Bonus	High DC	High Spell Attack Bonus	Moderate DC	Moderate Spell Attack Bonus
-1	20	12	17	9	14	6
0	19	11	16	8	13	5
1	19	11	16	8	13	5
2	20	12	16	8	13	5
3	20	12	17	9	14	6
4	21	13	17	9	14	6
5	21	13	17	9	14	6
6	21	13	18	10	15	7
7	22	14	18	10	15	7
8	22	14	18	10	15	7
9	23	15	19	11	16	8
10	23	15	19	11	16	8
11	23	15	19	11	16	8
12	24	16	20	12	17	9
13	24	16	20	12	17	9
14	25	17	20	12	17	9
15	25	17	21	13	18	10
16	25	17	21	13	18	10
17	26	18	21	13	18	10
18	26	18	22	14	19	11
19	27	19	22	14	19	11
20	27	19	22	14	19	11
21	27	19	23	15	20	12
22	28	20	23	15	20	12
23	28	20	23	15	20	12
24	28	20	24	16	21	13

Encounter Building in PWL

The following are guidelines for building encounters in PWL.

Encounter Budget

Take into account the XP budget by following this table (or use the encounter builder with the PWL checkmark ticked) and, in many cases, you don't need to adjust the encounter any more than that. When considering the party level, it's helpful to consider the party's level as the average of the group - this is generally how mixed-level parties in PFS encounters are balanced as well. You may want to nudge the level up or down once you have a confirmed roster - for example, a party with multiple low level casters for their tier of play will underperform compared to their higher level counterparts or similarly-leveled martials. A party of martials have a lot of tools at their disposal, but depending on their level, mobs of creatures may prove overwhelming.

Large Group Encounters

Most encounters in Pathfinder tend to be balanced around either being a higher level than a larger group you face, or around higher level enemies whom you outnumber. Pathfinder rarely pits a party against a higher number of enemies than the party, unless they are substantially lower level than the party. However, large scale encounters tend to result in several problems. In PWL, creatures much lower level than you can still threaten you, especially in large groups and before you have access to a reliable amount of area of effect abilities, which means the threat of an overwhelming number of enemies dwindles as casters gain access to a greater number of spells and spell slots, and as martials obtain abilities to attack multiple creatures with activities like Whirlwind Strike. A more meta problem arises from large group encounters, namely that the length of encounters raises drastically with each extra combatant. This is true on both sides, an encounter with 10 enemies or parties with 6 PCs (especially if they have tag-a-longs like companions, familiars, or eidolons) trends long. The longer the time is between an individual's turn, the more likely it is they will also forget about things like aura effects, sustained effects, reactions and the number of them available... there are many drawbacks that come from a large scale combat, though it may be a worthwhile drawback to tell the story you want to tell. Personally, I find creating groups of enemies that are of a similar amount to the number of PCs in the party to be a suitable number of adversaries, but large groups have their purposes for storytelling as well.

When making a large group encounter, it may be worthwhile to consider multiple groups, instead of smashing everyone into one spot for a melee. One group may be the frontlines, another may be backline casters or archers/other ranged attackers, while another is the group of ritualists trying to bring doom to the region that you're actually trying to stop! Utilize the space of the large battle maps you want to use to create an interesting flow to how players might approach the situation. Create a flow that results in the turn complexity being focused on where the Party is - the frontline enemies may have abilities that allow them to protect their allies, taunt the enemies, use skill actions like demoralize, while the backline simply shoots arrows twice and takes cover, and the actual target simply does their evil deeds.

Emulating Leveled Difficulty

When simply reducing all the modifiers by the amount determined by their level, you aren't exactly putting a high level creature on the same level as the party, but the difference is much closer. The perceived power level difference when taking on a single creature that is 3 levels higher than the party is vastly different compared to standard play.

As an example, a level 11 threat facing off against a party of level 8s in standard play results in a tough boss fight. A level 8 guardian can have an AC of 29 (31 with their shield raised), and a level 11 creature with a +24 to hit will hit the shielded guardian on a die result of 7 or higher. A level 8 fighter can have a strike modifier of +19, which would hit the creature's AC of 30 on an 11 or higher. The enemy is hard to hit (and possibly harder to affect when targeting its saving throws instead - the creature used for this example only has one saving throw DC lower than its AC), and easily hits the party, even with a second or third attack. The advantage the party holds is in numbers, using tactics to buff their teammates with options like Courageous Anthem, flanking the enemy to make them off-guard, and affecting the enemy with effects like Frightened or Sickened to lower its saves. Some creatures, especially ones suited to be a "boss" type creature, have options like poisons or other abilities that can remove an enemy from combat even without killing them, either for a short duration (such as until they Escape), or for the duration of the encounter (such as a poison that inflicts Paralysis or Petrification).

The same fight in PWL has a very different feel. The level 8 guardian now has an AC of 21 (23), the fighter now has a strike modifier of +11, while the level 11 creature has an AC of 19, and a strike modifier of +13. Now, the creature requires a 10 or higher to hit the guardian, and the fighter needs to roll an 8 or higher to hit. In other words - the dice results needed to hit the same targets have shifted by the difference in levels. The creature retains many of its dangerous abilities, but now its window of successful strikes has shifted down by 15%, while the lower level party's chances of success have shifted up by the same 15% - these effects double up for effects like a creature's poison, due to the creature being less likely to hit, and the PC being more likely to save if they do get hit.

In order to emulate the danger these creatures would normally have, you can add numbers back into the modifiers and saving throws. Using the same example, while the guardian and the fighter haven't changed, the enemy creature now has an AC of 22 and a strike modifier of +16, making it so the fighter with a +11 needs to roll 11 again, and the spider needs to roll a 7 to hit the guardian's 23 AC again, just as it would happen in standard play. This level of fight now promotes the same kinds of tactics you would use in standard play, instead of standing still and hoping to win the coin flip.

If you are now working to do the modifications to this degree, it may be worthwhile for you to not apply this principle to all of a creature's statistics. The creature used in the examples above has a incapacitation poison that eventually paralyzes their foes. While you may want to increase the strike modifier, you may not feel like it's necessary to also increase this saving throw by 3 as well. The creature's saving throw is DC 30, which levels down to a DC 19 without any further modification. A DC 19 saving throw is not an easy save for many level 8 associates, unless it is the save their class is best suited for (eg a Barbarian's Fortitude), but it's also not a difficult one. Adding 3 to this save (DC 22) makes surviving this poison for the level 8 party much less likely - in fact, DC 22 has a distinct chance to even affect higher level associates, particularly casters who generally have weaker saves overall, though they'll have the benefit of the incapacitation trait on this poison. In cases like this, where the poison is a rider effect to the strike, simply restoring the 3 level difference to the strike will cause the poison to have a similar level of effectiveness to its leveled counterpart.

For standalone effects (such as Breath Weapons), you may want to consult the above table and instead use the adjusted DC for a creature x levels above the original's. For example, the creature's DC 19 effect in PWL is a High DC for a level 11 creature - you would instead want to use a High DC for a creature 3 levels higher than it (level 14), which would be a DC 20 save instead.

To save time, especially if you want to create the equivalent of a PL+2 creature, and as long as the foundry's automation remains nonfunctional, utilizing the elite modifier can offer the same benefits of a +2 to all of its statistics. Beware as this will include the saving throws, so you may still wish to tweak those individually, for the reasons discussed above.