Chapter 22: Creature and Encounter Design

Creature Stats

Creatures have four core stats:

• Constitution: HP. Creatures are defeated at 0 and do not reset like Contractors.
• Damage: Flat damage per hit.
• AP: Armor or natural protection.
• Stat: Single number used when resisting or making creature checks.

For most creatures, treat AP as per-hit damage reduction. Use full AP and protection tracking only for named, tougher, or boss creatures where gear break matters.

Creature Tiers

Encounter Points

Use these point values with the Threat Budget table. Encounter points measure danger, not table speed.

• Fodder: 1 point.
• Standard: 2 points.
• Veteran: 4 points.
• Elite: 8 points.
• Boss: 12+ points.

A four-Contractor party facing a Medium encounter has a budget of 20 points. The Foreman might spend that on one Elite, one Veteran, two Standard creatures, and four Fodder creatures for a mixed fight, or on a smaller number of harder enemies for a more punishing scene.

Sample Creatures

Creature Behavior

• Fodder: Attack nearest target. Little tactics.
• Standard: Attack wounded or isolated targets.
• Veteran: Use tactics, position, and pressure.
• Elite / Boss: Full tactical play, run like a Contractor.

Encounter Purpose

• Obstacle: Blocks the path.
• Drain: Winnable but costs resources.
• Puzzle: Creative solutions matter more than damage.
• Climax: Contract's final confrontation.
• Ambush: Punishes carelessness.

Threat Budget

• Low: Party size x 3.
• Medium: Party size x 5.
• High: Party size x 8.
• Deadly: Party size x 12+.

Encounter Composition

• Swarm: Attrition and gear durability.
• Lieutenant: Focus fire and target priority.
• Duel: High per-hit stakes.
• Gauntlet: Resource management across multiple fights.

Every encounter should have terrain: chokepoints, elevation, hazards, interactive elements, escape routes, timers, fragile structures, civilians, cargo, darkness, weather, or reactor effects.

For large parties, do not scale only by adding more bodies; use stronger creatures, split objectives, hazards, timers, cargo, civilians, and enemies that force movement or threaten gear.

Large Parties

For five or more Contractors, do not scale every encounter by adding more enemy bodies. More bodies means more turns, more reactive rolls, more protection tracking, and slower play.

Instead, scale large-party encounters with stronger individual creatures, multiple objectives, terrain hazards, split positioning, cargo or civilians to protect, timers, enemies that threaten gear, and enemies that force movement.

If the scene uses many small creatures, keep their behavior simple and resolve their actions quickly. More enemies should create pressure, not paperwork.

Elite and Boss Encounter Guidance

Do not run an Elite or Boss as only a large Constitution number with high AP. High-end encounters should be hard because they create decisions, not because they become static damage races.

A strong Elite or Boss scene should usually include several of the following: a visible weak point, terrain hazard, reason to move, AP-bypass route, gear-breaking threat, timer, worsening condition, non-kill objective, cost for retreat, escape route, or clue that preparation could reveal before the fight.

Bosses should pressure more than HP. They should threaten gear, position, cargo, allies, time, reputation, Magcells, or the contract objective.