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The Creature Crafter $4.95
Average Rating:4.5 / 5
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The Creature Crafter
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The Creature Crafter
Publisher: Word Mill Games
by Jim B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/10/2019 14:32:58

It was only a $5 gamble, but it wasn't what I was hoping for. I'll chalk it up to mismatched preferences about what makes creatures interesting and usable.

Here's an example creature rolled up on these tables: quantity 1; size - small; type - amorphous; intelligence - mindless; description - clingy/sticky; description - amorphous (why is "amorphous" in the amorphous creatures description table?); special ability - limited use; another special ability (to find out what has limited use) - resist damage (physical damage and piercing attacks). As an amorphous creature, it's immune to poison or attacks that affect specific organs. The resulting modifiers for the Potency Table are +2 for health, -6 for speed, +2 for defense, and -4 for offense. Rolling on the Potency Table, I get baseline health, minimum speed, weak defense, and minimum offense. It's then up to me to convert these to my game system of choice.

You might like Creature Crafter if all you want is a stat block for your monster of the week so you can run a combat. To me, that's a way to make creatures boring - just a list of numbers and a couple of the usual abilities.

I was hoping for the types of things that make a creature an interesting, active part of the setting: where the creature would live (climate & terrain), how the creature interacts with its environment, how it relates to people, what it eats and what eats it, and the sorts of behaviors and triggers it might have. The tables have no hooks to suggest for the features you roll up. A good set of tables could either derive stats and abilities from the setting elements, or the tables could derive setting elements from the stats and abilities. A good set of tables would look beyond what the creature can do in combat. Creature Crafter ignores all that. Whether you're dealing with mountain tops, a desert, or the bottom of the sea, or a busy city, deep caverns, or the infernal realms, or pets or predators, it's all one to Creature Crafter. You can add those other elements yourself, of course, but if that's what you're seeking, this isn't the tool for the job.

Those omissions are the main source of my disappointment in the product, so I wish the product description had been more informative. All you really get is a stat block that you'll need to convert for your game system.

Note that "The creature classifications and special abilities favor monsters with a fantasy feel, such as mythological beasts or magical constructs," even though the product description says "works with any rpg." The product description should mention the fantasy focus. You could reskin many of the results for a low-plausibility sci-fi setting. You could adapt some of them for creatures that are natural but unusual. The more you'd have to rewrite the results for a non-fantasy setting, however, the more likely it is that some other tool would serve you better. Essentially, Creature Crafter is geared for a fantasy setting.

Although it includes a few loose guidelines about creating "regular people," I recommend you look elsewhere for NPC generators. Your game system or other tools will give you more substance and variety in your NPCs and better integration into your setting.

The tool is system-agnostic in that no one game system is represented, but it's oriented toward crunchier game systems. It's less useful for game systems that are more about story, atmosphere, and immersion than number-crunching.

Pet peeve: The description tables for each creature category (animal, humanoid, undead, etc.) include "GM decision" as one of the results. It's always the GM's decision, no matter what you roll. If I choose to roll on a table, it's because I want the input. Rolling up "GM decision" is like getting a shrug instead of a suggestion.

The document could use another editing pass (breaths vs breathes, affect vs effect, "ect.", etc.).

Bottom line: I don't really have a use for Creature Crafter, but I could see where it would be useful for a GM who just wants to make up a new stat block for a fantasy setting. You'd also have to do the legwork of deciding how to convert the generic stat block for your game system. In any event, the product description should be more informative for prospective buyers.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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The Creature Crafter
Publisher: Word Mill Games
by Michael I. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/06/2015 16:33:23

I have been able to work this into Cortex Marvel, Dungeon World, and Monsters of the Week. This system is so flexible and allows you to be descriptive. I really like all of the products from these guys. Easily worth $5.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Creature Crafter
Publisher: Word Mill Games
by Dillard R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/02/2013 00:00:00

Very easy to use. It has a lot of great ideas for creatures built in, but you aren't forced to take what the tables give you. Flexible. Use it before a session or during a session. I think I mentioned its easy. Also fun.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Creature Crafter
Publisher: Word Mill Games
by Ty G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/09/2011 14:22:11

I purchased this item after reading positive comments on the Mythic site, nice and easy to use with a great variety of exotic creatures that can be generated. One of my favourites was for a D&D campaign I am running, a Flatfish that lurks on dungeon ceilings then drops onto its victims and crushes them, at 2+1 hd with Chainmail level of armour its no push over. This would work equally well in a sci-fi setting, at $5.00 its a bargain, go on, treat yourself.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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