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Using This Book
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Using This Book

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Table of contents {: .text-delta } - TOC {:toc}

Customzing Foes' Equipment

The enemies presented in this book all have a default equipment loadout. Their Defense, Evasion, and the damage and accuracy of their attacks are all presented with that default equipment in mind.

However, that doesn’t mean that those foes must use that default equipment. Whenever a foe’s default equipment is not presented as Natural equipment, it’s ripe for changing out.

It’s a quick and easy way to make one type of enemy feel a bit more varied, rather than a horde of faceless mooks.

This is particularly handy when the Heroes are fighting lots of similar monsters: for instance, if the Heroes are fighting through a bandit hideout, the various Brigands they fight might be using different equipment.

Perhaps some of them are caught unawares, without their armor. Some of them might have different weapons, or additional tools, changing their stats and tactics. And of course, perhaps some lucky or powerful foe is using an enchanted weapon, making them even more of a threat than their fellows.

Foes and Races

Some foes are just people, members of one of Hyrule’s myriad races. In those cases, the foe is presented in a kind of “race agnostic” way. It’s expected that the GM will apply a Race to the foe, providing it a Vulnerability and any extra Techniques, Spells, or other attributes that are common to that Race.

If in doubt, consider foes Hylian by default.

Changing a Foe's Rank

Zelda games have a long and storied tradition of ‘palette swaps’, foes who act the same as past enemies but have stronger stats. You can do the same! However, we have not included such variants in this book, as that would bloat its size fivefold.

If you want stronger or weaker versions of a given foe, you will need to tailor that monster to suit your needs.

To quickly increase a foe’s Rank by one:

  • Increase about half of their Traits (their highest or most important Traits) by 2.
  • Increase their remaining Traits by 1.
  • Increase their Defense by… o Civilian: +1 o Light or Medium: +2 o Heavy: +3 o Extreme: +4 o Impervious: +8
  • Increase their Weapons’ Attack by +3.
  • Adjust the foe’s Concentration, Evasion, Vitality, Health, Magic, and Stamina.

…and, optionally:

  • …give the foe a new Spell or Technique.
  • …Play the foe more intelligently (using more Reactions and Combat Maneuvers, better tactics, or specially-tweaked gear).

To quickly decrease a foe’s Rank by one:

  • Reduce half of their Traits (their highest or most important Traits) by 2. (Min. 1)
  • Reduce remaining Traits by 1. (Min. 0)
  • Reduce their Defense, per the above.
  • Worsen all equipment by one Rank.
  • Adjust the foe’s Concentration, Evasion, Vitality, Health, Magic, and Stamina.

These procedures may not always yield statistically perfect results, but they’ll get you more than close enough for fast, fun fights.

Turning Foes into Bosses

Sometimes, a GM may want to take an existing foe, and turn them into a Heavy, Mini-Boss, or Boss. This allows them to easily make a bigger, meaner version of a foe, giving even a whole team of Heroes a mighty threat to face.

To turn a foe into a Heavy, Mini-Boss, or Boss, do the following:

  • Apply the appropriate Order to the monster, with all of its benefits. (This increases the amount of HP, MP, and SP that the foe has, as well as the amount of Materials or loot it drops.)
  • Consider giving the foe at least one additional Spell or Technique that its lesser brethren don’t have. Mini-Bosses and Bosses should probably get more than one extra trick.
  • If you’re making the foe into a Mini-Boss or Boss, give the foe a Weak Point for the Heroes to discover and exploit.
  • Consider giving the foe an additional, helpful Passive or two. You should especially consider Passives that work with (or are shut down by) the foe’s Weak Point.
  • Often, these supercharged foes are also super-sized. Consider increasing the foe’s Size by one or more steps.

Finally, don’t forget that Bosses often have their own, specially-designed room that serves as their battle arena. Consider what might help the Boss defend itself – and what might help Heroes defeat it – when designing such a room.