CPA: Bestiary

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For campaigns that feature combat, this list is handy for looking up monster and enemy TNs. Use [CTRL-F] to search the entries on this page.

Important notes about enemy actors:

Enemies of TN 12-14 are risky for non-combat-focused groups, 14+ for combat-focused groups. Enemies above 16 TN are going to be very difficult especially if they have extra HP and actions.

Every enemy is unique. No two goblins, assault robots, or alien gods are the same. This is very important for keeping battles interesting and dynamic. Every time there is a battle, change up the stats, items, size, attitude of each enemy to make things interesting. If you have more time, give each one a name and personality.

Combats in CPA do not need to be "balanced". If the players find a certain enemy such as a dragon near-impossible to beat, then that's what happens! They should either negotiate, run away, sneak by, prepare traps and poisons, or try a less direct approach.

This list is NOT exhaustive. It is only examples of commonly seen RPG enemy types. Your campaign will feature its own unique enemies, taking ideas from this list.

Enemy Table Details

HP: Health points. Damage reduction is already factored in to these. Because of the way the system is designed, high hp enemies can be nightmarish for players.
TN: The target number for players to either attack or defend from this enemy. Higher means the enemy is much more difficult.
Special Abilities: Generally, enemies of TN 14+ can apply special attacks on hit. Use what is most appropriate: Zombies infect, giant squids choke, ogres stun, elite soldiers can cripple you.
- Bosses: Some enemies might be particularly tough to make defeating them even more of a challenge. The GM can add boss abilities as follows:
  - Multiple turns per round: The boss monster may act in multiple full turns per round--two, three, or more sets of action pairs.
  - Shake it Off: If it is suffering from any negative conditions, then at any time, the boss monster may choose to 'shake off' one negative condition at the cost of 5 of its HP. If it does, then the GM must verbally explain this with narration as well.

TN	Fantasy	Sci-fi	Damage	HP	Usage	Specials
10	Citizens, Goblins, Large Rats, Imps	Citizens, mid-size Vermin	5-10	10	TN 10 enemies are easy targets for new players. They are more appropriate for power fantasy where slaughtering hordes of weak enemies is a confidence boosting ritual, and you may skip them for a more gritty game.	Nonviolent, nonmagical citizens might be CEOs or high priests and still powerful due to money and social influence.
12	Guards, Bandits, Wolves, Acolytes, Orcs	Soldiers, Thugs, Large Animals, Small Robots, Alien Minions	7-14	15-30	TN 12 is good for ordinary-type enemies that are daunting early on then arrive in swarms lategame. They usually don't inflict conditions on hit.	Zombies may infect or rise again. Wolves may tackle players. Insectoid Aliens often have rapid claw attacks or acidic death-bursts. Basic soldiers carry powerful grenades.
14	Knights, Ogres, Mages, Manticores, Wyverns, Werewolves, Banshees	Stormtroopers, War-GELFs, Industrial Bots, Cannibal Mutants	9-18	45-90	TN 14 is a reliable number for a large-sized, threatening enemy: Scary in early game and draining in lategame. TN 14+ enemies can always inflict at least one condition on hit.	GELF bio-weapons can nail players to walls with acid coated bone-spikes. Ogres stun on hit. Banshees can KO with a scream. Construction bots can zap multiple clustered players with an arc welder.
16	Demons, Giants, Archmages, Vampires	Commandos, Psychic Warriors, Security Bots, Alien Infestors	12-24	100-200	TN 16 enemies are formidable especially at range. With a fully maximized 2d10+7 to hit, players have 70% chance to hit, but they will still struggle to take a single direct hit from one of these. TN 16 with extra turns is good for final bosses of mid length games.	Security bots often carry nonlethal poison gas grenade launchers. Alien infestors can splatter a whole party with parasitic worms, burning acid or sticky goo. Enemy commandos have excellent shooting, stealth and brawling skills.
18	Liches, Dragons, Archdemons, Demigods	Cyborg Ninja, Assault Bots, Shoggoth, Psionic Masters, Alien Queens	16-32	200-400	TN 18 enemies are right at the edge of the scope of this game. They represent either things that should not be confronted or lategame bosses for advanced players that carefully plan their approach.	Any Tn 18+ enemies will be well-stocked with condition-inflicting attacks, extra turns per round and supernatural powers.
20+	Gods, Kaiju, Titans, Colossi, Aberrations	Transcendent nanoswarms, Hiveworld Mega-brains, Extradimensional Horrors	25-50	1000+	TN20 enemies are powers that are suicide to fight in this game system. They represent Cosmic Peril itself. Players can interact with them peacefully, perhaps annoy them, but cannot defeat them in direct combat - if they can, it's time for a different game.	The Searing Horror is a huge plasmatic being that causes severe burns even just by its reflected light. The Seething horror is only found in deep sea caves and cannot be perceived except for a mass of burning-hot bubbles. The Saw Horror is an invisible, incorporeal master of gravity and can fill a huge area with spinning blades and waves of gravitic force.