This page breaks down the format and content you see on the individual creature pages.

The top of the Creature page has links to various creature-related pages, like the row of links at the top of this page. For a breakdown of the contents linked to, click on the second link/image above, which links to a page with a quick summary of the pages which each of the images link to.

Name and aliases

The creature's name and any aliases and alternate spellings appear below the ribbon of image links. In the example above, the creature's name is Bandure (from Hackmaster), and its two aliases are below it.

For dinosaur names, I don't like using the Latin-based names, so I use the names from "Critter Cache 2: Prehistoric Beasts" as their canonical names, but their Latin names are used as aliases.

Tags

Under the name is the Tags section. Clicking on a tag button opens a section which contains a list of links to creatures with the same tag.

If the creature has the "hybrid" tag, then it should also have at least two other tags indicating what it is a hybrid of.

Stats

Next we have four columns of stats.

The first column contains system-agnostic information. The "Form" field is the creature's general shape. If the form includes the word "myriapod", that indicates that the creature has an unusual number of legs for its type. I use the "Temper" field in place of using alignment. There can be up to three values in the Temper field. If a creature has the "predatory" temper and at least one other temper, then that usually indicates a predatory creature of above-animal intelligence.

The second column is for combat stats, except for offense (see the actions/abilities/traits section below). The data in this field will change when you switch between rulesets.

The third column is for movement rates for the various modes of movement. If a mode of movement is not applicable, then that label is greyed out.

The fourth column is the "Alternate Forms/Mistaken Forms" column. In the example above it is blank, as it is for most creatures. For shape-changers, this column lists the other forms it may take. For the creatures which any shape-changer may take the form of, this column lists the shape-changer as a possible true form of the creature. The other use for this column is to list creatures that could be mistaken for each other.

Co-Creatures

Co-creatures are creatures which have a chance of being encountered along with this creature. The above example is for goblins. The relationships in the three goblin co-creatures all happen to involve a power imbalance. In relationships where there is no power imbalance, then the format is to put the name of the relationship inside double square braces, instead of the double-colon format you see above.

The die shown for the co-creature is the chance of encountering the co-creature with the current creature. Rolling the high number on the die means the co-creature is also present in the encounter. Don't mistake this to be the number of co-creatures which are present in the encounter.

The odds of co-occurring are not necessarily the same on both sides of the relationship. If you had the goblin page open and then followed the link to one of the other three co-creatures, then those creatures will show the same relationship to goblins, but the odds of goblins being present won't necessarily be the same as them being present when you encounter goblins. Sometimes one side of a relationship has a zero chance of the other creature being present, but the relationship will still be noted in this section, just for reference.

Actions/Abilities/Traits

This section describes the combat actions of creatures. The above example is for the leopard, which is the only creature I have any stats for in this section. These stats are for my own system, so don't worry about trying to decode it. This information will change depending on the ruleset in effect.

Presages

These are signs that can be used to signal that this creature is nearby. I don't think I have these populated for any creatures yet.

Habitats

This section contains links to the habitats this creature lives in. There are two main categories of habitats - there's "my" habitats, and then there's "guest" habitats. Currently, the guest habitats are habitats that any visitor to the site can play around with (add and remove creatures). Once I implement site accounts, then you can have your own habitat which nobody else would be able to modify. If the creature appears in any guest habitats, then the guest habitats are separated from my habitats under a grey horizontal line. All guest habitats use the same image.

Environmental implications

Some creatures have more specific environmental requirements than can be deduced in the habitat breakdown I have implemented for the encounter tables. This section is where those requirements are found. Some of the values you find in this section can be used as filters on the encounter tables. See here for more information on encounter table filters.

Yield

This is what can be harvested from the creature's corpse. Nothing is populated for this yet.

Sources

The final section in the main part of the page is the "Sources" section. The first link on a source line links to that source on my page of creatures grouped by source. The text in red is the game and edition that source is for. The link at the end of the line goes to an external link for the source. When possible, it links directly to the creature's page on a website, like in the Archives of Nethys, or the 5e SRD Database. It can also link to a fan page, or to DTRPG to purchase the source. Some sources don't have a link yet.

Edit Habitats

On the left side of the page is the Edit Habitats section. You can add and remove habitats, but only of the "guest" type. Once I have site accounts implemented, this section will allow you to add and remove from your own habitats. You can also add and remove creatures from the guest habitat pages.

Search for a creature

Below the "Edit Habitats" section, you can search for a creature. The search term you enter will be used to search both creature names and tag names. It also searches creature aliases. If you get results which are puzzling because the name doesn't match the search term, that would be because either an alias or a tag of the creature matched the search term.

Ruleset

In the upper right, you can change the ruleset. There's Valor (my system), DnD5e, and Pathfinder 2. The chosen ruleset will be reflected in the stats on the creature page as noted in some of the sections described above.