No room for brutes here. If you don't get it, read the noob version.
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Technical Guide to Classification and Combat | Monster Journal
Introduction to the System
The journal's cataloging system is divided into layers to provide a comprehensive threat profile. The Threat Assessment defines the creature's role and behavior on a macro level. The Combat File breaks down its tactical properties on a micro level.
Threat Assessment:
Classification
The Classification describes the creature's fundamental modus operandi, its ecological role, or its primary strategy for interacting with the environment. It answers the question: "What is this monster's 'job' or function?"
Classifications can be combined to describe creatures with complex roles (e.g., Venator / Territorialis). In these cases, the first classification indicates the dominant trait.
VENATOR (Hunter)
Definition: A creature that actively stalks, pursues, and neutralizes other life forms for sustenance or due to predatory instinct.
Function: Active Predator. Its behavior is centered on the hunting cycle: searching, stalking, ambushing, and chasing.
Question it answers: How does it get its food? By hunting.
TERRITORIALIS (Guardian)
Definition: An entity whose aggressiveness is intrinsically linked to a specific geographical location, such as a nest, a ruin, or a resource zone.
Function: Zone Protector. Its hostility is triggered by intrusion. It does not actively seek prey outside its domain.
Question it answers: Why does it attack? Because you have invaded its space.
PARASITUS (Invader)
Definition: An organism whose life cycle depends on a host to subsist, replicate, or develop. The threat can be biological, psychic, or environmental.
Function: Host Exploiter. Its strategy is infiltration, infestation, and the utilization of resources from other living beings or their environment.
Question it answers: How does it survive? At the expense of others.
ELEMENTALIS (Incarnation)
Definition: A creature whose composition and existence are fundamentally linked to an elemental or natural force (fire, water, earth, shadow, etc.). We also include creatures capable of using these elemental forces here.
Function:
Elemental Manifestation: It's not a being that uses an element; it is the element that has adopted a form and a consciousness. Its behavior often reflects the nature of its element.
Elemental Creatures: Same as before, creatures capable of using elements. This may or may not have an implication on their behavior.
Question it answers: What is its origin and nature?
The Manifestation: It is a force of nature.
The Elemental Beasts: They're the earth's fanservice for the otakus.
ANOMALIA (The Glitch)
Definition: An entity that operates outside the known laws of physics, biology, or logic. Its behavior is often unpredictable or incomprehensible.
Function: Unpredictable Factor. Its threat lies not in its strength or speed, but in its ability to break the rules of reality.
Question it answers: How does it work? It shouldn't, and that's the problem.
Danger Level
Quantifies the direct threat. The Color establishes the "tier" or general category of the threat. The Star (1-5) measures the specific power within that category.
GREEN (Plague / Nuisance)
Reference: Threats whose lethality is low or circumstantial. A prepared, lone survivor should have no problems. The real danger comes from carelessness or massive numerical superiority.
★☆☆☆☆ (Minimal): An individual nuisance. Practically harmless unless it catches you by surprise or you are extremely vulnerable. A well-placed hit is usually enough.
★★☆☆☆ (Minor): A small swarm or a creature with an irritating ability (e.g., an annoying shriek like the Bulla Caótica). Requires deliberate action to be neutralized but presents no real challenge.
★★★☆☆ (Moderate): A considerable plague or a creature whose abilities begin to have tactical consequences (e.g., mild venom, sabotage capability). Can cause injuries if not treated seriously.
★★★★☆ (Significant): A large, aggressive swarm or a creature whose indirect abilities can lead to dangerous situations. Can overwhelm an unprepared individual.
★★★★★ (Maximum): The pinnacle of nuisances. A massive infestation or a Green creature with an exceptionally dangerous ability under the right circumstances (e.g., the Saxum vagans). It borders on the Yellow category; although fundamentally weak, its potential for an ironic "one-shot kill" is at its maximum.
YELLOW (Conditional Threat)
Reference: Lethal threats where gear and preparation are the decisive factor. A standard firearm usually turns the tide from a deadly encounter to a manageable one.
★☆☆☆☆ (Basic): The "entry exam." A predator or creature that can kill you if you are unarmed or careless, but you still have a chance even with melee weapons.
★★☆☆☆ (Standard): Melee weapons begin to be insufficient. It might be a coordinated group or a creature with notable physical resistance. Requires a minimum of tactics.
★★★☆☆ (Competent): The "Gear Check." A creature that tests the quality of your equipment and your plan (Gallus ferox). At this point, you either pull out your gun or start crying.
★★★★☆ (Advanced): An elite Yellow threat. Extremely fast, resilient, or with deceptive abilities. It pushes standard gear to its limit and can surprise experienced survivors.
★★★★★ (Limit): The "boss" of the Yellow category. So dangerous due to its numbers, lethality, or mechanics that it's often mistaken for an Orange threat. Can overwhelm a prepared individual and demands a coordinated response from a small group (e.g., the swarm of the Culex Sanguinis Major).
ORANGE (Severe Threat)
Reference: Threats where conventional firearms (pistol calibers, standard assault rifles) begin to be insufficient. They require superior firepower, advanced tactics, or exploitation of critical weaknesses.
★☆☆☆☆ (Resistant): The first step. Its armor or biology resists pistol rounds. Requires concentrated fire to slowly accumulate damage or weapons with more power (Shotguns, SMGs, Rifles). It's not immune to damage, but things are starting to get ugly.
★★☆☆☆ (Armored): At this point, you need several point-blank shotgun blasts or to pull out the armor-piercing rounds for your rifle. Conventional bullets only leave bruises, though they still feel them enough to be deterred or distracted. Requires a considerable expenditure of resources to be taken down.
★★★☆☆ (Formidable): A standard squad-level threat. Requires coordinated tactics and specialized weaponry to be defeated efficiently. A direct confrontation usually results in casualties.
★★★★☆ (Dominant): Immune to almost everything except high-caliber weapons (heavy sniper), explosives, or very specific elemental countermeasures. A true "squad-breaker."
★★★★★ (Nearly Unstoppable): The terror of the Orange category. It borders on the Red level. Practically invulnerable to personal weaponry. Defeating it often depends more on using the environment against it than on direct combat.
RED (Extreme Threat)
Reference: Crisis-level threats. Heavy weaponry is not an option; it's a requirement. The objective is often not to kill, but to survive, escape, or contain. Casualties are expected.
★☆☆☆☆ (Critical): Can only be significantly damaged by powerful explosives or anti-materiel weapons. Anything else is useless.
★★☆☆☆ (Catastrophic): Its danger lies not only in its resistance but in its ability to alter or destroy the environment on a large scale, creating a massive secondary hazard.
★★★☆☆ (Legendary): A "Raid Boss." Its defeat requires an elite team, meticulous planning, and often the sacrifice of resources or personnel.
★★★★☆ (Alpha-Level): A threat to an entire settlement. Capable of breaching fortified defenses. Its presence demands a military response.
★★★★★ (Near-Apocalyptic): A creature whose existence threatens an entire region. Its power is so overwhelming that it is on the verge of being reclassified as a Black-Level threat.
BLACK (Apocalyptic Event)
Reference: It is not an enemy; it is an extinction event. You don't fight it; you survive it.
No Stars: The power scale here is irrelevant. You don't measure the strength of a hurricane or an earthquake. Its presence redefines the map and history.
Special Considerations:
Even the rat kid, in his infinite wisdom, doesn't know everything. How do I classify a cat that doesn't have tough skin but dodges bullets? How do I classify a snake that turns into water and is passed through by bullets without harm?
The danger level is a rough guide, the likelihood it has of fucking you up based on the gear you're carrying or your party. Don't get complacent.
Aggressiveness Level
Defines the "trigger" for the creature's hostile behavior. It answers the question: "Why and when does it attack?"
Passive: Does not initiate combat. Only attacks in direct self-defense.
Reactive: Attacks under a specific objective (to feed, to claim dominance of its territory, etc.). They have no malice; they are just surviving.
Opportunistic: Avoids direct conflict. Attacks targets it perceives as weak, isolated, or vulnerable, waiting for the moment of maximum advantage… They often have a morbid taste for playing with their food.
Relentless: Actively seeks out and attacks any detectable target without provocation. Hostility is its default state.
Combat File:
This section is a tactical summary for quick evaluation. It answers the questions: "What is it made of?" (Type) and "What 'powers' does it have?" (Affinity).
2.1 TYPE
The Type describes the creature's fundamental physical composition or biological category.
Beast: Biologically based organism (flesh, bone, blood). Vulnerable to conventional physical damage.
Humanoid: Bipedal form similar to a human. Often indicates higher intelligence and use of tactics.
Plant / Fungal: Biology based on flora or fungi. Generally vulnerable to fire and slashing weapons.
Construct: Non-biological composition (metal, stone, etc.). Immune to poisons and bleeding; often vulnerable to blunt or specific elemental damage.
Spectral: Incorporeal or energetic nature. Often immune to conventional physical damage.
Aberration: Strange or unnatural biological composition (mass of tentacles, alien anatomy). Unpredictable weaknesses and resistances.
2.2 AFFINITY
The Affinity describes the nature of the energy or special ability the creature manifests.
Physical: Possesses no elemental abilities. Its power lies in brute force (claws, strikes, bites). Sometimes subdivided (Sonic, Kinetic).
Toxic: Utilizes poisons, acids, or diseases. Often causes damage over time or equipment degradation.
Water / Earth / Wind, etc.: Control over natural elements to move, attack, or defend.
Psychic: Attacks the mind. Ignores physical armor. Causes status effects like fear, confusion, or paralysis.
Shadow: Often associated with stealth, life drain, and cruelty. For the most part, creatures with this affinity are inherently hostile. But their rare, friendly versions are often the most loyal companions you will ever meet (loyal 'til death).
Light: Often associated with purity, positive energy, and healing. For the most part, creatures with this affinity are neutral or benevolent, but their hostile manifestations are a form of absolute and purifying terror.
Conceptual: Ability linked to an abstract concept (time, space, memory, etc.). Exclusive to the strangest Anomalies… I hope…