Monsters are combat-capable creatures that adventurers may encounter. Despite the term "monsters", these creatures aren't necessarily evil or monstrous. They could become trusted allies, loyal minions, or fearless mounts. However, it's much more likely that they will serve as deadly adversaries. Monsters are at the core of many adventures, providing the story with a suitable antagonist.
Customizing Monsters[]
Rather than providing detailed attributes for each monster, Tavern Tales encourages GMs to build their own monsters.
Stats[]
Monsters don't roll dice, which means that they almost never use their stats. Therefore, you can ignore stats when you build your monster. Since players have to divide their XP between stats and traits, simply cut your monster's XP in half. Spend half on traits, and ignore the other half -- assume it's being spent on stats.
There is one big exception. If a player acquires a monster as a minion, that player can roll on behalf of that monster. If this happens, simply spend the monster's remaining XP on stats.
Extra Powerful Monsters[]
You may want to create extra powerful monsters that can deal more damage, withstand extra hits, or use special abilities. Feel free to invent traits and go with whatever seems logical. Most monsters exist to die in RPGs anyway, so don't swear the details. However, new GMs typically lack a deep understanding of game balance, so they should generally avoid bending the rules. Run your players through a few fights to get a feel for their capabilities before you throw them up against extremely powerful monsters.