Dice Goblin

I was thinking about the classic principle of Just Use Bears. I think this can be expanded a bit, by looking at other animal archetypes. This might be useful to flesh out encounter tables, or create interesting custom monsters/wildlife – take an animal and reskin it.

Zak H took the ideas of this post one step further, and wrote corresponding statblocks. I was thinking of doing that myself, but Zak beat me to the punch, and quite thoroughly at that!

To keep it system-agnostic, I’m using keywords instead of statblocks.

Animal	Tags	Use for…	Example Interpretations
Bear	strong, tough, dangerous, solitary, large	Solo threats, brute-force obstacles	Ogre, troll, lone barbarian, cave beast
Wolf	quick, dangerous, pack, coordinated	Coordinated attackers, ambush groups, pack hunters following a strong leader	Bandit gangs, goblins, velociraptors, guards
Tiger	stealthy, fast, dangerous, solitary, hunter	Powerful solitary ambush predators, silent killers	Assassins, elite hunters, stealthy vampires
Dragon	apex predator, deadly, clever	Legendary threats, boss-level encounters	Powerful wizard, demon lord, ancient guardian
Rat	swarm, small, numerous, disease	Swarming enemies, plague carriers	Zombies, insects, goblin hordes, angry villagers
Snake	stealthy, venomous, ambush, solitary	Hidden ambushers, traps, poisoners	Assassins, mimic creatures, lurking undead
Bull	charging, aggressive, territorial	Reckless enemies, brute charges	Berserkers, minotaurs, knights on horseback
Hawk	swift, flight, keen-senses, evasive	Scouts, hit-and-run, evasive attackers	Harpies, gargoyles, spies, flying imps
Spider	trapper, venomous, stealthy, ambush	Environmental threats, immobilizers	Giant scorpions, mimics, trappers, lurking assassins
Crocodile	ambush, tough, aquatic, territorial, grappler	Water hazards, sudden grapple encounters	River monsters, giant frogs, lurking tentacle beasts
Elephant	huge, durable, destructive	Siege threats, heavy hitters	Giants, war golems, siege beasts, colossal undead
Deer	swift, alert, elusive, skittish	Elusive, non-combatant, fleeing NPCs	Civilians, scouts, timid spirits, escaping prisoners
Boar	aggressive, relentless, charging	Relentless enemies, stubborn melee threats	Orc warriors, angry mobs, charging infantry
Horse	swift, mobile, large, loyal	Mounted combatants or mounts, rapid mobility	Cavalry, mounted knights, chariot units, centaurs, large lizards, beetles

This expanded framework lets you quickly assign the right stat block and narrative feel, saving preparation time while clearly defining unique encounters.

When defining a setting, start with these 14 statblocks and give them each a unique interpretation – perhaps here, bulky lizards are used as horses, and quick-footed bipedal birds act as deer.

I do mean “Just use…” quite literally; a dragon’s statblock can easily be used for a wizard (spells instead of breath, magical defense instead of thick scales, levitation/teleportation instead of flight – all except for size, really).

When making an encounter table (I’m a big fan of the 2d6 dragon-wizard model), you can use these stats as a guideline as well: entry 2 and 12 can be a dragon and a reskinned dragon, the middle entries are used for the less dangerous creatures, and entries such as 3-4 and 10-11 can be used for “Just Use a Tiger” or “Just Use a Bear”.

Encounter Tables per Biome

Riffing off of Zak H‘s work, we can use these 14 archetypes and spread them across our 2d6 dragon-wizard tables for each common biome.

A ‘Bull’ in the grasslands doesn’t have to be the same creature as a ‘Bull’ in the desert; in the grasslands, it might be a rhinoceros-type creature, and in the desert a giant scarab beetle.

Grassland

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Tiger
4	Bear
5	Bull
6	Wolf
7	NPC
8	Deer
9	Horse
10	Hawk
11	Elephant
12	Wizard

Woods

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Tiger
4	Bear
5	Spider
6	Snake
7	NPC
8	Rat
9	Deer
10	Wolf
11	Crocodile
12	Wizard

Hills

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Elephant
4	Tiger
5	Bear
6	Bull
7	NPC
8	Horse
9	Deer
10	Wolf
11	Hawk
12	Wizard

Mountains

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Elephant
4	Bear
5	Tiger
6	Crocodile
7	NPC
8	Horse
9	Hawk
10	Bull
11	Snake
12	Wizard

Swamp

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Crocodile
4	Bear
5	Snake
6	Spider
7	NPC
8	Rat
9	Toad
10	Boar
11	Bull
12	Wizard

Desert

2d6	Encounter Archetype
2	Dragon
3	Elephant
4	Crocodile
5	Tiger
6	Snake
7	NPC
8	Rat
9	Boar
10	Hawk
11	Bull
12	Wizard