Beasts of Shen Zhou

Beasts both hERBIVOROUS and predatory

for Weapons of the Gods
Weapons of the Gods, by and
large, is not about man (or woman)
against the elements. Nor is it much
about monsters; like most wuxia, its
focused on the struggle of martial artist
against martial artist. This is why theres
no monster manual included in the
book; the baseline assumption is that
youre there to get into it with the rest of
the World of Martial Arts.
But still this game is derived as
much from the comics as well as the
classic wuxia tales, nevermind wonderful
fantasies like Barry Hugharts Bridge of
Birds. And in those, there are beasts
tigers, other animals, even monsters.
This is not the usual promo
Never to be Seen in Any Book. Instead,
this is a glimpse into the Companion,
which will give the systems necessary to
detail your own beasts and monsters!
To be sure, the animals listed here
will probably not appear in the
Companion think of this as a
demonstration, rather than an excerpt
you will eventually see reprinted.
First off, have a look at The Scale
of Being, below. This little table will give
the baseline for how the beasts will be

built and how humans compare! This also

gives the same basic scale on which
martial artists are built, as well this will
give some idea of how the various beasts
and monsters stack up against a given
martial artist of similar rank. Note that
Ordinary Folk are technically 6th Rank
beings its good to know where the
Common People stand in relation!

THE SCALE OF BEING

RANK
6th
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st

DESTINY
5 to 15
10 to 20
50 Destiny
100 Destiny
150 Destiny
200+ Destiny

BUILD PTS.
12 Attributes, 18 Skills
15 Attributes, 30 Skills

HUMANS
Ordinary People
Exceptional People
Young Heroes
The Named
The Respected
The Pre-eminent

CREATURES
Animals
Beasts
Monsters
Terrors
Horrors
Kaiju

HEALTH
5
10
*
*
*
*

*Creatures do not have Awakened Chi without that, they can only have
a maximum of 10 points per Health Level. However, those rare few who
do, have Health determined just like a Martial Artists Chi
Ratings totaled up, as well as Chi Aura and River, or even Joss.

11

CAMEL

Rank 6 Animal (10 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT

SPEED
PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

2
2
1
3

Skills & Specialties

Athletics 2, Fight 1,
Hardiness (Desert Survival) 5*
Initiative 2, Dodge 1
Confidence (Cussedly Stubborn) 3**
Ranged (Spit) 2*

Advantages
Accurate Spit 2, Considerable Strength (+5 Strike) 3,
Large Size (+1 Health Level) 3,
Tough Hide (Light Armor) 0, Water Storage 2

Remaining TOTAL

Health

ANNOYED

Weapons
Spit (+15 Speed, +0 Strike, -5 Damage, Blinding)
Swift Kick (+15 Speed, +5 Strike, +0 Damage)

BATTERED
INJURED
WOUNDED

Protection/Health
Tough Hide (-5 to Damage Taken)
and 5 points per Level.

STAGGERING
LAST LEGS

Note: Italics indicate a Skill that gains no Attribute Bonus.

Penalty

5
10
15
20

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

25

-10 to Act

30

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.

NONE
NONE
-5 to Mob.

HORSE

Rank 6 Animal (10 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT
SPEED

3
4

PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

1
1
3

Skills & Specialties

Athletics 3, Hardiness 3
Initiative (Fast When It Counts) 3*,
Dodge 2
Confidence 1
Awareness (Danger) 2*, Senses 3

Advantages
Great Strength (+5 Strike) 3
Large Size (+1 Health Level) 3,
Superior Fleetness (+10 Athletics Bonus) 4

Health

Remaining TOTAL

FRIGHTENED

Weapon
Swift Kick (+15 Speed, +5 Strike, +0 Damage)

BATTERED
INJURED

Protection/Health
No Armor and 5 points per Level.
Note: Horses rarely attack, instead running away at high speed.
However, a Warhorse will have a Destiny 15, a Confidence of 3
and better Attributes and Skills.

22

WOUNDED
STAGGERING
LAST LEGS

Penalty

5
10
15
20

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

25

-10 to Act

30

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.

NONE
NONE
-5 to Mob.

APE

Rank 5 Beast (15 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT

SPEED
PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

3
1
3
4

Skills & Specialties

Athletics (Tree Travel) 3*,
Fight (Wrestling) 3*
Initiative 3, Dodge 3
Confidence 1
Tactics (Forest) 2*
Awareness 2, Ranged (Thrown Objects) 3*
Senses 2

Advantages
Additional Skills (+3) 3, Considerable Strength (+5 Strike) 3,
Crushing Grip (Grapple on a Standard Success) 1,
Increased Leaping (Can use up through Lightfoot 2 for
no cost) 4, Superior Fleetness (+10 Athletics Bonus) 4,
Weapons
Crushing Embrace (+15 Speed, +5 Speed, +0 Damage,
Grappling)
Hammy-Handed Punch
(+15 Speed, +5 Strike, +0 Damage)
Heavy Thrown Object (+5 Speed, +5 Strike, -5 Damage)
Protection/Health
No Armor and 10 points per Level.

Health

Remaining TOTAL

BATTERED
INJURED
WOUNDED
STAGGERING
LAST LEGS

10
20
30

Penalty
NONE
-5 to Mob.

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

40

-10 to Act

50

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.

BEAR

Rank 5 Beast (10 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT

SPEED
PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

3
3
1
3

Skills & Specialties

Athletics 3, Fight (Claws) 4*,
Hardiness (Hibernation) 4*, Lift 2
Initiative 3, Dodge 2
Confidence 3, Inspire (Fear) 2*
Awareness 3, Senses (Smell) 2*

Advantages
Considerable Fleetness (+5 Athletics Bonus) 2,
Considerable Strength (+5 Strike) 3,
Fangs & Nails (+5 Damage) 2,
Large Size (+1 Health Level) 3,
Tough Hide (Light Armor) 0
Weapons
Nasty Bite (+0 Speed, +5 Strike, +5 Damage),
Mighty Clubbing Pawstrike (+15 Speed, +5 Strike,
+5 Damage)
Protection/Health
Tough Hide (-5 to Damage Taken)
and 10 points per Level.

Health

Remaining TOTAL

ANNOYED
BATTERED
INJURED
WOUNDED
STAGGERING
LAST LEGS

Penalty

10
20
30
40

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

50

-10 to Act

60

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.

NONE
NONE
-5 to Mob.

33

TIGER

Rank 5 Beast (20 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT

SPEED
PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

4
2
1
3

Skills & Specialties

Athletics 4, Fight (Talons) 4*,
Hardiness 3
Initiative (Combat) 3*, Dodge 4
Confidence 2, Inspire (Fear) 1*
Awareness 3, Senses 3,
Stealth (Stalking) 2*

Advantages
Additional Skills (+1) 1, Camouflage (Surprise on First
Attack Only) 1, Considerable Speed (+5 Initiative Bonus)
2, Increased Leaping (Can use up through Lightfoot 2
Health Remaining TOTAL
for no cost) 4, Large Size (+1 Health Level) 3,
10
ANNOYED
Superior Strength (+10 Strike) 6,
Talons & Tushes (+10 Dmg.) 3, Tough Hide (Lt. Armor) 0 BATTERED
20
Weapons
Fanged Bite (+5 Speed, +10 Strike, +10 Damage)
Talon Strike (+20 Speed, +10 Strike, +10 Damage)
Protection/Health
Tough Hide (-5 to Damage Taken) and 10 pts per Level.

INJURED
WOUNDED
STAGGERING
LAST LEGS

Penalty
NONE
NONE

30
40

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

50

-10 to Act

60

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.

-5 to Mob.

WATER DRAGON
Rank 4 Monster (80 Destiny)

ATTRIBUTES
MIGHT

SPEED
PRESENCE
GENIUS
WU WEI

5
3
1
4

Skills & Specialties

Athletics (Swim)5**, Fight (Bite) 5**,
Hardiness (Poison Resistance) 4*
Initiative (From Underwater) 4*
Confidence 3, Inspire (Fear) 2*
Awareness 4, Senses 4,
Stealth (Underwater) 2*

Advantages
Acid Immunity 2, Additional Attributes (+4) 20,
Additional Skills (+1) 1, Considerable
Fantastic Strength (+15 Strike) 9,
Fleetness (+5 Athletics Bonus) 2,
Scales (Medium Armor) 2, Tushes (+10 Dmg.) 3,
Vast Size (+4 Health Levels) 12

Health

Remaining TOTAL

ANNOYED
BOTHERED

Weapons
Massive Fanged Bite (+0 Speed, +15 Strike, +10 Damage)
Coil Bash (-5 Speed, +15 Strike, +0 Damage)
Protection/Health
Scales (-10 to Damage Taken)
and 10 points per Level.

PROVOKED
ENRAGED
BATTERED
INJURED
WOUNDED
SAGGING
DYING

44

10
20
30
40
50
60
70

Penalty
NONE
NONE
NONE
NONE
NONE
-5 to Mob.

-5 to Act
-10 to Mob.

80

-10 to Act

90

-10 to Act
-20 to Mob.