Beastiary | Familiar Arcana TTRPG

In Familiar Arcana, you'll encounter an exciting roster of monsters and villains that breathe life into your adventures. We've added lore to harness their unique abilities, and let your creativity shine. As you shape encounters, remember: the real magic lies in how you bring these characters to life!

Bestiary | Familiar Arcana
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Welcome to the Bestiary

Select a creature from the sidebar to view their stats, lore, and Roll20 macros.

How Do I Run A Monster?

Monsters are supposed to be run at the CR as they are considered balanced for that level. Of course advanced tactics on the side of the player and DM will create a disparity in the actual difficulty of the monster. But the idea is that you can add these into your game and they will be fun for your party.

Our monsters are similar to those you may find in Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, feel free to use them as we added support for both systems. Other than that it's very similar to player characters with the exceptions below.

Lair Actions, Legendary Actions, Recharge, and Skills

Common things you may or may not be aware of pending on if you have played 5th edition before are Lair Actions, Legendary Actions, and Skills. Most of this will be recap for experienced DM's but it's always good to have them in a nice easy place to remember.


  • Lair Actions: These are special events that happen on Initiative 20 if the monster is in their lair. If you have a Dragon outside their lair these do not occur. This is important because bandits and such may have special lair actions that make them more exciting in their hideout or base.
  • Legendary Actions: These actions happen on any player's turn but cannot be done until another player has had their turn.
  • Skills: Each monster has 3 skills that they are very proficient with. These skills always roll at advantage regardless if the players force them to roll with disadvantage. Think of it like these skills are kind of their thing. Usually monsters have 3. If the skill is not listed it's just an ability check.
  • Recharge: You will see Recharge (5-6) from time to time and this allows the monster to use this feature if the criteria are met. In this example roll 1d6 at the start of the creature's turn, if you roll a 5 or 6 then you can use the feature that round.

How Many Monsters Should You Run?

You can run them similar to how you would 5th edition. However, note most of the time they are more powerful especially at higher levels. If you're worried about balance try Adventure mode, as the monsters scale to your player's abilities instead, meaning they are formidable on their own.

Our health numbers are much higher than DnD 5e as that is one of the biggest complaints. You will find you don't need to put in a bunch of filler fights, as we are like most DM's and run 1-3 fights per long rest. That said you should be fine running a standard dungeon you'll just find it's slightly more difficult.


Below is the roles listed so you can see our design philosophy.

Role Encounter Weight Design Purpose
Swarm 5 per PC Tiny or fragile creatures that rely entirely on overwhelming numbers.
Minion 3 per PC Weak combatants designed to pressure through group tactics and action economy.
Skirmisher 1 PC Standard enemy intended to challenge a single adventurer evenly.
Dangerous 2 PCs Durable or dangerous foes that require coordination to defeat safely.
Deadly 3 to 4 PCs Major encounter centerpiece with strong offensive and defensive presence.
Villain 4+ PCs Full party boss designed around layered mechanics and sustained combat.
Titan 4 to 6 PCs Mythic-scale threat built around legendary actions, phases, or battlefield control.