How Long Does Writing A Creature Take Me? Educer Beast for Starfinder (Patreon)

One of the question I am often asked, which is hard to answer, is "How long does an article/a game product/a single monster take you to write, start to finish?" That's almost impossible to answer accurately, because the real answer is "it depends." While I do something sit down and write a single article or short ttRPG product start-to-finish, it's much more common for me to have a couple of dozen things in various states, and to work on them as my muse inspired me. Half my articles are random thoughts I jotted down one day when the first glimmer of an idea hit me, and only later did I expand on them, and even later developed and edited them after they weren't fresh in my mind.

But since I can do an article start-to-finish, today I decided to do just that, and track the time each step took, from first concept to posting the article. That turned into a time line of the creation of a Starfinder monster, along with that monster.

If there's interest, I might actually do something like a GoFundMe for access to a livestream of me writing for a day, along with AMA as we go, so think about that.

Now, to the timestamps.

11:00 am. I begin working on my blog for Tuesday, Sept 3, 2024. Thinking about trying something like doing a livestream of me writing for a day. I like the idea, but it takes a lot of setup to do, and a lot of awareness in the community that I am doing it to make the effort worthwhile (and monetizable). Rather than work on the big question of that project, I decide to make today's blog something more manageable, like a running description of today's blog article's creation. I'll write the intro later, when I know how this went.

11:06 am. I decide I am going to take a piece of stock art at random, and create a creature for Starfinder based on that illustration. I further decide I am going to create a timeline of how long this takes me to do, noting and timestamping each step in an open Patreon post in real time. This means writing the article in Patreon, which means I am dependent on their system for backup. I'd never risk this for something bigger than this.

11:08 am. I edit the previous timestamp, horrified at how bad it was. I realize I am treating this like a timed competition, where I have to go as fast as possible. I make a conscious effort to slow down.

11:09 am. I begin perusing scifi creature stock art I have in an online library. There are lots of places with stock art for sale, and those that allow me to categorize things I may buy later into libraries are among my favorites.

11:25 am. Complete going through the selected archive, and nothing has inspired an idea that excites me. Writing is easier when I am excited about an idea, but I often think one of the crucial differences between someone who can be a good full-time freelancer and someone who can't is the ability to quickly produce high-quality content even for ideas that don't excite them.

Decide to grab a cup of coffee, then pick art genuinely at random (instead of hoping for inspiration), and treating it like a freelance project for someone else -- Just Do It.

11:31 am. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking. The shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

11:32. I pick the art used in this article. I decide to make is a magical beast in the category I personally call "arcanimals,' such as blink dogs --creatures with an innate ability to use one spell. I go looking to pick a spell from Starfinder, which is going to determine CR, creature name, and so on.

Coffee was a good call.

11:43 am. I pick reflecting armor as the spell I want to build my magical beast around. I have had the word "educe' in my head for a few weeks since I ran into it while perusing lists of rare and unusual words. I decide the definition of "educe" that means "To direct the course of (a flow, journey etc.); to lead in a particular direction" is perfect for this, so I name it an educer beast.

Begin writing stat block.

12:05 pm. Finish stat block except for reflexive field, which must be customer-written.

12:08 pm. Finish reflective aura, begin creature description.

12:14 pm. Household matters require attending, begin a break.

12:23 pm. Break ends. Back at it. Decide I am unwilling to have this much text siting in an online web interface with no internal backup, so I quick copy all work to this point and make my own backup file.

12:39 pm. Finish writing description. Begin intro for article, which is going to be much easier to write now that I know what the article is.

12:47 pm. Finish intro, begin development/editing pass on whole article.

12:57 pm. Finish dev/edit pass... except for this and next timestamp, which I give a second look as I finish them. Begin compiling the "support" section with all the links for charity products amazing designers and artists have created to help me with the costs of fighting my cancer. (List at bottom of article.) Also, decide on tags for this article.

1:00 pm. Post article. Honestly, I am AMAZED this came out to exactly two hours. I did NOT plan it that way.

EDUCER BEAST

(Art by Dominick)

Educer Beast 

CR 10

XP 9,600

CN Large magical beast

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +24

Aura reflective field (DC 17 or 19, see text)

DEFENSE

HP 165

EAC 23; KAC 25

Fort +14; Ref +14; Will +9

Defensive abilities unflankable

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 30 ft.

Melee slam +23 (2d10+18 B; critical knockdown)

Ranged  cold ray +20 (2d10+10 C; critical staggered) or

heat ray +20 (2d10+10 F; critical - burn, 2d4)

STATISTICS

Str +8; Dex +0; Con +3; Int +0; Wis +5; Cha +0

Skills Athletics +19, Perception +24, Survival +19

Languages Gnome, Ignan

Other abilities amphibious, tracking, water breathing

Special Abilities 

Cold Ray/Heat Ray (Su): An educer beast can project rays of extreme cold and heat from their antennae. If it made a ranged attack of one damage type in the previous round, it must choose a different damage type if it makes a ranged attack this round. Its rays have a range increment of 50 feet, and its antennae can be sundered. Each has no hardness and 16 HP -- of one antennae is sundered it loses once of its two energy types for ranged attacks, if it loses both it cannot make any ranged attacks. It can regrow its antennae, which takes 1d10+10 days each.

Reflective Field (Sp): An educer beast has a supernatural field around it that automatically reflects back some damage from attacks made against it. This functions as the spell reflecting armor, except as follows. Each time the educer beast's reflective field is activated, it rolls a d20 check to see if the field resets at the beginning of it's next turn, immediately, or immediately and at higher strength. A rest is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

d20 Roll Result

1-5 Reflective field does not reset until beginning of educer beast's next turn.

6-19 Reflective field resets, DC 17 save for half

20 Reflective field resets at higher strength. Max damage dealt is 20 (rather than 10), and save for half is DC 19.

Description

Educer beasts are alpha predators found on many worlds, suggesting they were once a starfaring species, or were carried to the stars by one or more starfaring species, or that they at one time traveled through the planes. Given their inherent mastery of the Gnome and Ignan languages, it has been theorized they came from a fey reality long ago and populations of them were scattered throughout the galaxy.

Educer beasts are omnivorous migratory hunters that eschew the use of tools. Educers are born fully functioning and able to speak, and generally leave their mother within a few days. Most are solitary, coming together only at seasonal solstices to mate, but some do form small families or close friendships.

Most educer beasts see themselves as primal forces, no different from icestorms or wildfires, and feel no moral restriction to killing and eating whatever they wish. A few communities near dangerous wildernesses have even managed to make deals with one or more local educer beats to trade food for protection, though this is rare and educer beasts sometimes change their minds about such arrangements without warning.

Educer beasts have an innate connection to fluctuating heat and cold. They can sense fluctuations in temperature (represented by their darkvision, low-light vision, tracking, and unflankable abilities), and claim their ranged attacks and reflective field are effects of being able to 'walk the way of heat.' Many vanguards believe educer beasts have a natural connection to the forces of entropy, and seek to gain insight into these forces by studying educers in their native environments. There exist educer monarchs, which are CR 16 and have the vanguard template, ending credence to this theory.

A typical adult educer beast is 9 feet long, not including the tail, and weighs 900 lbs.

Support

I'm fighting cancer. It's expensive. Huge thanks to Tineke Bolleman, Michael Bramnik, Sasha Laranoa Harving, Jacob W. Michaels, Elizabeth V Nold, David Schwartz, Kendra Leigh Speedling, and Ruvaid Virk for donating their time and brilliance to create The Traveler's Guide to the Eye of Abendego, and donating its proceeds to help.

You can check it out here: https://www.pathfinderinfinite.com/product/492273/The-Travelers-Guides-to-the-Eye-of-Abendego

Here are some other great charity ttRPG products that are helping me with medical bills:

Charity Product — Like A Boss – A Book of Boss Encounters

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/433500/like-a-boss-a-book-of-boss-encounters

Charity Product — The Traveler’s Guide to the Darklands

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/455409/the-traveler-s-guide-to-the-darklands

Charity Product — Publisher’s Choice Stock Art: Owen KC Stephens

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/473298/publisher-s-choice-stock-art-owen-kc-stephens

Contributing Product — Knight of the Grave

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472160/knight-of-the-grave