Template:Creature/doc

This template is for use in any article about a creature, particularly those from the Prime Material Plane. There are subtemplates that are based on the origin (primarily a 4th edition concept, see below) of a creature, namely Creature/aberration, Creature/elemental, Creature/fey, Creature/immortal, and Creature/shadow, that call this one with a different color scheme. Note that some parameters are edition-specific (with suffix 1e, 2e, 3e, etc.) and might be different between editions. For the purposes of this template, 3.5 edition info should supersede 3rd edition info and is just called 3e for symmetry. Most of the parameters are left optional and if left undefined they will not appear. The recommended image size is a width of 250px so that it will completely fill the infobox without increasing its dimensions. You may add wiki links to articles to the relevant topics.

Usage
An example is shown to the right:


 * image    : Optional. Use a standard File: ]] tag with a width of no greater than 250px. No other options are necessary.


 * caption  : Optional. A short sentence describing the image, if necessary. It will be italicized automatically.
 * name     : Required. The name of the creature.


 * size5e, size4e, size3e, size2e, size1e: Optional. The creature's standard size category. Acceptable sizes are: Fine, Diminutive, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal.

Fifth edition uses the following types: aberration, beast, celestial, construct, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, giant, humanoid, monstrosity, ooze, plant, and undead. Additionally there may be a "tag" in parentheses after the type, such as humanoid (orc) so put that as the subtype unless there is an additional subtype. The 4e creature types are: animate, beast, humanoid, and magical beast, often with one or more added keywords. There are many keywords: angel, demon, devil, dragon, giant, undead, reptile, mount, construct, shapechanger, spider, etc., as well as the elemental types for elemental creatures (air, earth, fire, water). Additionally, in order to accommodate the Forgotten Realms lore that does not match with the core 4e setting, the keywords celestial, fiend, and Tel-quessir are also used. Allowed 3e/3.5 types are: aberration, animal, construct, dragon, elemental, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, outsider, plant creature, undead, and vermin. The type3e parameter will be used to put the page in a category, like Catagory:Aberrations (3e) unless it is suppressed using nocat (see below). 3e's "beast" and "shapechanger" types are not used on this wiki. Instead, "beast" becomes "animal" or "magical beast", and "shapechanger" becomes a subtype. This wiki also uses "plant creature" instead of "plant" to avoid confusion with non-sentient vegetation.
 * type5e, type4e, type3e, type2e, type1e : Optional. The general category of the creature. Types were given in 3e, 4e, and 5e and sometimes 1e and 2e.


 * subtype5e, subtype4e, subtype3e, subtype2e, subtype1e : Optional. A more specific creature category. A gray orc's type would be natural humanoid, but its subtype would be orc, and a pit fiend's type would be immortal humanoid (devil), but its subtype would be baatezu, for example.


 * alignment5e, alignment4e, alignment3e, alignment2e, alignment1e : Optional. The alignment(s) of the creature as described by the source. If it is a single alignment, like "Neutral" or "Chaotic evil", then use that. You can also say "Any good", "Any non-chaotic", or "Any" if applicable. You may also use the alignment grid for all but 4th edition. For creatures than can be player races, please specify this field as a creature and not a player character. Note that some creatures do not have a concept of good/evil/law/chaos and are "unaligned".


 * challenge5e, challenge3e : Optional. If the information comes from a Dungeons & Dragons 3rd, 3.5, or 5th edition source, include the creature's Challenge Rating. Edition 3.5 info should supersede 3e info.


 * origin4e : Optional. The planar origin of a creature as specified in 4th edition. Natural creatures usually come from the Prime Material Plane, elementals come from the Elemental Chaos, immortals come from the Astral Sea and all its dominions, shadow creatures come from the Shadowfell, aberrations come from the Far Realm, and fey come from the Feywild. If the creature is unique to 4th edition, or there is no higher edition info, or if you just like the colors, consider using one of the subtemplates listed in the introductory paragraph, but don't be upset if someone updates a creature with a newer edition's info.


 * refs5e, refs4e, refs3e, refs2e, refs1e : Optional. These parameters are for putting  tags in the headings of the edition-specific sections so they don't clutter up the infobox or hang off in space below an alignment grid.


 * origin, type, subtype, alignment, challenge : Deprecated. Not shown above. These are only here for backward compatibility with older versions of this template. Do not use on new pages.


 * patron deity : Optional. The standard patron deity for the listed creature type, if applicable.


 * vision : Optional. The visual capacities of the creature, usually whether it has normal vision, low-light vision, or darkvision.


 * lifespan : Optional. The average life expectancy of a typical, healthy member of the creature's species.


 * location : Optional. The most common locale of the creature. If possible, use the location listed in one of the Monster Manuals. If it makes sense, this can be used to specify the origin for a non-4th edition creature.


 * language : Optional. The language or languages a creature of this race/species is commonly expected to speak&mdash;often listed in the Monster Manuals or Player's Handbooks.


 * subraces : Optional. Any notable populations of the creature that are significantly distinct physically or culturally from the norm (and would therefore have differing information in the template).


 * climate : Optional. The climate in which this creature prefers to dwell or is likely to be found. Accepted values are Any, or one or more of Cold, Temperate, or Warm. If specified, one or more categories will be automatically generated for the page.


 * terrain : Optional. The type of terrain in which this creature prefers to dwell, or is likely to be found. Exact values can be found on the Creatures by Climate and Terrain template or you can use Any, Barrens, Cleared Lands, Deserts, Dungeons and Ruins, Forests, Glaciers, Hills, Jungles, Moors, Mountains, or Plains; Lakes, Marshes, Rivers, Swamps, Salt Lakes, Salt Marshes, or Seas and Oceans; Volcanic, Underground, Underdark, Urban Areas, Atmosphere, or Planes of Existence. If you specify more than one terrain type, please separate them with a comma or a &lt;br /&gt; tag. If specified, one or more categories will be automatically generated for the page.


 * height : Optional. How tall is the creature. Measurements are, in keeping with the current standards in official sources, in U.S. customary units (yards, feet, and inches). (You may add metric units in parentheses.)


 * length : Optional. How long is the creature. Measurements are, in keeping with the current standards in official sources, in U.S. customary units (yards, feet, and inches). (You may add metric units in parentheses.)


 * wingspan : Optional. If the creature has wings, how wide they are outstretched. Measurements are, in keeping with the current standards in official sources, in U.S. customary units (yards, feet, and inches). (You may add metric units in parentheses.)


 * weight : Optional. How heavy is the creature. Measurements are, in keeping with the current standards in official sources, in U.S. customary units (pounds, ounces). (You may add metric units in parentheses.)


 * skincolor : Optional. The skin color of the creature. Can be as simple as "green" or can be more detailed, noting patterns or other visual distinctions if present.


 * haircolor : Optional. The hair color of the creature, with additional information for how it might change over a creature's lifespan or vary within a species.


 * feathers : Optional. Feather color and distinctions, if the creature has feathers.


 * eyecolor : Optional. Eye color and distinctions.


 * distinctions : Optional. Any other notable characteristics about the creature that are not otherwise noted in the template.


 * form1, form2, form3 : Optional. If this creature has multiple forms, you can list them here. If you provide an appearance for each form, this will create a tabbed box under the Appearance subsection so that each form can have its own appearance attributes. If you specify form1, you must also specify appearance1, and so on.


 * appearance1, appearance2, appearance3 : Optional. This is where you provide the appearance of each of the creature's forms. Use the  template, which takes the same appearance parameters above. If you specify appearance1, then you must specify the corresponding form1, and so on.


 * based : Optional. What the creature is derived from or based on: a mythological or folkloric creature (e.g., a creature from Greek mythology) or a creature from another fiction setting (e.g., H. P. Lovecraft). We suggest linking to the appropriate Wikipedia article.


 * first    : Optional. Name of any official Forgotten Realms material in which the creature first appeared (e.g. name of a novel or a sourcebook).


 * source & page : Deprecated. Not shown above. This is for backward compatibility only. If all the information in the creature infobox comes from a single source, include both the book name and page number(s), but it is preferred that you use the refs5e, refs4e,... parameters instead.


 * nocat : Optional. Not shown above. Setting this to true will suppress the automatic generation of categories. Primarily used on documentation pages like this one.

Standardized Sections
These are the typical section headers for an article about a creature, as discussed in this forum thread. You can easily cut and paste it from here and delete the ones you don't use: