Tailed beasts and the narrative

The Tailed beasts are vastly important to the story of naruto, their effects and weight cannot be overstated. But if a GM is to sue them in their game it's important to analyze how they have such impact. Here we'll examine everything about the storytelling importance of the tailed beasts.

What role do they play narratively? Primarily Tailed beasts are multi-purpose plot devices. They, along with their host if any, can be macguffins that character have to seek out, or they can be powerful antagonists, or sources of incredible power at specific moments. Even the threat of these creatures can have a huge effect on the scope of the world, they can be the cause of great wars, or a source of deterrent that keeps peace in place. Even more than that, given their immortal lifespans and significant intelligence they could even serve as mentors, tutors, advisers and first hand sources of ancient lore. The best part is that unlike a magical device or piece of technology they can serve all of these roles at different times while also being their own characters.

Creating a Tailed beast mythos: In Naruto we learn that the tailed beasts were created by a mythical demigod-like figure known as the sage of six paths. They were formed by dividing the 10 tailed beast, a giant monster with its own fascinating origins. However, this origin is not necessary for every Naruto campaign. The truth is that the beasts could have vastly different origins and still serve the campaign well. In fact the tailed beasts represent a fantastic opportunity to re-enforce themes relevant to your particular campaign. There is nothing intrinsic about the number of beasts, number of tails, or origin that impacts their value and worth to your particular story. Feel free to change any of these facts as much as you want, make them feel unique and interesting. If desired here are some example mythos to get you started.

The power of the beast: One thing that IS critical to be kept the same about the tailed beasts is power. So just how strong should one of these incredible monsters be? Well, their importance and role in the story is the most telling factor here. What I would say is “stronger than any human who has ever lived” as a general guideline. If humans routinely outmatch and overpower these creatures then they’re hardly deterrents of war, and their power doesn’t need to be harnessed since people Can become stronger. At most, maybe one or two people per generation can get strong enough to challenge such a monster, and they should never be treated like common foes, lest they lose their narrative impact. This means that by and large, these beasts should have a CR equal to the Intended level cap for the campaign+5. If you plan to run a game to level 15, where no npc’s go much beyond this point then CR 20 would be ideal for a tailed beast. For a game running all the way to 20 on the other hand tailed beasts should be around cr 25. And in a game meant to run to 20 and mythic (Which admittedly I have no even begun to delve into in combination with Naruto pathfinder) Beasts should be cr 30. Regardless of the exact number it is usually a good idea to keep the beasts very close in power. These monsters are meant to serve as both deterrents and threats of annihilation, if they are not an even match for eachother then this can lose some impact. Of course there are always exceptions. A setting in which one village has two cr 20 tailed beasts, while another has a single cr 25 could still very much keep eachother in check. For help actually stating out the tailed beasts, check out the Tailed Beast template.