Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Radijs 08-31-06, 07:33 PM	I was making a skeleton bullette and the skeletal template suggested that it should be a CR 4 monster after the template is done with it but I find that a bit hard to swallow. The stats are posted below, I did only 1 thing diffrently from what the template suggests. I let it keep its special senses & its leap attack. The creature loses some 30 odd HP but in return it gets DR5/blud and +4 on its AC. My best guess is that this creature is still somewhere around the CR 6 range simply because of its incredibly high AC. Am I estimating this correclty? Huge Undead Hit Dice: 9d12 (58 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), burrow 10 ft. Armor Class: 26 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +15 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 23 Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+20 Attack: Bite +16 melee (2d8+8) Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (2d8+8) and 2 claws +5 melee (2d6+4) Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Leap Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lowlight vision, scent, tremorsense 60 ft. Dr 5/Bludgeoning, Lifesense 100 ft, Immunity to Cold Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +8 Abilities: Str 27, Dex 17, Con -, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6 Skills: Jump +18, Listen +9, Spot +3 Feats: Improved Initiative Environment: Temperate hills Organization: Solitary or pair Challenge Rating: 7 Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: 10–16 HD (Huge); 17–27 HD (Gargantuan) Level Adjustment: —
Insane Pixie 08-31-06, 07:40 PM	Think that's bad? Fossil template from LM. It's AC goes up to +18, it gains +40 bonus hitpoints (more than its loss, I believe), DR10/Adamantine, and its claws go up to 2d10. Sure, it's undead, but that's a little bit harsh for CR 5, right? If I'm calculating this correctly, its AC would be 27. It's damage per round would be about 16-48. A level 5 fighter with 18 Strength would still have to roll at least an 18 to hit the guy.
dok 08-31-06, 07:52 PM	I was making a skeleton bullette and the skeletal template suggested that it should be a CR 4 monster after the template is done with it but I find that a bit hard to swallow. The stats are posted below, I did only 1 thing diffrently from what the template suggests. I let it keep its special senses & its leap attack. Well, it looks like you did a few other things differently from the template... Armor Class: 26 (–2 size, +3 Dex, +15 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 23 Armor Class Natural armor bonus changes to a number based on the skeleton’s size: Medium or Large +2 So the AC should be 13, not 26: Armor Class: 13 (+3 dex, -2 size, +2 natural armor), touch 11, flat-footed 10. Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+20 Attack: Bite +16 melee (2d8+8) Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (2d8+8) and 2 claws +5 melee (2d6+4) More errors. Attack bonus is BAB (+4) plus Strength modifier (+8) plus Size modifier (-3) = +9, not +16. So it should be Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d8+8) Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (2d8+8) and 2 claws +4 melee (2d6+4) Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., lowlight vision, scent, tremorsense 60 ft. Dr 5/Bludgeoning, Lifesense 100 ft, Immunity to Cold So not only did you let the base creature keep it's low-light vision, scent, and Tremorsense, but you also added a new ability (Lifesense) that appears nowhere in the skelleton template. Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +8 Will save should be +7 (+6 base, +1 Wisdom modifier) Abilities: Str 27, Dex 17, Con -, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6 Skills: Jump +18, Listen +9, Spot +3 Abilities A skeleton’s Dexterity increases by +2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1. Skills A skeleton has no skills. So you've added an intelligence score where there was none, boosted the Wisdom score by +3, and given it skills it didn't have before. (technically, it's Jump score wthout ranks is still +12) So, you gave the creature an AC 13 points higher, attack bonuses 8 points higher, let it retain it's special attack and all of its special qualities, and then added another special quality. Yeah, that might tend to skew the CR slightly... You didn't correctly follow the template. That's why this creature looks too powerful. Look at the "Bone Creature" template in the BoVD if you want to make an intelligent, skeletal undead that gets to keep its special qualities, special attacks, and mental scores.
Radijs 08-31-06, 07:58 PM	Ah I made a few mistakes appying the template. That explains a lot.