Yet another CR question.

[The Mister Guy]

Hi everyone,
So I was wondering, as a DM, what the "bonus" to CR would be for adding class levels to a monster, and what the CR of a PC is? For example, according to the MMI the CR of an 8th level Barbarian/10th level Fenzied Bezerker is 12, and this seems slightly ridiculous, as with Leap Attack he can deal about 1000 (yes, 1000) damage in a round :smalleek:.

Thanks,
The Mister Guy

[Jeraa]

3.5 DMG, page 37: A character with PC class levels has a CR equal to its level. So said 8th level barbarian/10th level Frenzied Barbarian is a CR 18.

3.5 DMG, page 38: Characters with only NPC class levels (adept, warrior, commoner, expert) have a CR equal to their level -1. So a 10th level warrior is a CR 9.

For monsters, it is a little more difficult. See page 294 of the 3.5 MM. Adding levels of an "Associated class" increase the monsters CR by 1 per level added. Associated classes are those similar to what the monster already does - if the monster is naturally a spellcaster, then spellcasting classes are considered associated. If the monster mainly fights in melee, than classes like fighter would be an associated class. Stealthy and sneaky monsters would consider Rogue an associated class.

For monsters adding non-associated classes (like an ogre adding wizard levels), the CR increases by 1/2 per level added. So adding 4 levels of Wizard to an ogre increases that ogres CR by +2. The NPC classes (commoner, adept, warrior, expert) are always considered non-associated classes.

[Nich_Critic]

I really like this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=11476.0) guide for DMs. Basically, in the class levels section, it recommends that class levels be non-associated for boss monsters, but associated for mooks.

Take, for example, an Ogre with 6 levels in wizard. He automatically gets an elite array for having class levels, and he re-arranges his stats to give him 13 Int. His stat bonuses should keep his STR and CON high. He now has 10 HD (And his con mod provides more HP then his ogre dice would have anyways), and can cast on himself up to 3rd level spells. He can walk around hasted, mirror imaged and blurred, if he wants to. Should this be a CR 6 encounter (As the book recommends, since Ogres "don't make good wizards"?) or more properly a CR 9?

By the recommendations, if you want many ogre wizards, they should be wizard 3 and CR 6, but if you want a single boss ogre wizard, it should be Wizard 6 and CR 6 (Probably supported by ordinary CR 3 Ogres)

[Divide by Zero]

Also keep in mind that the CR guidelines assume a degree of optimization in line with the default characters in the books. If you build your barbarian like an Übercharger, then it's not going to fit that guideline.