Mephits Throwing a Phit over HD

[silverwolfer]

Quick question, if Mephits get higher Hd and all that fun jazz, do their natural abilities *breath and SA* do more damage or have higher DC's?

An does anything else change about them besides size by advancement .

[Keld Denar]

Save DCs are inherently tied to HD. General rule of thumb is 10 + half HD + relevant stat. CL for SLAs is often tied to HD unless otherwise noted, so it might make a Glitterdust last a couple extra rounds or pick up a couple dice of Burning Hands if it isn't already capped.

[silverwolfer]

So let us use a earth mephit for an example


Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp)
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 15
Breath Weapon (Su): 15-foot cone of rock shards and pebbles, damage 1d8, Reflex DC 13 half. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +1 racial bonus.


so 3d8 = 1.5 13 con = 1 then the +1 racial bonus

Equals DC 13

so if 6d8=3 13 con =1 racial bonus +1

Equal DC 15??

[Keld Denar]

Yea, and don't forget that every 4 HD above the base listed HD grants a stat bonus that might go to whatever stat the save its based on which could make a difference as well.

[Siosilvar]

Yea, and don't forget that every 4 HD above the base listed HD grants a stat bonus that might go to whatever stat the save its based on which could make a difference as well.

Are you sure it's above the base? The SRD seems to say that it's just every multiple of 4, like for characters:


Ability Score Improvement
Treat monster Hit Dice the same as character level for determining ability score increases. This only applies to Hit Dice increases, monsters do not gain ability score increases for levels they "already reached" with their racial Hit Dice, since these adjustments are included in their basic ability scores.

That would mean that a 3-HD monster like the example mephit gains the ability boost when it hits 4 HD, but a monster with 5 HD doesn't get an extra one if you advance it to 6 and forget that the boost is already included (or, more likely, it only gets 2 if you advance it to 12 and lost track of how many HD you started with, for example).

[Keld Denar]

Ur-Priest's Monstrous Guide to Monsters has the exact quotation from the rules. The premise is that base HD aren't counted because they are factored in to the racial stat adjustments. Thus, they are already balanced about that starting point, and only by gaining 4 more HD would they gain a stat bump.

Edit: reading comprehension fail. You have the quote.

I interpret that to mean that HD already obtained (base creature) don't count at all. As in, reset base to 0 with regards to gaining stat bumps. Base HD already cover all racial stat changes due to them, and thus wouldn't be counted with regard to stat bumps. I'll dive into my MM a bit later today and look at some example creatures and see if I can divine some insight.

[Karoht]

Newbie question when it comes to summoned creatures.

Augment Summons and Spell Focus: Conjuration
Seeing as Augment Summons increases HD, does that also increase the DC's of SLA's?

[Absol197]

Newbie question when it comes to summoned creatures.

Augment Summons and Spell Focus: Conjuration
Seeing as Augment Summons increases HD, does that also increase the DC's of SLA's?

As a fan of summoners, I can say with confidence that Augment Summoning doesn't increase the HD of your summons. It only increases their Strength and Constitution.


~Phoenix~

[Karoht]

As a fan of summoners, I can say with confidence that Augment Summoning doesn't increase the HD of your summons. It only increases their Strength and Constitution.


~Phoenix~
Misremembered. Thanks.

[Keld Denar]

It would affect any abilities that are Con or Str based. A summoned spider, for example, has a venom that is Con based. The DC of an augmented spider would be 2 points higher than a non-augmented spider.