Monster stats and other fun things

[Xervous]

One precedent I've never really gotten a good grasp on is under what context monsters' racial bonuses are being put into play. Are they being applied to a straight array of 10's, the standard array, elite...? Or is there just really no precedent going on here?

[WhamBamSam]

They're being applied to a standard array, so 10s and 11s depending on whether the value is even or odd. From the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm)...


Ability Scores for Monster PCs
While a monsters statistics give the ability scores for a typical creature of a certain kind, any “monster” creature that becomes an adventurer is definitely not typical. Therefore, when creating a PC from a creature, check to see if the creature’s entry has any ability scores of 10 or higher. If so, for each score, subtract 10 (if the score is even) or 11 (if the score is odd) to get the creature’s modifier for that ability based on its race or kind. Generate the character’s ability scores as normal, then add the racial ability modifiers to get their ability scores.

Note: Some monsters have base ability scores other than 10 and 11. If alternate scores were used this will be indicated in the monster entry. Also, some monsters that make good PCs have their racial ability modifiers and other traits already listed in their monster entry.

For ability scores lower than 10, the procedure is different. First, determine the character’s ability scores, and compare that number to the monster’s average ability score, using either the table below that applies to Intelligence or the table that applies to the other five ability scores.

The separate table for Intelligence ensures that no PC ends up with an Intelligence score lower than 3. This is important, because creatures with an Intelligence score lower than 3 are not playable characters. Creatures with any ability score lower than 1 are also not playable.

[Xervous]

They're being applied to a standard array, so 10s and 11s depending on whether the value is even or odd. From the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm)...

Strange... I must have gotten misled in my wanderings. Thanks for pointing out the obvious under my nose!

[Jeraa]

A few monsters do use a different array before their racial mods are added/subtracted. Usually the playable PC races. If something other than 10s and 11s were used,it generally says so:


The elf warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.


The dwarf warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.

[Thurbane]

If you want some variety in your monsters, change their array from 10s and 11s to 8 , 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 with no change to CR. I've done this a couple of times, and it can make for more interesting foes. It's equivalent to a 15 point buy.

ALso, here's a beef I have as a sidenote: giving a monster the elite array (8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15) increases CR by 1. But simply adding one class level grants the array, and gives the added benefit of, well, a class level. The only reason I can think that you'd ever use the elite array without adding a class level would be for a creature that cannot take class levels (usually because of Int). Still, I'm not sure it's worth a full +1 CR increase on it's own.