[PFRPG] Monster Classes; Adapting Creatures for Player Use

[Darkholme]

I finally got an account here, though I've been lurking here for years.

After seeing the 3.5 thread for this, I thought I'd post one that I did for Pathfinder a while back.

I'm open to suggestions for improvements, as well as possible capstone abilities and whatnot.

All suggestions welcome. The 3.5 thread has some great Ideas. I wrote this over a year ago, but it seemed like a good time/place to post it.

Here are the Design Goals (at least the ones *I* have):
1. All classes gain BAB/HD/Skills/Feats/Ability Bonuses like form any normal class levels.
2. Classes should be accessible at level 1. (Arcana Evolved Style)
3. Power level should be comparable to Pathfinder Classes/Base Races.
4. They should get the same sorts of abilites as the monsters do, roughly.
5. Acquired Templates should be something a DM can grant in the middle of a session without giving the PC in question a level.


For every Monstrous Race:
Base Race: This is on par with all other races. You need this one to qualify for the Monster Class. If a race has drawbacks as well as positives, you take all of those up front.
Level Progression: You gain levels, which are set to be the same power level as player races.

For Acquired Templates:
A) If Possible - a Template that has negatives equaling positives. This works for things like Vampire, which have a large number of drawbacks. You can apply the template to a creature and not have to worry about changing the player's CR.
B) Else - Like you've done here, with the stipulation that the player gaining the template loses a level (if the template was forced on them), or that it lays dormant until they gain a level and they HAVE to take the first level in the template class.

For Inherited Templates:
Like above, except they obviously cant start at level -1.

As General Guidelines:
Immunities: Turned into resistances/save bonuses unless it was completely illogical to do so, for the sake of making it playable. The amount sometimes scaled up into immunity at the high end of the CR, but not usually.
DR: Tried to limit DR by character level. A third level character with DR 10 is a huge problem.
SR: As above. It needs to be limited. Some of them started with a Dwarf-like magic resistance which turns into SR later.
At Will: Most of these become x/day, which increase.
For spell-like monsters, Casts as X is a good approach.

I used Upper Krust's CR Guide for estimates on pricing things. They aren't perfect, but they do give a good rough estimate to start from, and tweak from there.http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-leg...ml#post2289968


Satyr (No Pipes):

Stats

Spoiler

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Satyr Playable Character=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>Base Race<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satyr:
Low-Light Vision						+0.10
+2 Stealth, Perform, Perception					+0.12
+2 Cha								+0.20
Head Butt							+0.175
Speed: 40 Feet							+0.10
								------
								+0.695

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>Base Class<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satyr:

Level		Abilities				Value		Total Value
1		+2 Dex, +2 Wis, +2 Natural Armor, 
		DR 2/cold Iron, +1 Stealth, 
		+1 Perform, +2 Perception		.68668		1.29128
2		+2 con, +2 Int, +4 Natural Armor, 
		DR 5/cold Iron, +1 Stealth,
		+1 Perform, +2 Perception		.690002		2.58587

Details about how I pieced it together

Spoiler

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Satyr Design Breakdown=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Standard Average 3.5e Class Power
01 level	= 1.1672
02 levels	= 2.3344
03 levels	= 3.5016
04 levels	= 4.6688
05 levels	= 5.836
06 levels	= 7.0032
07 levels	= 8.1704
08 levels	= 9.3376
09 levels	= 10.5048
10 levels	= 11.672
11 levels	= 12.8392
12 levels	= 14.0064
13 levels	= 15.1736
14 levels	= 16.3408
15 levels	= 17.508
16 levels	= 18.6752
17 levels	= 19.8424
18 levels	= 21.0096
19 levels	= 22.1768
20 levels	= 23.344

Develop the Base Race:
	Take all weaknesses.
	Remove as many Absolutes and Immunities as possible.
	Add basic movement types, vision abilities, and natural attacks.
	Add other abilities until reaching .5-.7 CR (Pathfinder Race Power Range)

Develop the Base Class:
	Determine the Base Level Quantity:
		Figure in the Attack Score Increases
		Number of Attacks
		Standard Feats
		Saves
		BAB
		Skill Points
		Class Skills
		and other things that increase by level.
	Take all remaining abilities and cost them out. 
		These Will be your class abilities.
	Start from the class abilities, and add Base Level Quantity.
	Continue to add BLQ until being close to standard power level.
	If you need to adjust it to make it fit the power level better, 
	try increasing HD or skills.
	

Statics:
Ability Point Mods:	+2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wisdom, +2 Cha	+1.00
Speed:			40ft						+0.10
Low Light Vision							+0.10
+4 Stealth, Perform, Perception						+0.24
Alertness								+0.18
+4 Natural Armor							+0.4
Head Butt: 1d6								+0.175
DR 5/ Cold Iron								+0.01667
									--------
									+2.21167
Base Race:
Low-Light Vision						+0.10
+2 Stealth, Perform, Perception					+0.12
+2 Cha								+0.20
Head Butt							+0.175
Speed: 40 Feet							+0.10
								------
								+0.695

Base Level Quantity:
Ability Score Increases:					+0.05
Attacks:							+0.0375
BAB:								+0.1
Standard Feats:							+0.0766
d8 HD								+0.1165
Bad Fort							+0.03
Good Fort							+0.06
Good Will							+0.06
Skills: 6 + Int							+0.069
Skills: Bluff, Knowledge (Nature), Perform, Stealth, Perception	+0.005
								-------------
								+0.6046/Level

Class Abilities:
Ability Point Mods:	+2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wisdom	+0.80
+2 Stealth, Perform						+0.08
+4 Perception							+0.08
+4 Natural Armor						+0.4
DR 5/ Cold Iron							+0.01667/2
								--------
								+1.37667

Thoughts Comments?