Minotaurs

[Jimbob]

Hi,

I am writing up an adventrue that I am using minotaurs in but for the final boss I want to give a minotaur some levels a barbarian and thats when I became stuck. I thought of 2 ways to get around it, add the levels onto of the monster manual minotaur or creat a barbarian with the minotaur template, can I do both or do I have to use the template.

Oh and If I give it 3 levels what CR will it be?????

[Serpentine]

I'm doing the same for my game. Just giving the MM creature levels should be fine - it's what I'm doing. As for the challenge rating... I think they have a level adjustment, in which case i believe the level adjustment + levels ~= the minotaur's CR.

Also, I didn't even know there was a minotaur template

Oh, and it's perfectly acceptable to give your monster unique ability scores. I usually figure out about how much above or below 10 or 11 the standard scores are and add that to/subtract it from the ability array.

[Dhavaer]

Just add the levels onto the MM Minotaur. I don't know what you mean by 'minotaur template', there's no such thing. CR for a minotaur Barbarian 3 would be 7.

[AslanCross]

Giving monsters class levels usually adds +1 to the monster's base CR per class level as long as the class level is an "associated class." Of course, this is subject to interpretation but as a rule of thumb, associated class levels are levels in a class that works well with the creature's abilities. For a minotaur, barbarian would most definitely be an associated class level, while Wizard or Sorcerer probably wouldn't.

Non-associated class levels give +1/2 CR per class level until the amount of levels equals the monster's racial hit dice. Thereafter it's +1 CR per level. Therefore, adding 6 levels of Wizard to a Minotaur would raise its CR to 7, but adding a seventh level of wizard raises the CR to 8.

(This is all in the Monster Manual, btw)

[its_all_ogre]

the la is for a player being a minotaur

[Wraithy]

to answer a non-existant question. give it lvls in hulking hurler, just for sh*ts 'n' giggles

[Jimbob]

Ok its not a template as such its a minotaur character, its on the SRD MINOTAURS AS CHARACTERS
Minotaur characters possess the following racial traits.
+8 Strength, +4 Constitution, –4 Intelligence (minimum 3), –2 Charisma.
Large size. –1 penalty to Armor Class, –1 penalty on attack rolls, –4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.
A minotaur’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Racial Hit Dice: A minotaur begins with six levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide 6d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +6, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +2, Ref +5, and Will +5.
Racial Skills: A minotaur’s monstrous humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 9 x (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1). Its class skills are Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Search, and Spot. Minotaurs have a +4 racial bonus on Search, Spot, and Listen checks.
Racial Feats: A minotaur’s monstrous humanoid levels give it three feats.
Weapon Proficiency: A minotaur is proficient with the greataxe and all simple weapons.
+5 natural armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: Gore (1d8).
Special Attacks (see above): Powerful charge.
Special Qualities (see above): Natural cunning, scent.
Automatic Languages: Common, Giant. Bonus Languages: Orc, Goblin, Terran.
Favored Class: Barbarian.
Level adjustment +2.

But as you can see the LA is only +2 but the CR is 4???? now im a bit confused.

[Dhavaer]

The LA is added to the hit dice to find the effective character level. A PC minotaur is supposedly equal to a level 8 PC.

[Yeril]

Add an template to make it more intresting.

A level 3 barbarian minotaur;

Fighting "some minotaur with barbarian levels" Is no where near as memorable as

A level 2 barbarian Fiendish minotaur;
"Fighting the Red minotaur of *insert blah here*"

Or

a level 2 barbarian Feral minotaur
"That realy realy scary minotaur who was insanley strong and fast and foaming at the mouth."

Or a level 1 barbarian feral fiendish minotaur
"That realy realy realy scary red minotaur who was insanley strong and fast and foaming at the mouth."

Templates make eeeeeevreything better :D

[Person_Man]

Here is the official level adjusted version of the Minotaur. Now you can play a scaled version at any level. Enjoy.