Curvature's page

As someone who has played several monstrous PCs in PF and has, for the fun of it, built high CR encounters by leveling monsters, let me toss in my two cents:

First off, fey and some of the good aligned outsiders tend to be somewhat overpowered compared to other creatures of their CR. This is especially true when class levels are added. Template stacking compounds things further. The most disturbing creature I have ever built was an ostensibly CR20 Vampire Nymph with levels in zen archer monk. It had a flat-footed touch AC of 48, and could pass any saving throw a PC can generate on a 2 (with room to spare, actually); it could put out upwards of 600 point of damage per round (and damage output was presumably its weak point; its defenses were so strong it was incapable of killing itself).

Secondly, remember that a monster of a given CR is roughly on par with a PC of equivalent level - including that PC's equipment. Therefore, if you take that monster and give it level appropriate equipment, it will outstrip the PCs. This effect is less important when dealing with low CR monsters, but becomes vastly more pronounced the higher the CR of the base monster is (and, correspondingly, the greater the amount of equipment that monster obtains). I've played a Soulbound Doll PC from mid through high levels treating the CR 2 as a level adjustment without noticing a substantial difference in power level from a normal PC. In contrast, I've also added three levels of anti-paladin to a Winter Wight, given it level appropriate equipment, and then prayed to Iomedae for forgiveness for the horror I had just created.

Third, don't level a monster PC by adding hit dice; it both makes things harder to balance (it's difficult to tell exactly how many monstrous hit dice a given level is worth, and it varies for each species of monster) and removes the fun from the player. In the case of dragon PCs, I'd also recommend against leveling the dragon by advancing age categories - considering the in-game timescales of the average campaign, you will have created the fastest aging dragon in all of history.

I have a question regarding this feat slightly different from the one the OP brought up: how does the disruptive spell feat interact with area of effect spells or spells with a non-instantaneous duration?

For instance, does a disruptive Fireball affect everyone within the burst (excepting those with evasion who make their save, or those with immunity, etc.)? My guess on the intent of the feat is that it does, but the wording says "targets" rather than "creatures" or some other equivalent descriptor, and a fireball doesn't actually target anyone.

Next up, consider Acid Arrow, which lasts one round plus one round per three levels. Each round, the target is affected by the spell (in the form of additional damage), so does each tick of damage from a disruptive Acid Arrow reset the 1 round duration of the disruptive effect? Or does that only apply to the first round? My interpretation of the intent of the rules is more along the lines of "first round only," but the wording seems to suggest that the disruptive effect persists as long as the spell does (plus one round thereafter).

Where these two issues really come into play is when dealing with long duration area effect spells. For instance, consider a disruptive Spike Growth. In a lenient interpretation of the feat, this is rather a brutal combination, since it means that anyone attempting to move through the area of effect is subject to the disruptive effect of the feat. In a strict interpretation, this combination of spell and feat is useless (save for bumping the spell's DC one higher in lieu of Heighten).

Similar potentially nasty combinations would be disruptive Acid Fogs, disruptive Call Lightnings, or, for hilarity's sake, a disruptive Geas.