Gonzzo's page

Thanks for the advice, wraith. I was afraid advancing the orc that way might might make him a little too dangerous for a level one party of 3 inexperienced players. I think I'll go with level 2 fighter. Thanks for posting the statblock for me, Pauldrons, that should work just fine.

but if I used the advanced creature template it would quickly and easily bring monster up to CR1, right?
Advanced Creature (CR +1)
Creatures with the advanced template are fiercer and
more powerful than their ordinary cousins.
Quick Rules: +2 on all rolls (including damage rolls)
and special ability DCs; +4 to AC and CMD; +2 hp/HD.
Rebuild Rules: AC increase natural armor by +2; Ability
Scores +4 to all ability scores.

That would give orc a AC17 & falchion +7 (2d4+6 18/20) which seems adequately if not excessively tough for a CR1.

Thank you for the quick replies. As you can tell Im pretty green at GMing and creating my own adventures in particularly.

(only CR 1/2?) So how, or where can I find it in the rulebook, do you calculate CR for NPCs with class levels, I thought it was CR=NPC class level but couldn't find it anywhere in the rules. And what exactly is racial HD.

I want to create a level one fighter orc as chief of orcs for a 1st level party of 3. Should I roll stats and give the orc +4 Strength, –2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom, –2 Charisma as you would for a orc character, and if so what would be the CR of this monster. Or, should I give it +4, +4, +2, +2, +0, -2 as stated in the bestiary for adding levels to monsters, and what would be the CR? I'm trying to create a CR3 So I figured a level one fighter orc as chief and a couple of body guards would suffice.
Or, should I just make it an advanced creature?

Thank. Really helpful advice. I think I might reconsider doing that for now as the players are new to the game and I don't need to frustrate them too much right out of the gate. I'll wait untill they gain a level or two and then mess with them and I'm not trying to over-complicate the game as they are also kind of young. I'm trying to put together a simple dungeon crawl for my 3 sons to play. I started them off with the beginner box and they loved it, and beg to play everyday. so Im trying to move them up to the advanced rule set, but I don't want to make it too boring, complicated or frustrating. So I think I'll take you advice.

I couldn't find any specific rules on this one. I want to set a vial of poison among a few cure light wound potions and try to trick one of the PCs into sipping it as they would a potion in an attempt to identify it. What are the skills a PC would use in order to identify a poison besides ingesting it. Is there a procedure or rule for IDing poison that I couldn't find in the rulebook.

Thanks! I'll probably be asking a lot more stupid questions before I familiar with all the seemingly obvious rules. The reason I asked is, I've played several computer games such as baldurs gate and neverwinter nights, and it seems you only got xp when you disarmed the trap not when if blasted you with a fireball. But thanks, for clearing that up for me my players will be glad to hear that.

I'm a new GM and am wondering if i should award xp for a trap that is triggered and damages PC (such as a javlin trap. Or should i only award xp if it is disabled or avoided somehow like with a save.