So, in the process of making Skeleton minions for a new villain in my campaign I came across a few questions that I didn't find the answer for.
The Skeleton template says that it drops its HD from class levels, does this mean that a Skeleton loses the class entirely? Or it only loses the HD but keep the levels?
This question came from the line "It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks."
So if, for example, I was to apply the template to a Slayer of 7th level, would it still be able to make Sneaky Attacks and use Studied Target?
In another case, were I to animate a level 9 Brawler as a Skeleton and equip it with a punching dagger, would the damage increase to 1d8 due to the close weapon mastery feature and the brawler's level or the loss of hit die would make his effective level be treated as 0?
And a last question: Do I keep the ability score increases gained by level or do I lose them?