Is the CR on Arley the Ogre Mage in Maure Castle lv1 a bit too low since he has 8 lvs of Sorcerer. After taking a look on the srd it seems that the cr is based on nonassociated class levels, but when I look at the normal ogre mage stat as characters it say favourite class is Sorcerer. So should he have had higher cr or is the cr based on that he is a giant with high str and such that you chose to use the nonassociated class levels. I must also admit that if you had used the regular +1 cr/lv that cr 16 feels too high.
Oxi
|
Is the CR on Arley the Ogre Mage in Maure Castle lv1 a bit too low since he has 8 lvs of Sorcerer. After taking a look on the srd it seems that the cr is based on nonassociated class levels, but when I look at the normal ogre mage stat as characters it say favourite class is Sorcerer. So should he have had higher cr or is the cr based on that he is a giant with high str and such that you chose to use the nonassociated class levels. I must also admit that if you had used the regular +1 cr/lv that cr 16 feels too high.
Oxi
Ogre Mages are not very well designed. (CR 8 and only 37 hp?!) It would take extraordinary circumstances for an Ogre Mage to live up to its base CR. This is a fairly well known problem so Paizo made the (correct in my oppinion) decision to "adjust" his CR a little. He is tougher than both an 8th level sorcerer, or a regular Ogre Mage, but that combined does not make him CR 16. CR 12 sounds just right to me...
Ogre Mages are not very well designed. (CR 8 and only 37 hp?!) It would take extraordinary circumstances for an Ogre Mage to live up to its base CR. This is a fairly well known problem so Paizo made the (correct in my oppinion) decision to "adjust" his CR a little. He is tougher than both an 8th level sorcerer, or a regular Ogre Mage, but that combined does not make him CR 16. CR 12 sounds just right to me...
Yeah, their 37 hp really is silly for a cr 8 monster. But what about a Ogre Mage with 8 fighter lvs, still cr 12? It's hp would be beefed up pretty good, and with the right magic items he could be a real bad ass. Guess the cr system can be a bit broken so gut feeling is needed a bit.
Barbarian, fighter, paladin, and ranger are considered associated levels for giants. Spellcasting classes are considered non-associated unless the creature already has the ability to cast spells as a character of the class in question. See Advanced Monster Challenge Rating in the SRD. An ogre mage fighter 8 would add each fighter level to the CR, resulting in a CR 16.