So I had a bit of a funny idea to counter one of my players who had a funny idea of his own. I'm running "Masks of the Living God" which involves a river journey on a barge captained by a dwarf with levels in Expert. After killing a river crocodile and hauling the corpse on board, they managed to convince the captain with a series of huge rolls on bluff checks that the crocodile had magical powers (namely, invulnerable to orc arrows) and sell it to him.
My idea is this - after he's skinned the croc and cured the leather, he'll probably fashion it into some sort of leather or hide armor, and after parting ways with the PCs, do something VERY cocky in front of a bunch of heavily armed orcs, nearly get himself killed, blame the PCs, and come back steaming mad down the line as a viable threat.
Since the NPC right now only has NPC levels, I want to accelerate him a bit more to make up for that for when he'll eventually challenge a (fairly sizable) group of PCs. I was thinking I'd give him levels in Shackles Pirate from the Campaign Setting (I adjusted the numbers a little bit after comparing the 3.5 and PF versions of Pathfinder Chronicler and extrapolating by analogy). He's got a good start on the requisites since I built his Expert levels to be useful as a river captain. (I gave him a full build because I'm making the journey longer and more treacherous - going through River Kingdoms instead - and there will be instances he might fight or use skills.)
First question - how the heck would I calculate CR when splitting levels of PrC and NPC classes?
What if I dip a level of Rogue in there, too?
Or am I over-thinking it, since my players will never see the stats I gave him in the first place? Should I just rebuild him from scratch later when he gets reintroduced? And if I do, should I give him PC levels from the get-go?
Well, if I recall correctly, NPCs with class levels have a CR equal to their levels -1, right? If it's got levels in an NPC class, I'd probably make that -2, -3, or -4 depending on what level he is (before adding additional character levels).
Dude, this is a brilliant idea- I totally love it. I'd recommend rebuilding him from the ground up, maybe starting him with a single level of expert for authenticity, and going into rogue & Shackles Pirate. He'd also benefit from a level or two in Ranger (favored enemy) or fighter for some bonus feats.
Don't forget that if he's a captain, he'll also have a crew. Might want to think about him having a loyal First Mate, and rowdy group of sailors who have been through hell with him and are willing to go again. Bilge water is thicker than blood, after all.
The core rulebook says that NPC classes CR equals level minus 2, PC classes for CR is level minus 1. It doesn't really take a split into account for what I can tell - maybe I'll just average the difference. I'm sure I'll be fudging some stuff on the overall CR once I build the whole encounter.
And yes, the original published NPC does have a deckhand (levels in commoner!) Half the fun will be taking these two bumpkins and turning them into a threat.
The core rulebook says that NPC classes CR equals level minus 2, PC classes for CR is level minus 1. It doesn't really take a split into account for what I can tell - maybe I'll just average the difference. I'm sure I'll be fudging some stuff on the overall CR once I build the whole encounter.
And yes, the original published NPC does have a deckhand (levels in commoner!) Half the fun will be taking these two bumpkins and turning them into a threat.
You have it right. But treat an NPC with NPC class levels as 2 levels lower than his total class level, regardless of his total class composition.
e.g. Expert 3/Rogue 4 is CR 5
Even if its only one NPC class level and the rest PC class levels, its CR is total class level -2.
e.g. Expert 1/Rogue 4 is CR 3
Basically just consider the first NPC class level as not doing anything as far as increasing CR, and all the other NPC and PC class levels result in CR of total class level -1 thereafter.
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A creature that possesses class levels, but does not have any racial Hit Dice, is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –1. A creature that only possesses non-player class levels (such as a warrior or adept) is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –2.
Emphasis mine.
I'd say a mix of NPC and other classes would be class levels -1.
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First question - how the heck would I calculate CR when splitting levels of PrC and NPC classes?
What if I dip a level of Rogue in there, too?
Or am I over-thinking it, since my players will never see the stats I gave him in the first place? Should I just rebuild him from scratch later when he gets reintroduced? And if I do, should I give him PC levels from the get-go?
First off -- this is a great idea. Clever story twist.
I like MultiClassClown's suggestion to include the crew also.* You are over-thinking it. Do what you like with the build, just be sure that any skills or feats the PCs have already seen still exist. Easiest is just to build on top of what you've got. And since he sounds like more of a melee type I would give him an extra couple levels. My groups usually just squish melee opponents.
If you want an accurate CR for figuring toughness and/or treasure, I'd say if the character has more NPC levels than other levels, make it level -2. If it ends up with more PrC or base class levels than NPC levels, make it level -1.
I often build major NPCs as having some NPC levels and some heroic levels. Sometimes they pick up heroic levels after interacting with the PCs. One group picked up a caravan guard in a major city because they had nothing but spellcasters and skill characters -- no front-line meat shield. He was warrior 3 when they were 5th level. He got xp, and became warrior 4. Then, warrior 4/fighter 1. By the time he was warrior 4/fighter 4, they largely forgot he had any NPC levels. (Obviously if he'd been a spellcaster, it would be more noticeable).