A quick question about vampire spawn...
I see that they are identical to wights except a couple of inherited vampire characteristics...
One of these characteristics is the Dominate ability. So am I to accept that a CR 4 monster is supposed to have an ability that emulates a lvl 4 spell cast at 12th caster level... at will? That seems completely out of line with anything else at that CR!
On a related note... the reference vampire given is listed at CR 9 where the base is a lvl 8 sorcerer. The template right below lists the template CR adjustment as +2. Would that not make the CR of the sample vampire 10? Help!
A quick question about vampire spawn...
I see that they are identical to wights except a couple of inherited vampire characteristics...
One of these characteristics is the Dominate ability. So am I to accept that a CR 4 monster is supposed to have an ability that emulates a lvl 4 spell cast at 12th caster level... at will? That seems completely out of line with anything else at that CR!
On a related note... the reference vampire given is listed at CR 9 where the base is a lvl 8 sorcerer. The template right below lists the template CR adjustment as +2. Would that not make the CR of the sample vampire 10? Help!
To start with your last question first, character levels count as -1 CR. So a level 8 human sorcerer is CR7, +2 for the template.
As for a CR4 monster with that powerful dominate, yeah, that spell is brutal and I mourn your loss if your 4th level orc fighter tries to fight the vampire spawn in a solo battle alone in a dungeon somewhere. But the fact remains that even with one party member dominated, the creature's AC, HP, and other abilities are generally quite weak and a 4th level party (even with a man down) should be able to take out the monster fairly quickly.
Putting a CL 12 dominate ability on a CR 12 monster that can hold its ground for a few rounds is scary. Putting that ability on a fragile CR4 monster that will die quickly to a determined group attack is far less scary.
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A quick question about vampire spawn...
I see that they are identical to wights except a couple of inherited vampire characteristics...
One of these characteristics is the Dominate ability. So am I to accept that a CR 4 monster is supposed to have an ability that emulates a lvl 4 spell cast at 12th caster level... at will? That seems completely out of line with anything else at that CR!
On a related note... the reference vampire given is listed at CR 9 where the base is a lvl 8 sorcerer. The template right below lists the template CR adjustment as +2. Would that not make the CR of the sample vampire 10? Help!
A creature with Class Levels is treated as -1 CR. So the Vampire listed is Sorcerer 8 + 2 CR for the Template - 1 CR for being an NPC with class levels.
Edit: Ninja'd by DM_Blake
Ah I must have missed the adjustment to Cl - 1 for CR, I'm still used to the 3.5 system.
I still don't see the vampire spawn as being a reasonable challenge to a party of lvl 4 adventurers. Assuming a typical 4 person party with a fighter, rogue, wizard, and cleric, on round 2 of combat, you can expect the spawn to have dominated both the fighter and the rogue, who are currently kicking the stuffing out of the casters (the save for the ability would be be a 16... not much chance to make it for those characters) and the spawn itself making for a safe haven nearby to watch the fight o.O -- not to mention the 12-day duration (spells don't go away when caster dies) and the party's lack of access to dispel magic or break enchantment (and prot vs evil only suppresses the effect for teh duration of the spell)