First off, thank you to anyone who provides insight, it is appreciated. Second, can elementals, such as fire air etc, have class levels, and if so, would their stats be altered as if they had the elite array? If so, would their racial modifiers be -10 or -11 respectively, similar to 3.5e?
Technically I believe you can add class levels to any monster, including elementals. In the Bestiary under monster advancement at the back are the guidelines on how to go about adding class levels (both PC and NPC). You should always consider carefully before adding class levels to monsters.
When adding PC class levels you enhance the monster's listed stats by +4, +4, +2, +2, 0, and -2 in some fashion that benefits the monster's primary role. You don't change the monster's listed stats if you only add NPC class levels.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
Why thank you very much
Sorry for the double post, but I have one last question; Since Elder Elementals are combat role, and they have 16 hd, If I gave it 16 class levels in wizard, would it CR increase by +8 or +16" The writing says:
"Classes marked with a “—”increase a creature’s CR by 1 for every 2 class
levels added until the number of levels added are equal
to (or exceed) the creature’s original CR, at which point
they are treated as “key” levels (adding 1 to the creature’s
CR for each level added)."
Elder elementals are normally CR 11 and you're adding a non-key class to it so +1 CR per 2 PC class levels seems adequate. That's a CR 19 monster. Bear in mind the core elementals (air, earth, fire, water) have lousy mental stats so they won't make good casters, even with a +4 boost. So it won't be that great at melee compared to a normal CR 19 melee monster and its casting won't be that great compared to a regular 16th level wizard. Something to consider. Good luck!
Oh thanks. I know they won't be great at it, but its for fluff. Plus they will have gear to advance their spellcasting stats so they will be adequate I suppose, thank you again
If I'm not mistaken, only creatures with intelligence 3 or more can take class levels, though I have no idea where that is written.
Also, an elder earth elemental could take up to 15 levels in a non-associated spellcasting class before hitting CR 20. The first 11 levels add half that to his CR (+5). Every level after that adds +1 to his CR (+4).
Whoops, though it said HD, not CR, but your right.
Yep, RD's right. I had forgotten about that when adding levels (+1 per 2 levels if non-key up to levels=CR, then 1 CR per level after that).
So a 15th level wizard elder elemental is CR 20. Then again, you can always compare it to other CR 20's and either buff it up a bit (imho it will be a very weak CR 20 even though it's casting 8th level spells) or take the CR down a bit. You might compare it to a CR 20 dragon for instance, since they are nasty beasties and powerful casters.
As stated originally, adding class levels is a matter of balance and not a hard and fast rule. Good luck!