Confusion on how Mythic Templates are meant to be used

[dogstarrb]

I was applying a few Mythic Templates to ROTRL (anniversary version) enemies for our group's play testing. I've run into a bit of confusion on the intended use for the templates. The big culprit here is the "Arcane" and "Divine" templates. At first I thought they were meant to buff up creatures who cast arcane or divine spells... yet the template GRANTS the ability to do so.

So if I were to, say, add the Arcane template to a level 14 or so transmuter, would they gain additional spell slots per day? Gain some spells as SLAs? Miss out on that ability entirely? Or am I simply using the template completely wrong?

[Pendin Fust]

Mythic Playtest Arcane Template wrote:

Arcane (MR 1 or 2)

Creatures with the arcane template are infused with
arcane power, capable of casting a limited number of
arcane spells. If the creature has 11 or more Hit Dice, this
simple template grants a mythic rank of 2 instead of 1.
Rebuild Rules: AC +2 deflection bonus to AC; hp gains
mythic bonus hit points (see the sidebar on page 48); SR
gains SR equal to CR + 15; Special Attacks mythic magic
(up to three times per day, whenever this creatures casts
an arcane spell, it can cast the mythic version instead,
treating its mythic rank as its mythic tier); Spells the
creature gains the ability to cast spells from the sorcerer/
wizard spell list, selecting a number of spells with
total levels equal to the twice the creature’s CR (with no
individual spell level higher than 1 + 1/2 the creature’s
CR), 0-level spells count as 1/2 spell level, the creature
can cast each spell once per day, the creature’s caster level
is equal to its Hit Dice, the creature

Level 14 should be MR2 if applying this template then. Gains AC+2 Deflection,SR 29(15+14),HP,Mythic version of Spells it has, and Spells (if it doesn't have them already).

I really think the Divine and Arcane are for creatures that do not already have spellcasting abilities as the template specifically calls out that this template will grant access to those spells.

For something like this, where they are already having class levels, I would definitely rebuild using the Mythic subtype as opposed to the simple templates.

[Landon Winkler]

Pendin Fust wrote:

For something like this, where they are already having class levels, I would definitely rebuild using the Mythic subtype as opposed to the simple templates.

This would be my suggestion as well. Give them a few tiers of Archmage.

If I were to add the template, though, I'd give the caster additional spells per the template along with the other abilities. They're just that much more arcane.

Cheers!
Landon

[dogstarrb]

Rebuilding with the Mythic subtype would make a 14 class level character mythic 6, yielding something in the neighborhood of CR 19 unless I'm understanding this less than I think I do. That's far too high a jump for use in the AP.

More feasible to make him an actual Archmage as a player would, but that carries with it the weakness (and he's already got one). Not sure I want to stack that on him.

May wind up just putting a different template on him (Invincible, perhaps).

[Pendin Fust]

Nothing says you HAVE to give him Tier 6 :)

I see your point, although the playtest doc also mentions that Mythic monsters only get mythic power use equal to their rank...not based on a stat. Even if you gave MR6 then that would only be 6 uses of Mythic Power...a lot less than your PC's.

[dogstarrb]

Pendin Fust wrote:

Nothing says you HAVE to give him Tier 6 :)

I see your point, although the playtest doc also mentions that Mythic monsters only get mythic power use equal to their rank...not based on a stat. Even if you gave MR6 then that would only be 6 uses of Mythic Power...a lot less than your PC's.

Quote:

Apply the mythic subtype: Start by determining the

creature’s mythic rank by dividing its base CR in half,
rounded down. Use this number, as well as a few other
vital statistics to apply the mythic subtype to the creature.
Make sure to add the ability score increases and select a
number of mythic feats.

Am I wrong in reading that as "add mythic rank equal to half the base CR"?

[Pendin Fust]

Playtest wrote:

Mythic Subtype
A creature with this subtype has mythic power about it and
is capable of feats far beyond ordinary ken. A creature with
this subtype gains a mythic rank from 1 to 10 to represent
its overall mythic power. This rank is determined when
the creature is created, but generally is equal to 1/2 its
original CR. Any creature with the mythic subtype gains
the following abilities.

Bolding mine. I think the 1/2 base CR is still a guideline. Not a hard and fast rule. The key part to me is the "generally" and the "determined when the creature is created".

[Chemlak]

Definitely a guideline. See the Mythic Mummy in the playtest doc for a specific example where the MR is not half the normal CR (okay, it's half rounded up, but that doesn't exactly happen often in this game).