After a quick search of Paizo's messageboards, I have been unable to find the answer to the question I seek, so I will ask here.
When advancing monsters using character classes, what are the key roles of prestige classes? Is there something that spells this out, or are we to decide the prestige class's role using common sense?
For example, succubi, strangely enough, come with all the necessary skill ranks for becoming an assassin. Granted, they lack the roleplaying requirement, although I don't think it would be hard for succubi to kill just for the heck of it. Anyway, the problem becomes "what role does the assassin play?" I'd assume it was the Skill role, because the assassin doesn't seem like much of a fighter (any more than the rogue anyhow), but the fact is I just don't know.
The same problem occurs whenever I try to advance monsters using prestige classes. I'm really just making educated guesses as to what role the Prestige Class might fill (Duelist = Combat, Arcane Trickster = Skill & Spell, Eldritch Knight = Combat & Spell, etc).
I get that creating a comprehensive list of prestige class roles is next to impossible, given that the number of prestige classes continues to grow with practically every book Paizo publishes, but I was hoping the community might have its own wisdom to share on the matter.
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PrC's are pretty hard to pin down as they tend to be specialized and often focused more towards fluff. They're often heavily influenced by the build that built into them. The Duelist is cool for a mobile fighter, but it also makes Rogues more combat capable while sacrificing very little of their facility as a skill monkey thanks to the medium skill progression. Similarly, I've seen Arcane Tricksters who were incredibly versatile skill-monkeys, and others who were optimized for dealing out atrocious amounts of damage (and occasionally some who did both well).
Pathfinder in general has numerous classes that can fill multiple roles well, so your PrC is really going to be determined by the baseline that segued you into it. I would say your succubus Assassin would probably be an excellent skill monkey/inflitrator type, where as it wouldn't take much to craft a bugbear or ogre assassin whose role is much more highly combat focused, designed to drop enemies hard and fast on the battlefield.
Other PrC' are fairly straightforward and obvious, of course. The Stalwart Defender does pretty much one thing, sacrifices mobility for durability and damage, making him good for combat and not terribly much else. The Eldritch Knight makes you competent in melee and progresses your spell-casting, so you won't see terribly many who aren't dual-role combat/casters.
PrC's are generally as much about how you get there as what they do though. Most monsters advanced into PrC's they already qualify for will probably still fill the same role they did before entering the class, they'll just be better at it.
Hmm, maybe I should clarify my question a bit. Your response is good Ssalarn, but what I was asking was more rules-oriented.
When advancing monsters using character classes, their CR increases based on the role the monster plays and the role the class fits into. For example, an Ogre's CR would increase by 1 for every 1 level it gained in a Combat class role (Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger), but only by 1 every 2 levels gained in another role (Skill, Spell, or Special). So an Ogre Wizard 2 and an Ogre Fighter 1 would have the same CR.
My problem here is with figuring out what the "role" of the PrC is considered for rules purposes. Is the Duelist a Combat & Skill role? Is the Arcane Trickster a Skill & Spell role? Does the Eldritch Knight fill the Combat, Spell, and Skill roles, or just Combat and Spell? Is the assassin a Combat role, or a Skill role, or both?
For example, if I am to advance a succubus as an Assassin, because the Succubus has a Combat Role, would she gain 1 CR per 2 levels of assassin, or 1 CR per 1 level of assassin? Is the assassin purely a Skill role class, or does it also have a Combat role?
This is the rules question I'm concerned with: How PrCs interact with the monster advancement rules, and how that affects their CR.
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That is difficult. Given the amount of abilities that are piled into PrC's, I would probably assume a straight 1 for 1 advancement in most cases, as PrC's are usually capable of filling multiple roles, or providing potent enhancements to a single role. In the case of the succubus, the assassin class is a pretty excellent complement so I certainly wouldn't say she's getting less benefit from it than if she'd taken a level of fighter. Unfortunately monsters with PrC levels isn't something that's really directly addressed (to my knowledge), so a certain amount of GM adjudication is going to be required here.
My best advice would be, look at what the PrC does for the monster. If it provides them with complementary abilities or makes them better at something they were already good at, go with the 1 for 1. If it is somewhat counter-intuitive to the base monster, and doesn't do much to advance their natural talents, go with the 2 for 1.
Another way to look at it, is look at the roles filled by the class(es) necessary to / capable of entering the PrC, and use their role(s) to determine that of the PrC. If it takes a Skill and Spell to qualify, count it as both. If it's equally useful for both Skill and Combat, count it as both.
I'd go through level by level. If there's a BAB increase/new spell level/whatever at a given level, +1, otherwise, +1/2.
But, it's not an exact science. If you had a caster type monster going mystic theurge, I'd probably just count all three levels of their dip into cleric (or wizard) to qualify for the PrC as just a +1 CR. Well, that or dig around for an AP with a prestige class on an NPC to use as a baseline.
Wouldn't a prestige class, by the nature of its entry requirements, define itself as the creature's key role. Prestige classes aren't supposed to be something that is taken lightly, so anything that can qualify for them, should consider them key for CR purposes...
my 2 cents.
I would also consider what role YOU want the critter with the PRC to play. And does that class enhance that role or not.
An ogre sorc with the right spells just might be better in a fight than the ogre barb