Hi all,
I am a little confused on how to improve monsters adding racial hit dices. Is table 2-1 used for reference, or you have to apply the changes there? For example, if you want to change a CR 3 into a CR 5, do you automatically add 25 hitpoints and 3-5 bonus attack? Doesn't make much sense to me...
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The goal is to change your monster in ways that result in something like the changes on that table. You wouldn't simply add +25 hp to your monster. Instead, you would give it bonus hit dice (and maybe other changes) so that it arrives near that value.
It's okay to vary, too. You might conceptualize a 'glass cannon' monster whose defenses don't raise as quickly as that table would advise, but whose damage increases faster than normal. Just make sure not to deviate too much, or you'll get unpredictable results during play. A monster who gets no benefits at all except for a really high AC increase may theoretically be 'balanced', but it's not going to be much fun for the fighter (who can hardly hit) or for the rest of the group (who can't hit at all).
Suppose I have a CR 3 animal, and I want to raise its CR by 1. The table advises me to increase HP by 10, AC by 2, attack by 2, and damage by 2-3.
First I look up the type of hit dice an animal has (which are d8). I start by adding more hit dice. The average roll of a d8 is 4.5, so if I add 2 hit dice, I've already increased its hp by 9 (almost there!). I might just leave that there, since it's close enough.
The Base Attack Bonus of monsters increases with their hit dice, so my Animal already has a higher attack bonus just because I gave it bonus HD.
If I gave it enough hit dice, I might increase an ability score. That's an easy way to take care of any remaining damage increase or AC increase I need to perform. Or, any feats the creature gains might help take care of those; Improved Natural Armor, Dodge, or Improved Natural Attack might help.
I don't mean to restate the entire process, just show you how it might look. You don't add the table values straight on to the monster. Rather, you try to arrive at them by changing the statistics that affect them.
That table is a guideline for what the results should be.
Monster building is more of an art than a science, and depending on how the monster is intended to be used the table may not be accurate.
Generally speaking increasing a monster's hit die by 2 will be a +1 CR increase, but that is not always the case.
Which monster are you trying to improve?
edit:Troubleshooter explained it well. :)
Thank you both, now it's clear. I wasn't trying to improve any monster in particular but to understand the process for future needings.
By all means. I did a lot of monster improvements for a game where my PCs were a shade too powerful. I even kinda-whipped up a custom monster because I wanted a Pathfinder system Grick but didn't have one available. After I was done and found out that Pathfinder released an updated Grick in one of the newer Bestiaries, I was pleased that my estimates were pretty close.
The easiest way to really adjust creature is to utilize simple templates.
Advanced creatuer is the easiest one:
Creatures with the advanced template are fiercer and more powerful than their ordinary cousins.
Quick Rules: +2 on all rolls (including damage rolls) and special ability DCs; +4 to AC and CMD; +2 hp/HD.
Rebuild Rules: AC increase natural armor by +2; Ability Scores +4 to all ability scores (except Int scores of 2 or less).