ECL for Winter Wolf Cohort

[Victor Zajic]

The Monster Manual lists Worgs as ECL 6 cohorts, but doesn't list Winter Wolf Worgs in it. Do you think 9 sounds reasonable, with 6 good HD and special abilities on top of the normal Worg?

[Matthew Downie]

ECL = Equivalent Class Level?
The Pathfinder rule of thumb is that a CR 5 monster such as Winter Wolf is roughly equivalent in power to a (fully equipped, reasonably optimized) level 5 PC. The unlimited-use breath weapon is nice, but its melee damage is below a level 1 barbarian with maxed out strength, it can't fire a bow, can't cast spells, its skills are limited, its saves are fairly weak, and it will struggle in tight corridors. (Not that there are many of those in Jade Regent.)

[Victor Zajic]

I'm talking about the list in the back of the Beastiary that lists what levels you can take certain monsters as cohorts, then add character levels to them as you level up.

Worgs, which are a weaker version of winter wolf worg, are listed as level 6, so I don't think the much more powerful winter wolf worg should only count as a 5.

The winterwolf has 2 hd more than the worg, so that makes it at least level 8 equivolent, the real question is if it's extra abilities are worth another level equivolent, or more than one more level equivolent.

[Matthew Downie]

Ah, Effective Cohort Level. Never noticed that list before. (Your reference to Monster Manual made me think it was a 3.5 thing.)
My Bestiary lists Worg as a level 5 equivalent, not 6. In that case, 8 is probably about right for Winter Wolf. A Manticore, which is of a similar power level, is listed as ECL 9, but that can act as a flying mount, which is a very powerful thing to own.