R3 and the use of templates & class levels -- judges, please clarify!

[Mikko Kallio]

There was some discussion about the use of class levels in the Guildhall thread and a contestant advised another to not use them, based on this part of the R3 rules (which is 100% identical to the corresponding bit in last year's R4 rules):

Quote:

Do not use customized monsters or hazards that do not already have a stat block from a Paizo source if the effects of the variation cannot be summed up by adding one line to the stat block (such as a half-fiend troll, a goblin rogue 5, or an advanced spectre)—normally you would include a complete stat block for such a monster, and you won't have room to do so within the 1,500 word limit for your entry.

However, it seems it is not a hard and fast rule -- Steven Helt applied the advanced template on Pedro Coelho's leechroot last year. (Other contestants may have also used it in the past, but I didn't read them all quite as many times as I did Helt's excellent Naga Temple so I don't remember). We all know he didn't get DQ'd for it. ;-) Quite the contrary, in fact:

Clark Peterson wrote:

You advanced the leechroot to pump up the encounter level, which is a good idea.

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Nice use of the advanced simple template on the leechroot to bring its CR closer to the caryatid columns.

Steven included lines with updated stats for XP, hp, AC and melee (though not for saves or skills), so I guess the use of a template or other "customization" is allowed if you update the most relevant stats?

Please clarify, thanks in advance. :)

EDIT: This wouldn't probably work so well with class levels because the extent of changes would be much greater, but the effects of a template on a monster's stats could be summed up in a reasonably small number of words, as Steven aptly proved last year.

[Mikko Kallio]

I totally forgot Sean already answered this question:

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

You should treat all of the R2 monsters as you would monsters in a printed book. You can add to them (such as by adding a template or class levels), but you can't "fix" them, as people will freak out and tell you that you changed the CR from the original source. ;) :p

Sorry about that! :( I'll be quiet now. :)