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Okay, so I this might be mentioned somewhere, and I am just not seeing it (in which case, I'd love a page number), but for some reason I am having trouble coming up with the CR of a BBEG. If the race is human, and there are no templates being applied, is the CR of this singular character just his class level? Is this altered by multiclassing?
(I'm realizing this would have been better posted in the rules questions board)
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Usually the BBEGs are at a level at which CR is an incredibly bad metric, due to the shear amount of variance at higher level. Honestly it comes down to a good deal of system mastery and what feels right for the party.
But one thing I can advise is don't have it be a solo fight. Have the BBEG have lower-level henchmen backing him up, preferably of a different type than him (so a caster would have melee henchmen, and such).
CR is extremely imprecise; it is, at best, a loose guideline.
Tholomyes has the right of it, too.
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Usually the BBEGs are at a level at which CR is an incredibly bad metric, due to the shear amount of variance at higher level. Honestly it comes down to a good deal of system mastery and what feels right for the party.
But one thing I can advise is don't have it be a solo fight. Have the BBEG have lower-level henchmen backing him up, preferably of a different type than him (so a caster would have melee henchmen, and such).
My idea was honestly an Antipaladin 2/barbarian 1for a first level party. Since it's a home campaign, I decided to change up Master of the Fallen fortress for their first little adventure, and make that Druid a bit tougher... Which naturally evolved into a human Antipaladin when the neutral good ranger who chose humans as his favored enemy boasted of his ability to easily take on such a class. Wasn't sure if It would be overkill or just a really good tough fight for them.
Okay, so I this might be mentioned somewhere, and I am just not seeing it (in which case, I'd love a page number), but for some reason I am having trouble coming up with the CR of a BBEG. If the race is human, and there are no templates being applied, is the CR of this singular character just his class level? Is this altered by multiclassing?
(I'm realizing this would have been better posted in the rules questions board)
No, in PF, the CR is Level -1.
If using NPC (or nonassociated, like monster get) classes: Level -2.But a good BBEG is usually at least higher level than PCs (say CR +2). So Say Party is level 10, use a Level 3 higher (Which CR 12 remember Level -1 so Level 13 -1 is CR 12).
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For a low level villain, Average party level plus 2 or plus 3 should be OK. I think Zhayne and Tholomyes answered with regard to a campaign's BBEG - i.e. a level 18 to 20 party. Things get really really swingy up there.
Even at low levels though, Tholomyes is completely right - the party going up against the BBEG by himself is just a recipe for a forgettable encounter.
Even at low levels though, Tholomyes is completely right - the party going up against the BBEG by himself is just a recipe for a forgettable encounter.
At least, by the book. I've occasionally done an 'Achilles Heel' BBEG, where he's unbeatable until the PCs find the proverbial chink in the armor, his kryptonite, whatever you want to call it.
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Okay, so I this might be mentioned somewhere, and I am just not seeing it (in which case, I'd love a page number), but for some reason I am having trouble coming up with the CR of a BBEG. If the race is human, and there are no templates being applied, is the CR of this singular character just his class level? Is this altered by multiclassing?
(I'm realizing this would have been better posted in the rules questions board)No, in PF, the CR is Level -1.
If using NPC (or nonassociated, like monster get) classes: Level -2.But a good BBEG is usually at least higher level than PCs (say CR +2). So Say Party is level 10, use a Level 3 higher (Which CR 12 remember Level -1 so Level 13 -1 is CR 12).
Why thank you Starbuck! (By the way, what book/page number is that in?)
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For a low level villain, Average party level plus 2 or plus 3 should be OK. I think Zhayne and Tholomyes answered with regard to a campaign's BBEG - i.e. a level 18 to 20 party. Things get really really swingy up there.
Even at low levels though, Tholomyes is completely right - the party going up against the BBEG by himself is just a recipe for a forgettable encounter.
Hm. Definitely don't want something forgettable, definitely not with this guy. I'll see what I can do to balance it he encounter out.
Anyone with player class levels and full PC wbl gear is CR <character level> (such as Pc's as a reference, or a really rich boss).
Anyone with player class levels and heroic npc gear is CR <character level -1> (most npc's with class levels)
Anyone with player class levels and little to no gear is CR <character level -2>
Npc's with solely npc class level is one lower than the above 3 options.
I didn't know what happens when you combine npc and PC levels though