Hey all,
I'm a little confused on how the challenge rating changes the HD.
A Humanoid skeleton has a CR of 1/3 and HD =1.
What happens when I apply the bloody template to it, CR +1.
The CR becomes 1.33 but what about the HD?
On the skeleton template page, it states:
HD CR
2–3 1
4–5 2
What factor decides what HD the creature is, in this case is it 2 or 3?
What about CR = 1.5 or 1.66?
Thanks,
Matt
Bloody skeleton is a variant template of the skeleton.
CRs below 1 are a little different from normal people logic:
1/3 + 1 = 1/2
1/2 + 1 = 1
no decimals on CRs above 1
Unless a template states that it adds HD, it doesn't. (see Skeletal Champion which follow normal skeleton HD + 2)
Skeleton is already a template and its HD is decided by the base creature's racial HD (and sometimes class HD - skeletal champion). In the case of humans that don't have racial HD it gets a single undead racial HD.
When something says to add +1 CR, they mean go up 1 'step'. This page lists the steps for a skeleton, and the step right after CR 1/3 is CR 1, with 2-3 HD. There is no such thing as CR 1.33, 1.5 or 1.66.
Edit: Don and Kestral are correct that the template doesn't automatically increase HD unless it says to. The way to increase HD is by picking a different creature's body to make a bloody skeleton out of.
Thanks,
What does the skeleton template page mean by
Challenge Rating: This depends on the creature's new total number of Hit Dice
In this sense, what does the 'new' mean? Think this is what confused me...
the skeleton is a mindless undead, which means it removes class HD. Normal total HD is racial + class. So the new total number of Hit Dice is just the racial HD that is converted to undead racial HD, or 1 HD if the base creature only had class levels as HD (like a level 5th human fighter, all class levels would be removed). A level 5th ogre fighter would lose the 5 class levels but retain the original 4 HD.
Thanks again.