Using the Summon Guardian Spirit feat I'm trying to stat out a Silvanshee as if I were using Summon Nature's Ally V. While I'm able to figure out things like ability scores I'm struggling to determine things like BAB, Feats, Skill Ranks, and Spell DC's. Under Guardian Spirit it says "It gains appropriate skill points, feats, ability score increases, base attack bonus, and base saving throw advancements for its increased Hit Dice." Where do I find the information to stat this creature and to further advance it once I gain more levels?
Most of the good information is under their type
An outsider has the following features.
*d10 Hit Dice.
*Base attack bonus equal to total Hit Dice (fast progression).
*Two good saving throws, usually Reflex and Will.
*Skill points equal to 6 + Int modifier (minimum 1) per Hit Die. The following are class skills for outsiders: Bluff, Craft, Knowledge (planes), Perception, Sense Motive, and Stealth. Due to their varied nature, outsiders also receive 4 additional class skills determined by the creature’s theme.
Subtype or specific creature can override these facts (In this case the saves are different). The hard part is figuring out your skills. You have to figure out where the base creature’s skill points were based on their skill bonus.
You also should take their saves and figure out which two are their good saves. Looking at the Silvanshee, it seems to have good fortitude and reflex saves. Don’t forget they also add their charisma to their saves, which really boosts the saves of a spirit guardian’s big charisma.
Great! That information helps fill in all but one gap. How do I determine how many feats it would get? I'd guess normal feat progression but it seems to already have two at two HD.
Should I just give it an extra 2 feats for HD 3 and 5 and just assume it is special and got an extra feat early on?
Some creatures just have a bonus feat. It should get a new feat for every odd hit dice it has. It also gets a stat bump for every 4 hit dice.
Hit Dice: The guardian spirit’s Hit Dice increase based on the level of spell used to summon it, as noted on the Conjured Guardian table. It gains appropriate skill points, feats, ability score increases, base attack bonus, and base saving throw advancements for its increased Hit Dice.
For how to do this, you probably want to check out monster advancemnt by HD in the Bestiary.
Step 3: Ability Scores
Once you have determined the number of additional Hit Dice possessed by the creature, use this number to modify its other statistics. Start with ability scores. For every 4 additional Hit Dice gained by the monster, add 1 to one of its ability scores. In addition, make any modifications to its ability scores based on an increase in size, as noted on Table: Size Changes.Step 4: Skills and Feats
When adding skills, check to see if the creature's Int modifier changed. If it is unchanged, simply multiply the total number of ranks per Hit Dice gained by a monster of its type times the total number of added Hit Dice and add that number of ranks to its existing skills. If its Intelligence modifier has increased, perform the same calculation as if it had not increased and then multiply the change in its Intelligence modifier times its new total number of Hit Dice and add that number of additional ranks as well (adding new skills as needed to spend all of the ranks). If the creature changed size, make sure to adjust its Fly skill and Stealth skill bonuses (if any) as noted on Table: Size Bonuses and Penalties.Next, give the creature additional feats. Creatures gain one feat at 1 Hit Die and one additional feat for every 2 Hit Dice above 1. Most additional feats should be focused on increasing the creature's combat abilities, but metamagic feats and skill feats are also possible choices depending on the creature's role.
Step 5: Statistics
Next, adjust the creature's derived statistics, such as its initiative, AC, saving throws, melee and ranged attack bonuses, BAB, CMB, and CMD. Adjust any special attacks or qualities that are based on the creature's size, Hit Dice, or ability scores. If the creature changed in size, be sure to adjust its AC, attack, CMB, and CMD accordingly (as noted on Table: Size Bonuses and Penalties). Table: Monster Advancement also tracks the average change to the creature's AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls. Add up these values for each step of change between the creature's original and new CR. If the creature changed size, make sure to make changes to its natural armor bonus, as noted on Table: Size Changes. If the creature does not meet these averages, you should consider adjusting its ability scores or Hit Dice to get it closer to the target.[/quote
Alright, got it all figured out now. Thanks a ton Melkiador!
There is also a very questionable thing from monster advancement to consider and possibly discuss with your GM:
As a general rule, creatures whose Hit Dice increase by 50% or more should also increase in size, but GMs should feel free to ignore this rule if warranted by the individual creature or situation.
Most agree that this doesn't apply to the guardian spirit, because it never mentions size, but it never says not to change the size either. However, changing size is also noted as being especially open to skipping in monster advancement, so maybe it was neglected for this reason.
Personally, I think it'd be fine to allow the size change. It would really open up the number of usable creature choices for this feat, and shouldn't result in anything meaningfully more powerful than other summoned monsters of the given spell level.
There is also a very questionable thing from monster advancement to consider and possibly discuss with your GM:As a general rule, creatures whose Hit Dice increase by 50% or more should also increase in size, but GMs should feel free to ignore this rule if warranted by the individual creature or situation.Most agree that this doesn't apply to the guardian spirit, because it never mentions size, but it never says not to change the size either. However, changing size is also noted as being especially open to skipping in monster advancement, so maybe it was neglected for this reason.
Personally, I think it'd be fine to allow the size change. It would really open up the number of usable creature choices for this feat, and shouldn't result in anything meaningfully more powerful than other summoned monsters of the given spell level.
A good point worth considering. I'd love to get it out of tiny so it wouldn't automatically draw an AOO everytime it wanted to get into range to attack.